The Simpson Blog

For those who missed the bonus link from last week's post, here's my music video to cap off the Learn To Run series. It's a cover of "The Distance" by Cake, which was heard in the exercise segments of many of the episodes. Enjoy! And, as usual, rate/comment/subscribe.

A special note to friends and family who've been watching this series through bigasssuperstar.com: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! As published at News957.com: It's been a week since the 5k run, and my knees still hurt. Granted, it's only when I'm moving, and worst when I'm going up and down stairs, but I wasn't expecting my knees to hurt a week later. I guess I really pounded that pavement a week ago. I come away from the eight-week training experience of the Learn To Run For Smokers program with the Lung Association of Nova Scotia as a changed man. That sounds more dramatic than it is. I went in a fat, lazy smoker, and in most regards, I still am. I've never called the Learn To Run class a weight loss program, because it's not. I lost maybe five pounds through all this. Most of that was probably Christmas weight that stuck around until March. But I did lose about two inches off my waist, which might suggest some change in my body's weight

As published at News957.com: Can eight weeks of training turn a fat, lazy smoker into an elite level athlete? Obviously not. How about an average athlete? That may be pushing it, too. But gains can be made, and I proved that this weekend. On Saturday, I joined more than 600 other people in the Credit Union Atlantic Lung Run. It's five kilometres through the waterfront area of south-end Halifax, from Pier 21, down through the port lands, up to Salter St. and back on the boardwalk to the seaport. The weather was beautiful: sunny, cool, with a little bit of wind. The course was nice and flat. I got a decent night's sleep and had some lunch. After two months of three-times-a-week training, I knew that I was in as good a position to finish strong as I could be. Of course, I'd be stronger if I'd quit smoking. Yeah, that's the part I keep putting off. Anyway, the Bad Ashes team from the Learn To Run program gathered outside Pier 21 an hour before race time. We got

As published at News957.com: I never really expected to be able to say this, but exercise has become routine. After nearly two months of making time to get out and move three times a week, it's become a regular part of my personal schedule. Saturday mornings, I get up and go join the Learn To Run For Smokers group at SMU; Tuesdays and Thursdays I make time to go for a 20-40 minute workout outside. It's all become disturbingly normal for me. As an ordinarily sedentary guy, that's a big change. Maybe that's why this week seemed so extraordinarily ordinary for me. The group workout had me at Point Pleasant Park for a gorgeous 40-minute brisk walk through trails and woods and along the waterfront. Tuesday and Thursday were 40-minute brisk walks to the store. Yes, I was going to buy cigarettes. The integration of something good with something bad gets the blessing from the team leader, so nyah nyah. I don't know if I'm about to come down with a co