<p>I just noticed I made an error in my post above. That’s the Brooks jacket I got that’s for sub 40, not a Marmot. Sigh. </p>
<p>Brain on backorder, what can I say.</p>
<p>The thing I refer to as the water resistant hoodie is fleecy.</p>
<p>We were just out in Scottsdale, Arizona. Interesting place – had never been. The weather was absurdly wonderful and my DH was very busy so I just basically enjoyed the great resort fitness center and beautiful trails through the desert. I felt a boost of energy, maybe just from all the sun after so much dismal weather in NJ from Sandy. Anyway, I ran five full miles without shifting down to a walk. It shocked me. Home now and curious to find out if that big energy surge will stay with me. I thought of this thread and my puzzlement over how 50-somethings can run so hard. I’m getting a glimmer, I think.</p>
<p>Swim lesson today. Cold here and I don’t want to get in the water. :(</p>
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<p>You were there, Sewhappy. You just didn’t know it. :)</p>
<p>Wow, sewhappy! You go girl!</p>
<p>MOfWC, best of luck to you on the Monkey! Enjoy the scenery and please, no face plants or falls of any kind. We need you here in one piece. :)</p>
<p>Bought a package of Twinkies this morning. I didn’t have any - just bought it for the rest of the family - they’ve never had one. I haven’t had one since I was a kid but they declared BK this morning and they’re going to sell off their assets.</p>
<p>We had a school field trip to the Wonder Bread factory in Natick, MA - my first exposure to mass production. Quite a bit different than the local bakery.</p>
<p>I’ve been getting a lot of sale emails on Marmot stuff - typically 30% off - from the tech gear retailers.</p>
<p>RIP, Hostess… That building downtown looked really run down even a few years ago. Oh, what would we do without Twinkies… There is always a homemade version, but of course, it is not the same.</p>
<p>[Homemade</a> Twinkies ? Recipe - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/dining/homemade-twinkies-recipe.html]Homemade”>Homemade Twinkies Recipe - NYT Cooking)</p>
<p>Our TJMaxx got a boatload of Columbia hoodies and sweats and some really nice men’s Huskies logo fleece jackets. Why, oh why there is no such a thing as men’s size S? M was too big for me, so I left the store emptyhanded.</p>
<p>Nothing like a deep fried twinkie at the Kentucky State Fair. :)</p>
<p>There is a Men’s size S. They have shirts, shorts, sweatpants, etc. in S.</p>
<p>I generally don’t go looking for them but bump into them from the Ms. It may be that there are other women or teenagers buying the S sizes so that they never make it to the discount stores.</p>
<p>Long walk today–fast (for me) 6.5 miles. </p>
<p>Idad: Listened to the Robb Wolf comments (good info) and decided to go ahead keep the Crossfit appointment. Will definitely ask if they did the WOD that you posted. I can do all of the stuff in that particular workout, but I couldn’t do it 5x. The gym I go to now is expensive. I have a family membership that allows me to use the pool and tennis courts. Which is silly since I don’t do either of those and also silly because my kids don’t live at home. I take classes, use a personal trainer (which costs extra) the weight room as well as the treadmill and elliptical machines. I can change my membership to couples membership or even a single. I just learned that there’s now a membership option for just pool, or tennis, or the gym. Anyway, the Crossfit was much cheaper than my gym, which was one reason I thought I’d try it. I’ll report back when I do.</p>
<p>Thanks, BB. I really hope I don’t fall. Saturday I have a 5K corporate “race” which I will run really easy and then Sunday is the day… We got all the Monkey packets ready last night- 2 shirts (cotton short sleeved and a long sleeved tech shirt with your name and the number of Monkeys you have completed represented by a monkey logo on the sleeve) and an extra shirt for those who completed last year’s rainy Monkey. Other swag, too. Beer tent opens at noon Sunday (local law can’t serve before noon on Sunday) and I’ll miss the first hour. There is a huge load of food after the race- everyone brings something. There are lots of homemade pumpkin pies, PB&J, cakes, pretzels, chips etc. And beer…did I mention that? Local brewery (Yazzoo) provides it.</p>
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<p>30% off brings it down to around LL Bean’s retail price, but at least it’s closer to the ball park. I like that they dump last year’s styles and colors at Marshall’s. Half price is almost reasonable. I first heard of Marmot 15 years ago when I bought one of their down sleeping bags on sale at Kittery Trading Post in Maine. Awesome quality. I think sleeping bags were their original claim to fame.</p>
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<p>They make MEN’S SMALL, but I think it’s a very popular size for teen boys, so the moms shopping at those stores clean the racks.</p>
<p>Yup, I see lots of women shopping in the Men’s section. I assume that they’re buying for their sons/husbands/boyfriends. The Women’s section is massive compared to the Men’s sections so I assume that they generally don’t buy for themselves in the Men’s section.</p>
<p>Stretching and weights today. </p>
<p>MOWC, now that’s a packet!</p>
<p>bromfield:</p>
<p>Hah. Robb Wolf’s opinion of Crossfit is like a little lamb compared to Mike Boyle’s view – as you can imagine. The issue is not the exercises that they use at Crossfit. Although they have some bad choices, for the most part, the exercises they program, if used properly, are good solid exercises. I think that’s why Wolf is so emotional: the basic concept was pretty good: circuits of functional exercises. The problems came when they turned it into a high-rep, exercise 'til you puke, mentality. Chin ups became [kipping</a> pull ups](<a href=“CrossFit - Kipping Pull-Ups - YouTube”>CrossFit - Kipping Pull-Ups - YouTube) because that’s the only way to do high reps, even though they are pure hell on shoulders.</p>
<p>The problem, as Wolf points out: you have no way of knowing a good Crossfit gym from a bad Crossfit gym. The good ones aren’t really doing Crossfitl</p>
<p>Here’s a fascinating discussion about Crossfit with Mike Boyle and [Gray</a> Cook<a href=“developer%20of%20the%20FMS%20Functional%20Movement%20Screen”>/url</a>. It’s Episode 19.5 of the StrengthCoach Podcast – skip ahead to the 19 minute mark of the podcast. It’s available on iTunes:</p>
<p><a href=“https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-strength-coach-podcast/id267200514[/url]”>The Strength Coach Podcast on Apple Podcasts](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</a></p>
<p>Or you can listen here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://ec.libsyn.com/p/1/d/9/1d9a7c12311e4d95/Episode_19.5-_Strength_Coach_Podcast.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d01cd8436d1cb592d79&c_id=1396102[/url]”>http://ec.libsyn.com/p/1/d/9/1d9a7c12311e4d95/Episode_19.5-_Strength_Coach_Podcast.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d01cd8436d1cb592d79&c_id=1396102</a></p>
<p>It grew out of Gray Cook being intervied by the Navy Times magazine about Crossfit when a Navy sailor sued Crossfit after being severely hurt (rhabdomyolysis) by a Crossfit workout.</p>
<p>There are some good Crossfit gyms out there. At least you have an idea what to look for.</p>
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<p>Best thing you can do is be educated. I have a former co-worker who recently left our company to start his own CrossFit facility. I’d be pretty comfortable sending somebody into his gym to workout if they were interested. I once bought into the CF movement, but then I’ve kinda gotten away from it too…</p>
<p>Well after my swim lesson I went and got on the treadmill and most definitely did not feel the same vigor as in Arizona. I think my body likes dry, warm, sunny weather.</p>
<p>Geez. I kicked my own butt. Did the second NROL4LIFE workout I put together.</p>
<p>CORE:twisting side planks</p>
<p>POWER: DB snatches</p>
<p>STRENGTH:</p>
<p>Barbell Front Squats
DB 3-pt row
Single leg squats
TRX chest press (elevated hands)
Rear lunge with DB press</p>
<p>I saw a heart rate of 85% of my max at the end of several of these sets. The single leg squats and the lunge with DB press got me pretty gassed.</p>
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<p>Oh, darn you BC for mentioning the 30% off Marmot sales. I need more hiking gear like I need a hole in my boot, but I couldn’t resist a pair of very warm [Gore-tex</a> mittens](<a href=“Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure”>Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure).</p>
<p>They had a pair of very nice Marmot gloves at Marshalls last week. I was surprised at how warm they were - I’d wear them without liners in the deep freeze.</p>
<p>Checkout the main story at [The</a> Telegraph Frontpage - NashuaTelegraph.com](<a href=“http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/]The”>http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/) and the orange outfit the guy is wearing.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve gotten several pair of Marmot gloves at TJ’s and Marshalls. I got a pair of heavy duty Gore-Tex ski gloves last year that are currently my warmest. However, I know from snowblowing in them that, at our age, the fingers tend to get cold and that mittens are better for extended periods (like hiking).</p>
<p>Those are great pictures of blaze orange in that newspaper article. I actually think that the neon yellow that Brooks uses for their running gear is even more visible than the orange. I have my Brooks Nightlife jacket in my backpack as another layer to add to the orange windbreaker hoodie if I need it. It’s really only the lower parts of the trails that are even an issue. Deer hunters aren’t going hunt where they have to drag their prize halfway down a mountain.</p>
<p>I added to my high-visibility arsenal with one of these:</p>
<p>[Blaze</a> Orange Fleece Beanie](<a href=“http://cdni.llbean.com/is/image/wim/274087_1665_41?rgn=0,0,1950,2250&scl=4.55607476635514&id=1pvs_sWtrFi5ygqYCHnnKx]Blaze”>http://cdni.llbean.com/is/image/wim/274087_1665_41?rgn=0,0,1950,2250&scl=4.55607476635514&id=1pvs_sWtrFi5ygqYCHnnKx). The photo doesn’t do it justice. It is seriously retina-scorching.</p>
<p>I wish I could say that at this time tomorrow I’ll be finished, but I won’t! (at least I hope I’m not…) Ran a crowded, mostly female 5K this morning as part of our corporate team. I tried to take it sort of easy and came in just under 30 minutes. Got 3rd in Senior Grand Masters and got a nice little glass thingy. Overdressed big time. 33 to start but clear and no wind. Not sure what I’m going to do about tomorrow since it will also be very chilly at the start but I’ll be out there forever!</p>