Firekracker 5K

I continue to miss running, and on this Fourth of July, am reminded of the several races I've run on this date in the past. The most notable was the Firekracker 5K in Ft. Collins, Colorado, on July 4, 2008—the day before my daughter Christy's wedding out there. She ran it with me (the picture here shows us before the race, when we were still fresh), as did my son John—and Christy is running the same race today, too.

Biking injury

Since late 2010, I have worn an upper denture. Though, early on, since it is less than perfectly comfortable, I frequently avoided wearing it, since this January I have been trying to wear it every weekday, in an effort to be more "civil" and presentable.

I have become a fairly steady bicyclist this year, as detailed in my biking blog -

http://ride-ab-ride.blogspot.com

However, on June 22, I fell (as detailed in my post for that day) -

http://ride-ab-ride.blogspot.com/2013/06/78th-ride.html

When I fell, I went face first onto the pavement. Fortunately, I was not wearing my denture during this ride. Even so, though, my remaining natural lower teeth cut up the inside of my mouth pretty good, and consequently, I have not worn the denture since then, in an effort to give myself some time to heal. But I think that tomorrow I'm going to try it again.

Weight

Weight has been a very thorny, yo-yo issue with me. Before my May 1993 accident I maintained a weight of about 190, largely by running, though I was by no means either addicted to running or an accomplished runner. Then, though, after I was nearly killed on May 22 of that year, and spent two months in coma (and was in the hospital until early December), I didn't give my weight a thought for quite some time—and was then stunned to step on a scale that fall in physical therapy, for the first time in months, and see "250" staring back at me. For some time, I assumed that they must have miscalculated my intravenous feedings when I was in coma—but then, eventually, Michelle confessed and reminded me of the nightly pint of ice cream she brought me. Coupled with my lack of any activity, the results were not surprising.

I continued to let it go until the beginning of 2005, when I had climbed to over 300 pounds—and that was a big wake-up call for me. I realized I needed to take action, so I got busy, first walking, and then with the resumption of running in early 2006, and continued to pare it down in pursuit of a goal of 200 pounds. I never quite reached it, although I did get to 202.5 at the time of my daughter's wedding in July 2008.

However, various health issues caused it to go back up again, until I was at 230 in December 2011, when I was forced to quit running due to arthritis. For some time thereafter, it climbed yet again, until I got to just over 260 in the spring of 2012, before I could begin to turn it around. Since then, it's continued to decrease steadily, and more dramatically this year with taking up bicycling, and participation in Weight Watchers. Currently I'm at 220, and am still in pursuit of that goal of 200, but now want to go beyond it. I'm hoping to be under 200 by the end of 2013, and, based on Weight Watchers recommendations for a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) given my height of 5'10", I am aiming to get eventually to 174—and maintain it!

Wonderful visit

Michelle and I were so greatly blessed this past weekend when Christy and her family (husband Reggie, daughter Izzy who turned 3 in February, and son Daniel, born January 18, whom we had not yet met) stayed with us while visiting Michigan. They spent overnight with us on Friday night, and then on Saturday we all enjoyed a lovely picnic together at Gallup Park, a local bright spot that we used to visit with Christy and her brother John on short day trips while I was still inpatient at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital during summer and fall 1993.

We got—I should say, Michelle got, as she is an excellent photographer— numerous photographs of both their time with us at our home—here is one that Christy took of Michelle and I with Daniel, and then a couple of pictures by Michelle, of Daniel and I both showing delight in one another, and one of my helping Izzy with her purple tennies:

and also during the picnic on Saturday. (This one of Grandpa, or 'Boppa AB,' as they call me, snuggling Daniel is from that occasion.)

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, we gathered all together at my brother John's home (JB), south of Jackson, and I was delighted to be able to get, first, this photo with Izzy and Daniel,

recreating one like I had with Christy and John at Christmastime 1986, and then, a four-generation shot with Christy, Daniel, my mother, me, Izzy, and John.

Weight Watchers

At the end of February, Michelle and I joined Weight Watchers and began attending weekly meetings. Though we had tried it once—very briefly—a few years ago, we were not ready for it at that time. But now I feel ready, and the results seem to have borne that out so far. From a starting weight of 249.1, I've been able to come down so far to 234.5 at last night's meeting (on the strength of a satisfying 4.7-pound loss for the week), which allowed me to meet Weight Watchers' initial goal of 5% of my body weight. Eventually, I want to get down to the top end of their recommended range for my height—from 144 (at which I think I'd look virtually skeletal) to 174. But getting to 174 will mean a loss of just over 30% of my starting body weight. This will be a challenge, but it's one I'm committed to continuing to work at.

Weight Watchers works on a points system, with different foods getting different numbers of points, and you 'track' your intake daily. Already, due to the weight I've lost, my daily points budget has dropped from the initial 49 to first 45, then 44, and today, following last night's loss, to 43. But you also earn points for activity, and all the bicycle riding I've been doing has helped greatly. For instance, by virtue of Sunday's 2 hour 20 minute ride, I was able to earn 15 points!

Sleep

Since coming out of coma in late July 1993 after my May 22, 1993 accident, I have not slept the night through. I long ago made peace with this situation, believing that the brain injury I suffered was to blame. But early in 2012, a friend suggested a sleep study, and my doctor agreed that, although I had had one in 1994 that found nothing, after so long an interval a repeat might be warranted. So, last October, I had a sleep study done through the University of Michigan.

This led to the diagnosis of sleep apnea, and the prescription of a CPAP (Constant Positive Airway Pressure) machine for me - a small box connected to a humidifier that pumps humidified air through a flexible tube into a full-face mask that I wear while in bed. (Less intrusive nose pillows are an option for some people, rather than the full face mask, but they proved ineffective for me when tried in the sleep study.) I got the machine on December 28, and by now, in early April, I have gotten fairly used to it, and, although not experiencing any dramatic changes (yet), have noticed improvement. I still wake in the night most nights, but for less time, and my sleep is better and more sustained while I am in bed. I hope for continued improvement as I continue with it.

Ongoing fitness battle

Though I ran fairly diligently and regularly between the beginning of 2006 and the end of 2011 (as I had done semi-regularly prior to my 1993 accident), I have not been able to run since December 7, 2011, due to pain in both my back and my left knee. When the doctor delivered the verdict of arthritis last year, and said I needed to make up my mind that running was now finished for me, I was outraged. However, my good friend Doug Tidd has been working for some years to convert me to bicycling, and since the doctor thoroughly approved of this non-impact activity, I made the switch, beginning on an elliptical machine throughout the last half of 2012, and riding outdoors in the early part of this year (when the weather made this feasible - which was very seldom). I now also have a blog about my biking - http://ride-ab-ride.blogspot.com/

OLD memories

I have recently been working on preparing for publication a memoir I have written and given to my family for Christmas. In the course of this work I uncovered the memory of taking Advanced Intensive Calculus from Dr. Richard Kleber at St. Olaf College in the fall of 1975, my first semester there, when I was considering a math/music double major. Upon googling his name, I was delighted to discover that, though he is now retired from the college, he retains a St. Olaf email address. We have exchanged a couple of emails, and in the first, he told me that "I have to admit I didn't remember you at first.  But I looked in my records and see you sat in the front row and were one of the top students in that class!  I also checked my copy of Freshman Faces and remember you from that.  So even in the days before Google there were ways to find out things about people."

New grandson!

I am delighted to announce the birth of Daniel Miles Loewen, 7 pounds, 7 ounces, at 2:24 p.m. on Friday, January 18 (though I am chagrined to be so tardy about this announcement - as I was three years ago with the birth of his sister Isabelle, or Izzy). He was very punctual, arriving on Christy's due date, no less!

Christy and Reggie and their children Izzy and Daniel live in Colorado, and as this picture from the following day in the hospital shows, she came through the birthing experience in great shape! Then yesterday she posted this precious picture of the kids napping, with Izzy carefully shielding and guarding Daniel.

New laptop

After the sound failed on my laptop just before Christmas, and it was diagnosed as a fried logic board, which would necessitate a relatively expensive and complicated repair, I asked my insurance company to consider a new laptop. After lengthy deliberation, they recently approved this request, so it was ordered, and this week it came in. I had the data from my old laptop transferred into the new one at the LearningCenter, and was able to pick it up yesterday. The new Macbook Pro is sleek and works well, having an aluminum case (for which I've ordered a protective plastic shell), and I am grateful for God's provision for my needs (through Safeco).

I am thrilled to have a new grandchild -- my first grandson -- as Christy gave birth to Daniel Miles Loewen on Friday, January 18, 2013 (his due date, no less!) in Colorado, weighing 7 lbs. 7 oz. and very healthy. Mom and Dad (here with Daniel in this picture) report feeling "tired but very much in love."