THANKSGIVING 17 MILE URBAN HIKE (DAY 115)

On my drive back from Indianapolis into Chicago I noticed a new billboard advertising the Rolling Stones tour stop at Soldier Field this summer. This gave me a destination for my Thanksgiving walk. I wanted to take a picture of myself with the billboard in the background.  All I had to do was walk approximately 8 miles to get to this spot.... My entire hike was 17 miles.

FLOATING ON AIR (DAY 94)

Three months ago, on August 1, 2018 I fired up my blog again after months of dormancy. (It wasn't just my blog that was dormant - it was me too)  This is how the blog started after months of inactivity.

On that first day that I blogged, after a months long hiatus I spoke about how I just didn't want to look like a fat pig when I had to spend three days at a national tradeshow in Houston. I will be flying to that tradeshow tomorrow, Friday, November 2.  I was successful. I will not be attending as a fat pig. You wanna know how I feel about this. I will let this picture below answer that question:

Check out the shadow that my body is casting... I am floating on air. I am ecstatic. I have lost nearly 55 pounds since July 31, 2018. I feel great. I know I look OK. I can arrive to Houston in clothing that fits, does not make me look like a blob and I will be able to enjoy socializing with all the people I must interact with: fellow reps, sales managers, company presidents and customers. I am ready.  And just to make sure that I stay ready, I took a hike on Wednesday.

Why is the bear so angry? I am wearing my BEARS hat.

TAKE ME TO THE RIVER

Sometimes I start my urban hikes with no plan whatsoever, and I go wherever the wind blows me. Yesterday, I actually had a rudimentary plan when I began. I wanted my hike to take me to the river'. I wanted to shadow the Chicago River through as much of downtown as I could.  Then I wanted to get onto Roosevelt Road and head east towards the Museum Campus and Northerly Island. I knew that if my urban hike began this way I was going to pack on some miles. Indeed I did just that. When I finally arrived home, a bit more than four hours after I set out, I had travelled 17 miles. This was my longest hike since January 4th, more than eight months ago. Seventeen mile hikes are not something I aspire to do every day, but when the legs are willing and time permits and the weather is perfect... well sometimes seventeen miles hikes just happen.

This is the view of Chicago looking north from Northerly Island (which is south of the City)

I found this mural as I went under the pedestrian bridge that leads to  the Museum Campus (and Soldier Field)

I have always liked this spherical stone sculpture that stands guard near Soldier Field

Normally, I am not a fan of graffiti, but I will make an exception for this  display of patriotism found off the beaten path at Northerly Island. This painted concrete is normally only visible to passing boats.

This view is from the walkway that circles the Adler Planetarium.

Here is something that you don't see every day. This giant head is part of the 'Floating Museum' that was set up at Navy Pier during the summer.

Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, September 14, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Egg - Poached Eggs	300	2	20	25	629	1
Quaker Oats instant grits	200	44	3	4	620	0
	500	46	23	29	1,249	1
L U N C H
Kikka Spicy Tuna Avocado Roll	500	81	13	16	1,364	11
	500	81	13	16	1,364	11
D I N N E R
Campbell's Chunky - Manhattan Clam Chowder	240	36	6	10	1,600	6
Johnsonville Smoked Turkey Sausage	240	8	12	20	1,480	4
	480	44	18	30	3,080	10
S N A C K S
Roundy's Oats & More With Honey Almonds	520	104	8	12	600	24
	520	104	8	12	600	24
Totals	2,000	275	62	87	6,293	46
Your Daily Goal	4,509	563	150	226	2,300	169
Remaining	2,509	288	88	139	-3,993	123
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,579 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 217.7 lbs in 5 weeks     

Chicago has changed over the years, but the river has always been there.

THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

This comes from wikipedia...

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right belongs to individuals.

Today, however, I am not talking about bearing arms. I am talking about baring arms. To be more specific, I am speaking of the right of the Chicago Bears to bare their arms.

On February 26, 2013, failed presidential candidate, tax avoider, American hero, John Kerry who has vowed to fight the biggest threat mankind has ever faced, global warming, shared this brilliance with the world to German students. "In America. you have a right to be stupid if you want to be." John Kerry has often exercised this right. This afternoon, a few players on the Chicago Bears NFL Football team will apparently exercise their right to be stupid. (Although I am sure it will add to the intrigue of the game and boost TV ratings)

from the Chicago SunTimes

BEARS 12/15/2016, 06:36pm

Record lows, but Bears vow to bear weather with bare arms.

Sunday could mark the coldest Bears home game ever. Pernell McPhee still won’t wear long sleeves. “As a D-lineman, as a front-seven guy, as a guy who plays defense, I think it’s a sign of weakness,” he said. The outside linebacker told his fellow defenders as much —that it’s a long-held Bears tradition to go bare-armed in cold weather, no matter what. Sunday qualifies as just that: with the high expected to be 3 degrees, the Packers rivalry game will rival the coldest Bears home games ever. The Bears’ Dec. 22, 2008 contest was the coldest, at 2 degrees. The wind chill low, of -15, happened Dec. 18, 1983. Both games were against the Packers.The Bears prepared for the chill Thursday, stretching inside the Walter Payton Center — albeit with the doors flung open — and then spending the last 75 minutes of practice outside in single-digit temperatures. Rookie center Cody Whitehair was ashamed to admit that, when the team got to the outdoor field, he finally put on a long-sleeved undershirt. At the end of the day if it keeps me warm and healthy for the game day,” he said. “Then, hopefully, I can not wear sleeves on game day.” Whitehair has never worn long sleeves in a game, but also has never played in temperatures as low as are predicted for Sunday. He and other Bears players still plan to abide by an ultra-masculine, if admittedly moronic, code. “I’ve told them the macho stuff’s all great,” coach John Fox said. “But there comes a point where people might question your intelligence.” Guard Josh Sitton, who played eight years in Green Bay, will go bare-armed — but he tapes his forearms and wears elbow sleeves. His advice for players uncomfortable in the cold: “Tell them to grow up.” Defensive end Akiem Hicks will meet McPhee halfway, cutting his long sleeves above the elbow. “I’m trying to hold that Chicago tradition down,” he said. Quarterback Matt Barkley won’t. “I’m not a polar bear,” he said. The Bears teased Barkley about his Newport Beach, Calif., hometown Thursday, but offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said he did a “nice job” given the circumstances. The Bears will enter Sunday with a typical game plan, Loggains said, and adjust based on game-day condition changes. The Bears practiced outside to test the proper cleat length and clothing. If the wind is as light Sunday as it was Thursday, Fox said, neither team should have much trouble. “I think it’s just a race to the heaters when you come off the field,” Fox said. Fox reminds his players to hydrate, even in the cold, to prevent cramping. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said his team was lucky to have the same conditions at home. “We’re blessed, I guess, that we can practice in the same weather the next couple days to prepare for it,” he said. The Bears play with heated benches and space heaters on the sideline, and remind players often to not leave their helmets in front of them — or risk them melting. Players also smear Vaseline on their skin to block the wind, and use insulating lotion. New Bears tight end MyCole Pruitt took all those precautions when he started in the third-coldest NFL game on record, an NFC divisional playoff in January. The Vikings’ gjallarhorn shattered in the -6 degree weather. “It felt like the wind just had a bunch of small icicles in it,” Pruitt, who the Bears claimed from the Vikings this week, said. “And it’s just hitting you in the face every time you try to run a route.” Sleeves can’t stop that. “I’m at war, I’m at combat,” McPhee said. “I ain’t got time to think about sleeves.”

Coldest home games in Bears history

Dec. 22, 2008 vs. Packers: 2 degrees, -13 wind chill

Dec. 18, 1983 vs. Packers: 3 degrees, -15 wind chill

Jan. 10, 1988 vs. Redskins: 4 degrees, -12 wind chill.

The Chicago Bears should consider themselves luck that this is not a late afternoon game.... Shortly after 4PM, the weather will 'start' to actually get cold, that is, fall into the minuses!

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GREEN BAY

PACKERS

Sun Dec. 18

12:00P

FOX

CHICAGO

BEARS

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, December 17, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal, 6 packet	780	162	9	18	960	54
Arrowhead Mills - Gluten Free Puffed Corn Cereal	660	132	11	22	55	0
	1,440	294	20	40	1,015	54
L U N C H
Peanut Butter - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	760	60	34	18	310	34
	760	60	34	18	310	34
D I N N E R
Costco Beef Brisket Sandwich, 1 Sandwich	610	20	33	28	1,630	40
Vanilla Creme Filled Donut, 1 Donut	330	35	20	3	350	17
	940	55	53	31	1,980	57
S N A C K S
Oreo - Sandwich Cookies - Golden Original	850	125	35	5	600	60
	850	125	35	5	600	60
Totals	3,990	534	142	94	3,905	205
Your Daily Goal	2,248	281	75	113	2,300	84
Remaining	-1,742	-253	-67	19	-1,605	-121
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 318 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
MATRIX ELLIPTICAL	97	987
MATRIX ELLIPTICAL	97	947
Daily Total / Goal	194 / 30	1,934 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	990 / 210	9,607 / 4,130

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and one final note....

I should not be so hard on the Chicago Bears for being a bit stupid... I know myself... Before this day is over, I expect to experience this cold weather too.  I, however, unlike the Chicago Bears, I will wear long sleeves!

FIRST BIKE RIDE OF THE YEAR

The transition from winter to summer has included an unseasonably cool spring. Finally, on Mother's Day, the weather was very good. It still could have been a bit warmer, but it was hard to complain with the deep blue skies covering Chicago. My family took out the bikes for the first time this year. I used the MAP MY RIDE application on my phone to calculate that we traveled 16 miles. We stopped to have a picnic lunch near the Adler Planetarium. And my wife, Jennifer and daughter, Sara, saw some parts of of Lake Shore Drive that they had never seen before. The same parts that I had only discovered late last year on one of my solo bike rides. Before we got underway I spent one hour on the treadmill, so yesterday was an active day for me, which was in stark contrast to so many of the days spent doing nothing in the previous month.

We took a bunch of photos yesterday.  The surreal photos with the giant carved insects were among my favorites.
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This is a favorite spot near Soldier Field.  I am the shadowy lurker in the background - but you already knew that.

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Mother's Day was a picture perfect day in Chicago

Mother/Daughter did a bit of climbing to get to the top

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What's a day in the park without a quick climb in a tree?

This was the view from the Adler Planetarium where we stopped for lunch

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a favorite spot from the southernmost part of Northerly Island looking north towards Chicago

Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, May 8, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original, 2 packet (28 g)	200	44	0	4	620	0
Jason's Deli - Flatbread Crackers	400	48	16	16	760	8
	600	92	16	20	1,380	8
L U N C H
Butternut - Enriched Hot Dog Bun, 3 bun	330	63	5	9	660	6
Nathan's Skinless Beef Frank - Hot Dog, 3 Frank	420	3	39	15	1,440	0
	750	66	44	24	2,100	6
D I N N E R
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 170 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	40	0	0	4	130	0
Eggs - Hard Boiled - Large, 1 egg	78	1	5	6	62	1
Ham slices - Ham pieces	160	4	10	14	1,000	2
libby's - Sweet Corn	105	16	3	4	350	12
Roundy's - Asparagus Spears	70	11	0	7	1,225	11
365 - Hearts of Palm: Salad Cut	50	10	0	4	580	0
Homemade - Barbecued Pulled Pork	340	22	7	44	620	10
	843	63	25	83	3,967	35
S N A C K S
Apple - Fuji, 250 g (4.4 oz)	130	34	0	0	0	26
Chocolate Chip Cookie, 1 cookie	320	42	16	4	250	27
	450	76	16	4	250	53
Totals	2,643	297	100	131	7,697	102
Your Daily Goal	3,413	426	113	171	2,300	128
Remaining	770	129	12	40	-5,397	25
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 1,483 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Bicycling, road cycle	129	1,174
MATRIX TREADMILL	65	578
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-269
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	195 / 30	1,483 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	876 / 210	6,519 / 4,130

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MAP MY RIDE application is 'very generous' when it calculates calories burned... There is no way that this bike ride burned 1174 calories. I am completely aware that this number is a complete fiction. I do have much more faith in the accuracy of the total miles that we rode. In fact, there is little question that we traveled a total of 16 miles in our roundtrip excursion.

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