Dealing With Sluggishness

I’ve mentioned before that every now and then I feel like I’m an old person. Everything is achy and tired, and it takes all the energy I have to do the simplest things. Last Thursday was one of those days. I did nothing that day. About the only thing I did do was get dressed. Other than that, I was a slug.

Those days are usually few and far between. I don’t know what causes them, they just appear. Friday was a whole other story. I did a ton of housework and managed to throw away one large garbage bag of “stuff” that was under our coffee table. Our coffee table is unique. The top of it lifts up, and there are two cubbies that are used as storage. We keep everything from batteries to product manuals in those cubbies. And a bunch of other stuff. Then the lower part of the table is solid, so we put things down there as well.

I got tired of the clutter, so I got down and cleared everything off. Dust bunnies bounded out like crazy. Old things we never used got tossed. Old manuals got thrown away (I still had the manual for my first elliptical). Now everything is nice and tidy. Since I was kneeling for several hours (I also spent a good hour cleaning the entire bathroom), my legs were tired, and my feet were cramping. I considered that my workout for the day.

I took off Saturday and Sunday also. Not sure what happened Monday and Tuesday, but those days were taken off also. Wednesday, I did half a mile on the elliptical. That half mile put me at an even 500 miles on the virtual walk site. I decided on a half a mile that day instead of a mile because I had a few twinges in my right ankle. Not a big deal, it’s fine today. I could have gone longer, but I wanted to see that 500 mile picture (you’ll see it soon, I promise).

Today’s Friday, and I plan to take today off, only because I have other things I need to do. I plan on doing a mile Saturday, and then go from there.

I tend to listen to my body more as I age. I’m not as young as I used to be, but I’m far from being “old”. Some days I feel like a 20 year old, other days, I feel like I’m 90. I never know until I get out of bed how I’ll feel. Just take it as it comes.

But in the process, keep moving!

Walking Wednesday

I have nothing in particular to talk about today, so I thought I’d get you all caught up some more on the pictures from the virtual site. I took Sunday off, and I just did strength training on Monday.

Tuesday I did one mile on the elliptical, and it felt pretty good. I accomplished my goal of doing it in blocks of 300 revolutions. I think I probably could have done the last chunk in 400 revolutions, but I took that last break. Might try that sometime soon. Not sure if I should up my chunks to 400 or not yet. Soon, but maybe not quite yet.

Here are some pictures.

Mile 469.6 (Elliptical for .7 mile)                                    Mile 470.4 (Elliptical for .7 mile)

                       

Mile 471 (Elliptical for .7 mile)                                       Mile 471.6 (Elliptical for .5 mile)

                       

Mile 472.6 (Elliptical for 1 mile)                                     Mile 473.6

                       

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Tuesday’s Stats:

Cardio - Elliptical:
Distance - 1 mile
Revolutions - 1600
Resistance Level - 1
Endurance - Good. Stopped at 300, 600, 900, 1200, and 1500 revs.
Injury - None.
Time - 32:08

Up for tomorrow? Strength training and another mile!

Keep moving!

Good Reads Lately

Too many books, and no time to read them all. That’s my problem. Although, over the last 5 or 6 months, I’ve read quite a few books (for me). I’ve listed a few of my favorites below, along with upcoming books I’m planning to get to soon.

Book I’ve Read:

Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks:
-The Way of Shadows
-Shadow’s Edge
-Beyond the Shadows

The Night Angel trilogy is a fantasy series that follows the story of an orphan boy, named Azoth. The series follows him through young adulthood, in which he becomes a magical assassin. He struggles with choosing his profession or choosing a family life.

This series is a bit slow, but still a good read. Easy to get though, and is what I consider to be a light read. It took me a few months to read all three books.

The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin:

I’m currently reading this science fiction book, and I have about 100 pages left to go. It’s been a great read so far. This is about a man, Justin Cord, who puts himself into cryostasis due to a health issue (don’t want to ruin anything). He gets revived 300 years later and the world is totally different. Everyone is “incorporated” at birth, and over their lifetime they try and get more control over their lives by obtaining more of their stock. The more of their own stock they have, the more independent they are. Just is not incorporated and is fighting to stay that way.

The Passage by Justin Cronin:

This is a book my parents got me over the holidays last year. It’s probably one of my favorite books that I’ve read over the last several years. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world, due to a military experiment gone wrong. Vampire-like monsters abound, and if someone gets bitten, they get the virus and turn into a monster too. The story follows the colonies of this new world and how they live through the new times.

I don’t want to give too much away, and it would be easy to do this. I just found out that this is planned to be a trilogy. I knew about the second book in the series which was just released about a week ago, but I guess there’s a third book that will be out sometime too. Good news!

Upcoming Books to Read:

The following are books that I plan to read soon.

The Twelve - Book following The Passage
The Unincorporated War - Book following The Unincorporated Man
The Unincorporated Woman - Book following The Unincorporated Woman

Other than those, I’m sure there are a ton more books that I will want to read. I need to learn to speed read.

What are you all reading these days? What’s your favorite genre?

Mileage Monday Strikes Again!

Seems like I just did one of these. The days are flying by, and so are the miles! Monday’s workout might be a light day or another off day. I might just do strength training, and call it a day. My lower right leg still has knots in it, plus I was doing a lot of kneeling and bending over on Sunday. So I worked out Sunday, even though I didn’t “work out”.

I went through a bunch of old clothes and washed them. I plan on giving them away someplace. I do not like throwing away clothes if they’re still wearable. I feel bad. I have a hard time giving stuff away sometimes too. I still have my Snoopy from when I was like 3 years old. Plus a few other stuffed animals. They’re in a bag in the closet. What should I do with them? Hmmm.

I went through one drawer thinking it was full of certain clothes, but it turned out to be filled with my fat pants. No hesitation on those suckers. They went into the washing machine and will be given away somewhere at some point.

We’ll see what happens today in terms of working out. I won’t feel bad for taking it off if I do. Tuesday, however, I’ll be aiming for a mile on the elliptical. We’ll see how the knots are then.

Here are the pictures from the virtual walk site.

Mile 466.2 (elliptical for .5 mile)                                  Mile 466.8 (elliptical for .5 mile)

                     

Mile 467.2 (elliptical for .5 mile)                                  Mile 467.8 (elliptical for .5 mile

                     

Mile 468.2 (elliptical for .5 mile)                                   Mile 469 (elliptical for .7 mile)

                      

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving!

Music Helps Everything Go A Little Faster

Sunday has been a long day so far, and it’s not even noon. Only had about 5 hours of sleep, thought the husband was working this morning, and was up at 5:30. Turns out, no work (woohoo!), but there was no going back to bed either. Today, I’m dealing with laundry, going through old clothes, and doing a general clean-up of stuff. I’m not exercising today, due to all the other stuff I’m doing. I also have been dealing with muscle knots in my lower right leg (the knee twitch is still there too, heh). So a day off might ease up the knots.

What helps me do all this housework? Music! You all know I have to listen to music when I’m on the elliptical, but I’ve begun listening to it as I clean too. I use Pandora.com to listen to streaming music. I have a variety of play lists to choose from. On the elliptical I use my “cardio list”, which includes (in no particular order) Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga (although I think I might delete her), Nickelback, Bon Jovi, Pink, Katy Perry, and Matchbox Twenty. I need to add Googoo Dolls to that list.

If you remember a long time ago, I said I could only listen to Bon Jovi when I exercised. No more. As a matter of fact...get ready for it...they’re no longer my favorite band. I know, shocker right? Who is my favorite band now? Matchbox Twenty. They came on the music scene back in the mid to late 1990s. Their first album “Yourself or Someone Like You” came out in late 1996, and a few of the more popular songs on that album were “Long Day”, “3 A.M.”, and “Push”. Then came their album “Mad Season” in 2000, and there are too many great songs to list on that one. The album “More Than You Think You Are” came in 2002. Then they vanished for a while. A few members did their solo gigs, and in 2007, they came out with a greatest hits album that had a few new songs.

I was really excited for their new album that came out just a few weeks ago. It’s called “North”, and I absolutely love it. I don’t listen to “real” radio anymore, but their first single that’s on the radio is called “She’s So Mean”. I bought the album on iTunes, and that purchase came with the “She’s So Mean” video. I’ve also subscribed to their YouTube channel.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8WLa6umgdw&w=560&h=315]

So, 10 years between albums, and they’re still fantastic. I was tempted to switch my favorite band 10 years ago, but they vanished. Now that they’re back, I’ve switched.

I still like Bon Jovi, don’t get me wrong, but they’re nowhere near the same as they used to be. Time for a change.

All right, time to switch the laundry, and get more stuff done. And drink my iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks. Caffeine is a must today.

That book post that I mentioned a few days ago is coming this week, so be on the look out. In the meantime, keep moving!

Who’s your favorite music group?

Do The iPad Dance!

What, you may ask, is the iPad dance? Well, it’s when you have your iPad (or any tablet) in your lap, and a muscle in your leg decides to go crazy and spasm. A muscle just above my right knee has been going nuts since Friday morning. If I’m not doing anything, it will jump and twitch. It stops whenever I get up and do something, but as soon as I sit down, it’ll start back up again. It doesn’t hurt, it just feel strange.

I was on the couch last night  with my iPad, and it was going crazy. The iPad was dancing, and I just started laughing. It was comical. So, that’s how you do the iPad dance. Hehehe.

I completed my workout yesterday, and I’ve already gotten today’s workout done also. Yesterday I did my strength training as well as a mile on the elliptical. I again met my goal of doing it in 300 revolution chunks. The last 300 chunk Friday was a bit rough, but I pushed through. Then I did the last 100 with no problem. Today’s mile was pretty strong, which surprised me. I thought I might get tired around the 900 rev mark. But I didn’t tire until the last 300 chunk again.

Here are Friday and Saturday’s stats.

Friday:

Strength Training:

Regular Routine

Cardio - Elliptical:
Distance - 1 mile
Revolutions - 1600
Resistance Level - 1
Endurance - Good. Stopped at 300, 600, 900, 1200, and 1500 revs.
Injury - None
Time - 31:58

Saturday:

Cardio - Elliptical:
Distance - 1 Mile
Revolutions - 1600
Resistance Level - 1
Endurance - Good. Stopped at 300, 600, 900, 1200, and 1500 revs.
Injury - None
Time - 32:10

I had a minor distraction today with the elliptical. Right before I was going to get on, Abby decided to hop in my lap. She didn’t stay long, but I couldn’t say no. I actually took a picture of her since my iPod was sitting right there. Could you say no to a face this cute?

I think not. But as soon as she got down, I got busy. She decided to take a nap on the couch while I did my thing. She’s still snoozing, and it’s been a few hours. Ah, to be a cat. Keep moving.

What Day Is It?

My days are confused. It feels like Thursday. It’s Friday! I did indeed take Thursday off. Back at it today though. Bright and early. I’ve got strength training on the agenda and one mile on the elliptical. Shouldn’t be a problem.

Don’t really have much to say today, so let’s get to it. I’ll post again tomorrow with today’s stats.