VRB's week of 6/11/10

[Kathy B]

Hey all! Congratulations again to Les! Hope you had a wonderful day today. What an accomplishment! :)

DD dragged me to the CC the last two days (thank you DD!). Yesterday was weights and 20 minutes on the Tread Climber. Today a solid 50 minutes on the TM. Felt pretty good, but I never would have made it there on my own.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. How long is Susan in Budapest...anyone know?

[Natasha]

Hi all! Kathy, thanks for starting us off this week. That's great that your DD got you to the CC twice in a row! It must be a lot of fun to go together. Is she a TM fan as well?

Les, congratulations again! Can't wait to read all about it and see a photo or two.

Last week was not particularly notable for training or exercising, though I did do some. I plan to do something today, though. I meant to train yesterday. We got up early and it seemed like we had a leisurely morning but then the afternoon was just packed! We spent a good couple of hours buzzing around the kitchen, cooking for a potluck. I made the sweet potatoes with peanut dressing posted on Great Food, and improvised a Mexican casserole using a CL recipe as inspiration. DH wanted to use some of the huge flat of strawberries we got from the farmer's market so started looking at recipes. He decided to try making his first ever sweet pie. It was a strawberry apple pie and was quite delicious. I love cookfests like that.

We had an enjoyable evening all around and will enjoy the leftovers ;)

Kathy, I don't know when Susan is back but hope she's having fun!

Is anyone following the World Cup? I'm moderately interested - more so than ever before, anyway.

What's everyone else up to? TKay, did you go to AZ yet? I'm interested to hear what you did because I'm supposed to go there in a few weeks ;) Vicci, how are you, DH and MIL doing? Hi also to Jennifer, Robyn, and everyone else.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Whirlwind weekend. Pictures have been posted - a new Avatar; on the "Other Stuff Thread" and here on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=178394&id=654239289&l=d826880506). Ran on Friday for an hour and had a wild weekend. I'll post more tomorrow and try to come up with a couple more pix.

Happy trails,
Les

[Robyn1007]

Hi all!

Just checking in quickly from Oregon. It was a nightmare trip here with tornado warnings in Denver late afternoon creating massive delays. I was supposed to take off at 7:15pm on Friday but didn't actually take off until about 1:50 Saturday morning and didn't get back to my dad's house until 4:30am. We were moments from being cancelled all together but thankfully we gained a first officer from a flight that did cancel (ours was stuck in Albuquerque after being diverted 3 times from Denver) and took off to much applause It's very eerie to walk through an airport that is completely shut down and open essentially just to meet our flight. :eek:

Needless to say my run did not happen on Saturday. Instead I got it in yesterday in more heat than I'd hoped but I did the 8 miles which I'm very proud of given all the challenges I faced this weekend. I'm feeling pretty good today, just general soreness/tightness in the legs. I'm loosing a 4 mile run out of my plan unfortunately but it shouldn't make much of a difference. Progression run of 4 miles planned for tomorrow morning.

I head home tomorrow but thankfully it looks like the storms will clear and I shouldn't have a repeat of Friday night trying to go home.

[Leslie Ferguson]

More or less back at it now. I still haven't found any better way to post photos except on Facebook.

Good for DD to "drag" you to the CC twice Kathy. Those two workouts sound pretty interesting and like they look like they hit the spot.
Nat - It probably isn't too bad that you've had a couple days of rest all things considered. Thanks for the comments too.

Saturday was a blast (no doubt there was there?). I'll have to say that it was sunny but BREEZY, but then we were at the beach. It was warm but a joyful time. I think there were about 700+ people there. I believe there were ~125 people in the procession. If you've seen the pictures I definitely had perma-grin. The celebration afterwards was nearly as fun but someone said it was like attending 6 weddings at the same time (well - that's about what it was anyway). I had my parents, sister, and many of my running friends there; along with a couple classmates who made the trip down from Northern Virginia. I definitely rode a wave of emotion and was beat by Sunday afternoon when we got home. And to top off the ordination I had the chance to serve and worship at my (past) church in Norfolk.

Accounting for my run on Friday - it was just over 7 miles. It was terribly hot but a great run regardless. Today, I rode because it was GROSS (hot and humid). We had wonderful thunderstorms this evening.

Going to lunch with a high school classmate but hope to run later - maybe after I hit Road Runner Sports to check out scoots.

Happy trails,
Les

[VictoriaL]

Kathy, does DD use the CC with you, or does she walk you in the door and tell you not to come back out until you've exercised?!??! :p

Les, many congratulations on your ordination! What a breath-taking couple of weeks this has been for you (and you still manage to get out and do something, exercise-related that is!)

Robyn, hope that you had a safe trip home.

To be honest, I can't remember when I checked in last... I do try to get out as often as I can but the MIL-schedule, and the heat and humidity and rain, are both working against it. I did manage a 2-1/2 miler on Friday. Or Saturday. ;) And when it began to rain as I hit the 2-mile point I thought of Les and stuck it out as long as I could! Note: in the past 30 days, we have received 4" more rain than we usually do at this time of year.

And thanks to everyone who complimented me on my care of MIL. I probably don't deserve it, though. By the time (last) Monday evening rolled around I was about ready to scream, having spent the previous 2 days with her. I am, usually, a rather quiet person. I love my quiet mornings with coffee and a puzzle, I adore sleeping with Spooky snuggled next to me, I enjoy making our meals in my own kitchen... having to be "on" all of the time, watching and listening, actually "babysitting", was slightly beyond my comfort zone. But it's over, that part, anyway. It's going as well as can be expected and, hopefully, she will continue to stay in her apartment without incident for a nice long time.

*sigh* I told my Mom that she and my Dad cannot, absolutely cannot, grow old and infirm. Ever. She laughed at me!!! :o

Hopefully I'll get the chance to run tomorrow, provided the skies clear and the trails dry out a little.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Thanks Vicci, I don't envy having to stay with your MIL - not because staying with your MIL would be bad just being completely outside your normal routine. It was bad when I stayed with my parents in their place for a few days every week when Dad was recovering from surgery 18 months ago. Even though I had spent time there before and liked it having to adjust my schedule and have to be ready to do something (anything) on a moment's notice was hard. I hope the rain lets up a little and the trail dries out a little so you can get out and run.

I took a rest day today. I had lunch with a high school friend that I reconnected with through Facebook. It was a great lunch and a very enjoyable 2 hour meal. Because I had some brain slippage I decided to take the opportunity to buy some new scoots so I can run tomorrow without pain. I purchased a pair of Nike Pegasus - odd because I haven't run in Nike in years.

See you all tomorrow,
Les

[VictoriaL]

Thanks Vicci, I don't envy having to stay with your MIL - not because staying with your MIL would be bad...

Oh, Les, I know that you are obviously a very patient, tolerant, person but I don't know many who could do this ;) The last six months has been quite difficult, in that respect. :o

Glad that you enjoyed your long lunch with an old friend, and congrats on the new scoots-- I hope that they perform well!

Another 2-1/2 miler early this morning while the heat and humidity was low (and the grass was soaking wet, alas). I don't know if I mentioned that DH spent 3 grueling days last week clearing the downed trees from my trails and this is the second time I've run on them since. Quite the difference in my total time since before I was climbing over trees, through grapevines, etc.

Question-- DH told me a few weeks ago that he had read in a magazine (Men's Health, maybe) that exercising on an empty stomach burned more fat reserves. I always try to eat lightly an hour before running, but today there wasn't time. I'd like to think that what he read makes sense. :) Any opinions? All told, the run this morning seemed to be a little more difficult than usual but perhaps that was because I was hungry and anticipating coffee and waffles! :rolleyes:

[Leslie Ferguson]

Vicci - I can only imagine how difficult a six-month session with MIL (or aging mother or FIL for that matter) would be. It was challenging enough to split 8 weeks between 3 of us when my dad had bypass - you deserve a big award and a break from her for a while. Congrats getting your run in on the newly cleared trail. Although there are conflicting reports the best thing I can say about fat burning during exercise is I understood that I didn't actually start burning fat reserves for a while (like an hour) when I was exercising - before that I burned carbohydrates and glycogen. So I was told to fuel up, at least a little, before working out - that way I wouldn't bonk in the middle of the workout if nothing else.

My new scoots felt great today and I was actually able to take about a minute or a little more than a minute off my 7+ mile run. And my legs were still energetic when I finished the run.

A clean bill of health from the VA today. I'm still having fun taking it easy but I think it will start to get old. Probably ride tomorrow and make sure I finish my thank you cards.

Happy trails,
Les

[Kathy B]

Work this AM, and I just finished lunch. Hopefully weights at the CC in a while. Have had a few more CC sessions using the TM. The AM's aren't too bad temperature wise around here, but my schedule has not allowed AM workouts lately.

Vicci, DD uses the CC too, but we both do our own thing. She likes to hop from one thing to another (including time in the pool sometimes), whereas I am pretty much doing weights and/or one machine. She also usually dictates when we leave...teenagers can be so bossy! :p But hey, she is willing to go with me and give me a boot when needed, so I'll deal with it!

As far as breakfast goes, I usually try to eat SOMETHING before I go for an AM run...even if it's just 1/2 of a banana. Seems like I read that it jumpstarts your metabolism.
A Google search sent me to fitsugar.com and they had this to say..(although you can find info supporting both sides....)

Question 1: T/F: Running, or doing any form of cardio, on an empty stomach will burn more fat and fire up the metabolism.

Correct answer: False

This is a long held fitness and weight loss myth. While it seems like it should be true, that if you have no food to fuel your body, your body will burn fat stores, but it is not true. Alas, the human body does not function in such a straightforward manner.

The main fuel of your body during exercise is glycogen, which is carbs that have been broken down and stored in the liver and the muscles – but you cannot store much. After sleeping, your glycogen stores in your liver are depleted by as much as 80 percent. When you wake up and begin exercising, once you have burned through all the stored glycogen your body begins to use muscle tissue to fuel your movements. This is by some evolutionary trick, since muscle takes more energy to preserve and fuel compared to fat, the body uses it for fuel to create less of an energy need. Yikes! So by exercising on an empty stomach you could be actually losing muscle.

If you are planning on working out, doing cardio or strength training, you should eat a bit of carbs, like 2 or 3 saltine crackers or a banana, and sip on a sports drink if you are going to be working out for a half an hour or more.

I completely understand that it is not easy to help care for your MIL. My MIL will be coming back in July for a "2 or 3 month stay." :eek: She is a very nice woman, but nonetheless, the old saying about houseguests and fish is somewhat true. :o It is just hard. (I doubt that DD will still have to "drag me" to the CC....;))

Wow, Les, new shoes and you have a new PR? Congrats! Nike, eh? Sounds like Saturday was all you could hope for...exhilarating and with all your family/friends there to share it with you. Congratulations again....I am very happy for you!!

Hi Natasha, Susan, Tkay and Robyn! Hope you are busy with good things! :)

[Leslie Ferguson]

New scoots are great for running in. The best thing today is my legs are happy - a good thing when I've gone harder than I have in a long time.

I don't doubt that your daughter pushes to get out of the CC. :D I'm with you I can't go out and run without having some food in my system. I hope the remainder of your week goes well.

It's been a fun day - I've spent a lot of time scanning old family pictures in to get then in digital as opposed to as photographs. I still had enough time to spend 45 minutes with my prayer partner on the phone (ish). I also did a 15 mile bike ride and still concoct a marinade for chicken for dinner. Nice - but I'm never sure what I put in the marinade.

Oh well, it's time to hit the hay.

Happy trails,
Les