<p>Ah. Good ol’ pasta salad. One of those things that sounds “healthy”, but is horrible from a waist line standpoint.</p>
<p>Speaking of which, I’m now coming up on a full year without eating a bite of pasta or pizza. I might break down and make a homemade pizza splurge meal sometime, but I don’t really have much of a hankering for pasta.</p>
<p>Pasta salad is something I couldn’t stay away from! Sounds like a great weekend KMC.</p>
<p>NM, so glad you could finally get outside. It is miserable rain here today.</p>
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<p>Thanks for starting my day with a chuckle, KMC. You choose the best phrases!</p>
<p>I’m glad you’re finally getting some decent weather, NMinn. Really hope you’re able to get relief for the knee soon.</p>
<p>Dad2 - I think base mileage is the most important thing. While tempo and intervals will build speed, I think the 1/2 requires base mileage for really getting cardio in shape, in addition to muscles, tissues, etc. </p>
<p>I’ve been back at this running thing for over 2 years now and aerobically I’m still not where I should be.</p>
<p>Idad-- you’ve got to quit exposing these food myths! For some reason–Reminds me of the Seinfeld non-fat yogurt episode.</p>
<p>I love these Mac n cheese dishes that the moms bring for the pasta dinners the night before track meets.</p>
<p>Mac n Cheese - cheap calories. I buy Annie’s by the dozen. It’s basically emergency food if nobody feels like putting a lot of effort into cooking and there are never leftovers. I’ll usually go for a peanut butter sandwich first unless we’re out of peanut butter or bread.</p>
<p>BTW, it was around freezing in this area when I woke up. Strange to have temperature ranges from the low-30s to the low-60s. My wife is back in a bit over a week. I’ve been doing a lot of the cleaning and about a third of the cooking. The cooking and cleaning basically eats up my workout before the office routine.</p>
<p>It was raining like crazy here this morning so I had to do the treadmill. I did 31 minutes and then tried some planks. My shoulder is finally almost pain free so I can start some small upper body exercises.</p>
<p>At least mac 'n cheese could have the redeeming value of a little protein, at least if it’s made with real cheese…</p>
<p>The vast majority of mac n cheese is made from a box. My wife will make it from scratch if I ask her too but I usually don’t. Cleaning the cheese grater (it’s one of those hexagonal box types) is not something I particularly like to do as it is a pain to clean the inside of it. I went over my limits a little on calories over the weekend. Well, maybe more than a little. I’m pretty hungry right now but it may be due to doing my miles at a much faster pace than usual. Heart-rate was probably higher than usual.</p>
<p>5 mi outdoor run on rolling hills in sunny weather.</p>
<p>Deborah, that sounds so nice today! Miserable, cold and rainy here. I was going to go do weights today but I think today will be a rest day. I did 4.04m (to be precise) on the treadmill yesterday with varied incline. I am finding that I am substituting exercise for eating in times of stress. Probably healthier than those donuts. I need to drive to find somewhere to run that isn’t straight down a hill and then straight back up and I’m finding it hard to get motivated to do that. Hard to wimp out on the treadmill with everyone watching. I need a running buddy other than sabadog. </p>
<p>Re: mac and cheese. I love it but have not made it in a long time. When I’ve made it in the past, it’s involved cubed cheese with a white sauce poured over the pasta. Saves me from dealing with the cheese grater. :)</p>
<p>Beautiful day here, sunny and mid-70’s. My beastly HR monitor watch gave last weeks workout a star. How easy it is to reward me! This morning, H and I walked 4.75 miles; we stopped mid-way to pick blackberries for our lunch–tasty treat! </p>
<p>We went with friends to a concert last night: Crosby, Stills and Nash. They’re still around and sounding good, believe it or not. We all commented that working on the fitness now was worth it if we could appear some day in public like the spry 70 plus year old Graham Nash–he performed barefoot, always moving around on a Persian carpet, still hitting his notes. It was interesting to view the fellow baby boomer audience, as well. More motivation to keep on moving.</p>
<p>Sabaray, it was nice, and I didn’t push the pace too hard, but it was enough that I didn’t have much extra left over. I was debating doing another 1/3 of a mile segment and decided that’s okay, I can stop now. 
Got to see a bunny again today. There were a number of other runners out, too. I’ve seen some of them before, and I found it comforting today that we’d be passing each other going opposite directions but at similar pace. Not ready to pass out, but getting a workout.</p>
<p>PlantMom, the concert sounds like fun. :)</p>
<p>80 degrees in the shade :eek: I felt like I was going to drop dead after 4 miles, but I kept going… after 5 miles I decided that it would be a waste to abandon my plans and just kept running… 7 miles -phew. If this heat wave continues, I’ll turn into a Kenyan. :)</p>
<p>Seriously, I cannot believe I ran the last 6 miles of my marathon in such terrible heat! Note to self: never, ever forget your water bottle!</p>
<p>BB, when I was choosing which place to run today the top two contenders were rolling hills with intermittent shade or flat with full sun. I opted for the intermittent shade. And I was out there earlier than you! I bet it was pretty warm when you ran. BC, as I recall, this is the type of running weather you’d like.</p>
<p>Smart choice, Deborah! 
I, unfortunately, had no choice. It was either frying under the sun or no running at all. I chose the lesser of the two evils. :)</p>
<p>Finished raking the moss and dead grass roots out of the lawn. The little electric Greenworks de-thatcher I got from Amazon already paid for itself! It took me under 1 hour to finish my 5,000 sf lawn. Last year, I almost killed myself trying to do the same with a rake. :)</p>
<p>Great news here over the weekend!
Congratulations Dad II, well done!
So glad things went so well for WC, sorry it had to be such a sufferfest. Can’t wait to hear about Kona.</p>
<p>Nice 2 hour hike yesterday. Wildflowers, blue skies, sunshine = perfection. 2 sugar free margaritas for Cinco de Mayo out on a deck overlooking a beautiful valley last night.</p>
<p>35 mile mountain bike ride today. Mid-80s, great views, felt great, although thought with 15 less lbs. and half a year of squats and deadlifts the hills would feel easier…</p>
<p>2.4 miles so far today. Hope to go for another walk with H this evening. It is 72 degrees right now!!! Happy dance! :)</p>
<p>It was 77 here - just back in the office. Yes, this would be nice. From 32 to 77 in the same dya. I think that we get this tomorrow too.</p>
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<p>[url=<a href=“Michael’s NH and VT Hiking”>Michael’s NH and VT Hiking]Monadnock[/url</a>] tomorrow!</p>
<p>Should be warm enough for shorts, but it’s also the beginning of black fly season and I ran out of bug spray before I got to treating any shorts, so it may be long pants. That’s OK as there are spots on this one that may require scrambling up rocks on hands and knees.</p>
