Rest Does The Body Good

I took the last several days off, because I was starting to get muscle knots in my lower legs again, particularly the left leg. I got back on the elliptical today, and things are back to normal. I did 1.4 miles in 50 minutes. Sometimes the old bod needs some rest. Tomorrow I’ll be doing my strength training and will do 35 minutes on the elliptical.

We apparently are skipping right past spring and are headed straight for summer. The forecast is saying we’re going to have a high of 98 on Thursday. Seriously? No. I am not ready for that yet.We’ll be in the upper 90s for a few days, then it supposed to drop back into the mid 80s. We’ll see. Just the other day, the high for Thursday was 91. It’s crept higher every day. Now it’s saying 98. I highly doubt we’ll drop back into the 80s.

Here are two pictures from the Walk. I never uploaded one of them from last week. I only have about .7 miles until Vesvius, VA. I’ll be passing through it tomorrow.

Mile 252



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Mile 253.4



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

If you are having cool temperatures, enjoy it. I’ll be envious.

Monday’s Mile

A new week is starting, and here’s hoping it goes well. It’s supposed to be cooler this week, which is good. Only going to be in the 70s for most of the week. Today’s mile went OK. I had some muscle knots in my lower legs again, so I need to smooth those out a bit. They’re not horrible at least. Need to get some lunch, and then I have to get some work done. Have a great week!

Mile 250.6



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

250 Miles...Almost

I went about 1.4 miles today on the elliptical in 50 minutes. Felt pretty good. I normally take a few breaks, and that’s what I did today too. I think I can increase my time before my first break. Right now, it’s 25 minutes. I’m going to see if I can do 35 minutes. Tomorrow is my “short” day anyway, of 35 minutes, so I’ll see if I can do it straight through.

Not a whole going on today. It’s a bit cloudy, and they’re saying it’s going to rain. There’s about a 40% or 50% chance I think. Would be nice.Get rid of some of the pollen in the air that is messing with my sinuses. I feel like I have a cold, but it’s just allergy junk. It always happens when the seasons change.

Here’s the picture from today’s 1.4 miles. Mile 249.6.



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Have a great week!

Saturday Mile That Flew By

I love it when an elliptical workout takes little to no effort. I did one mile today, and could have gone longer. I did take a break at the 25 minute mark, but I really didn’t need to. The 35 minutes (plus a 1 or 2 minute break) flew by. And I’m not sore or tired at all. I’m looking forward to my 1.4 miles tomorrow.

This is a short post, as we’re about to head out the door to have dinner at Outback (thanks for the gift certificate Mom and Dad). We used it a few weeks ago, and still have about $15 or so left. I usually get fish of some sort when we go there, since we don’t eat much fish at all here. Looking forward to a nice dinner out.

Here’s the picture of today’s mile. Mile 248.2



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Pretty stretch of road. Need to see some cars or people. It’s been a while.

Been A Great Week!

This week is basically over for us, and it’s only Thursday. I did great with my workouts. I got in my strength training Monday and Wednesday. I got my elliptical workouts done on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and today. I did skip my elliptical Wednesday, because I was exhausted. I ended up taking a two hour nap. I don’t remember the last time I took a nap. It’s been years. But I obviously needed it. And tomorrow I’m taking the day off from working out because my sister in-law is supposedly coming down in the morning. We’ll see. Every time she says “in the morning” it’s more like noon or later. To be on the safe side, I’m taking tomorrow off. I can still do my strength training, and I probably will.

It’s starting to get hot here. We got up to 91 the other day. ::::rolls eyes::::: Not looking forward to the heat. The weather man said it’s going to cool down this weekend, maybe to the low 70s, but we’ll see. I think the cool temperatures are running away. Won’t see them again until November probably. Joy.

I did get my 1.4 miles in today, and it felt great. I’m still taking a couple of breaks during the 50 minute workout, but that’s OK. I have about 7 miles to go until I reach Vesvius, VA on the virtual walk site. By the end of next week, I should be there. I’ve gone a total of 247.2 miles.

Here’s the picture for today. This is mile 247.2.



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

It looks like there’s a small mountain up ahead on the left. Lots of sun too.

Have a great weekend, and a safe St. Patrick’s Day if you celebrate it. I am wearing green today.

Miles Are Flying By And Iced Tea

A few weeks ago, our coffee maker had a disaster. Long story short, it got clogged with fat and grease from an overflowing crockpot. We tried to clean the gunk off, but it wasn’t happening We were a little hesitant to use it, not knowing if it was going to short out or explode or what. So, we bought a Cuisinart Single Serve Brewing System.



I love this thing. We got some K cups along with it (was in the box), and we also got some hot chocolate and Earl Gray Tea. It’s so fast. We have it set up to turn on in the morning, so all we do it push a button and we have coffee.

I had iced Earl Gray Tea this afternoon, and it tasted great. I’m still using my Teavana teapot, but it’s a nice switch every now and then. It’s getting warmer here in the desert. We’re already in the upper 80s, so the time for hot tea is drawing to a close. Bring on the iced tea. I’m not normally a fan of iced tea, but if it’s a flavored tea, I like it. Iced coffee is good too. We did a small experiment the other day. We took a coffee K cup and brewed 8 ounces of it, and then added in a hot chocolate K cup and brewed 8 ounces of that, and mixed it all together. Yum! We’ll be doing that again eventually.

So far this week, I’ve been doing great with my workouts. Haven’t missed a day so far this week. It’s only Tuesday, but it looks good. I think my idea of staggering my long elliptical workouts with shorter ones is working out well. My legs are a bit tired today, but I plan on doing one mile tomorrow. I need to remember to stretch tonight, and I should be good to go. Today I did 1.4 miles in 50 minutes. I did my usual thing by splitting up the time. I did 25 minutes, then 15, then 10. Although I split the 15 and 10 minute sections up also. My legs were tired. I did the whole thing though. My feet are tired too. I’m still using the Vasaline trick my Dad told me about, and I think if it wasn’t for that tip, I’d have blisters again.

The miles are really flying by now that I’m doing more than a mile a day some days. I’ve gone a total of 245.8 miles since April 28, 2008. We’ll see how many more miles I can get in before April 28 of this year. It will certainly be more than 250 miles. Perhaps 275? Quite possible.

Here are the last few pictures from the virtual walk site I haven’t shared yet.

Mile 243.4



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Mile 244.4



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Mile 245.8



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Keep on moving!

Morning Exercise Is Best…For Me

First off, I'd like to say that I'm thinking of all the people in Japan after the massive earthquake that's occurred. The aftershocks are massive as well. The tsunami victims are also in my thoughts.I've been watching the news all day today and the video is frightening.

Onward.

I’ve tried exercising at other times during the day, but it seems like morning works best for me. Lately, I’ve been putting off exercising, particularly my elliptical, until later in the day. I don’t like tying up the bathroom when other people are getting ready for work or going other places. This morning I got my workout completely finished by about 8:45 AM. Loved it. So, from now on, I’m not going to worry about tying up the bathroom. I don’t take that long anyway.

I’ve said before that I tend to have an “all or noting” type of attitude when it comes to exercise. I’ll be working on that starting now. I plan to alternate long elliptical workouts with shorter ones. Today I did 35 minutes. Tomorrow I plan on doing 35 minutes. Then Sunday I’ll aim for 50. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I’ll do 35 (since I do my strength training on those days), and on Tuesday and Thursday I’ll do 50. I’ll take a day off here and there to rest, but that’s the general idea. And get it done early!

I’ve got two photos from the virtual walk site to share.

Mile 241



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Mile 242



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

And that’s that. I did find the book I was talking about the other day, and I’ll write about that sometime this weekend.

Got Into A New County

I just entered Augusta county in VA today on the Virtual Walk site. I’ve still got about 14 miles to go until I hit the town of Vesvius, but I’m in a new county. I got in my 1.4 miles (or about that) today on my elliptical. Did my 50 minutes, and felt pretty good. I split up my times again today. I did 25 minutes, took a break, did 15 minutes, then did 5 minutes, took my last break, and did the last 5 minutes. I think I can increase the first set of time to 30 minutes. I’ve done 40 minutes straight before, but it’s taking a while to get to that point again. Taking short breaks helps a lot.

I took Tuesday and Thursday off, because I did increase my time to 50 minutes. I’ll most like take Saturday off and get back to it Sunday. I need to remind myself, I don’t need to do 50 minutes every time. It is OK to go for less. That’s still hard sometimes to get into my hard head.

Here’s the picture for today.

Mile 239.6



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Rounding another corner. Wonder what’s on the other side. Have a great weekend, and don’t let that excuse stop you from moving!

Vasaline Works For Me!

I deal with blisters from time to time when I exercise on my elliptical. A few months ago, my dad suggested Vasaline. He said to spread some Vasaline on the area that is prone to blister, and it should help prevent them. I tried it a few weeks ago, and it works! I smear a big glob on (I find the more you put on, the more it helps), and then I put my sock on right after that. So far, it works. He also said to put on a second sock. I haven’t tried that tip yet, but maybe I will one day. For now, I’ll stick with the Vasaline. Thanks Dad!

My “issues” that I mentioned in my last blog are improving slowly. I’m no longer using the pool shoes to get into the shower. My main problem still is my anxiety. I still go into panic mode here and there. I think I sometimes put too much pressure on myself to “fix” my issues. I tell myself to put on my shoes and use my walker just in our room going from my desk to the door and back. I over think it so much, it puts my mind in a tailspin and I end up making things worse. If I feel like using the walker, I will, but I need to not force myself to do it. Forcing myself to do something just puts pressure on me and causes me to think too much about it. I need to learn to go with the flow. I was good at doing that a few years ago. There’s a book I bought about four years ago that I need to re-read. I’ll write about that book in another blog. But that book is what jump started me to lose weight and get in shape. I will write about that soon. I need to find the book first…it’s somewhere on this messy desk.

I decided Monday to increase my time on the elliptical, and I did 50 minutes. I broke it down into segments, which is always a good idea. Trying to do 50 minutes straight would have been the death on my quadriceps, so I took several breaks. My elliptical display screen has been on the fritz for a while, so I looked back at some of my old spreadsheets to see how many miles I used to do in 50 minutes. Turns out it was about 1.4 miles. Good deal. It also said I burned about 430 calories in 50 minutes. Even better. So I did 50 minutes Monday, took Tuesday off and then did 50 minutes again today. I don’t know if I’ll do it tomorrow or not. It depends on how my legs feel. Plus I just got a batch of article titles sent my way to write. I’ve got about 13 or so articles to write in the next 6 or 7 days. Some of those I can extend, but the ones sent to me yesterday I need to get done. They’re easy to write though, as I’ve written them before. I just need to reword a few of them.

Here are the pictures from the virtual walk site from Monday and today. I did 1.4 miles each day.

Mile 236.8



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Mile 238.2



 

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Sun is still shining in VA.

Have a great day everyone. Can’t believe it’s already March.