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Daily Exercise Journal


lmgervais

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Those do look tempting, Holly. Now where do you find glasses with windshield wipers and defoggers?
:rofl: I don't know, but when you find any, let me know! BTW, Body Glide, which DH & I use on our feet to prevent blisters when hiking, was originally formulated to prevent chafing on long bike rides.
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I'm hopeless. No matter how many times I've seen "balaklava" my mind always reads "baklava" and the image of pastry stuffed under a helmet and over one's ears... :giggle:

Lynette, good luck on the snowshoes. Not being overly endowed with coordination, I did a lot of faceplants before I hung up my snowshoes. Even using ski poles didn't help keep me upright for long. Heck, using ski poles with cross-country skis didn't keep me upright either. My favorite winter sport is napping under a down comforter. :ohyeah:

I'm meeting with the new trainer tomorrow. I need to have my form evaluated and get advice on something different to use for upper body strengthening. I'm finding the machines make my shoulders sore. I think I'm just too short to use them properly. Mr. Good Looking Trainer has left, sigh. But I'm hoping a more, ummmm, senior trainer will have a greater appreciation for the quirks of older muscles.

Oh, yes ... I've been practicing on the Bosu ball. It's great for ankles and balance and it doesn't make you sweat.

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I picked up a balaclava at a sporting good store in bike range and my face was much warmer riding home. Now to use it on the way to/from water aerobics, which is after sundown.

Freya, good luck with the new trainer. Not all trainers are created equal. I can't afford training sessions, but observe them working with clients whenever they are in close proximity and glean what I can. A trainer teaches Boot Camp on Saturdays and I'm always picking his brains.

I'm not super powerful on upper body either, but I've never had trouble with the machines not fitting my 5'4" body, they should all adjust at various points. I suppose if you extra petite, it could be an issue with some, though.

I haven't tried a BOSU ball yet, but I did pick up one of those flat balls you're supposed to try balancing on.

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The flat ball that looks like a roadkill hedgehog? There are two of them at the gym. You can use one to balance on with just one foot, or sorta run in place using both of them and both feet. I had a good session (free) with the new trainer and picked up quite a few tips. I think the most useful one was that you don't strengthen a muscle by contracting it, but when you lengthen it. He had me slow down when using various machines, making sure that I really controlled the return of the weight to starting position instead of letting gravity do it.

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Freya, I recently had a free session with one of the trainers and she had me do the same thing with the machines. It's going to take some mental effort to remember to do them slowly on the return to the start position. Yes, the ball does look like a hedgehog, now that you mention it.

Today I took the bike on the bus to my preferred gym location for the first time. It took me 6 minutes to get to the bus stop (20 by foot), so it was really nice. It was tricky figuring out the bike rack on the front of the bus, but I think I got the hang of it. One of the trainers spotted me when I was going from the bus stop to the gym. I did Boot Camp, then went home again.

Later my sister in law and my collegiate niece and nephew came by and we went shopping. At the thrift store I found some exercise dvds, an extra set of blocks (for lack of a better word) to elevate my step higher, a huge roll of moleskin, and books on pilates, 40 something womens' weight loss, walking off the weight, and a recipe book by the Healthy Choice people - a pretty good haul. I'm especially pleased with the Healthy Choice cookbook, all the recipes are very modest in calories and extremely yummy looking.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Today I went hiking with only a sweater! Last September I get snowed out on the start of a hike and at the end of December I'm hiking in 58 degree weather. We have a local weatherman who wears a white jacket when it's going to snow (a tradition started when his father, a prominent weatherman, had a comment from a news anchor that it always snowed when he wore the white coat). Today the snow coat guy's associate wore a Hawaiian shirt during the forecast, and that's fine with me!

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Everyone's weather seems to be messed up. My sister in Alaska says the permafrost is thawing. I know some people think global warming is a conspiracy to frighten people, but how can you deny all the changes in the worldwide weather patterns? Coincidence? Thinking of heading out for a walk or bike ride soon to take advantage of the clean air courtesy of yesterday's heat wave, the smog will be back by Wednesday.

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Nearly got hit by another car on the way to water aerobics last night. I don't know why people don't look before they start to make a right turn. The gym will stop having water aerobics on Monday nights after next week due to low attendance. People are lobbying to keep it, so we'll see. I don't think it's fair to base the decision on attendance during a holiday season, so many people are busy with shopping, parties, family functions, school concerts, etc. plus bad weather always keeps people away. You'd also think that they'd wait until after the New Years Resolution people drop out after the usual first 2 months. Still, I won't miss nearly getting hit on my way to the gym. We're also investigating getting a class started at the other location that I frequent, but they don't have the water weights or noodles, so it could take some time.

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If you're riding your bike, Lynette, it probably didn't register with the motorist. DH & I ride a tandem bicycle and we have had issues with drivers ignoring us, even though we're wearing flourescent jerseys amd barrelling along in the bike lane; and when DS#3 was a little boy with his first bike a lady ran over him turning out of a side street (he had tire tread mark on his leg and a scratch on his tummy where the handlebars got him, so she definitely couldn't deny she'd done it! his guardian angl=el had no hair left, I'm sure, because he had no other injuries).

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I was riding my bike, with both headlight and tailight on. I wondered about whether a florescent vest would make me more visible, since I usually have a backpack. I'm not sure that visibility is increased dramatically from in front, since one hunches over the handle bars and the headlight is between the vest and the oncoming traffic. My friend who has cycled much of his life says to get another blinking light and put it on the backpack, and I thought one on the front might attract more attention too, so maybe I'll pick up some more of those. He thinks he has some more reflectors he can add to the tires, so he'll probably put those on when he comes to install the carrier thing which I picked up today to go behind the seat (then I'll be able to haul bigger things than will fit in my pack, like milk). It certainly has been a revelation getting the bike kitted out and riding it as more than an occasional recreational past time.

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DH noted a rider the other day at twilight who had a headlight as bright as an automotive headlight that flashed (he's shopping for one now); we have a BRIGHT RED tailight with three different sequencing functions (flash, rotate & strobe). Our experiences have been in broad daylight, however, and we don't wear backpacks, but have a soft-side "trunk" that straps to the cargo rack over the rear tire that you can hitch a reflector or a taillight onto. I just don't think motorists see cyclists. We had this discussion yesterday with our primary care physician, who rides a hog (Harley, sorry Jeremy) and has the same experience with motorists not seeing him. Part of it is that most people don't realize how fast an adult rider is capable of going on a bicycle (we max out a bit over 20 mph; younger riders can cruise at 30-35 mph, and we won't even discuss the competitive bicycle racers!) and part of it is resentment at having cyclists "in the road" (Share the Road is a concept dreamed up by we cyclists).

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My son used to ride his bike all over the place - less now that he has a car. He was hit four times by motorists!! Each time was in broad daylight. One young lady didn't stop at a stop sign, and plowed right into him as she turned. He rolled up her windshield, and was launched into the middle of a very busy main road. The impact knocked him out. Apparently, she and her companion sat in the car and cried, thinking she'd killed him, while he lay unconscious on the road. Another motorist stopped to call an ambulance, and make sure he didn't get run over while he lay there. Fortunately, there was no lasting damage. Although he was badly bruised, scraped and shaken. The most unbelievable part of that incident was that the police didn't charge her with anything!

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Being knocked out means having a brain concussion, which is no small matter. I've already had 2 head injuries. Each subsequent brain injury is progressively more serious because there is less undamaged brain to take over for the damaged part. I'll admit further head injuries are one of my biggest fears. My fear used to be from falling, but since I've gotten on the exercise wagon, I haven't had a bad fall in nearly 20 months, so now the risk is from accidents, not losing my balance.

The woman should be horrified, thinking she'd killed your son - she could easily have done so and I bet that woman is a lot more cautious now. She should have at least got out of the car and checked to see whether he was dead; if he had been seriously inured, a delay in getting treatment could result in death.

As for motorists resenting cyclists sharing the road, if it is illegal for them to ride on the sidewalk, where else are they to go? I'd feel safer in traffic if I were faster. I suspect my speed is probably closer to 10 miles an hour and wouldn't blame people for being annoyed. I will ride on the sidewalk if I have to go any distance on one major road where the posted speed is 40 mph, but actual speeds are frequently above 50mph. I grew up on a dead end street off said street and I know people have gone in excess of 100 mph at times - there weren't sidewalks there then but are now, and I wouldn't want my kids riding in high speed traffic. If I should ever get caught by police on a sidewalk on that street, I'll plead self defense.

It snowed last night and continued after I left for the gym today. At least it wasn't bad getting the bike to the bus stop. Riding on the sidewalk wouldn't really have been possible, being that people had yet to shovel their walks. I did do 20 feet on the sidewalk, going from the light to the bus stop, but I walked after hitting a patch of unshoveled snow.

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All Federal highways are required to have a minimum width shoulder that's wide enough for cyclists to use and in AL there are rumble strips between the bicycle lanes and the right edge of the righthand traffic lane. In FL cyclists are required to ride in bike lanes where present, otherwise motorists are supposed to share the road. We rode in a tandem in Tallahassee once, but I would never do so on our own.

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I think that I'm dealing with state and county roads. The road I have to take to get to either gym has two lanes either way, with no shoulder at all. About 1.5 blocks east of me it loses a lane and has bike lanes on either side, but no sidewalk, so sometimes pedestrians are in the bike lane. Today, the bike lane was filled up with plowed snow and slush.

The snow didn't melt, so I may not ride for a few days if the roads look questionable. Too many people drive like idiots under the best conditions and I don't really trust them.

The state did pass laws and has had a highly publicized campaign that automobiles must give bikes 3' clearance, and that the bike is entitled to have the entire lane. I noticed the campaign when I was a driver and walker, but then my brother and a friend both bike, so I may pay more attention than the average person. Obviously there are a number of drivers who have not.

Here is a story about a local biker and his invention to make cyclists safer. My linkhttp://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=18102264

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Road my bike to an appointment today. My eyes were watering from the cold, but was pretty comfortable otherwise. I picked up a cargo rack for my bike and my neighbor has offered to help install it tomorrow.

Water aerobics will no longer take place on Mondays, but this time the manager said it was due to cutbacks, so we are investigating moving it to my other gym on Thursday nights. Meanwhile, a new Boot Camp will be starting in the same Monday night slot at my other gym, and presents more challenge to me. The only downside is that the bus doesn't come for 51 minutes after class will end. Guess I'll have a half hour after class for strength training.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Strength training or stretching or a cool down period. Take your pick.

I managed today, after a couple of weeks of frustration, to complete a set of arm exercises with a stretchy rope. 7 repeats of each exercise, no rest in between. I would have have high-fived someone, but I couldn't lift my arms. :groan:

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  • 1 month later...

Now that the weather is waming up, I've been having better luck at getting in more exercise. Yesterday I rode my bike to my preferred gym for the first time, taking 38 minutes and burning 254 calories. Once there, I spent a half hour working on the weight machines, then caught the bus to go back home.

There is no more Saturday Boot Camp class until (and if) a new teacher is willing to take it on, so I'm a bit bummed about it. There is a new one on Monday nights, but the next bus after it ends comes at 9:50 at night, and I'm having a little bit of a battle in talking myself into getting home as late as that would entail. We'll see.

I picked up some wool socks for hiking (and hope that I can get a car so I can get to the trailheads). I talked a friend into going on an easy hike on what turned out to be a very muddy access road to the radio towers overlooking the valley. I couldn't find my hiking boots, so I wore my trainers, since it was a fairly tame trail and I began to have visions of Boris Karloff in Frankenstein as the mud would build up on my shoes. It took me two hours to scrape off all the mud once it dried, and that after the bulk of it was removed when it was wet. I'm trying to figure out where I stowed my boots, which I want to have for the next hike.

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We just got back from hiking the trails at Torreya State Park and the Nature Conservancy's Garden of Eden Trail N of Bristol, FL. Thursday we did the mile out to the "challenge" trail and the 5 1/2 mile loop, and back. Between all the ravines and ridges and loose rocks and pine cones and wearing an elastic brace on my right ankle (it causes me excruciating pain with use since a fall from a puncheon on last year's Panhandle Trace Hike) I sustained some super maceration that I'm praying heals up within the next two weeks, when this year's Panhandle Trace Hike starts. Our nextdoor camping neighbors were also FTA members from the next chapter to the east and she recommends wearing liner socks under the wool ones, so that's my next project. Right now I'm going barefoot inside the house.

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