Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Ah, the weekend! I thought I better get a blog post out before another week goes by.
What's been going on? Well, not much. I worked an extra shift this week, so I had five ten hour work days in a row. I would get up in the morning (on Tues, Wed, Thurs) run 4 miles on the treadmill, shower, gather up my food for the day, and get out the door. In the evening, I would prepare my food for the day, and interact a little with the family, and then go to bed.
I take all my food to eat at work-that way I can control exactly what I am eating. I don't stray from that too much. That way, I am not sucked into fast food for lunch, or eating too many of the candies that we buy for the staff.
I've been enjoying the juicer this week; grapefruits were a good buy, 5 for 2 bucks, so I have been enjoying fresh grapefruit juice.
I also measure out portions of whatever fabulous food the hubby has made for the week: lamb vindaloo with basmati rice, steamed venison roast (on top of a kickass salad I made), sushi, kale soup.
Results: I am down a half pound this week. WW says I am losing an average of 0.6 lbs per week, which is just fine with me! I've also decreased about another 1/2 inch off my hips, waist, and chest from a week ago. I'm very stoked about that. As I keep seeing positive results, it drives me to keep working out and watching portion sizes and food choices.

Salt Fork Saturday Too Nice Not to go Long

Actually,my yesterday was only about one mile longer than I had planned on. I started out on the Shadebush Trail, which was two miles over to the Lodge (and back). To my surprise, I felt kind of sluggish-not my normal joyful self out there. Still, I plodded on. To my surprise, I encountered two runners heading toward me-must have been guests at the Lodge, as I never see anyone on these hiking trails.

The trail ended right below the Lodge parking lot, and I jogged over to the lot just to see the distance-0.1 of a mile. I know I had not mentioned this before, but there is a 1/2 trail marathon being planned for February 2011. This would be a nice loop out from the Lodge.

As I headed back from the Lodge, the endorphins kicked in along with the Beastie Boys on the Zune. As I ended that trail at four miles,I decided to head down the road to try the “Green” Bridle Trail. I had not been on this before, and decided to run down it about a mile and then turn back.

So you know where this is going right? I’m having such fun on the new trail that I’m already at 1.2 miles when I glance at the Garmin. Then I recognize the pine grove ahead, and I know the Green Trail will intersect with the Purple Bridle Trail-which will then also intersect with the Shadebush Trail. My only wildcard is I’m not sure how far down the Purple Trail will be before I intersect the Shadebush.

It turns out not so much, about a mile or so. This could be a good option of a loop for the trail marathon next year-this loop ends up at around 7.3 miles from the Lodge.

I had brought my pear-kale juice with me as my recovery drink. It seemed to hold up well, and was quite the tasty treat afterwards! The real tasty treat though, was the 40 degree temperature, and the sun shining through the cloud cover on occasion!

Run for Regis Report January 17

The traditional "Winter Buckeye Trail" has morphed into the "Regis Runs" or "Run for Regis". This fun run event is put on by Regis Shiver's friend, Tanya Cady. Money raised by the event goes to the Fisher House, which provides low-cost or free accommodations for family when a veteran is under going hospitalization. (Think Ronald McDonald House for adults).
It is also not held on the Buckeye Trail, due to issues with the ski resort and folks around the Boston Store. Instead, new headquarters were at the Ledges Shelter, with ample parking. The route consisted of two loops: one 8.5 mile and one 5.5 mile. It was up to you to decide what length you wanted to run.
I chose just one time running of both loops. I had not gotten a long run in for a long time, and with being sick the week before, I opted for the 1/2 marathon.
We were off promptly at 730 am; the 1/2 marathon group went left, the 50K starters went to the five mile loop, to ease up on trail congestion.
I promptly ended up running with Sarah, an old running friend whom I had not seen in a year or two! It was great running about a mile or so talking to her. She's discovered trails and has been enjoying them. I had to stop and adjust my running tights and Sarah ran on. I did then run off and on with two nice ladies who were also new to winter trail running. I had forgotten their names now!!! But I believe I may see them at the Fool's 50K !

Coming back on the 8 mile loop, I saw my friend Mark Shelton, who was out taking pictures of runners. I stopped to chat with him for probably ten minutes. It was nice just being able to stop and talk, and not worry about time, or be concerned about getting in my 50K!
The out and backs were great, as it gave me a chance to see all sorts of friends that I missed in the lodge in the morning. I was really enjoying myself!

Oh yeah, the course: very nice.Mainly the snow was packed down. Having screwed shoes, I was able to cruise the downhills very confidently. As I neared the end of my little run, the wear and tear on the trail was becoming much more evident; more mud and slush emerging. I was very happy with my decision to stop at 13'ish miles.
Changed into dry clothes, I got my cool purple top and homemade chili and grilled cheese sandwich. I then hung out for about another 2 hours just talking to friends before I reluctantly departed south.
As I got on the highway, just a few miles south, the rain began. I hoped everyone would get their run in before the cool rain began.

Tanya Cady and her volunteers put on another top notch fun run for the annual "Run for Regis". This event sold out a few months in advance. Look for the announcement in the fall and sign up promptly!

The Hidden Benefits of Exercise

A nice article from the Wall Street Journal on the hidden benefits of exercise: it can help fight off colds and help prevent disease. I realize I'm preaching to the choir if you are reading my blog, you probably already exercise on a regular basis.

I found this statistic sad: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 36% of U.S. adults didn't engage in any leisure-time physical activity in 2008.

Perhaps there is a correlation with this: Numbers posted by the National Center for Health Statistics show that more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, compared to 32.7 percent who are overweight. It said just under 6 percent are "extremely" obese.


This article brought to my attention from another fellow blogger, Scott Dunlap, check out his blog!

Birthday

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip. ~Author Unknown

I will be celebrating my birthday on the 7th, since I have that day off from work. I still haven't decided on a birthday workout yet. I may play it by ear and see what the weather gods provide me to play in outside.

January

"Little January
Tapped at my door today.
And said, "Put on your winter wraps,
And come outdoors to play."
Little January
Is always full of fun;
Until the set of sun.
Little January
Will stay a month with me
And we will have such jolly times -
Just come along and see."
- Winifred C. Marshall, January

"The door was shut, as doors should be,
Before you went to bed last night;
Yet Jack Frost has got in, you see,
And left your window silver white.

He must have waited till you slept;
And not a single word he spoke,
But pencilled o'er the panes and crept
Away again before you woke.

And now you cannot see the hills
Nor fields that stretch beyond the lane;
But there are fairer things than these
His fingers traced on every pane."
- Gabriel Setoun, Jack Frost

"Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow."
- Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

"There are two seasonal diversions that can ease the bite of any winter.
One is the January thaw. The other is the seed catalogues."
- Hal Borland

Becoming One with the Treadmill

Almost identical workout to yesterday. One hour walk, about 3.1 MPH to 3.2 MPH, on the treadmill, at 12% incline. Lower it back down to 1%, run for 40 minutes, for 3.3 miles more.

We took the dogs out about 11 am. As I walked toward the barn (with longjohns, windpants, parka, gloves, etc..) I thought it wasn't too bad, and I could go for a run in this. As we ventured out past the barn, and the wind started to blow, I thought, nope, it's another inside workout for me. I don't have anything to prove by being miserable for a 4 mile run around the block.

The good news is, 25 degrees will seem balmy (sometime soon I hope!)!!

Baby it's Cold Outside

Looking at the weather forecast for the weekend, I was glad I decided not to attend any of the numerous FA's happening this weekend. I just didn't feel like travelling-any of the races would be a 2 or 3 hour drive.
It's 1pm here and it's still not even twenty degrees out. I have a feeling with the temperature, the dog's normal hike around the estate will be postponed. Our Rottie mix has some problems his paws when the temperature really drops, so we don't like to take him on an extended period in the extreme cold.
My friend Brian gave me some inspiration, since he 1) actually blogged and 2) Did 1.5 hours on the treadmill at 15% incline. I hopped on the treadmill, where I discovered my treadmill has a maximum of 12%. I did one hour at 12%, with a 3.2 MPH. Then it became much easier to decrease the incline to 1% and get 7 miles in.
I did get a DVR for Christmas, so I was able to watch some taped "Biggest Loser" episodes. I rewatched the marathon episode. For some reason, when I saw this originally, I thought Dan and Helen (?) had completed the marathon in 51/2 hours. This had bummed me out quite a bit! As someone who's been running 5.5 hour marathon lately, these formerly really fat folks were running as fast as-as an ultrarunner!? As I chugged away on the treadmill, this really was bugging me. Well, the winner of the marathon finished in about 5.5 hours, the last two were around 7+ hours. I noticed the BL runners didn't even get a medal for their marathon! (Not that they don't have enough BL logo material for the rest of their lives.)
I also finished up the second half of the movie "Visionquest", which is an "old" movie from 1985. It's about a wrestler, Loudon Swain, coming of age and training for the biggest wrestling match of his life. (I cringed when Loudon said he was eating 600 calories a day to drop his weight-yikes!)
This is a great movie! Of course, the clothes and hair cracked me up, since I graduated in this same time frame. If you watch this, you will also see Madonna in a cameo singing in the local bar. And I had to go download Journey's "Only the Young" to add to my running playlist.

Happy New Year!

Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. ~Doug Larson


Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. ~Life's Little Instruction Book, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Comment off Scott Weber's Facebook Account:
"Scott Weber Driving force is an interesting idea. I usually sort that out early on. There are some people who *want* the 100, but do not want to *train* for the 100. Now, some coaches will take these people on, but it is almost always going to result in a DNF (I don't). For people who actually do train, while I will ask why they have a particular goal, the... See More motivation is usually not all that important to me. Whatever they say is their own reason. It may or may not be accurate. It may or may not change. The important thing to me is not why they are going to go for that back to back Saturday Sunday 20 -20, but that they do. "