Four year Varsity Letterman in high school, but rarely play anymore. It's great that you are so nuts about it. :)

I've been working out like a demon for the past two weeks and today was no different.

Need to shift the post ankle injury tub.

Today i've just polished off 50 mins on the stationary bike followed by squats and sit ups.

I'm going to go for a walk around the lake this evening to add to the fun.

I took another two hour walk in Riverside Park today. Squirrels seemed to be the theme. I saw a lot of them, rustling in the leaves and scurrying into the brush. Squirrels are so beautiful, and I am in awe of them. In fact it was a joke in my family that I was taken to the zoo as a child and seemed bored by all the animals but then saw a squirrel in the parking lot and pointed it out with much excitement. When I got cats, I remember thinking, it's like getting to have big squirrels that don't run away from me. But, really, squirrels are in a class of their own.

Here were the two oddest squirrel moments:

-a squirrel in the trash can seeking out food (one of those trash cans that is made out of a mesh pattern so it's easy for small animals to squeeze right in)

-the end of a squirrel's tail just sitting by itself in the middle of a path

I also came upon another site that I found myself thinking about. It was an old stone little one-room "house" right up against the woods with two windows and no other observable way to enter from the way I faced it. The windows had rusty, jail-like bars on them. Inside the house there were piles of leaves and dirt and nothing else. There were two shopping carts outside the house, each one tethered to the bars of each respective window. A mother and child passed by, and the child said, "Does anyone ever go inside?" And the mother said, "No one goes inside," and pulled her away. It was a creepy site, but then I started thinking how those shopping carts were most likely stored and hidden there by homeless people to use for storing and transporting stuff, like recycling bottles for money. There were a few empty bottles in the carts. I thought, "What if I reported those carts and tried to have them taken away?" Then I thought, "What a terrible thing to even think of as a fantasy! This was a smart idea, and they are being used for disenfranchised people's livelihood." The stone structure reminded me of a mausoleum in disrepair but still beautiful, while the carts seemed sad and ugly. But then when I thought of them being used by people and carefully locked there, I felt touched by the sight of them, as if they themselves were silenced people.

Then I found a winding staircase in the park with 87 steps called St. Clair Stairs, and I ran up and down it a few times.

Beautiful.

beautiful
 

The above post was beautiful to read. Thankyou. Moved me for several reasons.

A squirrel tail in the pathway...very interesting as well. Ive spent quite alot of time around squirrels watching them in transportation mode.

Exercise: I am determined to start my day stretching...
Shopping, however, has to be named as the outstanding exercise today.

Ok..my continuity here is flawed, but... I have a squirrel story....

I was visiting a favorite childhood park one day...now pretty much abandoned sadly. I heard a strange noise coming from the pavilion so I went over. The noise was coming from a trash can there. I carefully peeked inside...only to find...2 squirrels mating... :|
They paused and looked up at me...it was an awkward moment so I stepped back and left...and so did they...my only thought on the matter was...in all the great outdoors...they choose to mate in a trash can??? Although, I had a friend who was in the Navy and was on shore leave and had to have sex in a port-a-potty because of necessity...or so she says... so... really....have we risen that much above animals? I think not....back to regularly scheduled programing...

Umm I took a day off from the gym today...my body just said NO....but tomorrow morning I will begin again... :)

Okay, too much coincidence. Squirrels, porta-potty, parks... I wasn't going to share this, but what the heck.

I don't think I have mentioned this before, but the beach that I walk on is part of the state park system. One thing that is helpful for very long walks first thing in the morning, (post coffee), is the fact that there are restrooms every 100 yds or so. Sort of a "emergency only" situation, privvies that flush, rudimentary, small and dark.

There are also hundreds upon hundreds of California ground squirrels out there. Whole colonies of them, relatively tame as they are accustomed to being fed.

Yesterday morning while on my walk I stopped to use the facilities. It was only after I was all locked in and in what we will call a 'compromised situation' that I realized I had company in there. :blink:

I'm not sure which one of us got out of there faster.

US Open comng up!
 

The US Open will be starting soon: 8/26 - 9/9. Western and Southern Open in Cinncy going on now. Federer is my tennis God...he lost today. :|

I got to the gym this morning around 630am...only to find that the slackers don't open till 8... and I have to be to work at 830.. :|

I totally forgot it was Saturday...sigh

If cleaning counts as a workout, I will still get one. I'm going to do some cleaning once the landlord and his kiddo are out the door... :) Then I can come home to a nice clean house after the weekend's adventures...

It was a beautiful summer day out, and I went to the gym, making for a nice quiet gym experience.

I did 75 minutes on the Beast (which I guess is what we are calling the Arc Trainer these days), Level 5, while watching Bait Car (so embarrassing to admit). Then I did 45 minutes of weight lifting, core, and stretching on a new floor that blasts the same music mix constantly. There aren't enough women singing on it, though I can't argue with getting to hear old 80's favorites like "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors and "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince and the Revolution.

I ended up having a lengthy chat session (at least 20 minutes, I'd say) with a locker room friend, a strong fullish-figured straight African American woman who wears beautiful dresses. She does double work-outs, arriving right on the dot at 5am on week days and then also coming after work. She was changing during our conversation and did that weird thing where people change so that you never get to see any skin. I haven't come out to her lest things become even more careful :D

Nadal has it all...
 

I was really bummed out he didn't play last year...and Andy Murray...well enuff said:blink:

Federer played in the US Open last year. Lost to Berdych in the quarters.

I did 30 minutes of stair sprints on the gym steps (not to be confused with the Stairmaster), alternating between using weights and not using weights. Fun!

I rode my bike in the neighborhood and around Prospect Park yesterday afternoon.

It was cooler out than it's been, and the streets were full of people walking and biking and sitting on stoops and at sidewalk cafes.

It's getting easier going around the uphill side of the loop at the park, and I'm happy at how quickly I'm building stamina.

I have two bikes; one a hybrid racing/trail bike, and one a folding bike. I've been taking the folding bike out, but the wheels are really small and while the workout is good, I don't get up to the speed I can reach on the other one, which I think I'll take out tonight when I get home.

I've also been stretching. I took my yoga mat out on the balcony this past weekend. It's pretty private; I'm up high.

I have been remiss in keeping up here.

Dialing back the hands of time to last Wednesday. I did my short Beachwalk and on that day I added an extra mile and a half barefoot. The sand and tide conditions were just right, and I had not done that for a while. That is my secret weapon in keeping PF at bay, it's really good for exercising all the little muscles in my feet when I get just the right squishiness and texture. It felt good, and I could tell that I needed it.

I also had another swimming lesson on Wednesday and learned a whole bunch of new stuff. I decided it would be good to start learning the fundamentals of breaststroke and treading water. Boy, who knew there were so many different ways to kick water. :blink:

Flutter kick makes sense. Frog kick is just plain weird, I can see where someone probably saw a frog doing it and it worked for the frog so they decided to try it, okay I get that. Scissor kick is a stretch but I guess maybe somebody watched an octopus one day or something. The one that absolutely befuddles me is the eggbeater. Who could ever possibly think this was a good or logical idea is beyond me. The whole scull with hands while egg beating with legs is just slightly worse than trying to rub your stomach, pat the top of your head, and chew gum, all at the same time.

I thought treading water was supposed to be the simple relaxing thing that you do after falling off of a boat. :seconddoh:

The rest of the days have been pretty simple. Short, three-mile beach walk each morning, adding swim practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I like Metro's combination of activities, seems well-rounded and complete.

Gemme is right about the ellipticals. Your arms are supposed to be moving, especially the folks who are hunched over and support part of their body weight with their arms. Totally cheating.

I always just used the ones that also had the moving arms to have to hang onto. There's a built-in penalty for cheating, they keep moving even if you let go. With my level of coordination, that means that if I let go I will probably just end up hitting myself in the face with one of those waving metal arms.

Okay, I think that's about all. Today's roster includes leaving now for the beach for a regular three-mile walk, and midday today I will have a practice session at the pool.

:theisland: