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I’ll Take Potpourri For The Weekend

Greetings my friends !  It’s the weekend again – because here at #CountUp weekends always begin on Thursday mornings !

This weekend I’ll post the usual 4 new blog posts now (Thursday morning), Friday morning, Sunday afternoon, and Monday morning.

This Saturday I hope to do another “Walk-A-Thon” at dawn at the city park down the street from my neighborhood. After that I plan to visit the Fruit And Spice Park about 7 miles away from my home. I visited last March, and I was convinced (before I even entered the park grounds) to buy an annual pass for $25 in lieu of a one-time visit ticket for $10 thinking that (as a local) I would visit on a regular basis. Well I haven’t been back since then, so I might as well get in a free visit this weekend while it’s cool out. (We’ll be in the 50s and 60s this Saturday morning.)

Fruit & Spice Park

Later on Saturday I’ll return home (probably exhausted from all of that walking), and I’ll continue my Bible study and sermon-writing. I’m currently working on my sermon after next – tentatively titled “Malachi & Messages”. It’s probably the first of two (maybe even three) sermons in a row all about the minor prophet Malachi.

Oh ! – I’m part of #LivePDNation – so there’s that on Friday and Saturday night.

On Sunday I’ll enjoy quality time praising, worshiping, and celebrating my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ with my church family. As I tell my brothers and sisters in Christ on each new Sunday morning – it’s the peak of my week. It’s the greatest 4 hours of my life each week.

On Monday at 3 AM U.S. East Coast Time I’ll post my brand new Top 10 weekly hit music chart. Get ready for a brand new # 1 smash. (You read it here first.)

So that’s my weekend forecast. It should be a fun one !

I’ll be back here in 24 hours to go RETRO – back a full decade ago – to a time when I gave up Christian music on the radio forever (or so I thought at the time).

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Health Music Weather

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon

Date: Saturday January 25TH 2020
Time (EST): 7:07 AM – 7:50 AM
Sunrise (EST): 7:07 AM
Location: Homestead Florida
Sky: Mostly Sunny
Temperature: 64°F / 18°C
Dewpoint: 63°F / 17°C
Relative Humidity: 96% Falling
Winds: N 3 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 30.03″ Rising

It took me 7 weeks to get back out on that asphalt track at the city park down the road from my neighborhood, but I finally did it with near ideal weather conditions. This was my 2ND power-walk of Season 13, and I’m actually behind last season’s pace which was my worst performance since Season 7. Hopefully we get more cool and dry Saturday mornings at dawn like this one so that I can get to steppin’.

This was a 2.42-mile power-walk in 43 minutes and 9 seconds. That’s a pace of 17 minutes and 51 seconds per mile. (I walked 3.36 MPH.) It was a little bit shorter than my average power-walk. The track that I walk on is about 0.47 miles around. I did 5 laps. A 6TH lap would have gotten me to right around my overall average of just under 3 miles. I’ll try for that 6TH lap next Saturday morning at dawn.

Some Fitbit heart rate stats – 31 out of 43 minutes in “peak”; 8 out of 43 minutes in “cardio”; 164 BPM at peak; 148 BPM on average.

Walk-A-Thon 13-2

That’s a photo of the eastern sky at 7:09 AM – 2 minutes after sunrise.

As I walk I pray for good health, and for the safety and security of my fellow walkers on the track, my neighborhood, and my city and the surrounding area.

These 13 songs randomly played on my iPod Shuffle as I walked. They represent the soundtrack of my life – past before Christ – and present in Christ.

7:07 AM – “Bad Blood” – Neil Sedaka
7:09 AM – “Butterfly (Come And Dance With Me)” – Crazy Town
7:12 AM – “Unskinny Bop” – Poison
7:16 AM – “Let It Ride” – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
7:21 AM – “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” – Stellar Kart
7:24 AM – “Every Time You Run” – Manafest Ft. Trevor McNevan
7:28 AM – “Lay, Lady, Lay” – Bob Dylan
7:31 AM – “Walking On Broken Glass” – Annie Lennox
7:35 AM – “Sister Golden Hair” – America
7:39 AM – “Hypnotize” – The Notorious B.I.G.
7:42 AM – “Joyride” – Roxette
7:47 AM – “Respectable” – Mel & Kim
7:50 AM – “Call It Love” – Poco

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Christian God Health Weather

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon

Date: Saturday December 07TH 2019
Time (EST): 7:00 AM – 7:58 AM
Sunrise (EST): 6:54 AM
Location: Homestead Florida
Sky: Sunny & Clear
Temperature: 58°F / 14°C
Dewpoint: 55°F / 13°C
Relative Humidity: 89% Falling
Winds: N 3 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 30.11″ Rising

It’s the long-awaited (for me anyway) Season 13 Premiere of my personal fitness program, and this appears to be the latest start on record – 2 days later than last season’s late start on December 05TH 2018.

Last season – Season 12 – started late and never really took off. I only power-walked on 4 occasions – barely surpassing a total of 10 miles. It was a far cry from Seasons 8, 9, and 10 – when I walked 73.27, 49.28, and 44.82 miles respectively.

My power-walks are purely seasonal due to the fact that I live in deep subtropical South Florida. My seasons coincide with our 7-month “dry” season that starts on or around October 15TH each year and ends on or around May 15TH each year.

It was another cool and crisp morning here in South Florida – our 5TH consecutive morning in the low-to-mid-50s – which is nearly unprecedented – even in early-December. That’s about 10° below normal for a sunrise temperature.

So I kicked-off Season 13 with a blast – a 3.24-mile power-walk in 57 minutes and 23 seconds. That’s a pace of 17 minutes and 43 seconds per mile. (I walked 3.39 MPH.) It was the longest walk to kick-off a new season ever – eclipsing my previous record set just last year with a 2.88-mile walk to kick-off Season 12. It was the longest walk in over 21 months – since my Season 11 finale walk of 3.59 miles.

Some Fitbit heart rate stats – 31 out of 58 minutes in “peak”; 19 out of 58 minutes in “cardio”; 160 BPM at peak; 139 BPM on average.

Walk-A-Thon 13-1

It felt really good to be out there again. As is the overall theme of “The Major’s Walk-A-Thon” since the very start (Christmas Eve 2007) I walked and prayed for my loved ones, for my coworkers, for those who were also walking on the track at the same time as me, and for my fellow citizens of Homestead and Miami-Dade County. I prayed for good health, increasing strength, wisdom from Christ, and peace in our time.

Finally “The Major’s Walk-A-Thon” is dedicated to my dear Dad in Heaven – William Lesley Day (1941-2010). He began to show the symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) – “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” – during the latter part of 2006. He lost the ability to walk on his own shortly after that. He would eventually succumb to the deadly disease 4 years later. God encouraged me to walk for my dad, and follow Christ. I believe that my dad is cheering me on now from Heaven.

All rights reserved (c) 2019 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Blogging Food Health Music

Weekends Begin On Thursdays …

… and they end on Mondays. Every weekend is a 4-day weekend here at #CountUp – at least when it comes to my blogging. I blog on Thursdays and Fridays. New posts are published at 3 AM EDT (U.S. East Coast Time). On Saturdays I generally go offline, and I stay off social media (for the most part). I may post a tweet or two of Scripture that leads-in to my Sunday.

On Sundays I blog post church service, so usually at or around 3 PM EDT. Finally on Mondays (back at 3 AM) I publish my brand new weekly hit music chart. It’s the continuation of a hobby of mine for the past 40+ years. (Casey Kasem was my idol as a preteen during the late-1970s. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.)

So this is my Thursday blog that’s unlike my Friday, Sunday, and Monday blogs. My Friday and Monday blogs are music-based. My Sunday blog is Bible-based. My Thursday blog can be about anything that I can think of at the time.

So the big thing this week is something that I’ve been thinking about doing for the better part of the past 6 months. I finally did it this past Tuesday night. I began a weekly subscription with Freshly. Maybe you’ve heard of it ?  Maybe you know how it works ?  It’s basically a service that ships to your front door (via FedEx or a similar company) a certain number of chilled microwavable meals on the same day every week for a set price. I’ve set up my account to receive 6 meals per week every Friday. The meals are cooked by real chefs with high-quality ingredients. I’m not going to say much more about it in advance (prior to receiving and eating a single meal), but I’ve watched a few videos online, and they were mostly favorable towards the service. It’s got its pros and cons. I’ll give it a chance. I can cancel at anytime if I decide that it’s not worth it.

Basically at age 52 I need to take much better care of myself. That starts with eating better. I eat (for the most part) terribly. I don’t cook, so I either eat out (way too much food at one time), or I eat in (prepackaged frozen foods). The Freshly meal service is designed to be refrigerated, microwaved, and then eaten within 4-6 days. Hello Lunch and Dinner !

I’ll have to get used to eating smaller portions than I’m used to, and that’s another goal of mine. I’m actually overweight. My ideal weight (for my height) is right around 165. I’d love to weigh 165. I’d love to be back in the 170s. I’m about 20 pounds overweight. I’m thinking that these Freshly meals will help me lose weight. Oh yeah – that – and far more exercise.

My main form of exercise is walking. How’s that working out for me ?  I’ll let you know on a future Thursday blog.

All rights reserved (c) 2019 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries