And so ends another weekend.
Got floored on Friday night. And again on Saturday night. What’s up with that?
Still had the energy to climb a mountain though…
You gotta do what you gotta do…
By the time I got to the top I was drenched…
Much more pleasant on my way back down. A shady trail on a hot summer’s day is like the ice in your tea.
Drank hard on Saturday night, mostly at the Grand Ole Opry. But I was up early this morning figuring on beating the heat. No dice. I was a sweaty mess long before reaching the riverside.
The return walk brought me to the oddly familiar Dongjak bridge…
And at the top of the stairs leading up from the river walk, I discovered a pretty nice cafe featuring excellent river views…
So I took advantage of the opportunity and re-hydrated with a refreshing “citrus tea”.
Got home and did some chores. Then took a nap. Then headed out for my season opening Seoul Sunday Singles League dart match.
15-1. I’d call that a fair start to the season.
Played at Shenanigans where the friendly staff did their usual fine job at getting me inebriated.
Had a little incident in the bar tonight with some rude drunks with British accents. They were being dickish all night but we did our best to ignore them. One of the dickheads was obviously looking for trouble, but us regulars outnumbered them and nipped that shit in the bud. Well, until the biggest dick among them started harassing the bar staff. Alex, my dart opponent today, is a big guy. And when the jerk started running off at the mouth with bartender Sonya, Alex politely asked the punk to leave the bar. And by politely I mean physically removed him. Just outside the door (and at the top of the stairs) the drunk guy started mouthing off to Alex. Not a good move. Alex picked him up by the throat and held him firmly against the wall. It was pretty funny in a way, because the guy’s tongue was hanging out of his mouth like a cartoon character. I told him “dude, you better just walk down those stairs or else you are liable to be flying down them.” About this time one of the asshole’s comrades tried to join the fray. Me and another John blocked him from getting through the door. A little pushing and shoving was as physical as it got for me. I guess even drunks have a sense of self-preservation, because they all exited the scene without further incident. And justice prevails in Itaewon!
What else? Well, I had a pretty good walking week.
Except for Tuesday when the rains *ahem* put a damper on things.
And I walked my ass off today as well. Sure do wish I could walk my belly off…
Tried a new crockpot recipe today.
Pork chops. Tasty and moist, but a little bland for my liking. Next time I’ll have to get creative with some seasonings…
My strawberry-banana smoothie for dessert was most excellent however…
Scale was kind to me today. Weighed in at 215.5. Down 1.8 pounds from last week and 53.7 overall.
I’m down to a 36″ waist and I have the new wardrobe to prove it.
Who knew dieting could be so expensive?
Why did I call this post “Landslide”? Well, it was the last song to pop up on my playlist as I finished my walk this morning. It suits my mood. Maybe you’ll enjoy it too…
I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Till the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
Well! Since I’ve cut back on my long walks in order to ramp up intensity through more staircase work, I’d say you’re now walking almost twice as many steps per week as I do (I average 70K-80K steps/week). Congrats on attaining record highs with your step count, and on your continued weight loss. Obviously, you’re doing something right. The belly will melt away eventually, at which point horny women will be piling on top of you like rugby players.
“horny women will be piling on top of you like rugby players.”
Haha! One can dream.
So, you see intensity as more beneficial that endurance? I enjoy walking but it eats up a lots of hours. I’m going to have to consider perhaps adding something different to my routine, although climbing stairs doesn’t sound appealing. Maybe a gym and weight training…
Good question. In terms of cardio, I suspect that the staircase work, because it’s so purely staircase work, is likely just as beneficial as several hours of walking. Roughly speaking, twice up my staircase = one set of Namsan stairs.
In terms of caloric burn, however, I don’t think anything beats being on the trail for several hours. There’s simply no way that I can burn 2500 calories by going up my building’s staircase twice in 23 minutes.
I’m basically aiming for a balance between the two activities, but I confess that I like walking the trail way more. My problem is that, after doing nearly 35K steps, I’m pretty wiped out, and my feet hurt, which means I need to wait at least a day or two before I can do that again.
The schedule I’m aiming for, then, is just to do the creekside trail on Monday and Friday (5 hours’ walk), to do nothing on Sunday and Tuesday, and to devote Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday to building-staircase work.