Hi Everyone!
Popping back in briefly to let you all know I'm still around, but swamped beyond belief. It'll probably be a couple more weeks before things are back to what passes for normal around here. :-)
All's well - not much different on the health & fitness front. I'm running a little bit more, but I missed my strength stuff last week. The Things were on school break, which eased up the home schedule a bit, but the work schedule has been pretty relentless. This coming week is going to be quite the juggle, but life will do that now & then. My plan? Is to plan, and backup plan, when it comes to the food & fitness stuff: pack lots of veggies in my lunches (and Greek-style yogurt - Safeway had a lot of it on sale this week!) and stick to my workout plans. I've been finding it's the workout plans that tend to suffer during times like these, so here's the schedule:
Monday: If no meeting conflicts, lunchtime transformer class + run 1 mile + evening hula class; if meeting conflicts, just hula class.
Tuesday: Treadmill run at the gym (3 miles) at lunch. (Backup: stationary bike @ home, evening)
Wednesday: Gym in the morning; 1 mile on elliptical + strength exercises. (Backup: 30 Day shred @ home, evening)
Thursday: Treadmill run at the gym (3 miles) at lunch. (Backup: stationary bike @ home, evening)
Friday: Morning lap swim, 30 minutes. Backup plan: Walk at lunch.
Saturday: Flop.
Sunday: If no rainy weather, run or bike ride outside; if rainy weather, stationary bike at home.
Hope everyone has a great week ahead!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Event report: 14-Miler for the 1st Annual Blogger's Healthy Heart Weekend!
As many of you probably know, Lori of the blog Finding Radiance sponsored the 1st Annual Blogger's Healthy Heart Weekend this past weekend! It was a virtual event, in which people could create their own event, to be done over the Valentine's Day weekend. (And of course, she offered fabulous prizes!)
Well, how could I not make that one of my Q1 2011 events?
Because weekends are a tricky time for me to schedule in exercise stuff, I wasn't entirely sure which day or what I would be doing. My swim on Friday would have been a nice candidate, had I remembered to take pictures. I thought of the sunset hike I'd planned with Mr. Handsome-and-Handy for our date night, but again, we both forgot our phones, so no photos. Plus it ended up being a short and not a very heart rate-raising hike, since we were going out to dinner after. (What? Our fellow diners would object to a little sweat?) We did catch an amazing sunset up on Pillar Point Bluffs - we even saw the green flash! Which is just a little bit of green light, not a huge flash, but still very cool to see.
So I knew Sunday would be my last chance. I fueled up with some peanut flour protein waffles (Lori's recipe - which works great for pancakes OR waffles! Mr. H&H prefers them as waffles.) and bacon and egg and coffee, and got in my grubby clothes. D'oh! Forgot there was a Detroit Red Wings game on TV, and I thought it would be nice to watch one with Mr. H&H for a change. And it was nice, plus I got some knitting done, too.
And then someone wanted me to make mudpies with her. How could I resist this?
You know, the great part about making mudpies is that you have the fun and creativity of cooking, but without having to eat it, or find someone else to eat it for you!
We ended up making mud soup, mud cookies out of the first failed mud cake, and that lovely item. We also ended up blowing bubbles with Thing 1 and his friend, and I was pretty happily occupied until it was time to help Thing 1 with some homework. Ugh.
But then, I got my chance to get out on my bike and do my event! I decided to ride 14 miles, in honor of Valentine's Day. I ended up riding north toward the harbor (cutting over to the coastal trail as soon as possible, there were a lot of cars on the road - which meant some slow & go in the more popular walking sections, but it was worth not having to worry as much about cars), and then back down past the state beach, then back out to the highway, down the bike trail, up the bike trail, and through town (had to walk in spots there). I did a lap up to the high school and around the parking lots, and then headed to my neighborhood, where I had to do an extra lap to get my 14. Whew! It took an hour and a half to do the whole thing, but that takes into account the walking spots (had to walk a few blocks through town, plus had a massive gear shift failure going up the rather steep hill to the high school), photos, crossing the street at cross walks, and the like.
The weather was cool and the clouds were rolling in, but it was very pleasant once I got going. I tried out my new running gloves, and they worked nicely for keeping my hands warm on the bike. I also sported my very bright and reflective safety vest, and it was comfortable. When I paused on the trail for one of my photos, a very happy dog came trotting up to me, bearing a large stick. I said, "Wow, for me?" But no, he was just showing off. I laughed, because it reminded me of Noah, Debby's dog, who enjoys collecting sticks longer than himself, too.
And now, the photos:
Well, how could I not make that one of my Q1 2011 events?
Because weekends are a tricky time for me to schedule in exercise stuff, I wasn't entirely sure which day or what I would be doing. My swim on Friday would have been a nice candidate, had I remembered to take pictures. I thought of the sunset hike I'd planned with Mr. Handsome-and-Handy for our date night, but again, we both forgot our phones, so no photos. Plus it ended up being a short and not a very heart rate-raising hike, since we were going out to dinner after. (What? Our fellow diners would object to a little sweat?) We did catch an amazing sunset up on Pillar Point Bluffs - we even saw the green flash! Which is just a little bit of green light, not a huge flash, but still very cool to see.
So I knew Sunday would be my last chance. I fueled up with some peanut flour protein waffles (Lori's recipe - which works great for pancakes OR waffles! Mr. H&H prefers them as waffles.) and bacon and egg and coffee, and got in my grubby clothes. D'oh! Forgot there was a Detroit Red Wings game on TV, and I thought it would be nice to watch one with Mr. H&H for a change. And it was nice, plus I got some knitting done, too.
And then someone wanted me to make mudpies with her. How could I resist this?
You know, the great part about making mudpies is that you have the fun and creativity of cooking, but without having to eat it, or find someone else to eat it for you!
We ended up making mud soup, mud cookies out of the first failed mud cake, and that lovely item. We also ended up blowing bubbles with Thing 1 and his friend, and I was pretty happily occupied until it was time to help Thing 1 with some homework. Ugh.
But then, I got my chance to get out on my bike and do my event! I decided to ride 14 miles, in honor of Valentine's Day. I ended up riding north toward the harbor (cutting over to the coastal trail as soon as possible, there were a lot of cars on the road - which meant some slow & go in the more popular walking sections, but it was worth not having to worry as much about cars), and then back down past the state beach, then back out to the highway, down the bike trail, up the bike trail, and through town (had to walk in spots there). I did a lap up to the high school and around the parking lots, and then headed to my neighborhood, where I had to do an extra lap to get my 14. Whew! It took an hour and a half to do the whole thing, but that takes into account the walking spots (had to walk a few blocks through town, plus had a massive gear shift failure going up the rather steep hill to the high school), photos, crossing the street at cross walks, and the like.
The weather was cool and the clouds were rolling in, but it was very pleasant once I got going. I tried out my new running gloves, and they worked nicely for keeping my hands warm on the bike. I also sported my very bright and reflective safety vest, and it was comfortable. When I paused on the trail for one of my photos, a very happy dog came trotting up to me, bearing a large stick. I said, "Wow, for me?" But no, he was just showing off. I laughed, because it reminded me of Noah, Debby's dog, who enjoys collecting sticks longer than himself, too.
And now, the photos:
Starting mileage (because I don't know how to reset the mile counter!)
Ol' Trusty-but-not-Rusty!
Greetings from the trail!
Wish you were here - and I bet you do, too!
Sunset from the high school hilltop - hoo boy, I'd better get home before the streetlights come on!
Ending mileage!
Happy and hopefully a little more heart-healthy! Thanks, Lori!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
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