Mileage Monday!

Another slow week for mileage, and I can’t think why. Need to get back into the habit of moving everyday, even if it is for only 10 minutes. Here are the two (yes two) pictures from the virtual walk site from last week.

Mile 614.8 (watp for 2 miles)                                Mile 616.8 (watp for 2)

               

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Passed through Melvin, KY and have about 10 miles until I hit Mallie, KY in Floyd county.

Keep moving!

Duro-Med Cervical Pillow Review

(Duro-Med Cervical Pillow – photo credit amazon.com)

I bought the Duro-Med Cervical Pillow about three weeks ago, and so far I think it is helping. The true test will be the next several weeks. I bought the pillow a few days after my last chiropractor appointment, and I think my neck was already starting to shift out of alignment.

Before I got the pillow, I was experiencing neck pain, upper back pain, and shoulder pain. I was warned by the chiropractor that these types of pillows were hard, and it would take some getting used to. He was right. However, when it first arrived, I laid down on it, and my neck instantly released. The stress and tension went away, and it had my head a little bit higher so my shoulder and upper back weren’t being squished.

It does indeed take some getting used to. It is a firm pillow, on the verge of being hard. But I got used to it within four to five days. I wasn’t nearly as sore as I was in the mornings. I used to wake up, and my left shoulder would take a few hours to feel normal, and even then it would ache throughout the day.

I did have to put my own pillow case on it though. It does come with a washable cover, but the zipper is jangly and loud, so I just use my own now. Using my own pillow case did make it a bit softer too.

One side has a larger curve than the other, and I do use the larger curve. I feel like I get more support using the larger side. I would recommend this pillow if you have a pinched nerve in your neck, or have any type of neck, upper back, or shoulder pain.

I will say it again, this is a very firm pillow, so don’t get frustrated or annoyed when you use it. Give it a few days to a week to make up your mind. If you’re a Prime Member on Amazon, this pillow goes for about $20. I got mine for $5 since I had a few Amazon gift cards on my account.

Since it is so firm, I do experience some ear pain (not a lot), so I make sure to turn over regularly throughout the night. That’s the most annoying part of the pillow that I can think of.

Overall I do like mine. The next several weeks will be the test for any shoulder pain. I had a chiropractor appointment this morning, and my neck was actually pretty good. It surprised me, since it’s been a whole month since my last appointment. It barely needed to be adjusted. The appointment did relieve my shoulder pain though. So we’ll see what happens from here on out.

Leslie Sansone Videos On YouTube

You already know I own two of Leslie Sansone’s DVDs. I have her 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk and her 5K With A Twist. And you all know that the 5K With A Twist is my favorite. I much prefer her when she’s by herself, and not talking to her friends in the background. I do the 5K With A Twist DVD several times a week, and I love the “boosts” (jogging in place) at the end of every mile. I wanted to find more boosts.

YouTube to the rescue. In the last week or so, I’ve found four videos, two of which I know I’ll be keeping, the other two I might get rid of. Here are the two that I like.

Start Walking 2 Mile

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I like this one because it’s only 30 minutes, and she’s by herself. I’ve only done it once, and I enjoyed it. She has some moves in this video that I haven’t done before, so I like the variety. I still moderate some of the moves so I don’t end up on my butt. I remember talking before about the “double side steps” in her DVDs. I have a hard time with those, so I normally do singles. When I did this video, I tried the doubles, and it was easier than I remember. So, I’ll be doing doubles from now on.

Walk away the pounds with Leslie Sansone - Walk Slim: 4 Fast Miles

This one is a longer one, and again, I’ve only done it once. She does have people behind her that she talks to and laughs with, but it has several “boosts”. This is a four mile walk and takes about 45 minutes. It may get annoying as I do it more, but we’ll see. It’s a bit faster i n pace than the 5K With A Twist DVD. The DVD is 3.1 miles and takes about 43 minutes. So you’re getting in an extra mile (well, .9 mile) in this video.

Walk Indoors – Interval

This one I don’t think I’ll be keeping. She has people behind her, and she laughs. I enjoy Leslie, but her laugh drives me bananas. This is only a one mile workout, and I only plan to do just one mile on my sluggish days. I’ll give it one more shot, but it might go bye-bye.

1 Mile Brisk/Fast Walk

I’m guessing this was taped off of someone’s TV, and it’s only a one mile walk. I like this one because it’s a little faster than the 5K With A Twist. Even though it’s not good quality, I think I’ll keep it.

If I find any others that I like, I’ll be sure to do another post on them. Keep moving. You can do a mile in just 15 minutes if you feel like you don’t want to exercise. This is a good way to stay in motion.

Mileage Monday…A Bit Late

Normally I write up my Mileage Monday posts sometime on Sundays. This Sunday was a big blur for me. I woke up at 4:30 AM because we had a loud rain storm, and I was up at that point. Two cups of coffee and a mile on the elliptical didn’t wake me up at all. I took a 45 minute nap (I can’t remember the last time I took a nap), and just felt blurry the rest of the day.

We ended up watching part of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer marathon on SyFy, so didn’t spend too much time on the computer. Went to bed around 9 PM, slept for about an hour and a half, then woke up (one of the reasons I hate taking naps). Took a Melatonin (natural sleep aid, non addictive, and I don’t take them very often) and was out the rest of the night.

Still feeling blurry today for some reason. Might just take today as a rest day (it’s almost noon, and I’ve gotten nothing done), and get moving again tomorrow. I’m glad these blurry days don’t happen often, they’re no fun. Feel like I can sleep for days on end, but when I do fall asleep, I don’t stay asleep. Annoying.

Got some good miles in last week though. I found a few Leslie Sansone videos on YouTube that I’ll be using off and on in combination with her DVD I own and my elliptical. I’ll share those videos in another post. Here are last week’s pictures from the virtual walk site.

Mile 605.4 (watp for 3.1 miles)                              Mile 605.8 (elliptical for .5 mile)

                

Mile 609.8 (watp for 4 miles)                                 Mile 611.8 (watp for 2 miles)

                

Mile 612.8 (elliptical for 1 mile)



 

(Photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving!

Quiet Mileage Monday

It seems it was a quiet week for me on the workout front. Not sure what happened, but I only have two pictures to share. I know Friday I took off because we went to see the movie Pacific Rim. Other than that, no idea. Well…I’ll be getting my booty moving this week. Here are the two pictures from last week on the virtual walk site.

Mile 601.2 (watp for 3.1 miles)                                  Mile 602.2 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                    

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Have a great week! Keep moving.

600 Miles On The Virtual Walk

Mark another 100 miles down on the virtual walk site. I passed 600 the other day. My total mileage is actually 602.2. In the last 100 miles I finally crossed over from Virginia to Kentucky. Here are the pictures from the 601.2 point, the normal street view, the map of Kentucky, and the map of the US. It’s good to see progress on the map!

Mile 601.2 street view

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Mile 601.2 Kentucky

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Mile 601.2 USA

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving! On to the next 100 miles.

Walking And Accessibility On Our GA Vacation

(photo credit: breakingmuscle.com)

I am so happy to say my walking ability on our trip was probably one of my best times in the last six and a half years (since I started getting healthy again). I felt stable everywhere we went, and I never felt unsure of myself. There’s one day in particular that I was very nervous about, and I’ll get to that day in a minute. Let’s just say I was anxious about this one day for about a month before our trip.

Accessibility on our trip was for the most part OK. Railings, sidewalks, and what-not were great. We even had an upstairs bedroom at our Callaway Gardens cabin, and I maneuvered the stairs just fine. When we arrived at Callaway, I called for a shower chair to be delivered. We actually ended up calling twice before it showed up. It took about 8 hours or so before they actually got it to us. We think that this was the first very busy weekend of the season, and they didn’t have enough chairs to go around. I say this because when it was delivered, it still had the plastic wrapping on the legs. So my guess is that they ran out and had to go buy another one somewhere. At least it showed up, and it worked well.

My walking, like I said, was great. We walked around my sister’s neighborhood (to the pool and back) a few times. During our walk, I would let go and walk on my own for a little while. I slowed down during these times (for some reason I lose speed when I let go), but it felt good to be able to do that. In the grass was easier to walk on my own, but that’s a mental thing I’m sure. Up hill seemed to be pretty easy too for some reason. Strange.

So, the day I was anxious about. This was the day everyone was going to do the Treetop Adventure at Callaway. Before our trip, as soon as I heard the phrase “zip line”, I had mixed feelings. I really wanted to do the zip line, but when I checked it out online and saw there were other “aerial obstacles”, I knew I wouldn’t be doing this activity. So, I started fixating on how I was going to get around that day while my husband was doing this. I knew both my parents were going to be there to help, but I was still anxious.

I’ve written before about being uncomfortable with certain people helping me because of their “body type”, if that makes sense. I don’t feel comfortable with shorter people (particularly women) helping me. I also feel uncomfortable having people help me that have balance issues themselves. So I was a little concerned about my parents helping me (my mom is short and my dad has bad balance sometimes), although they are capable. It’s just my own insecurities.

The treetop adventure day worked out well though. It turned out that there were a bunch of benches right in the middle of the first part of the course. So my husband plunked me down with our camera and I was good to go. My parents and both my nephews hung around for a little while, and then went on to look at the turtles and the ducks in a different area. So, I was happy just to sit and take pictures of random people doing the zip lines and obstacles (which looked tough). Then my husband, sister, brother in-law, and niece had their turn.I made sure to get as many pictures as I could.

As they were going through the course, my sister’s friends came over and watched as well (their two kids were on the course in the same group). I’ll call them H and A to protect their identities. So my sister was apparently concerned about me sitting in the sun (I was in the shade for the most part, but the sun took over for about five to ten minutes). I did re-apply my sunscreen, but she thought I’d be better off moving to another shady spot. So, she asked H to help me over to another bench. This was the one thing I was worried about. And it was happening. I tried to decline saying the shade was going to be back in a few minutes, but my sister wouldn’t take no for an answer (she was in mom mode, heh). So I assessed the situation, and relented. In about a split second I decided H had the same body type and build as my chiropractor. So if I was comfortable with him, I’d be comfortable with H too. So, he moved me over, and it was perfectly fine. No problems at all. So thank you to H and A.

All my worrying was for nothing. A month’s worth of worrying for a five to ten second walk from one bench to another. I feel silly now, but that’s what anxiety and fear can do to you. Makes you over analyze and obsess over silly things. What’s the worst that could have happened? I could have fallen. Ooooh, ahhhh. big deal. I would have been embarrassed, but so what? People fall and get up all the time.

I did have to move one more time, but this time my husband was able to help me. They had to move to a different part of the course (to the lake portion), but they had no guide, so he came and got me.

It was a great trip and I was very glad my walking was as good as it was. Nothing makes a trip more comfortable than when my body is cooperating. If all this had happened a few years ago, I think I would have been in a lot more trouble. So, I’m glad I got my rear in gear and lost the weight and got moving again. Not to mention getting my back fixed. That was one of the main issues I had with walking.

If you made it through my entire vacation recap, good for you! It was a lot. Once I get going though, it’s hard for me to shut up. Can’t wait for our next trip, probably next summer. Who knows what adventures we’ll have then.

Eating On Our GA Vacation

(photo credit: www.nycfoodiegirl.com)

Now that we’ve talked about our travel excitement and activities on our GA vacation, it’s time to talk about the food! We had a lot of very nice meals this time around. I’ll only go into detail about the meals we had in restaurants, but the food we ate at my sister’s house was phenomenal also. A few of the things we at there included steaks, salmon with black rice, turkey burgers with Caesar salad, and hot dogs with water melon. Very tasty indeed!

Let’s start with lunches in Callaway. Our first lunch was at the Aspen’s Mountain Grill restaurant. Here’s their Yelp review, and their menu. Since we had perfect weather, we ate outside. I had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich with French fries. It was really good. Very juicy and very filling. I thought about a bacon cheeseburger, but chicken sounded more appetizing. A few people in our party ordered the bacon cheeseburger, and it looked really good.

Side note for a snack. After our lunch at Aspen’s, we walked over to an ice cream shop called Lubelle’s Ice Cream. They don’t have a website, but here’s a site for their address and directions. If you’re in the area, go here. They had two of my favorite ice cream flavors in one! Mint chocolate and cookie dough! Does it get any better that that? I think not. It was fabulous. I’d definitely go there again.

Our second lunch was at the Callaway Gardens Club House (overlooking the golf course). I didn’t write down what I had (don’t ask me why), but I believe I had a ham and cheese sandwich on white with chips...I think. Again, since it was such nice weather, we ate outside.

Lunch on Sunday was a quick (well, not so quick it turns out) hot dog and fries at Robin Lake Beach. I’m not sure what the problem was, but it took about 45 minutes for our order to come up. My guess is that the summer staff was still learning the ropes, but it just took way longer than it should have. The hot dog was good though. Pretty much what you’d expect from a little beach restaurant.

On our last day in Callaway, we had a pool-side lunch at the Marriott Hotel. There I had Grilled Chicken Salad Sandwich with fruit. I figured I had enough chips with my meals, I’d go for the fruit.

Ok, on to dinners at Callaway. Our first night of eating was spent in the Marriott’s Ironwood Lounge. For dinner, I had the Fish and Chips for dinner. They were OK, nothing spectacular, but this was a bar restaurant. I had a really nice drink to go along with it. A Blackberry Mojito. I would order that drink again, it was really good. And for dessert, I had the Strawberry Sorbet. Yum! I love a good sorbet. Here’s their menu for you to check out.

The second night we went to the Country Kitchen. This is always a tradition that we do when we go to Callaway. They had really good fried chicken.  had the Chicken and Waffles with Green Bean and Glazed Apples for dinner. Really good! The chicken was juicy and had a great crust on it. I didn’t need the waffle, but I figured I probably should experience the “chicken and waffles” combo once. I don’t think I’ve done that before. You can check out the Country Kitchen’s menu here. We couldn’t leave the restaurant without buying some fudge from their in-house store. I got some mint chocolate fudge, and my husband got plain chocolate. Very good, and we snacked on it over several days.

Our last night in Callaway we went to the Garden House. Very nice restaurant with a lot of options. Unfortunately they were out of mint, so I couldn’t have a mojito. I went with my standard rum and Coke instead. For dinner I had the Halibut. I love fish! I order it whenever I get the opportunity. For dessert, my husband and I split the Lava Cake. Ooey, gooey, goodness. You can look at their menu here.

That wraps up the meals from Callaway. We still have the Atlanta side to go. You still with me? Our first lunch out was at the Tellus Science Museum, in their little cafe.  I had a Tuna Sandwich for lunch with yogurt. I also split a brownie with my husband for dessert. You’d find these types of options at any museum or other public place I’m sure.

Our second lunch out was at Fox Brothers BBQ. I had the Smoked Chicken Salad Sandwich with Fries. I bet you’re thinking “She had chicken salad at a barbecue place?”...Well let me explain. Normally, barbecue sauce gives me massive heartburn. So, yes, I erred on the side of health caution, and opted for something a little less fiery. It was a really good chicken salad sandwich. Probably one of the best I’ve ever had. I highly recommend it, if you too have a problem with BBQ sauce. Oh yeah, we also had fried pickles for an appetizer. Very good!

My husband told me there wasn’t too much BBQ sauce on his meal. Very understated. So, if we go there again, I might be more daring and try something else. You can see their.

Our last lunch of our trip was eaten at one of our favorite places. This is a must stop every time we go to Atlanta. Ted’s Montana Grill. This time, I did go for the Bacon Cheeseburger with fries. I chose bison instead of ground beef. This is why we love Ted’s. They serve bison. I can’t think of a place around where we live that serves bison, that’s why Ted’s is a must. You’d think since the name is Ted’s Montana Grill, they’d have locations out west. Nope. They need to expand, they’d do really well out here. Look at their menu and see for yourself.

On the morning we flew back to CA, we had brunch at a place called First Watch. I had the Breakfast Scramble with fruit. I gave my fruit to my niece because she was fruit hungry that morning. Hehehe. The scramble was really good, and I would get it again. It was a scramble of eggs, ham, spinach, melted Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese. It was all on top of multi-grain toast. There was hollandaise sauce drizzled over it. I don’t think I would have put the toast under the scramble. I’m not a big fan of soggy toast, but this was pretty good. You can look at their menu here.

We did have one dinner out while we were in Atlanta, and it was a goodie. The restaurant is called Canoe and it’s in a very lovely area. The outside atmosphere is wonderful for parties and large gatherings. I could easily see wedding receptions being held outside. To start off with, I had the Walnut Salad for my appetizer. It was a great start, it tasted fantastic! Next I had the Halibut for the main course. Again, fabulous. Cooked very well, and I savored every bite. For dessert, I had the Key Lime Cheesecake. Yes, key lime cheesecake. Great combination. I also had a very nice drink called Las Verdona. I can’t remember now what was in it, and I can’t find a drink menu from Canoe. But it was a really nice drink. Here’s their main menu and their dessert menu.

And that is the end of the food portion of the recap. I procrastinated doing this write-up because there is a lot to recap. But, I got it done. I would recommend every place we ate at, and all of the food I ate. It was all fabulous.

Stay tuned for the final part of the recap which will talk about my walking and the accessibility of the places we went to.

Activities On Our GA Vacation

Our first day in Atlanta was pretty laid back and relaxed. It was our niece’s and nephew’s last day of school, and they were both a part of the end of year talent show. Our nephew had a really cool act showing off his Tae Kwon Do abilities. And our niece was one of the talent show’s stage hands. Everyone put on a great performance!

After the talent show, my parents, husband, and youngest nephew all headed over to Party City and bought a bunch of Silly String. When the kids got off the bus, all of us sprayed them with the string. It was a good time and everyone had a lot of fun. Lots of silly string to be picked up off the yards, but well worth it.

Friday through Monday we spent at Callaway Gardens. Friday was spent packing up and driving, but we still got there early enough to do things. We decided that would be a good day for the Butterfly Center. There were a ton of butterflies, moths, and other critters. This guy was my favorite. I love the color of his tail.

Saturday we had a nice time outside. We headed over to the Birds of Prey show at the Discovery Amphitheater. We’ve seen this show before, and it seems as though they added in a new element. The birds, including the Harris Hawk below, swooped over the audience several times. I don’t remember them flying over the audience in past shows. They always flew from one perch to another So that was exciting. I had to duck several times, because I thought I’d get hit in the head.

Sunday was a fun-filled day for most of our gathering. First we headed over to Robin Lake Beach, where the kids swam in the lake and had a lot of fun. I just enjoyed the bench swing and the amazingly cool weather. My husband and I also took a short walk up and down the beach on the sidewalk. I didn’t know how long we would be there, so it was a short walk.

Later that day, my sister, brother in-law, my husband, and our niece all did the Treetop Adventure. This adventure is a series of zip lines, and in between these zip lines are what I describe as aerial obstacles. I really wanted to try it, but there was no way. I might have been able to do the zip lines by themselves. Maybe. But the other obstacles, no way. Lots of balance and coordination was required, and I lack in both. So I planted myself in a good spot, and I took a lot of photos. I should have switched the camera over to movie-mode (or used my iPod, duh) to take a video of everyone going along on the course. Everyone in the group did amazingly well, and I was told, that yes it was very hard. Everyone was really sore for the next few days.

Monday, we went back over to Robin Lake Beach for a little while, and then started the drive back to Atlanta. I once again enjoyed the nice weather and cool breeze sitting on the bench swing. Our time at Callaway was a lot of fun, with interesting activities.

The rest of our trip was spent in Atlanta. Tuesday we went somewhere brand new (well at least for the out-of-towners). We went to The Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, GA. The Science in Motion exhibit takes you on a journey through time, from the Wright Brothers to the moon. You’ll see a lot of classic cars, a quadricycle from 1896, and a Benz Patent Motorwagon from 1886. In the space portion of the Science in Motion exhibit, you’ll see a replica of Sputnik, as well as replicas of a Mercury capsule and Apollo I capsule. Pretty cool stuff.

There is also a fossil gallery and a mineral gallery at the Tellus Science Museum. You’ll get to see a ton of minerals on display as well as gold and other gems. The display signs tell you where in the world you can find these minerals. In the fossil exhibit there’s replicas of a saber-tooth cat, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and a whole lot more. This is what we saw when we first entered the museum.

There is a lot for kids to do at the Tellus Science Museum. They can pan for gems and dig for fossils in the Fossil Dig and Gem Panning exhibit area, and there’s also a large area called My Big Back Yard where there there are a lot of hands-on science activities to do.

I could go on and on about this science center, it was really an interesting and fun place to visit. There’s also the Solar House exhibit which we didn’t see. We’ll have to check that out sometime in the future.

That’s about everything we did other than a few trips to the book store and seeing the movie Epic. We had a really fun time this year in Atlanta and Callaway. I’m sure we’ll be back very soon to do more fun stuff with family.

Getting To Our Destination On Our GA Vacation

(photo credit: www.thefineyounggentleman.com)

 

It's been about a month since we got back from our vacation in Atlanta. I know, I know, I said I'd have a recap by the end of the first week of June. I enjoy doing vacation recaps, but they're sometimes so daunting to write because there's a lot to write about. I also have a very bad habit of thinking something will take me a lot longer to do than it actually does. Does that make sense? Anyway, here is part 1 of the long-awaited vacation recap.

We did a lot of activities on this trip. Lots of fun and new experiences this time around. Getting to Atlanta in the first place ended up to be an adventure in itself. Our flight from Palm Springs was supposed to leave at 7:00 AM, but it was delayed an hour. The storms and tornadoes were the culprit. Flights were delayed one day, and it carried into the following day, according to the flight attendants. Anyway, we left Palm Springs at 8:00 AM and landed in Dallas with only five minutes to make our connecting flight. Needless to say, we missed that flight.

We tried like the dickens to make it though. Most of the time, the only reason I ask for a wheelchair at the airports is to make getting to our connecting flights easier. I'm glad I did this trip. We had a wheelchair waiting in Dallas, however the man who was pushing me stopped just outside the boarding doors and told us to wait a minute. This was after telling him we had to hurry to make our connection. The guy went somewhere else (I assume to get another wheelchair passenger up the ramp). I growled under my breath and said through gritted teeth “We don't have a minute, we need to move now”. Well, my husband didn't wait. He grabbed the wheelchair and sprinted us through the airport, onto the tram thing, and dashed us to our gate. We missed it by about 5 minutes. Fun.

We asked the people at the counter what we needed to do. We had two options. We could wait in Dallas for a an hour and a half for the next flight to Atlanta, or we could fly to New York and then down to Atlanta. I believe that option was guaranteed, at least the flight to New York. Ugh. Was there any question? We chose to stay in Dallas. They put us on stand-by for another flight, told us where to go, and sent us on our way. We got the next gate and waited. And waited. And waited. The flight started to board and we saw the list for stand-by people. It was really long, and we were about 6 people down the list. We didn't make that flight. So, onto to next. Missed that one too. Finally the people behind the desk found us a flight and made sure we got on it. I'm not sure what made them make sure we got on, but I'm thankful they did. We finally got on the plane, and got to Atlanta around 9:30 PM. Long day.

The flights to Atlanta were peaceful, minus the five and a half hours in Dallas. The first flight back from Atlanta was also peaceful. The flight from Dallas to Palm Springs? Well, it was interesting. We were one of the first to board the plane (one of the nice perks of using a wheelchair at the airport). Another pre-boarder was a young woman with a very very young baby. Looked to be about 3 or 4 months old. She sat across the aisle from us.

As the plane filled up, two people sat behind us. With dog carriers. I looked at my husband and said, “This could be a very interesting flight”. What made it more “interesting” was the flight attendant. She just gushed and gushed over the two dogs. She said something about “liking puppies just fine, but not babies on a plane”. What? Did she really just say that? I don’t remember her exact words, but I was so mad.

What was the end result? The baby did better than the dogs. The dogs weren't bad, but they were more vocal than the baby. Yes, the baby cried in the beginning, for about 5 minutes. And then fell asleep. The dogs barked on and off (mostly off thank goodness) throughout the flight. And the woman wasn't much better. There for a while all we heard was “Settle.” “Bark.” Settle.” “Bark.” “Settle.” “Bark.” Yeah, it was annoying. I'll take babies on a plane any day.

So, that was our travel experience to and from Atlanta. I'll talk about the actual trip in my next entry. At least I can look back now and laugh at the situation. At the time it was happening, I was not pleased.

Mileage Monday

Back into full swing with my workouts starting tomorrow. I took most of the last two weeks off from strength training because of my upper back and neck being sore. My neck is still a bit stiff, but at least I can do my elliptical without a problem.

I’m closing in on 600 miles on the virtual walk! Still in Kentucky, and I’ve passed through the city of Lookout. I have about 5 miles until I reach Melvin, KY in Pike county. Once I reach 600 miles, I’ll post a picture of the map of where I am. I haven’t done that in a while. Here are last week’s pictures.

Mile 595.2 (watp for 1 mile)                                     Mile 596.2 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                  

Mile 597.2 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                 Mile 598.2 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                   

Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab

Keep moving!

Slow Mileage Monday!

Not many pictures for this Mileage Monday post. I had to take a few days off this week due to a very sore upper back and neck. I have no idea what I did, but it hurt to turn my head from side to side and also to bend it forward. It even hurt to pick up my coffee cup. I remember back before I started going to the chiropractor it hurt to pick up my coffee cup. So, in I went to see the chiropractor. It had been three weeks, so I was due anyway.

Good thing I went. My upper back was way out of whack. He found the trouble area right away, and got that sucker back in place. He asked if I had fallen, and I said no. So we both figured it was how I was sleeping. He suggested a certain type of pillow for me to try, so I’m looking into some. I have a few picked out, but have to make sure they’re the right kind before I buy one.

Normally when he adjusts my neck he does it one time to each side. This time he did it about 4 times to get everything straightened out. All the muscles were tight and did not want to move (even with a Xanax in me; took one this time mainly to relax my muscles, not for anxiety). I was still sore on Saturday, but not as bad. I used my heating pad and ice pack throughout the day and that made it a lot better.

Sunday was a whole lot better. I still used the heating pad and ice pack, but didn’t really need to take any Aleve (good thing since we’re out now). It’s still sore, but bearable now.

Not sure what my plans are exercise-wise this week. I might take strength training off the list and just do my elliptical or my Leslie Sansone dvd. Not sure about that either, the muscle near my rib cage keeps threatening to cramp up. Leslie Sansone might be the way to go and I just skip the arm parts.

OK, enough of me whining about my aches and pains. On to the pictures from last week from the virtual walk site. We’ll see if I have any for next Monday. Take it one day at a time.

Mile 592.2 (watp for 3.1 miles)                                  Mile 593.2 (watp for 1 mile)

                    

Mile 594.2 (elliptical for 1)


 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving!