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We made it back from Belvidere, IL last night.

The weather was fantastic and the judges moved things along at a good pace. We left IL at about the usual time.

Time to get up and start working. I’ll have proofs online and ready to order today at http://www.modern-saddlebred.com/photos.php .

So last night I mentioned to Joel that I wanted to ride 20 miles on the bike sometime next week. I usually do one long ride per week with plenty of recovery in between rides. Well, he reminded me he’s off to Las Vegas next week so he said “how about tomorrow”. I reluctantly said I’d think about it. We just came off a pretty long ride yesterday and I was sore and tired. This morning came and I thought I might as well do it. We ended up riding south and about half way there we decided to ride all the way to Oshkosh. We weren’t sure how long the ride would be, but the adrenaline kicked in as my excitement for a new achievement ramped up. I never really gave much thought to the idea of riding to a different city. The idea of doing it on a whim was just exciting. It made the ride there seem effortless. The ride back was a bit tougher but we endured.

My new distance record on a bike is now 21.21 miles. I burned a few less calories than the previous day’s ride but at about 1150, it was still a good bit of exercise.

I met up with Joel for a bike ride around Neenah today. He’s got a nasty case of shin splints and can’t run at the moment, but since he’s training for a kickboxing fight in August, he still needed to do some cardio work. He was able to borrow a bike from the owner of our karate school. So his bad fortune with the shin problem was a boon to my exercise routine. We rode 15.5 miles and I was pushing pretty hard for part of the ride. I was able to burn over 1300 calories. It was nice to ride with him as he pushed my pace a bit. The heart rate monitor had me over my target rate on more than a few occasions. At about 11.5 miles in we picked up another rider and finished the last five miles with Josh.

Joel is really athletic and about 170 pounds, so most exercise options would really have us on two separate planes of existence. What I love about the bike is that we were both able to get a workout together despite the huge disparity in athleticism. Biking serves as a great equalizer for people of varying levels of fitness. I love biking!

Becky, Red, and I went for a run today. Our running pace is very similar so it’s a good match when we run together. She is working on week 3 or 4 on a couch to 5k program. We did that day’s program then ran a bit more beyond that. We ran up and down a pretty big hill and went half way across the Trestle Trail before turning around and heading for home. The dog was pooped so I know we did well. I was going to ride bike after, but I was beat as well.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to take some pictures of Joel. Joel, a skilled martial artist in training for a kickboxing match, wanted to update his karate pictures. I also knew he was an inline skater so I suggested we go to the skate park for some aerial shots of that as well. Mix in some plain clothes portraits and it all added up to a nice day of photography.

Me in my new belt and full uni.

Tonight Becky and I graduated from gold to orange belt in karate. Mr. Schaefer really put us through our paces at the graduation ceremony. So many kicks, punches, and sit-ups. It was a really good work out, and it’s always extra good when we get to tie those new belts on. I have a long way to go but for tonight I’m feeling good!

I partnered up with Pat. He’s another gold belt. I enjoy working with him. We seem to push each other and are supportive of each other which I really need when my shoulders are on fire from the massive amounts of punches. Having cool people to work with, and all of them in class are, is really motivating and makes the energy spent worth more than just the health benefits. One of my karate instructors and a pretty good friend posted on his Facebook page something about how he really enjoys celebrating other’s accomplishments. That’s the attitude that seems to be common at Karate America Neenah.

Oh yeah. My belt fit well – much better than my last belt – so I can tell the weight is coming off where it needs to. Next stop, green belt and a move up to Black Belt Team. That means we start sparring and a whole host of new opportunities to go to class open up to us. It’s gonna be great.

Tomorrow night it’s the kid’s turn. Quincy gets her purple and Abby becomes a blue belt.

Happy the cat found her way into the light booth. She was sleeping in there. I woke her up and told her it was time for her session. She was workin’ it. She’s cute.

I just wanted to post a few that Tyler selected from his senior session. Tyler thought the more green in the picture, the happier he was. I obliged. Light spill? We don’t worry ’bout no stinking light spill.

Sadly, I was informed today by show management that the horse show I was to photograph this weekend is cancelled due to lack of entries. It was my first bigger class “A” show and it’s a local show for me so it’s a real shame. It was always a fun, classy event and I did good business there. It’s the first time in my memory that the Glen Valley Classic will not be held since it’s inception. I remember a few years ago, when it was at the farm, before they moved it to the expo center, it nearly got rained/flooded out, but I think it’s always been held. I have photographed this show as the in ring photographer since 2006 and I shot candids, which I’m having no luck locating, during 2005. I met my wife back in 1996-1997 while working at Royal Crest Farms, and this was the first horse show I attended with my then girlfriend now wife. I really am sad it won’t be happening this year.

On a positive note, the manager said she will be in contact with me for next year’s show when they hope to be back bigger and better than ever. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I thought I’d post a few pictures from the years I was there featuring some old friends passed on, new friends, and beautiful horses. Hope you all enjoyed and I hope they brought back some fond memories.

This morning my doctor called with the results of yesterday’s blood work. Almost everything has improved from my last test.

a1c – 5.7 down from 7.5
Lipids – 166 down from 178
LDL – 97 down from 113
HDL – 30 up from 27
Triglycerides – 194 – up from 189

I’m currently taking Metformin for diabetes, Lisinopril/Hydrochlorothiazide for blood pressure and to protect the kidneys, a multi-vitamin, a fish oil tablet, and a cinnamon tablet. It all seems to be working quite well combined with improvements in diet and exercise and calorie counting.

I’m pleased.