Healthful Living/Weekly Workout Support Group - Week of April 29th

[Leslie Ferguson]

What a difference a week makes for the gang and the tenor of society. There are lots of questions being asked and lots of healthy discussions of many aspects of our personal and corporate life/lives. Spring is firmly upon us and families are turning their thoughts to the coming summer already. But without getting too far ahead of ourselves we are still keeping an eye on the here and now - probably a little healthier in the long run. As we stare at the end of the first third of 2007 - yes it has been that long, it is good to stop, reflect and celebrate the good things we can all claim over these months. So in an effort to “wade through” my diatribe that opens the weekly thread I’ll try to quickly recap the thoughts and events of the participants if you care to read on:

Karen - positive information from the contractor regarding repairing the basement both monetarily and time-wise; scheduling her one-on-one test in preparation for her black belt test in July; kids still busy with scouts, school (academic and religious), extra-curricular events like band, vocal and dance; the “taxi” got a clean bill of health; sent good vibes her way that she’d win more coffee in the school raffle. ;)
Kate - rode Mack for the first time in weeks; got her house ready to list - even though she’s still having some repair issues (or repairs standing the test of time and rain); getting back into her workout routine around her work schedule-home repairs-riding Mack.
Miche - waiting to hear what’s up with her foot/knee etc.; busy all around with work; enjoying the spring in Toronto (what a lovely thing that must be).
Laura - MIA this past week but understandable with court (the firm she works at not her) and family, hopefully she’s ok.
Lily - checked in and said she was well but wouldn’t be able to spend a lot of time on the thread - no issue from anyone here; found a potential cause for her tiredness (has to do with thyroid); hope she’s well too.
Me (Les) - raced on Thursday evening; doing lots of things to prepare for retirement including tons of paperwork to determine potential disability compensation; just about healed from the tumble the other week; preparing for entrance interview at school in 8 days.

Healthful living - After a week of leg/ankle/hip issues I’ve really got to get my PT back in the forefront so that’s first on my list this week. I’m also committing to getting back to spending a reasonable amount of time at work each day, it seems I’ve gotten out of the habit to try to craft the “perfect solution” and spend more time than necessary to get my work done - not a good thing for me in the future so rededicating myself to sane working hours. Oh, and I’m teaching Sunday School two weeks in a row so I’ve got to be healthy about that process too.

Workout - I’ll be a broken record here - run and ride as the weather and work supports on Mon-Thurs with a long run on Saturday. I’m not sure just how far the long run will be but some distance in the 12-14 mile range.

So what is on your schedules for the middle third of the year? For me I’m going to spend a lot of time trying to downsize and get ready for retirement and school in the fall. Plenty of things going on there that will take lots of time and effort over and above my regular 40-hour a week job. But other than that I’ve got nothing spectacular planned.

That about sums it up for the week - hope you all are well and we hear from some of the remainder of the group.

Until later - peace,
Les

[karen w]

Les-Good evening and thanks for our weekly opening salvos in your usual eloquent fashion(my aren't I being verbose tonight??!:p ). You are allowed to be a broken record with your routine if you'd like as mine certainly never varies much from the usual "box, swim, bike, or elliptical plus abs etc..." As to my schedule for the middle third of the year....#1) get through it!!!;) #2) start the camp labeling/packing process #3) wrapping up the school year(hard to beleive) and finally #4) the final leg of training toward my black belt.

Our weekend here was good. I ended up doing elliptical and abs yesterday; bike and abs today. Last night was graduation ceremony for the boys for cub scouts(DS#1 from cubs to boys; DS#2 from bears to webelos). DS#1 has his first boy scout mtg. this Thursday and there is a camping trip already scheduled for the new boys at the end of the month(and DH does not have to go on this one now that DS#1 is a boy scout!!!) Aside from that we also met with our landscaper and another basement contractor yesterday. Doubt will go with this guy as we have heard some "bad stuff" about him from a few very reliable people/friends we know and that's never a good thing. Plus he left us with absolutely no info. yesterday which was wrong. he said he's write up a proposal and get it to us within a week or so, but it would still have been nice to leave us with some idea of what he was talking/thinking about. Anyway, we'll meet with one more later this week and make our choice so we can get the process going. We also picked out our carpeting(I think?!:p ), but still have to get into the store to order it now.

Today was Hucklemania which is a PTO sponsored fund raiser at one of the kids elementary schools(Huckleberry) with games, rides, raffles, arts & crafts etc...). The kids were not real thrilled about going initially, but since I had to run a game for an hour, we all dragged them along and went as a family. Of course, they ended up having lots of fun and we had there amber alert cards updated at the same time there(we did it last 3 years ago:o ). This evening we decided to head out to our favorite Italian place for dinner and an ice cream afterward to end the weekend.

In other news this weekend, as a mom I am allowed to brag so get prepared(at least, I warned you guys!:D ). This past year we have struggled with DS#1 and his organizational skills at school(or lack thereof) which was a big obstacle for him in terms of acheiving success. As you may recall DH and I met with his team of teachers in Jan. along with him to put in place a system of checks so we could both teach him how to become organized and monitor his progress at the same time. Our goal was for him to eventually be able to keep himself organized and suceed without our assistance with "housekeeping skills." Well, without further dragging out this story, he really pulled his grades up this last quarter and we got a letter on Saturday from his school that he made the honor roll for this quarter with 3 A's and a B+!!!! :cool: Way to go!

On that happy note....have a good week,

Karen

[Kayaksoup]

I was walking home from work tonight, trying to think of ways to motivate myself to keep up my gym schedule and I remember seeing these threads. (Although, now that I am here, I am hugely intimidated by how well you all seem to know each other:o )
I am hoping that it would be okay for me to join in, maybe learn something from you lot (this working out thing is so new to me...).
Linda

ETA
So, this morning I was only able to squeeze in 45 mins at the gym before I went to work. AS per the instructions of my "trainer" I do exclusively cardio at the moment. I did 25 minutes on the treadmill, speedwalking on the incline, keeping my heartrate in the 140-150 zone. Then 20 minutes on the upright bike hill program, keeping heartrate in the 150-160 range. These ranges are in the moderate to heavy for my age group and I was reading today that beginners (moi) and people who are overweight (also moi) shouldn't push this hard, yet I was told by a professional to do it. So confused...

[mackandme]

welcome, kayaksoup!!!!

everybody is busy busy as usual, i see. just dropping in quickly. we've had some changes at work so the near future is going to be pretty hectic here.

managed another ride on mack today before work. was bound and determined to go to the gym monday before work (eek, have realized that i'm going to have to start working out during the lunch rush now that i have to work at 1) but realtor has now planned an open house for other realtors for monday, so i may have to put my cats in the car and drive around for 45 min. (NOT fun with cats).... so we'll see. had the first potential buyer look at the house friday p.m. and got really positive feedback.

will TRY to get back on a schedule, but if not, looks like you guys are working out enough to make up for me!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Welcome Kayaksoup! It's always good to have new members, even those who have been on the boards for a while. I hope we aren't too intimidating because we would like to have you continue to join us and hopefully let us motivate you to stick with your workout plan as well as living in a healthful manner. FWIW, Karen, Laura, and I are the longest members of this thread but Miche, Lily, Kate, and a couple others that drop in sporadically are relatively new to the group. We hope to not be exclusive and I really try to include and welcome everyone to the thread. Please don't let us "chase" you away. As for your workout, it sounds like you're at the upper end of your workout threshold maintaining your heart rate at that level for that amount of time - especially with your beginner status. A question... how did you cope with that level of exercise? Were you so tired at the end that you don't want to do anything tomorrow? Or were you so tired that you couldn't move? As with everything across 3,000 miles it's hard to gage your fitness level. But I'd say that level of exertion is probably in my range (I've been working out 4-5 times a week almost every week since 1993). If it were me I'd ask for clarification and express your concerns - the worst thing in my book is to get someone who wants to work out then run them into the ground and make them not want to work out any more. I've unwittingly done that to a couple runners over the years and I've had to really keep track of the new folks when I'm leading a group. I hope you get some resolution and feedback about the type/intensity of your workouts. Thanks again for joining us too. BTW - are you on Vancouver Island or Vancouver? In the past I've spent a little time in Esquimalt and Victoria - if I could get back to that side of the country I'd love to go back.

Kate - Most cats I know would have to be a little sedated to go into a car - I hope you don't have to drive with them for 45 minutes. I'll send good vibes your way to sell your house. Thanks for stopping by...
Karen - Congratulations to DS#1 and you and DH should be proud parents considering where he was at the beginning of the year. I hear you on being in a "rut" with workouts. I'll be happy to get them all in without issue (time-wise not injury). It sounds like you have a busy second third of the year planned - not too unexpected. Have a good week...

I had a good lifting session and made a dent in some long standing projects at the house. Hopefully the day at work tomorrow isn't too weird but it might be. fading fast so I'll sign off with a greeting to all the regulars and a hearty "HOWDY" to Kayaksoup.

Until later, peace,
Les

[Kayaksoup]

Les, Kate thank you for the welcome...
Les, I feel good afterward, but exhausted (the first time I came home and promptly fell asleep sitting on the couch). I went two weeks, hour per day, with only two days off, then took 3 in a row off. My body just needed it. I was given a "fitness assessment" at the beginning and was told that I had very good cardio ~ the trainer was not hiding her surprise very well:rolleyes: My heartrate drops rapidly as soon as i slow down.
I am a little skeptical though ~ how seriously can one take a trainer who goes by the name "Princess":p~ so I might go for a second opinion.

I live in Vancouver now, but I lived on Vancouver Island for a while (graduated from high school there) and my parents are still there, just outside of Victoria..Beautiful area!

Kate, just the thought of trying to put my one cat in a car makes me cringe ~ good luck no matter what happens

[misskitty100]

May I join your group? I have been working out since late February at a local gym. Prior to that just spent a lot of time taking care of 2 small children but really didn't excerise at all. I am past the point of dreading going to the gym and now actually just go without thinking about it....it is now part of my routine just like brushing my teeth! I feel great but my weight has only fluctuated about 2 or 3 lbs up or down. I haven't really lost anything and I know, muscle weighs more than fat but I truthfully have plenty of fat to loose at this point. In the beginning, I was just doing the treadmill with no incline. I now have started doing weights and the treadmill. I am going to alternate 45 minutes on an inclined treadmill with weights every other day. On weight days I will still do 10 minutes of the treadmill to warm up. My biggest problem area is stomach (after having 2 babies). I can't/won't do sit ups because I know I do them wrong -- my neck always ends up hurting. So I am trying to do some other things to work on my problem area that are sit up free. Lastly, I try to work out 6 days a week although this past week I only got in 5 workouts.

[karen w]

WELCOME KAYAKSOUP AND MISSKITTY!!!!

The more the merrier here as Les has already said. We hope we can be of some support in your health/fitness goals.

This is going to be a bit of a "quickie" for me. I am in between getting the boys home from religion and DD from Jazz class so I just have a few minutes to post. Started my day in a bit of a funk(queasy tummy....not sure why), but my swim this morning helped some of that. At boxing today, we had a few guests from another school in Philly looking to take back some of the teaching methods from our school back home to their school. I ended up working with one of them on a bag for awhile(a black belt). It turned out to be a great class and just the ticket to get over my doldrums today from my lousy night of sleep last night. This afternoon I even managed to begin the onerous camp labeling process. A necessary evil. :p

Gotta run, but I'll try to catch up more tomorrow. Again, welcome to the newcomers.

Have a great night,
Karen

[Kayaksoup]

HI karen and misskitty!
Well, I went again today after work. I did my full hour ~ 20 treadmill, 20 elliptical, 20 bike. I paid closer attention to my heart rate and how I feel after ~ I actually feel fine after going so hard ~ my recovery time is around a minute. Today was the first time that I really got into/enjoyed the elliptical.
I am in terrible shape, but I am really getting into this:D

[cher48603]

Room for one more? :) I've also gotten back to the gym on a regular basis. Our Y has just gone thru a huge renovation and it's really a pleasure to workout now. The workout areas are much more open, lots of new machines & a hardwood floor in the aerobics room.

Our Y is affiliated with Fitlinxx. For those not familiar with it, you log in your personal ID number when you start your workout and it tracks how much weight you lift, minutes on cardio machines & calories burned (+ more). It credits you points for your workouts. I just logged on to their website to check my points. For the month of April at our gym, all females aged 50 - 59, I'm #10, 92rd percentile. Not bad, considering I'm at the upper edge of my age group & was out of town 5 days the beginning of the month. Sorry, I'm just really excited to see the stats. :o

I've been attending a bike & tone class and a fitness class, 1 hr each on M/W/F. The fitness class concentrates on stretching and core strength. On T/Th/S I do the rotation of 18 Cybex machines and either use the elliptical or the treadmill.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Welcome Cheryl and misskitty - the more the merrier.

This too will be short since I'm up against bed time (more about why in a second).

misskitty - I might have a couple ideas about what to do to help your abs and not put pressure on your neck. Like Karen, I do a lot of ab work (helps overcome a few years of high school sports when I wasn't in the best of shape - lots of extra pounds) and have a couple tricks of the trade to protect your neck and lower back. FWIW, I only do "real" sit-ups twice a year, for my semi-annual physical fitness test in the Navy. Noting your "Northwest" moniker (being a displaced Oregonian after 22 years in the Navy) what part (at least in general). Thanks for joining the group and I hope we can help you on your road to fitness.
Cheryl - Not too familiar with Fitlinxx even though it's in all the Y's in Norfolk/Virginia Beach. I like the sound of your plan - its balance and variety. You should be proud of your accomplishments too, one of the things I need to work on in self-interest and claiming the things I do well and not sluffing them off. 92nd percentile is great! Welcome to the group too.
Kayaksoup - It sounds like you're working out at a level that tests you without over-taxing yourself. If you're well on the way to recovery in a minute you have a great cardiovascular system. I run with folks that can recover that fast and they run every week (and lots of distance too). Interesting your reaction to the elliptical - most people I know really do get into that machine once they get the hang of it.

Karen - Good kickboxing session - I know that reset your system and I'm glad it shedded your funk. Hope your labeling session started without a hitch.

Now for my story and how life and my workout got a little derailed this evening while riding. Luckily my issue happened near the end of my ride while I was on the way home. Somehow I ended up with a flat on the back tire and no way to fix it. Not that it would have helped considering how flat the tire got. Tired to ride a little before hitting the rim so I didn't have to walk home in my riding shoes (or as the case may be in my socks). FWIW, it's hard to walk in running cleats... :rolleyes: Got about 55-57 minutes in before dismouting and walking about 1/2 mile home. Just delayed things about 15 minutes getting everything put together.

Time to hit the skids and head to bed so I'll see you in the morning - with news about my interview in a week... Until then, peace and welcome to the newcomers,
Les

[misskitty100]

HI karen and misskitty!
Well, I went again today after work. I did my full hour ~ 20 treadmill, 20 elliptical, 20 bike. I paid closer attention to my heart rate and how I feel after ~ I actually feel fine after going so hard ~ my recovery time is around a minute. Today was the first time that I really got into/enjoyed the elliptical.
I am in terrible shape, but I am really getting into this:D


May I ask why you divide your cardio into 3 different machines? Is there an advantage?

[misskitty100]

Welcome Cheryl and misskitty - the more the merrier.

This too will be short since I'm up against bed time (more about why in a second).

misskitty - I might have a couple ideas about what to do to help your abs and not put pressure on your neck. Like Karen, I do a lot of ab work (helps overcome a few years of high school sports when I wasn't in the best of shape - lots of extra pounds) and have a couple tricks of the trade to protect your neck and lower back. FWIW, I only do "real" sit-ups twice a year, for my semi-annual physical fitness test in the Navy. Noting your "Northwest" moniker (being a displaced Oregonian after 22 years in the Navy) what part (at least in general). Thanks for joining the group and I hope we can help you on your road to fitness.


Les, I would appreciate any tips regarding ab toning/work! I live in the Seattle area. What part of Oregon are you from? My Dad grew in Eagle Point (outside of Medford) and my grandmother now lives in Bend.

[Kayaksoup]

May I ask why you divide your cardio into 3 different machines? Is there an advantage?
Going to bed, but thought I would just answer quickly. I was told to split my time between the three machines. No idea why, so I just do it. I know that I get a different workout from each one.

[Leslie Ferguson]

misskitty - Seattle is such a beautiful place. I lived in Renton for about 18 months a while ago. My Dad grew up in The Dalles and my Mom grew up in St. Helens and they both went to school in La Grande. When I was young I lived in Coos Bay (don't remember any of it since I was ~ 1 y.o. at the time). At another time I lived in Tigard (outside Portland) and went to Oregon State University in Corvallis. Most of my in-laws live in greater Portland but I have a couple who live in Salem. I also have cousins that live in Tigard, Bend, Walla Walla (WA), Pendleton, and Echo. So I have ties to a lot of the state and have traveled over most of it but don't get out all that often any more. A friend in college was from Eagle Point and her boy friend was from Central Point (in the same area).

For abs work - I was taught to protect my neck by keeping my hands on my shoulders while doing my crunches. That way I'm not tempted to pull up on the back of my neck. The other thing I do is keep the small of my back on the ground and only lift my shoulder blades if at all possible. The target I have is to try to lift my shoulders about 2-5 inches off the ground gently then set them back on the floor trying to focus on pushing my shoulders to the ceiling. I've found it also important to make sure I keep my feet on the floor when I do crunches to prevent me from hunching my back and torquing myself.

Another option is to use a ball or half-ball to do crunches on using the same guidelines - hands on shoulders and try to lift your shoulders straight up to the ceiling.

Something for the more adventurous (but you'll need facilities to do these) is to do leg raises on an upright "chair" (I'll have to see if I can find a picture since that's not a good description). Another, even more challenging option is to do leg raises while hanging from arm straps (that's really challenging and not really recommended unless you are in pretty good shape). Something that works your upper abs that a lot of people don't realize is doing seated pull-overs (again will try to find a picture somewhere). Certain lifts will work your abs as a secondary effect (mostly ones that target your triceps and often your lats too).

Hopefully that's not too overwhelming but that's a couple thoughts.

Answering your question to Kayaksoup, the idea about using different machines in tandem is two-fold: helps prevent repetitive use injury and keeps you interested in doing the exercises. Secondarily, you do get a workout of different aspects of your body based on the different machine.

Coming back to the interview for next week (I guess for clarity and the newcomers I've applied to the Virginia Theological Seminary for the Masters of Divinity program hopefully leading to ordination in the Episcopal Church) - I'll drive to Alexandria on Sunday evening and have reservations in the guest house at school. Monday morning I'll start with morning worship and then have the opportunity to go to classes (I think there are three that I'll be able to make). After classes I'll get more of the student experience by eating the noon meal with the class - that's a requirement for all students to build community. After lunch I'll interview with the Financial Aid and Housing director then finally at about 2:00 (I think) I'll interview with the faculty for about an hour. After that I'll be on my own until having to depart on Tuesday (depending on things may leave Monday after my interview). It would be a shame to get all the way up there and not stop over and see my sister (she lives less than 2 miles from the school) so I may take advantage of the lodging availability and stay overnight on Monday too. Will have to see though.

Need to get to work but thought I'd check in and see what's happened overnight.

Peace,
Les

[cher48603]

Great job to everyone that's done any kind of a workout!!

Les,

Thanks for the kind words. I didn't realize how hard I'd pushed myself until I saw the stats.

As you told misskitty, we're also being instructed now to do our crunches with hands on our shoulders rather than behind our neck.

From what I've read, you always seem to have kind & encouraging words for everyone. Sounds like a perfect match for a member of the clergy.

Karen,

It sounds like you're doing a great job fitting in workouts with your busy schedule. Kickboxing has always looked like fun & a great workout. Is that what you're working toward a black belt in?

[mackandme]

Welcome cher and misskitty!!!!

Karen, glad to hear you're out of your workout funk. Everyone sounds like they're really in a workout groove.

I did make it to the gym Monday. The open house got postponed. Les, I have actually driven (by myself) with my cats from San Antonio to Orlando, and then from Orlando to Baltimore and back. When it came time to move to Fort Worth, I did NOT want to drive again, so crazy lady that I am i bought a roundtrip ticket for a friend so we could could each escort one cat on the plane from Orlando to Texas. Not fun! Next time i'll get goldfish. :D

Have been going through a transition at work, and everything that I thought might go wrong has and I've been really busy. Oh well, will just keep on trucking. And trying to make it to the gym.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Thank you Cheryl I'm glad that my nature is finally re-emerging after 22 years in the Navy and being suppressed on a few occasions. You should rightly be proud of your accomplishments - not everyone (even the folks in my office who HAVE to be in shape) could claim your results.

That was a funny story Kate. I can only imagine traveling all those miles with multiple cats. I remember driving across country from Washington DC to Portland OR with a cat - shook most of the way across the country. Sorry that your open house got postponed but there are more days and I have a good feeling your house will do well on the market.

As for me today... the synopsis is:
Work unraveled... immediate boss got bad news from outside the command that derailed the afternoon... LW's car had to go to the shop for routine maintenance (so I can drive it north this weekend - it's a 1999 that has only 37K as opposed to my 1993 with 170k)... worked on sunday school class and got most of it done so I might un-stress about it to sleep through the night. One can hope.

Howdy to the rest of the gang, I woder how Miche is doing this week and what ended up being wrong with her foot (if they know).

Until tomorrow -- peace friends,
Les

[Kayaksoup]

I am just posting to remind myself to do it every day, as I actually skipped out on the gym today. Not feeling too hot so took a slacker day. I felt so guilty about it but my friends remind me that if I don't take a couple days off a week, I am going to burn out. I suspect tomorrow is a wash as well ~ I will be working a double.
Les, I spent a couple summers in Corvallis as a child; my grandparents managed a retirement community there.
Signing off now to curl up with some chocolate and a hot water bottle.

[misskitty100]

Les, my dad's entire family went to OSU (my dad went to OSU and UofO). He probably knows your friends from E.P. and C.P. too.

I know what you mean about the "chairs" and the lifts. They have those at the gym I go to (Gold's gym). I will give them a try as well as the ball. Thank you! I also saw someone at the gym tonight laying on a ball and lifting one arm and the opposite leg in the air - I wonder if that is for abs?

Kayaksoup, you and I must be on the same wave length. I didn't feel much like working out tonight but I still made myself go. I wasn't too into it tonight - oh well. Hope you are feeling better tomorrow.

Mackandme, too funny about the cats! The driving had me laughing but then the part about the airplane....lol!!!

[karen w]

Sorry I was AWOL last night, but my computer connection was not behaving itself. Anyway, first off....WELCOME to all of the newcomers. We have certainly grown to a lively bunch this week!

misskitty-I must reiterate what Les said about those crunches. We do them daily in our boxing classes and I put just my fingertips on the back of my head(or you can use shoulders as Les suggested) so I don't pull my neck up. The other goal with crunches is not necessarily lifting yourself off the floor, but just pushing your shoulders/chin straight up to the ceiling(as I think was also mentioned). I guess I'm being redundant.:rolleyes: Good luck!

Cheryl-Our Y just went through some big renovations/revamping of all of their machines as well. I mainly use the pool, however, since DH and I have a recumbant bike and an elliptical at home. And yes, I do Thai kickboxing. I have a big 3-4 hr. progress test this Saturday and next Tuesday I have my "pre-test," an hour session with the master(5th degree) privately to go through all the requirements and see if he approves me to test for my black belt. If he gives me the green light, I will be testing for it in July.:)

Les-Good luck with your interview trip. It actually sounds kinda fun....like camp??? Or maybe that's how you should look at it so you don't stress over it. You know....like everyone in their underwear or something. Just a thought??!!! Just trying for you!:rolleyes: Good luck and have some fun, too.

As for my, yesterday was pretty much my typical and today I have already had my swim. I have to take the kids to the bus in 5 min., then i will head to the store for milk and go to boxing. I may try to stay for BBC today. This afternoon is busy with more kid stuff and the taxi runs. The boys have religion and DD starts a second day of gymnastics each week beginning this afternoon. Tonight we also have the last basement contractor coming.

Gotta run. Have a good day,
Karen

[cher48603]

There must be something in the air. Today was my day to not feel like working out. I went, but may not go tomorrow.

Kate,

Thanks for the welcome.

Having been a cat owner for many years I understand traveling with cats. Just a trip to the vet was an adventure.

Thank you Cheryl I'm glad that my nature is finally re-emerging after 22 years in the Navy and being suppressed on a few occasions.

Les,

Are you sure it's only been suppressed a few times? :D

Karen,

Being so close to a black belt is a huge accomplishment.

[karen w]

Good evening,

Cheryl-Sorry you did not have your usual workout energy, but good that you went. Les and I call those "place holder workouts" and they still count! Hope your zip returns tomorrow.

I went for my regular boxing class, but did not stay for BBC since the first class ran over by 20 minutes, and I had alot more stuff to get done today. I did get some interesting news at the martial arts school today which I am not sure that I am so thrilled about. The owner is going to be forming a "Fight Team" consisting of students who are interested, attend the demo classes, and try out for the team with the master. The classes for this team would focus on sparring, take downs etc.. exclusively. He has also purchased a boxing ring which can be set up and taken down to be used for boxing matches and tournaments. Now that does not really affect me as I am not interested in doing this exclusively, however, he mentioned that the next round of black belt testers(me) may end up sparring with members of the "Fight Team" during their test. Now that I have a problem with as they are going to be trained differently than I have been and obviously be better trained in this area than I ever want to be. I'll have to see how this all pans out. At least sparring is only a small part of our test, but really....:mad:

Rest of the day was the "kid stuff"...gymnastics and religion. Now DH and I are waiting for the last basement company to show up and the kids are outside running around. It turned out to be a gorgeous day here.

Hope eveyone had a good hump day,
Karen

[misskitty100]

I just got back from the gym after a long day of driving the kids here and there. I had no energy tonight but managed to get in my 45 minutes on the treadmill (and burned over 330 calories to boot). Glad to be home and that tomorrow is going to be a lot less busy.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Cheryl - I only repressed a couple times... a day - not really but there were a few years when my "evil twin" lived a great life.

I need to do a drive by tonight and claim no workout - it was another tough day at work and picked up LW's car from the shop -- much cheaper than my car. That and I need to get to bed and get some sleep since I'm doing my LAST EVER Physical Fitness Test at work at 8 am tomorrow. Hard to believe - the last time I'll do 2 minutes of situps, 2 minutes of push ups, and run 1.5 miles for time.

Lots to talk about but it will have to wait... See you all tomorrow after the test and here's to the hump day being behind up.

Peace,
Les

[cher48603]

Good evening,

Cheryl-Sorry you did not have your usual workout energy, but good that you went. Les and I call those "place holder workouts" and they still count! Hope your zip returns tomorrow.

I like the name "place holder workouts". It really does describe what I did.

I thought I'd treat myself to a day of rest today but the sun is shining & I'm ready to go!

misskitty

I had no energy tonight but managed to get in my 45 minutes on the treadmill (and burned over 330 calories to boot). Glad to be home and that tomorrow is going to be a lot less busy.

I think seeing the results of the don't want to be here workouts are the best. Great job!!

Kayaksoup,

Hope your double today wasn't too tough & that you're feeling better. Can't go wrong with chocolate. :cool:

Les,

I only repressed a couple times... a day - not really but there were a few years when my "evil twin" lived a great life.

I think most of us have had the evil twin at some point in our lives.

How many years have you served in the Navy? Must be a great feeling knowing you're doing your last Physical Fitness Test. I'm sure many of the things you'll do for the last time will be bittersweet.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Cheryl - In 1 month I will have been in the Navy 22 years and on my retirement date I will have been in the Navy 22 years, 2 months, 22 days (wouldn't have mentioned that except the number 2 showing up all those times makes me smile). My Physical Fitness Test went well and although I'm not bittersweet about today's test I know there are things that will happen in the coming months that will be bittersweet - plenty of things have already made me stop and sigh. In my case it's "worse" because my father was in the Navy before I was born so frankly I've been in and around the Navy my whole life. Even as maddening as it can be I will miss a lot of the things I've done in the past. But as the saying goes, life goes on. Place holder workouts are still good in my book - at least you did something to get your heart rate moving a little and got moving. I hope you had a good day in the sun.

misskitty - Great job on your placeholder too - bet you feel pretty good about it.

As I mentioned, the test went well. Enough situps and pushups to not be at risk but few enough to not exacerbate my shoulder and hips (too much). Run went well, not as fast as in the past but again, plenty fast enough for the test. Otherwise, today was really grey and rainy. But good news, I picked up some of the information for my Seminary application and financial support from my diocese and I'm happy, happy, happy. :cool: One more piece of paper (that will have to come later) and I'm done.

Time to head home so I'll see you later this evening.

Peace,
Les

[karen w]

Les-Congratulations(I think that is appropriate and in order anyway) on your last physical fitness test. This has been quite a lifelong process for you from birth to retirement. There are bound to be some bittersweet moments, no doubt. Just look back on them with fond memories and pride. Like you said, "life goes on" and I know the next phase will bring even better memories.

I had a good day today in spite of very little sleep last night. We had the last of several basement contractors come last evening at 9 PM and he did not leave until after 11 PM:( . What he had to say really made alot of sense, but he was also after the "hard sell." He did not want to leave without an unsigned contract. BUT....HE DID! We ended up going with the first guy we talked to over a week ago. I called him today, and he will be out first thing tomorrow morning to sign contracts and schedule things. For the newcomers, we have(had) a beautifully finished basement that has been bone dry for 9 years(the life of the house) until this recent Nor'easter in which the water table was so high, the ground frozen, and 8" rain in 6 hrs. caused water to come up underneath the floor of the basement. So this was a very unusual, rare storm that hopefully won't repeat itself for many years to come. However, before putting down new carpet again(which we picked out and will likely order tomorrow), we wanted to get a bit more "insurance" that this won't happen. I know there are many great basement systems out there to handle "wet basements", but since ours has never been wet and this was a freak storm, we decided to try a "simpler" solution first. That and the fact that the cost of the proposed system we were told about last night, we could replace the carpet 4 times!! We figure we would take the risk, and can always do that down the road if needed. Especially since with that system, they would have to tear down dry wall and floor joists, so there would be further costs to repair drywall, molding, and paint. Our water came up in one primary spot and a small amt. in a second area(basically 2 expansion joints), so we are going to sink a sump right between these two joints and that should take care of the problem if it should ever even happen again. And the area the sump needs to be is in the non finished portion of the basement, too, which is even better. Anyway, I think I have gone on enough over this matter. I just glad we are moving forward and we will get our nice basement back soon.

As for my day today...still had a good swim first thing in the morning in spite of little sleep, although I did give boxing a rest today for several reasons. Since I have a big(3-4 hr.) progress test Sat. and my pretest next Tues., I did not want to overdo things or burn out this week so I have gone to boxing every other this week. Tomorrow I will go again. More importantly, DH was off today so we had our own workout after the kids got off to school!!:p :D Best one of the day, too!;) I did ride the elliptical at home for 35-40 min. later. My right knee(weaker one from past surgery) has been reminding me of its presence this past week so that was another reason to lay off too much "kicking" this week as well. Later in the afternoon, DH helped me out with my weekly Costco shopping.

Tomorrow I'm on for my swim and boxing. Also signing contract to get basement work done, order carpet, DD has a b-day party to go to after school, and DH on call(for the weekend) along with a few other errands to conquer.;)

Have a good night,
Karen

[cher48603]

Karen,
I love hearing about your boxing class. Yikes, I certainly wouldn't want to be sparring with the "Fight Team"!

Your work out with DH sounds better than the one we had. Ours was yard work. ;)

It sounds like your choice of going with the simpler solution for your basement is wise. You don't seem to have a major problem.

Les,
I found myself wondering if you have any sons, or daughters, who are going to carry on the family naval tradition.

I'd totally forgotten I had a sales associate who worked for us for a short period of time whose DH was a naval retiree from Va Beach. If memory serves me (which it doesn't always) one of them was originally from Ohio & the other from Pa.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Returning to a couple previous posts - there are a lot of us who have spent a few days in Corvallis aren't there? Kayaksoup I bet I might know of the retirement community your grandparents managed - the best known one in my day was up by Good Samaritan Church. It's been a few years since I've been back in the valley but I do love to go there whenever we're in the state. Some parts of the town haven't changed at all and others look like they're from a different planet.

Cheryl - Sadly, there aren't any children this household (excluding my wife and I :D ). Unless my niece or nephews (and they're ages 6-10 right now) take up the banner the Navy tradition will pass when I retire.

Karen - politely tapping foot... Take care of that knee - no need to tweak it again. There - my fatherly entry for the evening It does sound like you've taken the sane route with your basement and water problems. It gets me a little when contractors don't seem to get that you want something simple that solves a problem not an atomic clock. In this case, a little less money with a sensible system should solve your problems for the forseeable future. I agree about your second workout today too -- maybe sometime... I'm trying to not dwell on the transition - I know it's going to be hard enough as it is and thinking about it makes it worse. But you are so right, the next phase will most likely be more fun and really appreciate my true nature. A little more ambiguous but that's fine for me and by me. I'm sure you'll do well on your pretest this weekend and one-on-one test on Tuesday.

Well, it's been a great day - what a great view this afternoon from my office, my cube has one complete side that is floor-to-ceiling glass that looks out to the front of our building (I'm actually in the window). Anyway, just as I'm packing up to leave I catch a glimpse of grey-brown movement and when I look down what do I see? A rabbit hopping across the horseshoe shaped drive in front of the building. That MADE my day.

Hope Friday is good to all of you and I'll see you from work.

Peace to all,
Les

[misskitty100]

I just got back from the gym. I almost skipped tonight but I am really glad I didn't. Tonight I did the treadmill and weights. While doing weights someone I know walked by and she stopped and we chatted for a bit. She ended up inviting me to a "Body Pump" class at our gym. I joined the gym in February but I haven't tried any of the classes yet. Assuming DH can get home in time on Monday, I will be going to my first Body Pump class.

Karen, do you have a pool at home or did you swim elsewhere?

[Kayaksoup]

After two days off, I made it to the gym. Did my full workout, came home, ate something and went to bed. At 5:30pm. I worked such a long shift on Weds (left the house at 6:30am, was home at 11:30pm) and had another 6:30 start THurs. I think I just hit the wall! I was so exhausted, I couldn't even stay awake to watch my team get knocked out of the playoffs. misskitty, my gym partner and I are going to try and make it to a yoga class together, but I think she does a class that is similar to your Body Pump ~ its a group weights class. She really enjoys it.

Les, I think the one you are thinking of was the one my grandparents managed. Theirs was called The Regent, it was relatively close to the hospital and on a bit of a hill (my memory is trying to go back twenty years now) It was very posh! They transferred to one in Boise Idaho and then "retired" to take over the family group home (run by our family for at least fifty years, a home for adults with mental disabilities) and build their dream house. In other words, they are working harder than ever:p
It sounds like a new chapter is opening up in your life. Good luck this weekend and congrats on finishing your last physical.

Karen, your energy is at once amazing to me and inspiring. Being able to pull off two workouts after little sleep (even if one is more fun:p )...I hope your knee improves.

[cher48603]

Kayaksoup,

The hours you put in at work, gone from 6:30AM - 11:30 PM and turning around for another 6:30AM start is a huge workout on it's own. I used to hate working until 10PM & returning at 8AM the next day. That would be a piece of cake for you!!

My quick workout wrap up this week:
Monday & Wed - bike & tone, & fitness classes
Tues/T - Cybex machines and 30 minutes on the tread mill
Friday - bike & tone (didn't stay for the second class)

We did some yard work this week & will this weekend. I'm trying to stay out of the gym for a couple of days. My body is tired. :eek:

[misskitty100]

Kayaksoup,

The hours you put in at work, gone from 6:30AM - 11:30 PM and turning around for another 6:30AM start is a huge workout on it's own.


My thoughts exactly!!!

I will go ahead and post now as I am not going to the gym today. DH is going out to dinner and a concert with a friend tonight so he won't be available to watch the kids. So tonight is a night off from the gym for me.

[karen w]

Wow!! Two pages! We have not had that kind of action around here in a long time.

Les-Thanks for the fatherly words, but as you know the knee is just a chronic problem and nothing out of the ordinary this time. Just a bit more aware of it than usual, that's all. But, yes, I'll be careful.;) Rabbits and horseshoes, huh?! That means you will be very lucky and fulfilled in your second career. (O.K. I just made that up, but I beleive it will happen).

Cheryl-Congrats! Looks like you had a good week of workouts including that yardwork. Can't beat the workouts where you actually get something done, too.

misskitty-Oh how I wish we had a pool at home. DH and I discuss it at times, but it is just so unpractical in our area where the season is so short. Chances are no outdoor home pool would make a great lap pool like I am accustomed to anyway. I go to the YMCA every morning and swim from 5:30 am to 6:15-6:30 am; get home just before 7am to get the kids off to school. I have been doing that for so many years, it is now not even "my exercise." It's my "me" time of quiet and good "thinking time." Major plans can sometimes form in that pool some mornings!:p Anyway a few years ago I added the martial arts(the kids got me started with that one and now I am addicted) along with the bike/elliptical which DH and I bought for the house. I do those to vary the routine periodically, if I can't make it to boxing or feel a bit burned out from it, or on the weekends when I tend to sleep in later.

Enjoy your body pump class Monday. Let us know how it goes. And pardon my ignorance....what does one do at a body pump class?:o

Kayaksoup-Your hours sound like the hours I used to keep during my medical training(internship/residency). I was often up at 4:30 am and not home until 10 PM. without any days off or weekends. And those were in the days that they did not have laws against residents putting in a full day of work after being on call.:eek: I'm just glad they are over. No wonder you crashed!

Had my swim as usual today and a good one at that. When I got home the basement contractor was already there to sign the contract. They will do all the work next Wed.(it's roughly a 3 hr. job and they plan on being in by 8 am and out by or before noon!!:) ). By next month the carpet should be back in place....likely even before the kids leave for camp, too!:) After the kids were off on their buses, I stopped at Target(such a dangerous place). I needed something to sew hems. I am not a sewer at all and I am sick of hemming the kids pants by hand. That and I do a lousy job. But I don't want or need a full blown sewing machne(I think). Anyway, I got this Singer handheld gadget that is battery operated or AC adapter to do quick jobs for the kids stuff. I guess I'll be testing it on DD's jazz recital pants. Hope it does the job. Les....what I really need is Kathy!!;) Next up was boxing. Good class today. Two of my class mates did their pretest today. Watching them made me even more nervous about Tuesday. Also found out another classmate got approval to pretest for this summer even though she is not due to test until October. She will have her 10 progress test, but not her 1 yr. time requirement. In some ways that irks me as I could have theoretically tested for my black belt at tomorrow's test since I have my 10 tests too. I'm putting in my time....why do others not have to do theirs?:confused: :mad: Oh well. Instead tomorrow will be another progress test for me.

Keyboard is trying to die and I have to get DD from a b-day party. Have a good weekend everyone.

Karen

[Kayaksoup]

Well, got in another workout! 20 minutes gentle warm up on the treadmill and an hour spinning class. I can tell that I will feel this tomorrow!

karen, thankfully those shifts only happen once a week or so. My job is fairly physical, so a long day really takes it out of me. The testing issues for your martial arts sound frustrating and actually kind of complicated. Good luck with your pretest.

misskitty, enjoy your rest time. Time off is a good thing once in a while.

Cheryl, five days of workouts is awesome! I wish my week looked like that..

My hope for the weekend is 45 mins Sat morning before work and 1 hr on Sun before I go and spoil it all by having drinks with an old friend from high school ~ we just reconnected after 10 years thanks to Facebook, so will see how it goes.

[cher48603]

Karen, It sounds like you pack a lot into a day. I'm so spoiled that I don't think I could be out of the house at 5:30 AM anymore, let alone be in the pool. I must admit I've always been a night owl. My brain thinks 10 PM is the time to start waking up.

Kayaksoup, It's become fairly easy for me to work out 5 days a week as I'm retired. When your days are your own it makes a huge difference. DH is older than I am & took early retirement about 8 years ago. I worked until about 1 1/2 years ago. I figured if he was going to go out and play everyday, I may as well join him! :D It's only been recently that I've gotten serious about my workouts.

Enjoy reconnecting with you friend. Sounds like you've put in a long enough week to enjoy a drink, or two, or.......;)

[Leslie Ferguson]

Wow!! Two pages! We have not had that kind of action around here in a long time...
Les-Thanks for the fatherly words... But, yes, I'll be careful.;) Rabbits and horseshoes, huh?!. That means you will be very lucky and fulfilled in your second career. (O.K. I just made that up, but I beleive it will happen)...
I needed something to sew hems... I am not a sewer at all and I am sick of hemming the kids pants by hand... Les....what I really need is Kathy!!;)
YIPPEE!!! Two pages again! I just couldn't pass up the chance to "repay" ;) and knew that you'd be careful (not like me...). Yep, I feel like this will be a blessed second career - I'm getting so stoked and anxious in a good way to go and see the campus again. Oh, if you were only a little closer... seamstress Kathy might be able to work some magic for the clan but alas and alack New England is still a long way from the middle Atlantic. :( Hope the handheld sewing thingy works well. Shoot, for the right amount of money I might even be coaxed into sewing hems (it's been a while but it has to be like falling off a bike and tripping over a root :rolleyes: - once you do it you never forget).

Kayaksoup - I do remember The Regent, did a couple service projects there with the ROTC and through the Church. I'm impressed with getting home at 11:30 and getting back out of the house by 6:30. Reminds me of the years on ship on deployment. But I'm like Cheryl - a night owl. Just haven't figured out how to get the Navy to let me work graveyard shift when I'm on shore duty. :rolleyes: Funny thing about having to interact with people - most of them like to be awake during the day -- go figure. :D An hour in spinning class - that rocks. Enjoy getting together with friends this weekend for drinks - sounds like a blast.

Cheryl - Five workouts is impressive. Maybe I'll be able to get back into the swing of things now that all the competing things (except for getting my house ready to rent) are done. Yes I know I've got 3 months left at work but the other time consumers of preparing for school will soon be over.

misskitty - It does feel good to workout when you really know you want to. Good for you to stick with it and workout. Hope your weekend is fruitful and relaxing.

Today was my planned rest day. One of my habits from the past 6 or 7 years of running and training, since I always run long on Saturday mornings (10 or more miles unless I'm racing something shorter) I give my legs a break on Friday. And since I did my physical readiness test yesterday I've got a little residual ache in my hips/hip flexors (from sit-ups - the exercise I do only twice a year). Of course, tomorrow starts our running group "summer" schedule so we're starting at 7 am not 8 am like every week from the first week in November until now. That means I don't get a chance to sleep in so I'm up at about 5:30-5:40 so I can get out of the house by 6:20 (it takes some time to prepare to leave -- 'nuff said). So I guess I get another 15-30 minutes of sleep over a normal day.

Regardless, it's time to hit the hay so I'll see you all tomorrow.

Peace,
Les

[misskitty100]

Enjoy your body pump class Monday. Let us know how it goes. And pardon my ignorance....what does one do at a body pump class?:o
Karen


Well I don't know for sure but it is some sort of group exercise that involves weight lifting (and probably tons of sit ups!!!!:eek: ).