I turned 44 in early December, 2014, and I needed to make a change. In the past several years I have had no exercise. Zero. I sit at work in front of a computer and when I get home I sit in front of computer doing my own work. This was going to kill me. I decided to buy a rowing machine because I love canoeing and also rowing when I was a kid. Seemed like a good fit. To keep myself dedicated to a mission I came up with the idea to log my mileage across Canada from Barrie, Ontario (where I live) to the Pacific Ocean in British Columbia. That should keep me focused. I began on December 7th. I started slow and easy so as not to shock my body too much. It began with just 5 minutes on the machine. And what a well made machine. I’m using a “Concept 2″. It’s fantastic and simulates rowing in water perfectly (LINK: http://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/model-d ). Each day I felt better and stronger. I’m now up to 30 minutes per session and doing it 5 days per week. I’m clocking 30 km per week now. There is also resistance set into it, so it’s like I’m also rowing across the country uphill.
So far (from Dec 7th to Jan 4th) I have gone 112 km. My weight has dropped from 198 lbs to 191 lbs. I have lost more fat than that, but it’s hard to tell how much as I have also gained some pretty good muscle as well. And it’s growing every day. What a great side effect.
To make it interesting for me (and for friends and family) I will be plotting my mileage on a map to document my trip across the country. I will also add photos from the road on a regular basis.