<p>I’m inspired by Sabaray to train for a marathon. I’m not actually going to sign up for one, just try the training. If I get to a point where I think I can actually do it, I’ll sign up for a race. I have a plan A race date on Feb 1 and a plan B date of March 15. </p>
<p>I’ve been doing a lot of trail running, with lots of steep hills. I love this type of running, but due to an increase in mountain lion sightings, I’ve decided to go back to civilization. I really don’t want to get eaten.</p>
<p>Inspired by Pizzagirl, I had my first Pilates session this morning. So glad I did the TRX core first - made a huge difference! Spent an hour working on flexibility, core and upper back. It just feels wonderful to stretch like that! I can already tell that this is something I’m going to want to continue with. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the encouragement and kind words, folks - having a supportive community makes such a difference. Wish you could all be at the actual race! Blankmind - that’s exactly how I got started on this - a friend was training for a half and posted her training schedule. I had no intention of running a half, but just started running along for the heck of it. Now here I am! </p>
<p>Two people in the office have birthdays today, and there are now <em>four</em> cakes sitting in the office kitchen.</p>
<p>Must. Stay, Out. Of. Kitchen.</p>
<p>blankmind- Good for you! See how the training goes. There are plenty of races.
We have cake all over the building here, too. I ate a little bit, but it isn’t really very good, so I tossed it.</p>
<p>kmc- my schedule out there is nuts, too. We are captive almost every minute of the day and evening. I, too, wake up extremely early on Pacific time. I’m taking my headlamp for running. I’ll be at the St. Francis Hotel on Union Square.</p>
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<p>I’ve not found that to be the case. The Magellan strap I bought behaved pretty much like the earlier generation Garmin straps and died right on schedule. The latest generation Garmin dies the same way, but is noticeably better in terms of the cold weather static electricity spikes.</p>
<p>After my little bike riding fiasco yesterday, I find that it’s my arms and shoulders which are most sore-from lifting the bike on and off the bike rack, which I’ve never before used. Sad, just sad.</p>
<p>Sabaray, that’s a great running feat! I wish I could be there to see you finish. </p>
<p>Good luck on the marathon training, blankmind. </p>
<p>Kmcmom, what a beautiful trip you’re having! I envy the ocean view dining. </p>
<p>Sad facts, indeed, abasket. (I have meant to say congratulations on your long run, too!) I heard a bit on the radio today from an author of a new book on obesity. Most of the those children who are obese will never lose the excess weight permanently and are destined to be obese adults. </p>
<p>4 miles of running (treadmill) followed by a brief shoulder/weight session.</p>
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<p>Yes, odds are that is the case with most of them. </p>
<p>DH went to Scandinavia this summer and said he saw not even ONE obese person. He also said there seemed to be far more bicycles on the road than cars, at least where he was.</p>
<p>Maybe that’s how I got the idea to buy a bike recently. I didn’t even realize that until just now. :)</p>
<p>This is the Magellan strap. <a href=“http://www.clevertraining.com/brands/magellan/heart-rate-monitor-soft-strap.html”>http://www.clevertraining.com/brands/magellan/heart-rate-monitor-soft-strap.html</a></p>
<p>I had really good luck with it but I like the Mio Link better.</p>
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I doubt it is from lifting a 20 pound bike up and down once or twice.</p>
<p>The soreness is almost certainly from holding yourself up while leaning on your hands for however long you were riding.</p>
<p>Went over to my little local Audubon center hiking trail and did 3.2 flat miles out to the peninsula in the lake and back. It’s about the only thing I can do, exercise-wise, that doesn’t hurt. Catch-22 on sore backs. It hurts to exercise, but the longer you go without moving around the more things stiffen up. </p>
<p>Put on a little daypack (for water) and averaged 23 minute miles, which is booking along pretty good on the terrain. No discomfort at all, so that was good. Looks like I’ll be able to at least do some walking over the next few days.</p>
<p>I’m of two minds on pain relievers. Not opposed if needed to sleep or whatever, but I figure that the pain is a pretty reliable signal that I should avoid doing whatever is causing the pain. So I don’t want to blunt the signals too much. For example, I don’t think that taking a bunch of Advil to lift weights would be smart.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4, as notrichenough suggests, your soreness is probably unrelated to lifting your bike on and off the rack. New cyclists very often do things like grip the bars tightly when riding, keep their arms locked straight, let their shoulders hunch up and otherwise fail to relax their upper body, all of which creates great tension which leads to soreness. It’s kind of like clenching your teeth for an extended period resulting in sore jaw muscles but involving your entire upper body. Also, if your seat position up and down and fore and aft and your handlebar position (height, reach, angle) are not fitted correctly for your body, you can end up putting too much weight on your arms. Having a strong core is also important to avoid putting too much weight on your arms. </p>
<p>Today’s exercise was a dance class concentrating on dances of the Regency period (think Jane Austen.) So, not much exercise for the body, but much hurting of the brain. I guess if you couldn’t keep the complicated patterns straight (couples 1, 2, and 3 all doing different things) you would be a wallflower. 
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<p>Take the time you need for that back iDad!</p>
<p>3 mile run tonight. Man, 60 degree cool evenings =perfect.</p>
<p>Well the battle of the hr strap goes to…
Bought them both!</p>
<p>IDad, MOWC, Bunsen and MNKat have pushed my retirement age out 5 more years due to my purchases based on their product recommendations.</p>
<p>Another frustrating 1 1/2 hour run (rather walk) today made both straps worth it, if it will save me from going mad. 14 plus minute mile pace at 127 hr. Keep thinking that I could have almost doubled my mileage if I would have run at normal running pace. But the objective is to get way below that so I’ll try and maintain this low hr stuff for awhile.</p>
<p>Hah. I’ve got ya’ll beat on low heart rates. Kept mine below 112 today. I have have no idea how you guys keep it so low running…</p>
<p>I got a solid year out of the Magellan and it worked flawlessly right up until the day it didn’t. That seems to be the way they all die for me. Drop outs. Cruising along fine and then - bam - no heart rate signal. Then it’ll kick back in and then – bam - no heart rate signal. At my age, that’s a scary thing! I rely on my Garmin to reassure me I’m still alive!</p>
<p>LOL, Ohio. I hear you on the product recommendations! iDad and Bunsen have added years to my working life!</p>
<p>I lost my Fitbit Zip while going through security at the airport yesterday. Any suggestions for trackers? Am open to anything. I used the Fitbit to try to get to 10,000 steps a day, but open to more sophisticated uses. </p>
<p>I really believe Garmin Vivofit is the way to go. I only take mine off to run and sleep. I’ve written about it way up thread if you search. DCRainmaker has a great review of it online. I’m on the way to airport, but email me for more info and I’ll write from the plane. </p>
<p>I think the vivofit is more functional. Pair it with a hr monitor strap, use it as a watch and can be paired with a mio link wrist band monitor. I use the mio link/vivofit combo for swimming. (For me I still like the strap hr monitor over the mio link for running and biking. I get a more consistent reading, although I could see why women might prefer a mio link ) I really only bought the vivofit/mio link for the swimming application.</p>