<p>Took the day off from formal workout. Been wearing the pedometer in the office again lately. Over 10k steps yesterday and over 6k today…</p>
<p>Yay, iDad! Sounds like an excellent adventure.</p>
<p>I walked all the way to the post office & back- almost three miles! The farthest I have walked at once in over a year!
Mostly what I did today at physical therapy was try to walk with the cane, so I wanted to practice.
I am so uncoordinated- lawdy.</p>
<p>Idad - I don’t know if you mentioned this, but what are you using for mosquito/bug repellent on the hikes? Here in NY its always a problem in the summer, especially with all the rain we have had.</p>
<p>Idad’s answer will be more thorough, but he tipped me off about a permethrin spray you can buy on amazon to spray your hiking clothes, let dry, then is mosquito-repelling through several washes. I used it on my trek clothes and found it helped alot!</p>
<p>Of course, in my mosquito-laden back trail, I also need to use Natrapel’s 8 hr picaridin. It’s a newer product that unlike DEET, doesn’t eat/corrode plastic (I have prescription Burberry sunglasses that I prefer not to destroy :)) it also doesn’t smell as chemically or feel as icky, and is supposed to be (at comparative strengths) as strong as DEET.</p>
<p>So in my case, that seems to leave my eyelids and inner ears available for Mosquitos, which I suppose is an improvement! Coleman makes a head net and net jacket I bought that I may be trying out on Saturday. I’ll let you know how that goes :)</p>
<p>Given all of the foregoing, I’ve been avoiding my daily uphill treks in favor of the treadmill and aquajogging in the mornings. I kind of miss it on one hand, but by jogging a little and using hand weights, I find the bit of time I spend on the treadmill nice, especially if I follow it with an immediate dip.</p>
<p>I just got some aquajogging shoes I’ll be trying out – they have little gils to increase your resistance. I think for runners, these would be especially beneficial because they make it feel more like a run and ergo help you use the correct gait. In my case, I’m just trying to keep my “hill” legs intact ;)</p>
<p>^the only side benefit of avoiding the hill more often since the birth of the zombie mosquito nation is that the deer have now returned to my back yard for their little morning visits. The pool area is fenced at the top of a three-tier terrace, so my pool in “downhill” from my transitional “second yard/treed field” that turns into the forest and trail. The second yard is also fenced, but the big trail gate has not been fully closed in decades, from what I can tell, because now the earth would need to be dug out to close it.</p>
<p>This is the area where we have out sweatlodge, firepit, and where some intrepid guests will camp. </p>
<p>This morning, there are three deer running around inside the fenced area like they own it, poking their heads over the lower chain fence to watch me swim, which they seem to find curious. They are not shy at all when I’m “inside” MY second fenced area…only when I get out the Nordic sticks and head up the hill do they take flight.</p>
<p>So my daily walks up the hill meant they wouldn’t come down th hill to frolic in my yard…whereas now I have that morning entertainment while drinking my coffee! They probably think I’m their pet in my little caged bowl :)</p>
<p>Target + 19.2, still moving.</p>
<p>Emerald, that three miles is a HUGE accomplishment! You’ve make big strides. :)</p>
<p>Plantmom, happy to see you back - I actually gave a thought to you earlier today - “where’s Plantmom”!!</p>
<p>I have missed you all and being able to check in. Thanks for the notes. Abasket, it’s good to see you back here too. Oregon coast does sound like a dream! </p>
<p>emerald, three miles walking Is quite a distance! I hope your new joint is feeling great, stronger and stronger. </p>
<p>Another gorgeous hike, idad! Jealous!</p>
<p>Crisis du jour or rather des jours is the slow-draining kitchen sink. Even more frustrating is the scatter-brained plumbing company that’s working on the repair. Nothing puts a damper on cooking, healthy or otherwise, like the thought of a main drain backing up. And waiting for a plumber puts the kibosh on leaving the house for a work-out, a walk, even other errands. Grrr.</p>
<p>That sounds like a difficult problem. We’ve never faced that issue before but I recall one home with that problem several years ago - but it was their sewer line that was the issue. They had to dig up part of the road and frontage multiple times to fix the problem and they wound up selling and moving out afterwards. Hopefully this is just a blockage that can be cleared out.</p>
<p>Vermont is apparently the biggest problem state for Lyme disease and it’s not a lot of fun knowing that you’re next-door. I really don’t like the idea of applying stuff on me to keep insects away to go on a hike. Perhaps I’d be better off trying this out on a warm day in winter. I guess one of those rare 60 degree days with below freezing weather a week on either side would be ideal.</p>
<p>I woke up and didn’t even think about my knee until I was ready to plant my feet off the ground. I’ve been not using the knee braces as much and the knee is much less noisy now. I’m starting to think that running outside next week or even this weekend is a possibility.</p>
<p>PlantMom, do you have a stability ball? It has been my favorite toy lately. Hamstring curls, dead bug, pass, stir the pot, toe touches, jackknife. I can’t get enough of this thing! I’m good for at home exercise ideas (many of which came from iDad).</p>
<p>BC has suggested efit30 in the past. I keep meaning to try one of their workouts.</p>
<p>[Cardio</a> fitness, sculpt and tone - eFit30 - YouTube](<a href=“Total Body, Cardio Fitness, Workout, Sculpt and Tone - YouTube”>Total Body, Cardio Fitness, Workout, Sculpt and Tone - YouTube)</p>
<p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p>
<p>P.S. BC, I did try cobra pose following the back bridge/Al Kavadlo bodyweight deadlift discussion. And it looks so innocent, hah!</p>
<p>Oh dear- 3 miles was too much. I’m icing & elevating so I won’t have to go back to using the walker!
The pain is manageable, just swollen.</p>
<p>I’d like to get a pedometer to see non-workout miles I put in on an average day. Wonder if MyFitnessPal or other tools account for “non workout” activity when giving you weight/calorie benchmarks?</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I thought that it looked easy too - just basically stretching your front. Some of my muscles were shaking after a while doing it.</p>
<p>I am still doing a set or more with the Valslides every evening (the pushaways) which isn’t much, but I DO think it has helped my core and toned my arms. I’ve slacked off on most of my other stuff (except running), but I’ve kept up the Valslides. </p>
<p>I think I am feeling a little better running-wise after the lighter week this week. Tomorrow will be difficult no matter what, and I plan to not push very hard. A hot, hilly half-marathon in late June in Tennessee is not the best idea, but it is out town’s inaugural half and I wanted to participate. It’s actually in Leiper’s Fork and not Franklin, but it bills itself as Franklin Half… In case it won’t be bad enough, we are having a party at our house tonight for my son in law’s fellowship graduation. I don’t have to do any work, but it IS at our house. His mother brings these bratwursts and beer down from Wisconsin. Another night of healthy, pre-race eating…</p>
<p>MOWC - what consists of your meal tonight and tomorrow. What time do you tomorrow before your race? Will you hydrate more than usual tonight and in the morning?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my meal tonight will be bratwursts, beer, deviled eggs, fruit salad and whatever else people bring to this party. Probably a beer, too. Not ideal, but I don’t really care. I am hydrating today and will continue to do so, but there will be plenty of water and Gatorade on the course (every mile).</p>
<p>3.3 mile walk/tiny bits of running. Daily planks and some calf raises.</p>
<p>Good luck tomorrow MOWC!</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>That sounds like you’ll really be roughing it. Are you going to try to do some carb loading? I do think that carbs are much better before a long run than high protein/fat.</p>