A Little Bit of Everything Lately

It has been a bit of this and that for exercising lately.  More like, what is happening or where can I go in this short time.  My job is on the 3rd floor and it has 4 flights of stairs to get there.  I make sure I go up and down a min. of 4 times a day, 32 trips.  AND I have started to lightly run up the stairs.  I play Chariots of Fire in my head as I ascend.  I make it up 3 flights before my panting is just too much.  I stand on the stairs panting hoping no one comes out and sees me.  And hoping my heart is getting stronger and stronger. 

Then I did a 5K about a week ago that turned into 6 miles for the day.  It was a gorgeous day and I just didn't want to go inside.  My grand daughter and her parents joined me for a crazy time walking and running.  There must have been 4000 people there.  Wall to wall people running, walking with strollers and walking with dogs.  What a mixture.  It was a great place for learning to be versatile while running a race.

I have taken to parking my car on one end of town and walking to my destination.  Tomorrow morning I am having a work breakfast.  I will drop my car at the office.  Go up the 4 flights of stairs to drop off my belongings.  Then walk to the restaurant several blocks away.

Today I was determined to find a place to park my car and go for a bike ride on one of the many great paths around here.  I hit the 777 on the machine and had a big payoff.  The trail I found (Spring Creek Trail) was awesome.  It was so cool.  It rambled up and down, across bridges and twisted and turned.  It was great to get back in the swing again.  I biked out for a while and then came upon a picnic area.  Had a sandwich and orange then took off to explore another trail.  I discovered it would take me several miles toward home. 

Then back to my car.  I really noticed the ride and knew it was the first of the season.  I must tell you pumping up my tires was an experience.  It took forever.  I pumped and pumped until it finally reached 60psi.  I decided that would be good enough.  Maybe I should invest in a plug in pump and just use the car battery to do this.

All in all, I am tired but a good tired and loved my first day back on the trails on my bike.  I am hoping to do more miles next time and I will start taking pics again.  I got real close to the mountains today and it was awesome.  I am thinking I need a new phone so I can take better pics.  Maybe it is time for a smart phone.  I will probably do something about it this year.

Suddenly I seem to be dreaming about ways to exercise.  Planning levels of exercise.  I know I want to really create an awesome body but I do have a problem with application of the dreams.  I am applying but not enough to make the changes I want to make.  Sometimes I think I am slow at this because there are things going on inside me that have to be finished before I can go full force.  I hope these aren't all excuses but me tuning into my body.  I am practicing my visualization and changing my belief systems.  It has taken so long to get to this place that sometimes I wonder if I have taken too long and this body is not capable of doing what I want it to do.  Then other times I poo paw that is garbage and I can do it.  I just hope that real positive part of me becomes the inner leader of my life.

I just reread this.  Quite a rambling mess.  Not  so author like.  But sometimes I just feel like I want to speak the way I think.  Ops, maybe I shouldn't have revealed just how jumbled my thoughts can be.

Buen Camino
b

It is time to get my camera out again and start taking pics of where I am walking.

I have moved into a room in someone else's home.  It is a very different experience.  I am sharing the kitchen and bathroom with total strangers.  Maybe this is preparation for my Camino walk.  I have lived alone for several years now and not had to share space.  Now I am sharing almost as much as I will be on the walk.  Here at least I have my own bedroom.  I am getting used to it and finding myself rather enjoying this new adventure.  We couldn't be more farther apart as people but I have been understanding all encompassing love in deeper ways.  Acceptance is a very difficult lesson.  Even if we think we are accepting of others, just bring in something like maybe drinking and smoking and you don't do either.  Try living in love in that situation.  We are all such unique and wonderful people but even when we share many samenesses (my made up word), we still have a hard time living together.  So when we are polar opposites it is a whole new game.

I am further out from all the trails so I am finding ways of walking from the house.  Often going in circles to avoid the highway.  On the week ends I have taken to driving into town and parking my car on the north side, then walking to the south side and back.  Today I was given a few places I can go and park my car and get on trails.  I see a map of trails but don't see anywhere to stop and park my car.  After my conversation with a co worker, I understand a lot of the park and walk areas are on the north side of town.  I am on the south side.

This coming week end I am going to do a 5K and see how I feel after.  I was thinking I would try to do a bit of running, a bit of jogging and probably lots more walking.  The last one I did was Thanksgiving and that went well even though I carried my 4 year old grand daughter on my shoulders for just over half of the 4 miles we did.  Tis the season of 5Ks and 10Ks, I will be hunting them out.  I found out the mountain trails won't be dry enough to walk till about July.  Creativity will be the name of my walking till then.

I have a new job.  My office is on the third floor.  I have to walk up 4 flights of stairs to get to it.  I average between 8 and 12 flights of stairs a day.  This will surly help the old lungs.  Some times I stop once and other times it is twice but one day I am going to run up these stairs, just like Rocky in the movie.  I remember watching that movie and wanting to run up the stairs like he did.  Of course the music 'Chariots of Fire' really helped in the stimulation market.  Maybe I should find it on my iPod and play it when I go up and down at work.  Speaking of iPods, we are allowed to wear them when we are at work.  This place is so cool.  I can even wear blue jeans to work and I heard the other day that shorts in the summer are ok if they are long.  Probably down to peddle pushers or today they call them Capris.  How cute we are, recycle the old and call it some fancy new name so people think they are buying something new.

My walking is increasing as spring is beginning to come to the Rockies.  I hear that we are supposed to get, on average, 11 inches of snow in March.  It is 3/12 and we have had none.  In fact this week it is in the 70's.  Can you imagine that, the Rockie mountains in the 70's in March.  Well, I am taking advantage of this great weather and getting started again.  My walking around the city is part of the preparation, as we all know that walking on pavement is hard on our feet.  I am toughening up this old bod.

I was thinking of going out to coyote ridge again but found out that this is matting season and they are very hungry.  Not such a good idea,  I'll wait for a bit.  This is like bear season in Vermont.  I hated having to stay out of the woods when I was a kid.  I loved to sneak around and see how many animals I could find.  Once I saw a black panther.  It was a big, very big, field.  I was near the south side of it laying on a boulder under a tree.  I looked up and saw him crossing the field on the far north side.  I quietly laid there until he entered the woods.  Then I hightailed it out of there.  I will never forget the feeling of seeing a black panther in the wild.  I have seen all the usual animals, deer, elk, moose but a black panther was a real thrill.

buen camino
b