Breathing is important. If you don’t breath, you’ll die. Did you know that? But what I’m talking about is controlled breathing. I use some controlled breathing techniques prior to meditation to help me relax, and the effects are quite astounding. I was curious to see what kind of techniques runners use to help them go through the paces.

Ehow.com had some good tips, here and here. I tried the four-stride technique laid out in the first example. It goes something like this:

1. Start by inhaling when your left foot first hits the ground.
2. Continue to inhale for two full strides, i.e., inhale at left, right, left, right, left, right…
3. When you left foot hits the ground again, start to exhale slowly for two full strides, i.e., exhale at left, right, left, right, left, right…
4. Lather, rinse, and repeat!

It worked out pretty good, though I found that I had to really concentrate on my breathing to keep a consistent pattern going. I also found myself screwing up the pattern quite a bit, or having to deliberately break the pattern to catch up on my breathing. Apparently, this is normal. Depending on your running conditions and experience (up hill, down hill, novice runner, etc…), this technique should be modified, and sometimes on the fly. Your strides change significantly when running up or down hill, so it goes without saying that your breathing patterns should change too.

I’m going to experiment with other techniques as I go. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m exhausted today and my body feels like it was run over by a dump truck. My brain hurts too, and I think I might even be a bit feverish (though probably not). It’s time to ease off the throttle a bit.

I’m only going to work half a day today, then I’m heading home and relaxing. No workouts, no lessons, no contemplation, no chores, no writing (except for this)… I’m just gong to do brainless activities. I may watch a movie or take a nap or play a video game. I’ve been pushing myself hard the last few months and I’m going to reward myself with a little bit of doing nothing. I think everyone deserves a day like this from time to time. Just don’t make it a habit.

Here are two versions of how to write a fibonacci function.

The first is pretty standard:

def fibonacci(n):
if n == 0 or n == 1:
return n
else:
return fibonacci(n-1) + fibonacci(n-2)


This second function uses dictionary hints to store previously computed data. It’s considerably faster than the first function shown.


previous = {0: 0, 1: 1}

def fibonacci(n):
if previous.has_key(n):
return previous[n]
else:
new_value = fibonacci(n-1) + fibonacci(n-2)
previous[n] = new_value
return new_value

I didn’t write these myself, but I wanted to blog them for future reference.

From 217 pounds to 187.5 in a year. I know it’s not the two weeks everyone hopes for, but I’ve managed to change my life-style to help ensure that the pounds will stay off.

How did I do this? Small steps. I started, first, by changing my eating habits. Instead of three meals a day, I literally eat every hour or so. Not junk either, healthy foods. Once that became a habit, I added running to the equation. I started off running (mostly walking), two days a week for two miles. Fast forward to today and I’m running four to five days a week, anywhere from two to four miles day. And I actually love it! Weird.

I also add little things here and there, like drinking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar everyday, or drinking more water and green tea, or adding cayenne pepper to my lunches and dinners, or adding vitamins and Omega 3 fish oil to my diet, or not parking in the closest parking spot all the time, etc… A lot of a little is a lot. It all adds up.

I think it’s time to add some weight lifting into the mix. I loathe weight lifting though, so this is going to be a tough one. I’m going to stick to the “start small and add as I go” plan that seems to be working so well. My idea is three days a week, one hour a day. That’s probably not that much in the realm of weight lifting, but then again, running two days a week for two miles wasn’t the most glamorous running schedule in the world either.

The equipment? A set of dumbbells from 10 to 35 pounds and a dumbbell bench. Again, not much, but I’ll add as I go. I also have a heavy bag which I plan on using before each workout to help me warm up. So here is what I’m thinking.

Day 1 - Chest and Triceps

Heavy bag for ten minutes. 3 x 3 minute rounds with 1 minute break in between each.

Chest

• Flat bench
• Incline bench
• Flies

Triceps

• Single arm dumbbell extensions
• Dumbbell skull crushers
• Tricep kickbacks

Day 2 - Biceps and Back

Heavy bag for ten minutes. 3 x 3 minute rounds with 1 minute break in between each.

Biceps

• Preacher curls
• Reverse curls
• Concentration curls

Back

• Single Arm Row
• Closed grip chin-up
• Double arm bent over rows

Day 3 - Shoulders and (Misc)

Heavy bag for ten minutes. 3 x 3 minute rounds with 1 minute break in between each.

• Front lateral raises
• Side lateral raises
• Shoulder press
• Bent Lateral Raises

Misc

• I’m leaving this space for muscle groups that I want to go back and revisit, i.e., chest, triceps, biceps, back.

For each exercise I will start off doing 3 sets of 10 reps each. I think that’s pretty standard and sounds like a good place to start.

So that’s the plan for now. With out actually having tried this yet, I can’t say that this regiment will fill up or stay under the alloted hour I’ve set aside, but it’s a starting place. I can add too or trim back the routine from here. And believe me, this routine will change, that’s a fact. My number one goal right now is to just do it and not worry so much about how, when, or why I do it. Make a habit out of it. Start small and add, and most importantly, don’t burn myself out. I know from personal experience that the number one reason I give things up is because It’s to hard. Sad, I know, but true. So with that said, incremental advancement is the key for me.

You may have noticed I didn’t add any leg exercises to this work out. The reason for this is because of the amount of running I do. In fact, I’m quite happy with my legs at this juncture in my life. We’ll see, I may end up adding legs to my routine eventually.

One last thing, in my travels around the Net looking for advice and techniques, I stumbled across this site –> http://www.exrx.net It seems to have a lot of helpful tips and information regarding all facets for health, nutrition, and exercise.

The hardest thing about meditation is actually doing it. I guess that’s obvious. What I mean to say is, the hardest thing about meditation is doing it consistently. I followed a program in a book called 8 Minute Meditation which I would recommend to anybody just starting out. The book lays out an eight week plan, and in this eight week plan you are asked to meditate for eight minutes everyday day. Each week, the author teaches you a new technique. It’s really a great book. Now that I’ve finished the book, I’m having trouble getting on a set schedule. I’ll miss days here and there. This is what I have to work on, consistency. One thing is for sure, whenever I do sit sown to meditate (and I dont feel rushed), it’s a very rewarding experience. In fact, a day at work after I meditate in the morning compared to a day at work without meditation is as different as night and day.

So far so good. I’ve been steadily working my way through the Pimsleur Russian courses. I’m happy to say that I have a vocabulary of well over 100 Russian words and phrases. The people over on the Master Russian forums have been a great help too. They are very beginner friendly.

I’ve been trying to determine how best to use this blog to help me with my day to day Russian lessons. I’ve considered uploading recordings of myself speaking Russian, but I’m kind of bashful. I haven’t ruled it out yet though. I’d have to look into the most effective way of doing it first.

The next and most obvious way for me to use this blog is to actually write in Russian. This is easier said then done. The Russian keyboard layout doesn’t even come close to resembling the QWERTY style keyboard. Fortunately, there is a practical solution. I just ordered a set of Cyrillic keyboard stickers that can be put on any standard keyboard for the whopping price of $1.99. They should be here within 10 to 20 business days. Once I get them, I’ll slap them on one of my keyboards and start typing away. Until then, good old fashioned pen and paper will have to do.