S2E1 - I Registered For a Marathon. What Have I Done?

S2E2 - This is Me...Taking a Poop

Well. That’s been a pretty long gap in updates, ain’t it? What I thought was going to be a weekly series has turned into a whole lotta weeks of a whole lotta nothing. I mean, not technically nothing, but not a month and a half of running as much, as often, or as well as I had hoped for. These weeks are pretty embarrassing, actually. I had committed myself (see my last post) to really doing this thing. Then I didn’t do this thing. Like…at all. By the math, I did about 1/3 of this thing. Because of depression. So let's talk about where things stand now, and how I intended to get myself ready for a half marathon...by taking a big ole poop.

S2E1 - I Registered For a Marathon. What Have I Done?

Well, I did it. I registered for a real, full, 26.2 mile-long marathon. The Publix Atlanta Marathon to be exact. March 1, 2020. 25 weeks from now. Or rather, 25 weeks from last Tuesday. Which may mean it's 24 weeks now. I don't know. It's 6 months away, or as Siri tells me... 5.52 months.  And now...I have to start training. Let's dig in on why I made such a big decision, why I needed to make such a big decision, and why I need your help every step (literally) of the way. You can read the full blogpost for this episode at https://geekfitness.net/i-registered-for-a-marathon

S1E12 - What You Need to Know about Anxiety and Self-Care - "You are not alone"

Season 1 of this podcast is a re-release of the first season of the original Geek Fitness Health Hacks podcast. When switching hosts, the episodes went off iTunes, and they need to exist again. I hope you get something out of them.   Full post at http://www.geekfitness.net/anxiety So mental health is a big topic for me right now, specifically anxiety disorder symptoms and treatment. I mean, pretty much all of my energy and focus over the past year has been devoted to anxiety and getting better, honestly. I've been so debilitated that I haven't focused on my physical health at all because my mental health has taken such a precedence. I have pretty severe anxiety disorder, and the docs think I have bipolar II, which I didn't know there even was a type 2 bipolar. But whatever. I don't care about that diagnosis that much. I care about feeling better. Which is why I am doing this. I’ve had some really rough times this year, and I’m pretty sure there are some of you who have either dealt with similar situations to mine or *are dealing* with something similar. You're experiencing the horrible anxiety disorder symptoms that I did, and you're looking for treatment. Last August, I had what essentially amounts to a nervous breakdown. I was pretty much unable to function, both personally and professionally. My co-workers (read: friends. nay, besties) covered the duties I wasn’t able to perform like champs. My wife worked harder than anyone to support me and help me through daily panic attacks and rage tantrums I couldn’t control. I tried to deal with my anxiety disorder by self-medicating. Not with drugs or alcohol, but with video games to escape from my real-world feelings (World of Warcraft, specifically). I tried herbs and teas and supplements that were supposed to calm me down so that I would not panic over every small detail. I was trying to get whatever exercise I could do between injuries to potentially keep myself grounded, but that fell apart quickly. And I made lots of superfluous, impulsive, and frivolous purchases of things I didn’t need. It took months and months of dealing with my anxiety disorder symptoms before I sought help. I got to the point where I had closed myself in my office, turned out the lights, and just cried from panic and stress for a while. Then I called my wife and told her “I can’t keep living like this.” Read more at: http://www.geekfitness.net/anxiety

S1E11 - Welcome to the Hydration Station (Rhymes are So Cool)

Season 1 of this podcast is a re-release of the first season of the original Geek Fitness Health Hacks podcast. When switching hosts, the episodes went off iTunes, and they need to exist again. I hope you get something out of them.  It’s summertime, y’all, and you’re probably not drinking enough water. If your mouth is dry and you feel thirsty, it’s already too late--you’re on the way to dehydration.  Even if you think you’re drinking enough, you’re probably not (we all overestimate how much we drink). So drink up, geeks! If you’re low energy, or hungry. It may not actually be hunger. You may not honestly be fatigued. Your body may be drying out like a husk. You don't wanna become a mummy!  So grab yourself a filter bottle and carry it around everywhere you go! And if you're outside, running, cycling, or really, doing any kind of activity that makes you sweat, you're going to want to drink a cold bottle of water (or the equivalent) every 15 minutes.  And even though it might be gross, you want to pay attention to your peepee. You want to pee clear. Or as clear as you can. If your peepee looks like a nice, cold glass of lemonade...great! Just be sure not to drink it.  If you’re at that point, you should be drinking enough you’re not THAT thirsty, anyway.

S1E10 - It's Dangerous to Go Alone #ZeldaWasRight

Season 1 of this podcast is a re-release of the first season of the original Geek Fitness Health Hacks podcast. When switching hosts, the episodes went off iTunes, and they need to exist again. I hope you get something out of them.  Like that old dude in the cave said in The Legend of Zelda back on the NES, “It’s Dangerous to Go Alone.” And honestly, it kind of is. As you embark on your fitness quest, the most dangerous thing you can do is try to do this solo. Just like in a video game, if you try to take on the fitness dungeon alone, you're probably gonna wipe.  So you need to look for people to party up with!  Friends and family IRL want to help! They love you! People at the gym are there for the same reason! Talk to them! Check out Twitter!  There are lots of cool hashtags with awesome people! (I'm biased toward #RunChat and #MeatlessMonday, personally). Reddit has some awesome subs like /r/yoga, /r/runninglifestyle, and even /r/loseit for weight loss. Also: Facebook! The awesome Geek Fitness page is there to help, and so are your family and friends!   SOMETHING OF THE WEEK   Linux! Ubuntu!  My Windows PC crashed 4x this week. Winload.exe crashed a bunch. Between Win10 and Win8.1, I got mad and installed Linux. It's my first time. And it's awesome. Truly amazing. If you've ever been interested in it even a little, you totally should. You can even run Ubuntu straight off a USB drive with no installation.     THE QUEST LOG   I've been making excuses! I haven't been going to the gym!  I am totally embarrassed to tell you folks that, so as soon as I finished recording this, I put pants on and went to the gym and did a full set of weights and rode the stationary bike for cardio. Thanks for existing, fitgeeks!