Sounds like an awesome day Ann!!  I am a bit envious of your walk today.  I would love to walk in the ocean.  I was in Florida in January just over 2 years ago and it was just a bit too chilly to swim in, but I had a few good solitary walks along the beach.  The coolest thing was watching as a dolphin swam along the shore and I also saw two jelly fish.  I rarely get to the ocean so it was a highlight for me. 

I just sent you a lengthy email - you will likely see parts of it posted on my thread!!

Thanks, Catherine! I love lengthy Emails and as you now know, I have no trouble being lengthy in return.

I’ve lived here eight years and have taken precious little advantage of having an ocean nearby… mostly because of my former size and lack of fitness. I never wore shorts in public, much less a bathing suit (I still don’t own one), and since my skin is sun-sensitive I have to be careful. But last year I made it to the beach a few times, wore a strappy top and black shorts, and I had gotten a light all-over base tan at a tannng salon. (I think I was the wimpiest customer in there but I didn’t want to get brown, just golden, and even out my tan arms from walking last spring.)

It was fun walking along, and in and out of, the water, though the sand was a little rough on my feet for that long. I want to get a pedometer so that next time I can see how far I went, but it was so nice not being on a timetable or being worried about distance, speed, or anything. I like walking the back of the college campus too, but this was a treat.

Monday, April 21: 7pm Jazzercise class. Went well. Feeling just a bit of soreness still in the legs, and a tiny bit in the arms from last night. Kind of a nice balance, really. My energy seems to be back at least.  This progress-with-moderation thing is hard to figure out. I picked up the four-pound weights today instead of my usual eights, thinking that I still need to rest my triceps today. Halfway through one of the routines, I was thinking, wow, my form is great and I’m really feeling strong! Duh, honey, you’re lifting half the weight than usual. Noticed in the computer I’ve done 67 classes since the beginning of the year. I thought, but that Susan who comes in the mornings has more than me. I pulled up her records, and I’ve passed her. (Not that it’s a competition, but...yea me. Shh.)

I do feel… different. Something in my lower body, and it might be the muscle in my hamstrings and thighs, but I feel like my body was moving better.  Tomorrow I have class again, and Thursday… Wednesday I get my body composition at the gym and then I’ll try working some shoulders and upper back. Don’t know how yet, machines or free weights. I still can’t try a class at the gym yet, as Wednesday would be my best shot but I have Dr. O right after work. Saturday I felt my hip really out of place, but today it feels fine.

Tuesday, April 22: Jazzercise class at 7pm. Went pretty smoothly. My arms are a bit sore from Sunday (feel it two days later) but I only used four pound weights again, very light feeling. And it was mostly the overhead stretches that hurt - delts. I still have to sketch out a program in my head, or on paper, for working upper back and glutes tomorrow night on my own. Realized I ambitiously overbooked, and can probably not get from my chiro, a 530p appt, to the gym by 6:20p, so I’m going to see about arriving early at the earlier one, which means sneaking out of work a bit early. I don’t want to have to reschedule the body composition check at the gym again!

Legs feel pretty much recovered. Ready for Friday, I hope.

Way to keep moving, Ann.

If I lived on the ocean like you, I would make sure to buy a nice 26-28ft sloop and spend my weekends sailing along the coast. Sailing is a habit I picked up while I was gunner in the canadian navy.  Except during Desert Storm, I was always allowed to keep my Alberg 26, Paradigm, on board. I sometimes had to take the Captain or XO out, and an Admiral once too. That didn’t matter. While my buddies were getting drunk in Barcelona, Tokyo or Singapore, I was escaping to a much smaller and quieter place. I really miss that.

Derek - 23 April 2008 12:39 AM

Way to keep moving, Ann.

If I lived on the ocean like you, I would make sure to buy a nice 26-28ft sloop and spend my weekends sailing along the coast. Sailing is a habit I picked up while I was gunner in the canadian navy.

That sounds lovely, Derek. I have only been sailing on a tiny catamaran on a lake. A former boyfriend grew up sailing on the Great Lakes. It was such a great experience, but for me, I’d be pleased to accept an invitation to join people as a guest rather than have to manage the upkeep on the craft, store it, etc. 

I recall being in Clearwater, Florida for the day once. The Salvador Dali Museum is right along the waterfront, and there were tons of boats docked there. I joked to my male companion, “We’re fun, bright people. Aren’t we just the sort of enthusiastic, friendly young people that some wealthy older couple on one of those boats would love to spend the day talking with?” Naturally, no one invited us to spend the day on their watercraft. But the dream lives on. I think it’s a Gatsby ambition. Of course, that was nearly 20 years ago, so “young” is relative. {wink}

Ann, your posts make me anticipate our vacation over Memorial Day. We’ve been to Florida only once 20 years ago but we’re headed to Ft. Lauderdale a month from now. I am so much looking forward to the ocean.

Wednesday, April 23: Shakespeare’s birthday.

“Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, ‘twere all alike
As if we had them not.” (Measure for Measure)

“Dost thou think that because thou art virtuous,
there shall be no more cakes and ale?” (Twelfth Night)

It should be noted that Will only lived to age 52.

I rushed from my chiro, where in addition to his adjustment and the electro-therapy, I am doing exercises on his PT machines also—lat pulldown, an oblique thingy with torso turning, and a back extension with weight. Got to the gym actually a bit early and slipped right in for my body composition test with their on-staff doc. [Results and comments here] Then I changed clothes and entered the gym. In the main room there doesn’t seem to be a good spot for stretching, so I wandered to the back to a lounge-type room adjacent to the group fitness areas. I did some calf stretches, quad stretches, stretched just about every part of my body thoroughly. Felt great. Then I hit the treadmill, and did 20 minutes at various speeds, something over a mile, nothing too strenuous but good. HR about 138 max. Then I just hoped I had my plan in my head. Work shoulders, chest, upper back, and glutes.

First thing I hit was the pec deck. 3x 15, went from 30# to 25# by the end. I raised the seat as far up as I could but it didn’t feel high enough so I was mostly on my feet for the last two sets.  Then a vertical chest press. I forgot the weight, but 3x 15 on all machine exercises. Next I wandered over to the free weights corner. What, my nice ‘small’ tens were missing. I grabbed eights, and took an incline seat and did incline chest flys. (’Flies’ doesn’t seem right.) I had left the Body Shaping book in the locker, and forgot what form the flat bench dumbbell moves were supposed to take. So I wandered back to the machines and did a shoulder lift, then a different chest pull thing (very low weight on it.)

I was drinking a lot of water, at least 2-3 bottles by that point, so I had to hit the restroom again.  Refilled my bottle. Looked around the room some more. I got some ideas of things I want to try next time I do arms or legs. Didn’t see a resistance machine for glutes. I may have to ask Danny if I spot him and hope he’ll point me in the right direction, off the clock.  I did see a pretty solid heavier woman doing pull-ups with great form. Looked like her husband/partner was trading off using the same machines. She was getting paper towels at the same time as me (getting off the treadmill the first time) and I told her I was impressed by her strength. She looked startled. Maybe I blew it and made her realize someone could see. I don’t normally watch people, either.

So after the weights I headed into a cardio room that has a big screen TV. That one had Fox News Channel on it. Now, I’m a liberal, but I also don’t have cable so I don’t even normally see the thing. I lasted 35 minutes more on the treadmill, doing 2+ more miles while Bill O’Reilly and his guests analyzed the Pennsylvania Democratic primary results.  I got up to 3.6 for a good stretch, and then dropped speed and did an 11 incline for a bit. I noticed I had trouble getting my heart rate up again and was feeling kind of sluggish despite the activity. Weird. So afterwards, I turned on the heat in the sauna room. No one was in there. I took off my shoes and my cotton T-shirt (had a lycra tank underneath) and sat in the sauna. I did all kinds of gentle stretches, took turns standing still on one foot (so much easier to do in bare feet and quiet) and then did some ab work, slowly. Sort of a pilates type bicycle move, then a slow crunch held for several seconds, while I perspired in the heat. Now, I’m not sure whether that’s why, but later in the evening my left ovary felt sore. When I press on the bigger tumor in the center of my belly, it does hurt where my ovary is, not where I’m pressing, so I’m assuming it’s a combo of being so full of water and the crunches.

Showered, changed, pulled my hair in a ponytail, and left the gym. My clothes were positively soaked. I was going to grab a bite to go at a place which, apparently, closed at 9, so I drove by a Friday’s and pulled in. Now, I never eat out at such a place on a weeknight, especially not that late. But I had a bunch of calories to spare as I’d had a filling but light lunch. So I had something called Dragonfire Chicken, served over a modest amount of rice with steamed broccoli. It felt just right. My cute young waiter tried to talk me into dessert but he didn’t really know who he was dealing with. (And it’s weird to be called ‘darlin’ by someone young enough to be my son, but whatever.) I decided to have a rare treat—a Newcastle brown ale—about 2/3 of the way through my meal. I had the calories to spare and I thought I would rest great. But, wow, about ten minutes after the short drive home the thing hit me. I really have never been a big drinker, but while dieting, after exercising, and with a light meal, it really relaxed me.

Just a bit TMI, but tonight was the night of frequent bathroom trips due to all the water. Then twice since I’ve been home due to the beer.  I feel good, though. I think I worked chest, shoulders, and upper back a fair amount, but not with too aggressive a weight resistance, so I shouldn’t be sore, I hope. I will have to figure out the glutes thing.

Thursday, April 24: 7pm Jazzercise class. Nothin’ special about class. My shoulders were feeling a bit sore from last night, so anything above the head was a bit achy. I used I think 2 pound weights. Felt like nothing at all but I followed good form anyway. Felt it was important to give the upper body muscles their rest day as much as possible. I don’t know long I’ll be able to maintain the 7-day-a-week schedule and still feel good, but next weekend I have a workshop that will absorb all my free time Friday night, all day and night Saturday, and Sunday till the early evening. So I’ll have that rest coming, at least for the muscles.

Sad news, that my favorite new person this year, the 2-year breast cancer survivor, had a petscan and they found stage four lung cancer, inoperable. I knew something was said about her between instructors but hadn’t heard this news until tonight. She is undergoing chemo and radiation.  I am still digesting this news, and how cancer has the audacity to strike someone so vivacious and kind-spirited. Of course, I knew it could, as it took my mother many years ago.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Sounds like you had a good night on Wednesday though I don’t know if I could have taken 30 minutes of Bill O’Reilly. But I am interested in seeing how things go at the gym for you.

enb307 - 24 April 2008 10:05 PM

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Sounds like you had a good night on Wednesday though I don’t know if I could have taken 30 minutes of Bill O’Reilly. But I am interested in seeing how things go at the gym for you.

Thanks! O’Reilly had on four guests discussing the Pennsylvania result: Karl Rove, Dick Morris, Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Dennis Miller.  Unfortunately, my energy gave out before Jackson or Miller was on.

I actually thought that any political agitation might make me pump my little legs harder.  Instead it just seemed like political filler.

Friday, April 25: hey, hey, it’s leg night.

So, I’m walking from my car towards the front door of the gym and there are two guys chatting. I walked by, not really looking at them but not looking away. I gather one of them made an expression, because his buddy said, “Hey, but she’s working on it.” Gee, thanks, boys. Now, that could have really stung, but I thought two things: one, they have NO idea where I’ve come from to get this far. Two, I know I’m not a 20-year-old hot-bod girl for whom they’re obviously staked out in the parking lot, and that’s okay. I was never that girl. Okay, three, I’m not the slightest bit attracted to them either. And four, dang it, sometimes it’s good to get a ‘true’ evaluation. My friends tell me how great I look because they know me and they remember where I was two years ago. Two maybe thirty-year-olds, they see body parts that are not like the ones they’re looking for. Okay, moving on.

Warmup on treadmill: 1.3 miles, 14 minutes. Heart rate still seems low for the level of exertion. But I was definitely warmed up.
Stretches: quad stretch, several calf stretches, some full body stretches.

Leg and hip routine:

Squats—60#, 2x 15, two-legged
—30#, 1x 15 each leg, one-legged
Seated leg curls, 60# first set, 70# next two sets
Leg extension, 60# first set, 45# next two sets
pause, stretch, relévés
Hamstring curls, 15# on each side first set, 10# other two sets
Hip abductor, 60# first set, 70# other two sets
Hip adductor, 60# then 70# then 80#
pause, stretched legs

10# free weights, pec crossovers with standing ab crunches, adapted from Jazzercise routine, 3# 15. Kind of a pain as I had the bigger dumbbells with about a 6” radius on the weights, making it very hard to cross arms in front close to the body. Might ask if they have or can get some more smaller profile hand weights, or get some heavier ones myself.

Went to locker room, stretched a bit, showered, changed. I did not do LSB. Feeling tired and very conscious that my double classes come very soon in the morning.  Calories a bit high today, 2000—1750 net given the exercise. It’ll average out all right.

Saturday, April 26: Jazzercise classes at 8am and 9:15am. Today I was the only person doing both, but I saw a lot of faces I knew in each class. Legs not too sore, though I did start to feel tired in the second one, particularly when doing this complicated pivot-abduct-plié bit and then pulsing working the quads and glutes. I must have been making a wincy-face because the instructor asked me how I was feeling. I’d told her about the leg routines the night before. Nothing a stop at Starbucks couldn’t revive, though I am looking forward to a nap! Tomorrow night: arms.

Stopping by to say Hi.  How’d the rest of your weekend go?  I’m so impressed with you for getting into resistance training and getting to the new gym.  Good for you for not letting those insensitive guys get to you.  You have every right to be proud of your progress and success.  Those of us with body issues wear them so everybody can see.  I’m sure they have issues in their lives that are not so apparent to outside viewers.  I had an experince several week ago where I overheard some comments too.  I’m not certain they were directed at me because I was into my workout and didn’t really care what those guys thought.  It just made me lose any respect for them. But that is partly why I avoid co-ed areas gyms and prefer ones with womens only areas.  I am still a bit spoiled by being able to use the school weight room and get in there alone… but that is not going to last too much longer (unless I can work something out with the principle .... which I may have to if I loose my new corperate membership at the gym..... more chanlenges to contend with because of Friday’s news!  AHHH but I’ll cross that bridge if I get to it)

Hi, Catherine!  Rest of the weekend went pretty well, though not quite as planned. I sort of wasted a lot of time Saturday, in good ways like my shopping walking trip and a nap, but I really should have started cleaning my apartment. They left a note on our doors Friday that a pest control company would be around Monday. And I’ve been keeping such a busy schedule, I admit I let cleaning and organizing take a back seat to a disastrous point. So today (Sunday), I started cleaning as soon as I got up, and got some stuff accomplished before Quaker Meeting. Then I had a meeting with my volunteer group at 1:30, and to my dismay that dragged on and on and on as we planned every detail of our workshop this coming weekend. I could have used a little more focus on the part of the others. Finally I got antsy just toward the end. Raced home and got back into it. I’m mostly done, still there’s a little clutter I’ll work on at some point, but it’s not a biohazard anymore. I’m still up because I’ve got stuff in the dryer. Will have to get extra sleep the next few nights to make up for this late night! I didn’t make it to the gym to do my arm workout this evening, was hoping to sneak in that half-hour or so, but I’ll try to maybe do it either Monday or Tuesday after Jazzercise, or Wednesday, sort of doubl up and do upper arms along with chest, shoulders, and back.

No soreness today, except a little in my glutes. I guess that hamstring curl works them too, as that’s where I felt it this morning. Fortunately I was in good shape for hauling bags of trash, empty boxes, and recyclables to their appropriate containers, which are not all that close to my apartment in this complex. I got a decent amount of exercise in.  I still have a few sad dead plants (how do you throw away dirt??) to dispose of, will probably dump the soil somewhere behind some shrubbery next to the building maybe. It’s nice to have everything clean and my desk organized, though.  Next project, organizing my closet and purging all clothes that I can no longer wear, I pitched a pair of shoes today that were horrendously worn out. Why was I hanging on to them? It’s like the plastic containers I wash and hoard, till I have so many I can’t close the cabinet.

Now, if only I’d found that extra hour or so to go into the office and prepare my sweep-to-date grids so I dont have to put it together tomorrow morning for the first time! Oops.  Catherine, I haven’t been near my computer all day till now but I’ve been thinking about you. Not only your job but the workouts at school. Maybe it just means it’ll all lead someplace more fabulous!

-- A

Wow!  What a productive weekend!  Can you come over and clean out my house too?

candyP - 28 April 2008 02:34 PM

Wow!  What a productive weekend!  Can you come over and clean out my house too?

It’s always easier to clean someone else’s house. I think I get a bit choked by wanting to dispose of everything properly that I don’t make quick decisions. Recycling is great, but requires a bit of effort. I tend to just stockpile a big bag of stuff then lug it all over at once. I don’t know how to dispose of a dead microwave. I may have to take it to a city facility. Then there’s the shred-it pile.

Wow, suddenly I’m beat. Dental appointment, then caught in sudden hard rain storm walking from the back parking lot. Now quiet. I need to keep working. Will sleep like a ton o’ bricks tonight after class!

Monday, August 28: 7pm Jazzercise class. Managed despite being quite tired, but once my heart rate was up I did okay. I did something radical tonight: I cooked! Haven’t done so in the evening for quite some time due to my schedule and not usually eating a late dinner. But I made some lower-carb pasta, and stuck to just one serving, with sauteed button mushrooms, some spices, powdered porcini mushroom, two strips of thin cooked bacon, cut into small pieces, and a little reduced-fat cheddar. It was just enough. Though, I could really eat the whole four servings (1/2 box) of pasta I cooked. Portion control is one of my tough areas, but I’m working on it.

About to shower and go to bed soon. It’s going to be a long week!

Tuesday, April 29: 7pm Jazzercise class. Really tired tonight, for some reason my feet and legs didn’t want to handle the impact. Had a very busy day, inhaled a salad before typing up volunteer group notes. Never logged my food today and I just added it all into Daily Plate. I thought I really blew it today, but I’ve only totalled about 1050 calories! How did that happen?

Wednesday, April 30: tonight was double-up night at the gym, due to missing Sunday’s arm workout. So after 20 minutes on the treadmill, I worked biceps, triceps, delts, pecs, and traps with free weights. Then I did the chest press machine and a lat pulldown. Then 25 minutes on the elliptical.  I think I may have overworked the tri’s and will feel it tomorrow. Stopped at Walgreens and bought pink nail polish and lowfat chocolate milk. My nails look kind of purty. I won’t have time for a nail touchup till the following weekend.