Fun in the Sun

Liz and I had a great time on vacation. We spent the week swimming in the ocean or in a beautiful infinity edge pool next to the ocean, or reading next to the ocean or a pool. Most of the time this relaxing was accompanied with margaritas, a surprising number of which were given to us for free for one reason or another.

Here's a picture of one of the pools we were in:




I took the picture in the late afternoon of one of the two cloudy days we had-- that's the ocean in the distance. They had the most unusual amenity on the beach on the other side of this pool--a bed to lie on next to the ocean. Here's Liz and a staff member by the bed:




Isn't that weird? I think it would be lovely to lie on one of those beds--with my broken back, it's difficult to lie on the sand, but I think I would be too self conscious. It seems weird to lie on a bed in public.

I took a picture of the day's activities at the beach--study it closely:




Don't you think there's a problem with the order of the activities? I mean, I think the book exchange would work much better before the beer pong, don't you?

The beach we were on is called Sunset Beach. Here's what it looks like at sunset from our deck:



We were very good about exercising for our first four days, and then we stopped that nonsense. I picked up a little digestive order pretty early in the trip, which I'm still feeling the effects of. I'm not sure if it was because of the unusual quantity of tequila I was imbibing, the food I was eating, some little bug I ingested, or some combination of the three. Anyway, I gained 5.5 pounds in the week, despite the inordinate quantity of stuff I was flushing down the toilet. I'm hoping I'm retaining fluids from all the salt on the rims of the margarita glasses. The next day or two will tell.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Let It Snow

I have to say. When we rescheduled our trip to Cabo to October, I was a little disappointed. We were originally supposed to go the week between Christmas and New Year's--a perfect time for a tropical climate. I imagined October as perhaps a little chilly, but it also could be Indian summer--a perfect time for long bike rides of the weekend.

And then Roger at work, our favorite local weatherman, started talking about snow for this week. I didn't really believe that that was true. But look at what our front yard looks like tonight:




Ok, it's not the best picture I've ever taken, but look at the snow! It's actually sticking. This is the kind of weather we want to have when we're leaving on a tropical vacation. The snow is supposed to continue on the weekend, which is fine with me, as long as it doesn't cause our flight to be cancelled. To have that happen twice be really be a drag. That cannot happen. Hear that weather gods? We are going to Cabo on Saturday.

Why are we so excited about going on vacation? Here is where we're going:




Does that look gorgeous or what? Sunshine, sand, margaritas, here we come!



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

That Explains It

Savanah told Liz today that she thinks the guide we're using for the number of calories to eat overestimates the calories we should eat to lost weight. So I did a search and discovered that the number of calories we're eating is what we need to keep our weight stable--and shockingly, we both are keeping our weight stable. I've been wondering why I haven't lost weight--I thought that maybe I was underestimating how much I was eating or getting the calories wrong. It turns out I have been doing it perfectly--why do I always start by thinking I'm doing something wrong?

So now we know what to do--we're going to try to stay stable during vacation and then go for it when we get back.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

At Long Last

It's been awhile. I'm having trouble getting motivated to blog. I feel like I've said everything many times and am at a plateau. But I have an assessment on Friday, so I'll see if I've made any progress. Then we head to Cabo on Saturday. My goal is to keep my weight stable while we're gone, mainly by working out and swimming enough to be able to not worry about what I'm eating or drinking. I'm thinking margaritas on the beach and dessert. Yes!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Memory

I had a great bike ride today. I thought I was going 20 miles, using a route that Gina and I rode last spring, before we realized that they only way home was on the detour caused by the Whately bridge being out. Well, it reopened this week. Here's a picture of it--it's about a basic as it can be, but it's beautiful to me because we have a lot of new routes open to us:





Anyway, my memory was that it was a 20 mile route, but about halfway through it, I realized there was no way it could be 20 miles because it starts by going into the middle of Conway, which is a 10 mile ride in and of itself. Here's the route I took:





My next memory issue was when I took a right in the middle of Conway, heading east toward Interstate 91. My memory was that once I made that turn, I had a long, steep downhill until I turned off of 116. I completely forgot that it started with a long uphill for probably 1/2 a mile. I had only biked it that one time before, and the downhill section is so sweet--nearly 5 miles long--that I forgot about what came before it.

I wasn't looking forward to the section of the route when I headed west again in Whately--my memory was that it was all uphill until I rejoined the section that I headed out on. Wrong again! It started with a long uphill, followed by an equally long downhill to the new bridge, and then another long uphill. I was thinking about why I forgot that downhill section. I know it was because I was completely focused on having to take the detour. I was already tired, and I had taken the detour the prior week so I knew it was long and uphill. I was in that place in my mind where I was thinking about how much easier it would have been if the bridge wasn't out--it would have been about 4 miles shorter and we wouldn't have had the climb on the detour on the dirt road.

I was so busy thinking about about I wished was going on that I wasn't paying any attention to what was actually going on--not a good way to live. I'm sure that ride would have been much more fun if I had just stayed present to the ride I was on. After all, even though I was tired, we made it. It was just much less pleasant because I spent so much time thinking about what I wished was happening, rather than enjoying what was actually happening. The detour is hard, but it's also beautiful, through the woods with a fast running creek next to the road.

I want to spend less time in my head when I bike, and more time enjoying climbing hills, flying downhills, and enjoying the beautiful world I get to bike in.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Oh What A Beautiful Day

Wow--today was a perfect fall day--blue skies, no clouds, temperature in the 70's. I started the day with a workout at Fitness Together and then went cycling with Liz and Gina. We planned on going via the bike path to Easthampton, stopping for brunch, and then taking the back roads home. 20 miles we figured.

I was a little concerned about going on a long bike ride after a workout, but I felt incredibly strong on the ride to Easthampton. I felt so good, I considered going for another ride by myself after we finished--it was such a beautiful day and who knows how many more like this we'll have before it gets cold.

We found a diner in Easthampton using Yelp (the Internet is fabulous). Here's a picture of Liz at the front door:




Well, that doesn't look like Liz at all. I took a picture of her, and now she's no where to be seen in the picture. Weird. Anyway, we had a big breakfast--bacon, eggs, toast, hash browns.

We headed out to do the rest of the bike path. It starts about two miles from our house, and goes about 10 miles--it's really a cool path. At the end we got onto the road for the trip back. We took a tour of all the Hamptons--Northampton, Easthampton, Southampton, and Westhampton. Unfortunately, we missed a turn and our 20 mile ride turned into a 30 mile ride. I was really tired for the last 10 miles. I could feel the exercise from the morning, and we hadn't biked more than 11 miles since before I got my appendix out. We saw some great views on the trip back--beautiful autumn leaves, meadows leading to mountains, waterfalls, and a flotilla of Canadian geese hanging out in a pond, resting up for the next stage of their journey. Here's a waterfall:




Well, the picture really flattens the scene, which removes all the drama from a waterfall. And here's the goose-filled pond:




The little white specks are the geese. Boy my photography is leaving something to be desired today.

Once we realized we'd missed the turn, Gina suggested we bike to her house (no steep hill to get to our house, and she'd drive us home). The closer we got to the turn to our house, the better that idea sounded, so that's what we did. Here's the map of our route:



The line heading north to the green pin is the road to our house. We overlapped the bike path to get to Gina's house at the red pin. She lives about 3 houses from the bike path. A fun day!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Too Much Popcorn?!?

Well, I started sending my food diary to Mark this week. He pointed out that one-fourth of my calories for the week came from popcorn, and that it has very little nutritional value. Both of those facts came as a big surprise to me. I knew that I was eating a lot of popcorn--I would have dinner, see that I had a lot of calories left, and make popcorn. By that time, I had already prepared three meals and really wasn't in the mood for more cooking. What's faster and easier than popcorn if you're not going to eat junk food or prepared foods? Besides, I love popcorn and the fact that I had figured out how to limit myself to 6 cups was a major miracle (1 teaspoon oil + 1/3 cup popcorn seeds). I would normally eat double that. I really can eat a tremendous amount of popcorn.

Any way, I had no idea that popcorn was taking up so much of my diet. And I always thought that popcorn had nutritional value, so I looked it up. The website I checked rated foods on a scale from 0 to 100 in terms of nutritional value. popcorn got a 17. Definitely not the score you want for a food that makes up that proportion of my diet. So they say the truth will set you free. I'm not sure I feel free, but it has been easier to resist popcorn and I cooked 4 meals today.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Baby It's Cold Outside

Wow--I'm really having trouble getting out in the cold. I put on my sweats to cycle today, but it started raining just as I started out. Cold and rain was more than I could bear, so I headed to the basement and the elliptical. Thank god ABC has an app that let's me watch any of their programs at any point. I have already watched all of the Modern Family's so I was reduced to the results program from Dancing With the Stars. Not overwhelmingly engaging, but enough to carry me through a half-hour. I ant wait until we can afford a trainer for our bikes.

I had Bennett to myself today, because Liz is visiting her brother, et al in Indiana. We went to GoBerry which sells frozen yogurt. Bennett ate about 2 bites of hers. It was really hard not to finish it for her, but I've been great about counting my calories, so into the trash it went.

Not that I ate great today, nutritionally. Once I dropped Bennett off, it has been an all football, all the time, day, which of course, called for drinking beer. The Patriots won after a terrible start, and now I'm hoping that Baltimore beats the Jets, because I hate Rex Ryan and the Jets. The Jets just fumbled, and the Ravens picked it up and scored a touchdown. Yay!!! But the game has just started. Let the fun continue.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

One Minute, Please

I had a great workout with Savannah yesterday. I'm nice and sore today. We, meaning I, did a series of exercises, spending one minute on each and going thru the series twice. It'll be a good set of exercises to do at home next Friday. We have to work out at home next Friday or our plan to cut down one day at Fitness Together every other week will fail. Here is the series:




I started with my left foot on the Bosu, did a squat and then jumped to move my right foot to the Bosu and my left foot to the floor on the other side. Back and forth for a minute. The goal was to elevate my heart rate, and believe me, it worked.

Then came squat-presses:





I started with the dumbbells at shoulder-level, did a squat and then lifter them overhead.

Then step-ups:


I started with my left foot on the bench, stepped up with both feet on the bench, stepped back down with both feet, and then repeated starting with the right foot.

Then came moving the giant mambo rope:







I'm moving it so very fast, you can barely see how fat and heavy it is. For this one, I did 20 seconds of slinging the rope up with one hand and then the other, 20 seconds of slinging it faster with less upward movement, followed by 20 seconds of slinging it with both arms at the same time. Very good for the core and deltoids.

Then came the tricep press. We forgot to take a picture of it, but it't pretty boring, anyway. Then the medicine ball toss:



Wow--I'm impressed, you can't see the ball at all. I lifted it overhead and slammed it to the ground as hard and fast as I could.

Then we rounded it off with elevated lunges:



That's what has me so sore today. Good for the gluteus Maximus.

That was a great workout. If you workout, you should try it. If you don't have a giant rope but have someone you work out with, you can substitute medicine ball chest passes.

Yesterday I passed a big challenge. I'm home alone because Liz is visiting her family in Indiana, and I had eaten all of my calories for the day by 7pm. Alexandra called to see if I wanted to watch a movie with her and Bob (Diana is in Hawaii, poor thing). I'd had a beer, so my suggestibility was high, but I turned down another beer, brownies, and burritos, even though I had a lot of rationalizations of why I could eat.

I've decided I need to eat more calories during the day. I frequently get to dinner only having eaten half my calories. I'll be starving, and dinner won't use anywhere near all of my calories, so then I'm looking for after dinner snacks. So I'm eating a lot of my daily calories at a time that I won't be using them. So I'm going to try to at so that I'll be done eating when I finish my dinner.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

At a Decent Interval

What a gorgeous day! I've been able to exercise 4 days in a row. It's great to have a break from the rain, although the rain brought us amazing mushrooms we've been enjoying. Pat is a fabulous mushroom hunter and she's given us hen of the woods and black chanterelles. They're both amazing--particularly in omelets.

Anyway there was a mist on the meadow this morning and it was amazingly beautiful. Liz took a picture of it a couple o days ago and when I cycled by this morning, it looked exactly like her picture:




The scene is of our neighbor the sheep farmers' meadow and barn. Liz is going to print the photo and give it to them.

I told Mark that I was only cycling 10-11 miles and he suggested I work in some intervals. Funny thing--Sara suggested the same thing the summer she lived with us and we went rollerblading most mornings. I don't remember that we ever managed to work it in. Mainly what we did was I led the 3 miles out, and Sara took off as soon as we turned around. I would try to stay with her until she as out of sight around some curve and then settle in at my normal pace.

That was a fun summer. Sara would blade with me in the morning, bike to work at Table and Vine (why did they close that great store!) where she hefted cases of beer all day, and then bike home. Despite all that exercise, she gained weight over the summer. How? Because we went to Slap and Paddle (Liz's name for Cold Stone Creamery) nearly every evening. Delicious!

Anyway, I took Mark's advice and threw in 4 intervals this morning. I can see that I am capable of much greater speeds than I am normally doing. So I'll continue doing intervals and see if I can increase my overall speed. I've been concerned about doing long organized bike rides because I think I'd fall way behind everyone. Maybe not!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Taking My Medicine

Working out with Mark today was all about the medicine ball. It's amazing what a workout you can do with that alone! First, he had me pull an 11 pound ball over my head and slam it into the ground as hard as I could, repeating as fast as I could. Then I stood on the Bosu and threw a medicine ball to him as hard as I could, followed by standing sideways on the Bosu and throwing it to him--for the latter, I had to have my feet touching each other, which made balancing particularly challenging. Then I stood with my back to Mark and threw the ball to him over my head, followed by facing him with the ball on the ground, doing a squat to pick up the ball and throw it at him. I think that was the end of the ball tossing. We did a few other things to round out the workout.

I was amazed at how much all that ball tossing engaged my abs. It was a great ab workout without the annoyingness of sit-ups or planks. I'm going to be really sore, because I can already feel it starting in my biceps and triceps tonight. I know when I start getting sore the day of a workout, there's much more in store for the next two days. I like the feeling of being sore, and have had only mild soreness from my workouts since my surgery, so I'm really looking forward to it--bring it on!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Summer Dreams

When Liz and I were cycling today, I thought about my dream in the middle of the summer to take full-day bike trips, stopping at little local cafes on our route for delicious food breaks. Wow--that didn't happen. We took 2 trips up to Ashfield--round trip nearly 40 miles with the extension we put on it. And once I biked with Gina and Bob to the Straw Bale Cafe for breakfast, but that was just a 20 mile trip. And while we stopped to eat every time, my fantasy really involved having that as a first stop, continuing further out into the boonies, stopping at another cool place for an early afternoon meal, and heading home.

We stopped doing long rides (over 15-20 miles) early in August, because Liz was having trouble with knee pain. And then I had surgery for appendicitis, and couldn't do anything for 3 weeks and now I'm trying to build my endurance back up, between rain drops.

But I've also realized that doing long rides on Saturday and Sunday takes a lot of the weekend. We spend Sunday afternoons with Bennett and Grace and Melinda are coming for dinner on Sunday evenings, so if we're riding all Saturday and Sunday morning, we have the afternoon to do errands, and only have Saturday night free ( I'm not saying visiting with Bennett, Grace and Melinda aren't fun events that we don't look forward to. Hmmmm--lots of negatives--I hope the meaning is clear). it's just that there's little room to be spontaneous or to make plans with other people.

So I have to say that I'm enjoying 10 miles bike rides. It takes less than 45 minutes, it puts minimum strain on our aging body parts, it's a great workout that's building our cardiovascular systems, and we have plenty of time and energy to do lots of other stuff. That's the other thing about long rides--our get up and go, got up and get.

I tried using our elliptical trainer yesterday because of the rain. I'm really having difficulty doing cardio inside--I hate giving up on cycling outside and am having unrealistic fantasies about a very mild winter we can cycle right through. But I figured out I can watch any ABC programs on my i Pad and prop it in front of me. It wasn't bad to exercise to Modern Family--the time went fast. It hurt my back for the rest of the day. Liz and I are looking onto trainers we can put our bikes on to train on them all winter--that will save my back. Aging . . . I got a set of emoticons for my keyboard, so I probably won't be able to resist putting them in all the time.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Let Me Count the Ways

I met with my business coach today. We talk about lots of things that you might not think would come up in a discussion with a business coach, including the fact that I didn't track my calories yesterday. It fits under the category of well-being, because how effective can I be in running my business, if I don't take care of my well-being. well, the last two years have been an on-going test of that, haven't they. I'm really glad I have such a great staff.

Anyway, my justification for not counting my calories yesterday was that I had dinner at the Tapestry board meeting--a very delicious portabella mushroom stuffed with hummus, quinoa, and topped with Gouda cheese. Yum!!! Who could ever count the calories in that. And since I wasn't counting, how about a chocolate chip cookie for dessert, and while we're at it, how about a beer and popcorn during Monday night football. And all for free, because who was counting. So after talking with Anne, I realized it was all a crock--sure, I didn't know the exact number of calories, but I could estimate the amount of quinoa, hummus, cheese, mushroom, etc. To come up with a close-enough number--close enough that I'd know I didn't have room for the beer and popcorn. So I estimated it today, and I was about 250 calories over--not too bad--and ate that many fewer today.

Being sleazy doesn't really help me with my goals. I'm going to spend more time counting, less time justifying not counting.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

I worked out with Brad yesterday. Here he is, playing Atlas.





It was a fun workout. We started with the 14 pound ball he's holding. I had to throw it at him as hard as I could 10 times, then 9 times followed by using it for an overhead press, on down to 0 throws and 10 presses. Then I had to take the 20 pound ball and throw it as hard as I could across the room 15 times, followed by the 14 pound ball, and then the 10 pound ball. Here I am pressing the 14 pound ball.




Then we boxed, me using gloves and him pads that I hit. Brad has boxed for 8 years, so it was really fun boxing with him, following different patterns. Wow--it hurts your hand, even with padded gloves on. Brad said he's done more training and sparring than actual boxing matches because he doesn't like being hit in the face.

I can understand that. When I was 11 or 12, there was a boy who lived next door who I thought was a sissy (sorry, Chuck, for being so gender-normative). One day he challenged me to a fist fight. I had no interest in a fist fight, but didn't want to look like a coward, especially to Chuck, so we started fighting. It was immediately clear to me that someone had taught Chuck how to fight. He was out-hitting me, although I got some punches in. The fight ended when I got a bloody nose, so I know what it's like to be hit in the face. My mother was really mad: "Your brother never even got involved in a fist fight." As if the standard I needed to follow when doing things normal associated with boys was what my brother had done. As if I had any idea what he had done. I guess my mother was gender-normative, too, although it's pretty amazing how tolerant my parents were with me being a tomboy.

I figured Chuck's dad must have taught him how to box and set the whole thing up. I had had experience with fathers being upset with me being a better athlete than their sons before. When we lived in Two Harbors, I remember Tommy Gow telling me that his father said that when we grew up, Tommy would be able to hit a baseball further than me. I doubted that that was true, but was perplexed that his father had taken an interest in the topic.

I hated that Chuck gave me a bloody nose, but figured I had won because I gave him a black eye--that lasted much longer than my bloody nose. Thankfully with Brad, I was the only one hitting.

Liz and I had a great bike ride today. The weather was beautiful, sunny and in the 60s. On the ay out, we saw an eagle soaring above us. We've never seen one so close to our house-- within 2 miles. On the way back, we saw a red fox in the middle of the road. I love you red fox, as long as you stay away from our chickens.

Yesterday was the annual in-line skating marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. My sister Chris was in it with her grand-daughter Lauren. Here's a picture of them at the finish:




It's very weird that they are the only 2 people in our family in the race. I hope others help to keep the tradition going. In talking to Chris, I remember the feeling of crossing the finish line. It's such an amazing feeling--it is such an accomplishment. The last few miles are really hard--actually, the whole 26.2 miles is a challenge, but in the last few miles, it is such a struggle. Then when I cross the finish line, it's like getting a surge of energy and such an amazing high. I'm bummed I can never do that on blades again, but hope I can have a similar experience in a 50-100 mile bike ride.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Here We Go, Here We Go Again

So it feels like Liz andI are getting back in the rhythm. We went for a bike ride this afternoon--a beautiful day-- and we're entering everything we eat into our nutrition program. I am trying to see if I can incorporate alcohol and dessert into a healthy diet. We had wine with dinner and ice cream for dessert and both were within our calories. So maybe it's possible to eat in moderation. That would be nice. I didn't work out with Savannah today because she was sick, so I'm working out with Brad tomorrow. I'm excited about that--I've never worked out with Brad and have wanted to. I'll bring my camera in case we do something new.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

It's Gone

That pizza must have had a lot of sodium in it, because after 1 day of eating properly, I lost 3.7 pounds wouldn't it be nice if that happened regularly. I haven't been able to get back into the rhythm of working out regularly. I want to start tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be beautiful for the next week--chilly, but beautiful. Perfect weather for biking. I can't wait to get started.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Out of Control

I didn't weigh myself for five days and guess what--I gained four pounds! I know all of that isn't real--we had pizza for dinner last night, so I know some of it is from the saltiness of the pepperoni. But I go a little crazy when I don't weight myself. We went to a beer festival Friday night. I had ice cream on Sunday, along with a great meal at the Great Wall, I had a bunch of beer Monday night watching the Patriots start out the season in fine offensive form. And there is enough stress going on with my family and friends that eating and drinking just seems like the best way to respond.

But when I weigh myself, I get pulled back into reality. I wanted a beer tonight, but I know I don't want to put back all the weight I've lost, so I had watermelon instead.

So I've got to keep weighing myself--no excuses.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Back in the Saddle

I did my first bike ride since surgery yesterday. It felt great! I only did our basic 11 mile route, but didn't feel like I'd lost much. It might have been a different matter on a longer ride or steeper hills, but it really was good to be cycling. It was a perfect day-- sunny and warm.

Now that the days are getting shorter, I'll have to see how much riding I can do during the week. I just checked--the sunrises at 6:30, so I should be able to get an 11 mile ride in before work.

Tomorrow is my first workout at Fitness Together since my surgery. I told them I want to workout carefully tomorrow. I still have some pain where my appendix was--not intense--it feels like a gas pain. But it happens when I engage my abs and I don't want to rip any staples out.

I really have my energy back. Maybe I'm not so old.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I Feel Good

Hey, it's 10:30 at night and I'm full of energy. I turned off the football game at 10:00 to go to bed, and realized that I'm not exhausted. What a great feeling! Last Thursday, I had to leave work early because I was so tired that I no longer cared about anything, which is dangerous at work. I'm wide awake despite the fact that I had a terrible night's sleep last night. I had started worrying that my incision was infected--it was swollen and red and a little oozy (sorry). So then I started worrying that maybe I had an internal infection. You know there are these horrible infections like MRSA that are rampant in hospitals and unresponsive to antibiotics. Maybe that's what I had and why I was so tired. In fact, maybe it would spread through my whole system and I would die in my sleep. A night like that.

I have a bit of a fear of dying in my sleep. I comes from when I was 7 or 8 and had some illness for which I had to take pink medicine. My sister Debbie volunteered to get the medicine and my mother gave it to me. I kept complaining about the taste and finally my mother looked at the label and discovered that Debbie had gotten a medicine that was for external use only, but looked just like my medicine, except of course, for the skull and crossbones on the label. Panic ensued and after a call to Dr. Moyer, I had to drink warm milk and have my mother stick her finger down my throat a million times. When that was done, I went to bed, where my sister Chris kindly told me I was going to die. I was really scared and tried not to go to sleep, but eventually sleep came and after sleeping a bit, I woke up and vomited a huge amount all over the hall floor. Somehow, it was my dad's job to clean in up. Maybe because he didn't have to do the finger down the throat task. Then I was fine and went right back to sleep. But that fear of falling asleep because I'll die in the night returns periodically.

I went to the doctor today and he said no infection. And now I have energy. And intend to sleep deeply and without fear tonight, and if it stops raining tomorrow, go for a bike ride!

PS I only gained .4 of a pound in Minnesota. Hallelujah! And I've lost 1.1 pounds since then. Apparently, I didn't eat highly caloric food every second that I was gone.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Next Phase

I wish I had a timer to measure the longest time Spanish I went without eating while I was awake in Minnesota. It wouldn't have been very long. It was a 3 day pool party at my sister Chris's.

When I checked the weather forecast before I left, I thought the weekend would be a bust in terms of hanging out at the pool. The forecast was for fall temperatures and thunderstorms. While it never did get very warm, the combination of a lack of wind, lots of sunshine, and a heated pool more than made up for it. And when anyone got chilly, a trip to the hot tub was all it took to warm up.

So I accomplished my goal of doing not much more than sitting and and around the pool. My main exercise was heading to the buffet table to refill my plate. It was a traditional Pokela event--potato salad, baked beans (both made using my mother's recipes), hot dogs-burgers-brauts on the grill, potato chips, and brownies. There were 40 people at the height of the party on Saturday, all but a couple my sibs, nieces-nephews and spouses, and their kids. We brought my mother over for a few hours on Friday and Saturday. We spent the evenings playing cards. All in all, the weekend was a lot like being at the lake. I really enjoy being with my family.

Tomorrow will start the next phase of my fitness goals. I'll start with the moment of truth in terms of weighing in. Then I need to get my diet back under control, and I can start training again on Wednesday. Yay!

Here're some pictures from the weekend. This is my brother Tom with Jack, his grandson:





Here're my nephew Jeremy and sisters Deb and Chris:




And here is Chris's grandson Tommy, scaring us with his pirate hat and skeleton gloves. Very scary:




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Coming Back Slow

Wow--it's taking me longer that I thought to recover from surgery. I'm sure the trip to NYC last week didn't help (much less the flight back from Houston). I'm so exhausted after a day of work that I'm literally shaking. Yesterday I was shaking and felt like vomiting, so I guess I made some progress. I'm feeling my age, which I rarely do. Wow, it takes longer to recover from surgery at 61 than it did when I was in my 40s. This is the first time I've had abdominal surgery, which may make a difference. I know when they used to slice you open, it was a 3 month recovery, and I remember people (much younger people) being surprised that they really needed the 3 months. Maybe laproscopic surgery cuts it down from 3 months, but it still takes time. Or maybe it's because I'm 61.

I'm wishing I didn't have the trip to Minnesota this weekend, given how I'm feeling now. But who knows, maybe I'll be stronger by Friday. I sure would like to be back to normal next week.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ain't Got Much to Say

It's hard to write a blog about getting fit, when I can't do anything to get fit. My main goal now is to rest and eat healthily, so I heal quickly and am in as good a shape as possible to resume exercise as I can, in a little over 2 weeks. So that's what I'm up to.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tired, Tired, Tired

I'm on the train coming back from my meeting in NYC. It felt like it took every ounce of energy I had to do that meeting. I feel too tired to sleep, if you know that feeling.

I was a bit anxious about the meeting. I had to do a bit of walking to get to the room where the meeting was, it was very warm and humid, and I felt very dizzy. Not fainting was my goal at that point. But once I got to the meeting and sat down, I felt great. it felt like I did a marathon and left everything I had in the race, because as soon as I left, I was so disoriented I had trouble finding the elevator. Keep your fingers crossed that we get the contract--it's a big one.

I worry that I have lost a lot of my fitness, and then remember that it's because I am fit that I could make it to the meeting--it was only a week ago I had surgery.

One if the people I hung out with on the Cape a week and a half ago died of a massive heart attack on Tuesday. That seems so unreal. Life changes in a second--I don't want to take that or the people I love for granted.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 15

Recovering from general anesthesia is really annoying. I feel like I should be basically back to normal, with reduced activity, but my brain isn't cooperating. I tried to go to work yesterday, and it was like someone had injected glue in my brain. Ingrid sent me a long email about, well, who can remember what it was about, and after I read 2 sentences, I realized I wasn't tracking from one sentence to the next. I remember this from all the times I've had general anesthesia when I've had bladder cancer--it always takes much longer to get my brain functioning than I expect. So I cancelled all my meetings this week except for the one in NYC on Thursday--I have to go to that one.

In the meantime, my lack of appetite is resulting in me losing weight, despite my lack of exercise. I'm hoping I don't lose too much conditioning in three weeks. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the long bike ride I had wanted to do--it's on September 17--just 11 days after I can start working out again. Maybe I'll do the 25 mile ride.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Count Down to Freedom: Day 18

Dan is heading back to college today. It's really been fun spending the summer with him, and it flew by way too fast.

Today is a beautiful day--sunny, cool, low humidity. In other words, a perfect day for a bike ride. It really sucks that I can't do anything for 3 weeks. I'm going to start a count down--18 days left. I just looked at the calendar to see when I can resume normal activities and it's September 6th. What really sucks about that is I'm going to Minnesota for Labor Day weekend, so I'm going to have to worry about carrying my luggage on another flight. Well, I figured out how to fly back here a day after surgery, I can figure out how to get to Minnesota and back nearly 3 weeks after surgery.

I know I need to rest and relax to recover from the surgery, but hanging out doing nothing isn't so much fun if you don't have a choice in the matter. I'm also a bit nervous about next week. On Tuesday, I'm presenting the results of a study to two different groups in the Berkshires, so I'll be out there all day. On Thursday, Lou and I will travel to NYC to make a presentation to try to win a huge contract. I guess the best thing to do is to make sure I'm really rested up for those two days. I also have to figure out what to wear--I've been wearing the loosest clothing possible to minimize having fabric rub against my incisions. None of my business clothes fit that description.

The last workout I had before I had surgery was really fun! My instructions were to do as many reps I could of an exercise in one minute, and then to do the same thing with the next exercise. I was rotating between 5 exercises. After I finished all 5, I got a break, and then started over. Repeat three times. I wasn't able to do all 5 exercises, though without a break, so I'm hoping to do this routine at home until I can.

The first exercise involved bouncing a weighted ball as hard as I could.


That doesn't sound overly challenging, but it gets your heart going and by the time the minute is up, your muscles know you've been doing something.

I went from there to jumping on and off the Bosu. That's really challenging for me because I have the vertical leap of a turtle. And jumping sent my heart rate up many more beats per minute. Here I am jumping:



Next, I moved to doing a shoulder press. I started with my knees bent and dumbbells shoulder-height, and then made an explosive movement--or tried to--using my legs to help in lifting the weights so my arms were fully extended:



Then I moved to a clean and jerk, lifting weights from the floor to shoulder level, again, trying to generate as much force as possible from my legs and hips:



Finally, I got on the rowing machine and rowed as fast as I could for a minute:



It was an extremely challenging workout. Here's how I looked when I was done:




It seems very weird to think that I had appendicitis a little over 24 hours after that picture was taken, and that I did that really tough workout (plus a bunch of cobras and a plank) on Monday and now I can't do anything.

But I know that the workouts and bike rides are making a difference in my recovery. The best thing that happened at the hospital is that a nurse asked me if I was a runner. I told her I was a bicyclist, and she said she could tell from looking at me that I was some kind of an athlete. That felt good!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I'm Going Home!

So of the three things the ER told me I had symptoms of, I had two of them: a kidney stone and appendicitis. Lucky me. Isn't it weird that I'd get both of them at the exact same time?

So I had emergency surgery last night. They removed my appendix using a laprascope, so I only have there small incisions, starting with one in my navel, down about three inches for the next one, and then another three inches.

I haven't had any pain medication since I was in the recovery room after surgery. My doctor thinks I'm very tough, because most of his patients suffer a lot more pain when they have their appendices out. I'm very happy I'm not one of them. I am going to take credit for doing the hard work of biking and strength training in terms of my ability to recover from yesterday's traumas so quickly.

I have to wait 3 weeks before I can lift anything over 30 pounds (sorry Bennett), go cycling, and train. Serious bummer, but I'm really happy I decided not to take a plane yesterday.

I'm not sure what's happening with the kidney stone--who know, I may have already passed it. my doctor said to drink lots of liquids to help in pass, so that's what I am doing.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Why, why, why?

Why do I spend more time in hospitals away from home and Liz than the other way around? I came to Houston last night around midnight, did a client presentation from 9-11 this morning, and was back at the airport by noon. I had a client phone meeting and had a relaxing lunch. The second I finished eating, I got an incredible pain in my side and back.

What to do? Who wants to take extreme measure and find out that it was only gas? Who wants to get on a plane and force an emergency landing if it gets worse. I decided on a delaying tactic, but the walk to my gate was slow and painful. By the same I got there, I was feeling clammy, nauseous, and a lot of pain. I asked the gate attendant to call the medics. When they came, I started vomiting in earnest. I of course was the hit of the airport crowd, surrounded by people who were doing their best to see what was going on while appearing to pay no attention. I felt so crummy, I didn't care that hundreds of people were watching me vomit my guts out.

When the ambulance guys came, they were socializing with the airport medics-- I had no patience for it--I wanted pain medication as fast as possible. I felt like it took forever to get to the hospital, get checked in, get evaluated, and finally get that shot. Pain medication is a wonderous miracle. How lucky to live in a time that I can be in dreadful, horrible pain, and in a matter of second it's gone, like it never happened.

They're thinking kidney stones, appendix, gall bladder. I had a CT scan, but they're having technical difficulties, so I'm not sure when I'll get results. In the meantime, I'm playing words with friends and talking to Liz via FaceTime. Ain't technology great!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Manic Monday

I'm having the Sunday evening before a Manic Monday feeling. Tomorrow I go to Fitness Together from 7:30-8:15, change into a suit and leave for a presentation at 8:35, head to the airport after the presentation and fly to Houston, where I give a presentation Tuesday. I get back late Tuesday, have a day in the office, and then head to Boston on Thursday for another presentation. So it isn't actually just tomorrow that's making me feel manic--it's the whole week. And then Dan leaves on Saturday-- we're going to miss him. It's really been fun having him live here. Liz and I love that various nieces and nephews have come to live with us for a while--it makes for a great lifetime connection.

I was feeling like my workouts with Savanah haven't been hard enough--more like a maintenance workout than a building one. Savanah responded to my request for a harder workout on Friday. It's Sunday evening and I still have a little soreness in my triceps and a lot of soreness in my inner thighs. She had me doing sideways lunges with the leg I bent on a low platform, holding a kettle ball, among many other things, but that was the one that got my inner thighs. I love having sore muscles.

Liz and I were going to do a 20 mile bike ride today to the Straw Bale Cafe, but it rained the entire day--maybe next weekend.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Speed!

I got up to 43 mph going down the hill from our house tonight. What's cool is that it didn't even feel that fast to me--I'm getting used to high speeds. Very fun. Unfortunately I got about 8 miles away from home and I started getting a weird pain in my left knee. It was very intermittent, but a stabbing pain, so I turned around. I do not want to injure myself so I'd have to take some time off from biking.

I'm having trouble with the no drinking-no eating dessert. Grace and Melinda spent Tuesday night at our house. I ended up having a Bloody Mary--Grace does make the best Bloody Mary's ever, and some ice cream. It is really hard to resist ice cream in my own house. I'm thinking that maybe I need to revise my goals to stay within my calorie count, but after giving up alcohol and dessert for so long last year, I may not want to continue it.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Movin Slo

I feel like I'm fighting off a cold. Liz's brother, sister-in-law and niece were here last week to visit Dan and us, but I'm sure Dan was the top priority. Anyway Maria had a bad cold, which Liz caught and I feel like I'm fighting it off. I hope I'm successful because the next few weeks are action-packed. I'm headed to Baton Rouge tomorrow, come back late Thursday night, head to the beach Friday and Saturday (ok, I know that's not too strenuous). Then we head into Boston for a late night Red Sox-Yankees game. Does it get better than that? No time for a cold.

I had a great workout with Mark yesterday. I told him my back had been hurting from the night before. Dan had taken the carpeting out of our tv room--it had been peed and pooped on by too many cats and dogs, and we couldn't get the smell out. Liz had spent the weekend putting in a new bamboo floor, while I periodically would wander in to tell her how good it looked. Dan was off in New York visiting a friend from college. By Sunday I was feeling a bit guilty, so I painted some baseboards and helped put the room back together. Liz did an amazing job--here's how it looks:

Hey I'm having trouble transferring photos. What's with that?

Anyway, Mark took my sore back as a sign that I should do plenty of back exercises. I'm sore today from my triceps to every muscle in my back--it's a great feeling.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Breakfast Place!

I cycled 24 miles today with Gina and Bob. I wanted to explore a new route, and Gina knows one that goes by the Straw Bale Cafe. You'd never know it from the name, but it is in a building made of straw bales. They have a small section of the wall with a window so you can see how it's built.

It was really a fun ride, although it had gotten very hot at the end. Gina showed us a way around the steepest hill on Chesterfield Road, which is excellent information. And it's clear that many cyclers know the route because I saw many more cyclists following it than I ever see in that section of Chesterfield Road.

Here's the route:







Straw Bale Cafe is a good alternation to biking the Ashfield. Liz's knees have been getting sore, so we've been looking for routes with fewer long, steep hills. They have really good breakfasts (although no gluten-free pancakes) in a very congenial atmosphere.

I love that the whole route is alongside creeks and rivers. There are a lot more farms on this route, too, than on the roads I normally travel. I don't think of this area has having a lot of agriculture. I could see today that I just don't normally travel on the roads with concentrations of farms.

The nest sight I saw today was a stag standing still in the middle of a field. I felt like I was seeing Harry Potter's patronus. It made me realize how infrequently we see stags. I regularly see deer, but I think today was the first time I've seen a stag. Very cool!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Weigh In

Well, I finally weighed in this morning. I nearly rationalized not doing it. I had a business meeting after my workout this morning and was running short of time. Also, Alexandra spent the night last night, and I didn't think I could do the weigh in without waking her up. But I decided it was time to face the facts. I know in the past that when I've gained a lot of weight, it's because I haven't been weighing myself.

My fervent hope was that I hadn't gained more than 5 pounds. My fear was that I had gained 10. Imagine my surprise and relief when I found I'd lost a pound! I am amazed because I felt like I gained a lot of weight and even though my clothes were fitting me differently. It's very inspiring to have lost weight. I also started tracking the food I'm eating again starting today. When I don't, it's just too easy to think, "Well, I haven't eaten that much, I can have some popcorn after dinner." That's much different from knowing I have 250 calories left and can eat 5 cups of popcorn (believe me, I eat much more than that when I don't know how many calories I've eaten). So my birthday and vacation are over-- time to refocus on getting into great shape.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Back in the Saddle

I went for my first bike ride in two weeks tonight. I went with Mark from Fitness Together and two other people who work out there. It felt great to be biking again, although (1) I felt hugely fat (I need to weigh myself tomorrow, but I feel like I've gained a ton of weight and (2) I kept falling way behind the group on the uphills, of which there were many. That's hard for me. I worried the whole time that people were unhappy because they kept having to wait for me. I'll talk to Mark about it because I really like riding with the group, even if I end up doing a lot of the ride alone. I wouldn't want people to not come because of me.

Mark had a huge accident on his bike 2 weeks ago. His chain and pedals locked and he flew over the handle bars. He hit the pavement so hard his helmet broke. Luckily that was the only thing that broke. I've been tempted to ride a normal bike from time to time, like at the lake. Mark's accident is a good reminder of why I shouldn't. I hate to think of how many bones I would have broken if that happened to me.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Gee But It's Great to Be Back Home

Wow, we had a great vacation! There were 60 members of my family there--60! Everyone was there except my sister Beth and her husband Tom and my niece Jessie's husband Jeremy. The weather was beautiful, the lake was a perfect temperature and everyone was in a great mood.

My mother didn't know who I was a number of times. The first time was on the Day we arrived. Liz and I had the task of taking my Mom to get a pedicure--her toe nails were so long, I was amazed she could put her shoes on. When we arrived at Wellstead, she was napping on the couch. When we woke her up, she had no idea who we were and sure wasn't going anywhere with us. I had to cancel the appointment and face the dismay of my sisters. Fortunately, I was able to make an appointment for later in the day, and by then she knew who I was and was happy to go, although at my sister's suggestion, I told her we were going to the foot doctor.

I thought it would be terrible when my Mom didn't know me, but it ended up being harder for her than for me. At one point, she asked if I was her great aunt Julie and when I told her I was her daughter, she was upset and apologized. I guess I'd had the image that when she didn't know me, she wouldn't know she didn't know me. It's much harder that she knows.

I ended up going to Dairy Queen 4 times. Four Blizzard's--yum!! I ate better than I usually do on vacation--small Blizzards instead of large, and no frozen Snicker bars. I don't know what my weight is yet--Dan pulled the carpet out of the tv room while we were gone and I couldn't find the Wii. Then Dan's parents and sister came to visit and his parents are staying in the tv room. So I won't know my weight until Thursday.

I'm really seeing how once I break a commitment, it's really hard to make it again. I really extended my birthday celebration longer than I really said I was going to, which made it easier to have the first ice cream at the lake, which made the next three even easier. Then when I got back, I decided it was fine to have a couple of beers with Dan and his family. Tonight we went to a Mexican restaurant and Dan and his father Tom were encouraging me to have a margarita, which was really tempting. So I know that not having alcohol today will help me not have alcohol or sugar tomorrow, etc., and that breaking down once most likely means breaking down many times.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Struggling

Hey--I found wireless! Quick entry cause I have to take my Mom for a walk. It is really hard not to eat eats and drink beer at the lake. Particularly because it can be very stressful hanging around with my Mom. I did cave on Monday--Liz and I took my Mom to Dairy Queen and I had a chocolate lover's Blizzard. It was fabulous! Amazingly delicious. So delicious I haven't been craving sweets since. But everyone walking around with beers in their hands--rough.

I was able to swim across the lake. I was worried that swimming would put tension on my spine and it would hurt, but it doesn't. Yay! It's not what you'd call strenuous exercise, at the speed at which we progress, but it is constant movement for nearly a mile, so that's good. It is very weird not to exercise at the lake. I'm used to doing 8-20 mile blades every day. The days are much longer without that component.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Let the Games Begin!

I have a new friend, also named Julie, who is teaching me Spanish on Friday mornings. It's a slow process. She and I were talking yesterday and it turns out we have the following things in common: we weigh the same thing, want to lose weight, and are super-competitive. Put those 3 things together and you have a competition to lose weight. It's perfect timing for that and gives me another motivation to stick to my nutrition plan with the family trip to the lake and all its temptations starting the end of next week: Dairy Queens, frozen Snicker's Bars, and beer being the top 3.

I had a great ride today. It's amazing how quickly our new 16 mile route has become routine. It's such a great route because of all the hills, the beautiful scenery, and the lack of traffic. I'll take some pictures next time I'm out.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So Tired

I was really exhausted today. I woke up feeling exhausted--never a good feeling, particularly with the amount of work I needed to get one today. I biked to work, intending on going on a long bike ride with Mark after work. But by 4:00, I felt like I was going to fall asleep at my desk. And like I was going to get sick if I didn't go home and rest. So that's what I id and I'm about to go to sleep.

The good thing about today is I'm feeling back in control with eating. That's a good feeling. Good night!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Seriously Off-Track

Wow--I'm having trouble getting back on my health and fitness track. I came really close to rationalizing having a beer the other night, and have not been keeping track of my eating, despite my decision to resume doing so. That's mainly because of meals I've eaten outside the house--it's really hard to figure out the calories of foods at a restaurant or someone else's house. I know it would really help if 1. I exercised every day and 2. I only ate meals I prepared. But I didn't exercise today because I didn't get home until late last night after the fireworks and didn't get home until late today after a meeting in Boston. And I have to leave at 6am tomorrow for a meeting in NYC. I'm hoping I get home early enough to exercise tomorrow.

As the Beatles said, "Help! I need somebody! Help!" I know how quickly I can put back on all the weight I've worked so hard to take off in the last 6 months. Don't let me, gentle readers.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thar's Bears in Them Thar Woods

I did the 16 mile route yesterday that Liz and I did with Mark on Thursday. It's a great route-- much hillier than the 11 mile route that has been our basic route. Here is a map of the route:



It certainly looks like an innocent little rectangle, but it has 2 category 5 hills. MapMyRide uses the official cycling rating system for hills. Category 5 is the easiest of the rated hills, but the fact that the hills are rated speaks to their difficulty. One is .76 miles long and the other is .6 miles long. My speed going downhill was over 40 miles an hour on 3 different downhills.

I was pedaling up the .76 mile hill when a truck going the other way stopped alongside me. The driver told me that he had just passed a bear on the side of the road. I'm not afraid of bears--there's lots of them in Northampton and I know they aren't interested in messing with people, other than eating everything out of their bird feeders, so I said, "Cool--I'll get out my camera." That was clearly not the response he was looking for, so then I gave the more expected reassurance that I would watch out for the bear and thanks for warning me. But I did pull out my phone and put it in camera mode. Unfortunately, I was almost at the top of the hill and while I tried holding my phone while navigating the downhill, I realized that I would not be able to brake quickly if I needed to, so I put it away. I never did see the bear--bummer!

Liz and I are thinking about getting up a little earlier on week days and making the 16 mile route our daily route. That would be fun and would really increase our fitness. I was getting a little bored on our normal route.

Last night we went to Tanglewood to see Garrison Keilor. It was a great show. Before the radio program started, Garrison sang a number of songs while wandering through the audience. I got very close to him and shook his hand. Here he is:



We went with Bob and Diana, and because we all were doing things before we left, decided to pick up food for our picnic on the way. Mistake. The place we stopped at had pretty mediocre sandwiches and poor Liz got a little bit of chicken with some mustard and tomato stuffed into a small soup container. All in all very unsatisfying, so we got potato chips. And because I was in the exciting part of a new novel I made popcorn when we got home.

I had gotten to the point that I was no longer tracking everything I ate because I was in such a rhythm with my eating that I always stayed within my calories. Now, on days like yesterday, I'll think, well I had a long bike ride, so I can eat this, and this, and what the hell, this. I still don't have the weight off from last weekend--well, that's not quite accurate, I have taken off 2 pounds, put them back on, etc. etc. So I'm back to tracking everything I'm eating.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ooo, Ooo, can't you hear my heart beat

Liz and I went on the Fitness Together bike ride this afternoon with Mark. Last time I rode with Mark, I really enjoyed it because trying to keep up with him and the other rider pushed me more than I normally am. But that was nothing compared to today. Mark discovered fairly early in the ride that Liz and I like to compete with each other. So Mark would encourage whoever was in the back to catch up and pass the person in the front. So Liz and I changed leads up and down hills for 16 miles. Wow, what a workout. It was as tough a workout as spinning class, but much more fun because of the competitive element. Liz has always been faster than me uphills and I have always been faster downhills, but we really pushed each other to go faster both places. Our fastest speed today was 41 miles an hour. That's clipping!

I needed that kind of workout today. I've been having trouble getting back into the groove since the weekend. After eating--and drinking--whatever we wanted to on the weekend, I've been having trouble going back to the healthy diet that I completely enjoyed prior to the weekend. I was also having trouble pushing myself to exercise--this morning, I really didn't want to go tonight. It is hard in that going for a long ride at 6 pm means coming home and cooking starting after 8. We finished dinner at 9:30, which is normally when we head to bed. It helps that I don't work on Friday, but I still need to get up to work out at Fitness Together at 7:30.

Tonight was fun. Alexandra is spending the night, so Liz, Dan, Alexandra, and I were having dinner together and hanging out. It was like a fantasy of having two kids at home--a fantasy in that there were none of the negative dynamics between us and a 14 and 21 year old, or between the two of them. It was just fun.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Day After

Well, today was the weigh-in after the big weekend. Up 3 pounds. Not too bad really, considering everything I ate and drank. When I was in weight watchers, they always said that new weight is easy to get off, so that's my goal. Eat well, exercise, and see how fast it goes.

A critical part of that equation is having healthy food in the house, so Dan and I went grocery shopping tonight and we have our share from the farm, so I'm set.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Gee But It's Great to Be Back Home!

We just got back. We were making good time, but it took us an hour and a half extra between the New Jersey toll plaza and the George Washington Bridge. I don't know how people deal with that traffic on a regular basis.

The weekend was really fun. Yesterday we cycled 20 miles on the coastal highway. It has a nice wide bike lane. It's amazing how easy it is to go 20 miles when it's flat, nut it is a little boring. The terrain was pretty much the same the whole route--mainly very tall (8') grasses, interspersed among large condo developments. Once in a while we'd get a peak through to the ocean on one side or the bay on the other. Riding on our trikes in traffic is much scarier than being on a bike. Whenever we came up on a car stopped at a stop sign on a side street, I'd try to get the driver's attention by waving. The driver's sightline was over our heads looking for a break in the traffic, and if there was one when we were in front of their car--you get the picture. Most drivers were nice enough to wave back so I knew we were safe, but when they didn't, I didn't know if they didn't see us or were just being jerks.

We also went swimming and lay on the beach before and after our ride. It felt really great afterwards. The temperature was in the high 80s, although it didn't feel that hot when we were cycling. Nonetheless, the 70 degree water cooled us down immediately. Here is Liz on the boardwalk with a police officer who wanted to get in the picture, a picture of the beach, and one of me on the beach. Notice Liz and I wearing Dogfish t-shirts and me with a Dogfish hat.











While we did good on exercising over the weekend, eating was another matter. the rest areas on the New Jersey Turnpike are an object lesson in why the US has a problem with obesity. There really weren't any healthy choices. Burger King has a chart with the calories for everything they serve on it, so I got the lowest calorie food of what was available, but didn't really feel like I was eating good, nutritious food. And we had hamburgers and fries in Rehoboth Beach, along with ribs and other tasty food, not to mention all the beer I drank. Stepping on the scale tomorrow I'm sure will reflect the excesses of the weekend.

Now that my birthday celebrating is over, it's time to make a new pledge. No more alcohol until Christmas Eve. No more dessert until Thanksgiving.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Dogfish Head Miracle

Yesterday was a fun day. The miracle is that I don't have a hangover. We started out by cycling on a bike path I found out about via the Internet, which described it as 6 miles long. That sounded perfect--we could do the whole thing and have a 12 mile ride.

We saw signs for a trail, but when we got to the parking lot, could only see a gravel trail. The man in the truck next to us had a bike in the back, so we asked him about it. He said that trail led to the trail we were looking for, so I expected that we'd find a a paved trail then. But no, when we got there, it was unpaved as well. I started out have attitude about it-- I'd read articles online about how great it was that they'd completed a trail from Rehoboth Beach to Lewes--to me, completing a trail means paving it.

The difficult part of an unpaved trail on our trikes is that we rest our heads on headrests, so our heads were being bounced like they are on the sections of our roads with tons of potholes. But after a few minutes of irritation, we got used to the head bouncing and were able to appreciate the trail. Almost all of it is shaded by the trees on both sides, so we were protected from the sun. There were a few spots where we went over bridges and could see salt water flats that lead to the ocean. A deer crossed the path in front of us at one point. Beautiful! Here's a picture of Liz on the trail:



By the time we had done the whole trail back and forth, we'd only gone 7 miles. What!?! Why had the media described it as a 6 mile long trail? Another one of life's mysteries.

We loaded our trikes in Liz's van and headed for Dogfish Head. Their parking lot (their very big parking lot) already had tons of cars in it at 11:30 in the morning. My favorite car had "To Rehoboth or Bust" sprayed on the back window. With Texas license plates. And people thought it was crazy to drive here from Massachusetts. Dogfish fans are loyal!

They had pieces of Liz-like art here and there on the grounds and in the brewery. This tree house--which you could climb up into via the spiral staircase--was my favorite:



We each got a souvenir glass for testing the beer, which came in handy, because I could get 2 kinds of beer at once. They had a bunch of different beers available--I started out with the goal of testing them all. A few sips into the first one made me realize that I'd better get some food in me if I was going to be able to test more than one. They had a vendor there who sold barbecued ribs, so we each got a serving. Wow--those were great ribs! They may have been the best ribs I'd ever eaten. I ate very slowly, getting more beers to drink with the ribs. It was good having the two glasses, because there were long lines to get beer. This was the first time they had done this festival and they didn't have the systems down to handle the crowd.

Liz finished her ribs and I settled down on a couch to continue eating and drinking. With my broken vertabrae, I can only sit with no back support on with on a hard backed chair for a limited time. Or stand for that matter. I had been worried about whether I'd have a place to sit at Dogfish Head, so was relieved to see leather chairs and couches in the reception area, with half beer barrels as coffee tables. I shared the clinch with a 6 month old baby named Gabriel and his mother, so I had entertainment while Liz checked out the exhibitors and the company store. She need up buying a piece of art by the guy who designs the Dogfish Head labels, some T-shirts, and a hat.

After trying about 8 types of beer, I had a pleasant buzz and was done. I hadn't tried the IPAs, but I don't like super hoppy beers, and while I like a buzz, I don't like being drunk. It was time to go. We drove out the coastal highway and found a nice beach with not many people on it. The Reboboth Beach beach was a city of umbrellas. Here's Liz on the beach:





We stepped into the water, but didn't go swimming. The eater temperature was good, but the waves were crashing right on the beach and there was a big drop off where they were crashing. I was worried about being tossed in the surf--that's happened to me many times, but never when I was worried about having my bones broken. So I layer in the sand while Liz hunted for shells. The great thing about electronic books is I can download them on my phone and iPad, and whichever one I'm using, it takes me to the furthest page I've gotten to on either device. I first thought I wouldn't like reading on my phone because of the small screen--now I don't notice the difference.

After hanging out on the beach, we explored the coastal highway. On the map, it looks like you're driving on this narrow spit of land with water on both sides of you. And while that is true, the unfortunate part is you can't see the water on either side--it's just far enough away so you can only see traces of it down side streets here and there. After driving for a few hours, it s time to return to Rehoboth Beach for dinner.

We drove down the main drag looking for parking, and there was none to be found. What choice did we have but to return to the Dogfish Head restaurant, which has it's own parking lot. I had learned the night before--too late to use the knowledge--that it was possible to get a flight of beers. Now I could put the knowledge to work. Here's what I got:



The two I liked best were Theobroma, which dates from a 1200 BC recipe, and Black and Red, which has mint in it! Are you surprised to hear that I'm having trouble remembering what I ate. Oh yeah, I had pizza.

Afterwards, we came back to the motel and crashed. And in a Sunday miracle, no hangover. I don't know why, but I'm grateful. And not interested in drinking beer today. We're heading off for a long bike ride on the coastal highway, which has a wide bike lane, and to find a beach we can swim in.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday Night

Today was a very long day. Our 6.5 hour drive not including traffic turned into a 10 hour trip with traffic. We kept running into accidents, including a semi that tipped over on the highway. They imported a dumpster for the occasion, and were emptying the content into the dumpster before attempting to right it.

All the delays meant we were now moving with the Friday after-work traffic. There were many hours that we could have moved much faster on our trikes, but what would we have done with our car?

My exhaustion vanished as soon as we checked into our motel. Not because our motel was luxurious--we walked into the smell of chemical spray plus mold. That first impression was enhanced by our introduction to a roach struggling for life in the bathroom. If the roach can't survive, do we humans have any chance? I was going to take a picture of It for your edification, but it seems to have fully recovered and moved on from the bathroom. I don't want to think about where it is now.

The reason I was revived was because we were heading to the Dogfish Head restaurant for dinner. I had 2 great beers with my hamburger and fries. The first was Midas Touch--it is brewed using a recipe found in King Midas's tomb and based on the oldest known recipe for a fermented beverage. I tell you--King Midas knew what he was drinking. The other beer was Tah'Tea. It's a beer based on a 9th century Finnish recipe, so as I drank it, I thought about my ancient Finnish ancestors who drank a similar brew. All I was missing was the sauna. Here's the entrance to the restaurant:




We got into a conversation with the couple next to us. They were here for the event tomorrow too. They're staying at a B& B within walking distance of the brewery. We're going to see if we can move there tomorrow, for the air-quality if nothing else, although we'll miss the roach. But if we can move, I can drag myself home from the beer bash if Liz decides that the beach is more fun than the brewery.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Pilgrimage

I'm so excited about our pilgrimage to Dogfish Head tomorrow! It feels like we're going on vacation, even though it's just for 4 days and we'll spend most of 2 days traveling. I'm so excited, I had ice cream at Bennett's birthday party tonight. She's 4, which seems so unreal to me.

We're taking our trikes and I'm hoping we can find some great bike paths. I read that there's a new 6 mile long path in Rehoboth Beach, that I hope connects to another path. The idea of biking in flat country seems really appealing to me, although I love the challenge of uphills, the joy of flying downhill, and the beauty of western Massachusetts. I love the idea of cycling a really long distance because it's flat.

There's wireless in our hotel, so I'll be able to post during our adventure.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I Get All the News I Need On the Weather Report

So why isn't the forecast accurate? I've never been someone who paid attention to weather predictions, but now that I'm trying to cycle nearly every day, The Weather Channel is a regularly used app.

I checked out the hour by hour forecast last night before I went to bed, and there was nothing but sunshine in the forecast for the morning. I woke up to cloudiness and checked the forecast again, and this time it was nothing but rain. It wasn't raining then, despite all the drops falling from my iPad, so I decided to chance it. I don't really mind the rain, but I wouldn't want a thunderstorm to start when I'm miles from home.

I got about a mile from home and it started sprinkling. I thought I was in for it, but that was it, not another drop. Living right!

I started out the ride with a goal of doing it in an hour. My fastest so far had been an hour and 2 minutes, and usually I was doing it in an hour 5 to 8 minutes. It really helped that a cyclist passed me going up a short hill, because as was able to keep pave with him going downhill, and kept him in my sights for a few miles. It's much easier to go fast when I'm chasing someone. Once I lost him (or he lost me) I was able to keep my pace up. I got back to our driveway, pulled out my iPhone, and I just missed it--1 hour and 37 seconds. I'll get it next time. I went 11.2 mph. I'd like to go up to 12 mph on a hilly route like that.

By the way, I've developed my complete rating system for cyclists, based on how people dress:

1. Top level: rides in a peloton, everyone wearing the same team uniform with sponsors
2. Second level: rides in a peloton, everyone wears bike clothes, not matching, not sponsors
3. Third level: rides alone wearing bike clothes
4. Fourth level: rides alone or with others wearing athletic clothes (T-shirts, shorts)--this is the level Liz and I are on
5. Bottom level: rides alone or with others wearing street clothes, sometimes without a helmet

I give myself no credit for passing people at level 5, but if I can keep pace with someone in levels 1-3, I'm psyched. The guy today was in level 3. It made me very happy to keep pace with him for a while.

But what brings me true joy is flying down a hill. I do love speed! It's well worth climbing hills to get the downhills.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday Blues

I'm having a tough day today. We don't have anything planned today, because we hung out with Bennett on Friday this week. It's a beautiful day and there are tons of things I want to get done. Our backyard looks like we live in Appalachia (that sounds like some kind of bad ism-- probably classism or red-stateism). Liz has been redoing our basement gym, which looks fabulous--here's how it looks so far:


















But a lot of stuff migrated to the backyard during the process. I hate taking people back to look at the chicken coop because they have to walk through our backyard dump to get there. Here's how the back yard looks:








Also, we haven't planted any annuals in our garden yet, so the front yard has a collection of planters with healthy crops of weeds. Here's a prototypical example:









Actually, the weeds in the planter don't look too bad in that picture! Of course, they're nicely framed by Liz's garden spider.

I thought I'd start with the deck. We'd left a large ceramic vase out there for the winter, and shockingly, it broke. I wonder if we can get out money back. Ever since the snow melted, it's been out there looking like an eyesore--fragments of vase everywhere along with dirt and, lately, a huge weed that had taken up residence. I tosses the vase in the garbage, the weed and big dirt clump out into the forest, and swept the deck. That's where I went wrong. I can bike for 40 miles and my back is fine, thanks to my recumbent seat, but sweeping and raking kill my back. I know that if someone--say god if you believe in one--came up to me and said, "I'm giving you a choice-- you can either cycle or rake and sweep. Which is it?" Easy choice. So I got the right end of that stick.

But really, who wants to give up anything. I started feeling really bad about not contributing my share to the household upkeep. I look around and all I see are things that need to be done. What are my choices? I can do them and hurt my back. So far, that just causes pain that goes away when I sit in my favorite chair, which is where I am now. My fear is breaking another vertabrae or causing long-lasting pain. I can ask Liz to do it--but she has a long list of things that need doing. Or I can accept that everything is not going to be the way I want it. I'm trying for that latter, but vary in my success at it, and generally just end up feeling depressed that I can't do what I want to do.

I decided this morning to look for things that are Liz's job that I can do, so she has time to do other things. I started with the dishes. The way we split up kitchen stuff is that I plan the meals, do most of the grocery shopping, and cook, and Liz does the dishes and puts them away. I've done dishes maybe a half-dozen times in the 27 years we've been together. So I emptied the dishwasher, rinsed the dishes, loaded the dishwasher, and started it. Not a hard task, but not good on my back. That standing, leaning slightly forward stance puts pressure on my spine right in the place that hurts. I keep forgetting that. When I think about why I don't cook the way I used to, I think that it's because I'm lazy or not into cooking the way I used to be, and then I remember, oh yeah, it's because it hurts my back. It's that same standing, bending slightly forward thing.

Actually, writing in my blog is really helping me to feel less bummed about the whole thing. I'm doing small tasks, like watering the plants and cleaning the litter box, and then taking a break. Then, just to keep things interesting, I tried strategy 2 above and nagged Liz about the crap in the backyard, with predictable results. What, she doesn't like it when I'm nagging? I'm back to bummed. Bummed on a beautiful day. I wish it was raining--much better to be bummed when it's raining and to be sitting inside knowing I can't do any gardening than sitting here looking at a beautiful day.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hauling Our Ashes to Ashfield

Liz and I decided to take our route through Ashfield and Conway again this morning. Wow--the ride to Ashfield is challenging! When we take our normal 11 mile ride toward Conway and back, it takes us a little over an hour, and has plenty of hills. The 17 mile ride to Ashfield took us 2 1/2 hours.

I've never spent any time in Ashfield--it's really a nice town. It's the kind of town where people are really friendly and start conversations with strangers. We went to Elmer's for breakfast. The waitress sat down to talk to us for a few minutes, and we got into a long conversation with the woman at the next table, who Liz recognized from the dog park. We had conversations with a few other people as well. And on top of the friendliness, Elmer's had gluten-free pancakes-- Liz was in heaven. I tried a bit and they were delicious. They're starting to get the gluten-free thing down.

After breakfast, I was thinking about how the way home from Ashfield had been too easy last time. Seven miles downhill into Conway, then a few uphills, but mainly downhill from there. So I pulled out the map and saw a route we could take that would add some miles to our trip. Liz was up for it. It accomplished our goal in that the trip to Conway was rolling instead of all downhill. Also, we added some distance--we cycled 40 miles! That feels like an accomplishment.

We enjoyed the whole thing so much, we decided that we should bike to Elmer's for breakfast every weekend. Now we are collapsed on chairs, resting our aching knees, hoping that the other one will regain enough strength to go make us smoothies.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Lunch Cycle

I set the alarm for 6 am to get up for an early cycle, but that was living in some alternate reality in which I could actually sleep after everything I ate and drank. Unfortunately I was actually living in a reality in which I felt like I was wide awake all night. Liz claimed I slept, but if I did, it wasn't deeply and I woke up a lot. My poor stomach was very unhappy. So when the alarm went off at 6, I promptly reset it for 7:30.

So Liz put our trikes in her RV and brought them to the office at lunch time. We went for a nice 8 mile ride on the bike path. We went on a new section that goes through downtown and eventually connects with bike path in Easthampton that I used to blade on all the time. The path is great--beautiful surface, nice and quiet, nice scenery. They actually put in a bridge over Route 10, which is great for both the cyclers and the drivers. The really nice thing about cycling in Northampton is that drivers are really great about stopping to let cyclers cross roads.

Liz and I were feeling very impressed with ourselves for exercising during lunch time. It's something we've never done in our 27 years together.

I didn't reach my goal of being at a normal weight by the time of my birthday--I was 3 pounds over. But given how crappy I feel today, I am having no trouble going back to eating healthily.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

They Say It's My Birthday

I had a really fun birthday. I hoped to start it by cycling, but shockingly, it was raining out. I sure hope it's not raining tomorrow, because I have a lot of calories to burn off.

We went to a great Mexican restaurant in Greenfield called Mesa Verde. I had nachos with salsa in guacamole, a burrito in a bowl, and two margaritas. If that wasn't enough, we went to Herrell's for ice cream for dessert. I feel very full and very sleepy.

As much as I enjoyed it, I feel very clear that I want an evening like this to be a rare exception. Feeling fit is more important to me.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Who'll Stop the Rain

It rained most of the day Friday, Saturday, and this morning. I really need to find alternative exercise for rainy days. I can tell I'm not quite as gung-ho as I was a month ago, because I didn't go out in the cold drizzle this morning. Although I think it's harder to go out when it's 50 degrees after the weather has been in the 90s. I think the thing I've learned this weekend is to eat differently when I am not exercising. I've gotten into a good pattern of eating so I'm not tracking my calories anymore, but that's based on working out 6 times a week. So I need to be conscious of cutting down my calories when I'm not working out.

I'm also really aware of the impact of other people in my life on my eating habits. I've read studies that if you hang out with people who are overweight, you're likely to be overweight, too. And for the week before Dan arrived, I started thinking about how hard it would be if Dan ate (and drank) like most 21 year old college students--particularly men. It's really great that we all have the same goals in terms of fitness and nutrition.

Here's a picture of Dan being a goofball. As you can see, he's buff. And cute.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hip Hip

I had a scare today. I had a great workout at Fitness Together and went to have a Spanish lesson with my friend Julie. When I got up off her couch at the end of the lesson, I had a terrible pain in my left hip. I couldn't walk, I couldn't put any weight on it. I remembered that I still had crutches in my trunk and Julie's husband Jeff went to get them.

When I started trying to walk with the crutches, I realized I couldn't lift my left leg because of the pain. I had to drag it forward on the floor. I wasn't sure what to do, but was afraid something was really wrong. I thought about going to the emergency room, but decided to to home and see what it was like after a couple of hours. I tried calling Liz, but she didn't answer the phone. Julie rode back to my house with me in my car and Jeff followed in theirs. Then when we got to my house, the pain was completely gone.

Weird, huh? At first I was very cautious about moving around, but then I tried going up and down stairs--no problem. I don't know what it was, but I'm really glad it wasn't something that took me out for awhile. I really want to enjoy this summer.

By the way, Liz finished the chicken house today and the chickens are out there now. Here are some pictures. Liz built them a palace!










- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad