<p>Here’s the way I had it at the restaurant, as a trio of seafood cocktails - crab/coconut (left), shrimp tomatillo cocktail, and lobster avocado (right)</p>
<p><a href=“Bar Americain - The New York Times”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/dining/reviews/26dinbriefs.html</a></p>
<p>I hope I don’t wrench my back cracking the lobster shells! :)</p>
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<p>MichaelNKat, thanks so much for your post! That day that I went to a trail which has the word “Hills” in it (should have been a big clue, right-but this is Dallas, so I didn’t take it seriously), I was a total mess with respect to trying to keep a steady cadence. First of all, I just wasn’t ready for such a trail. I was all over the place with cadence and trying to use the gears correctly. I knew I was going to be in trouble when right out the gate I was on a downhill that had me going so fast I was afraid I was going to crash and burn. What goes down must go up, right? I spent all my time either trying to slow down and pedal at all to just dying on the hills, even to the point of having to get off the bike and walk it up. It didn’t help that I was totally unfamiliar with the place and couldn’t anticipate any of the terrain. </p>
<p>I will say I surprised myself when I got home and DETERMINED to get back on the bike and proceeded to go 5 more miles. I am not an athlete at all and have never been big on making it through physical challenges.</p>
<p>I had told myself I would never go back to that trail, but now I feel I just need to keep working at it until I feel more confident. Some day I will do that trail and will come back here to brag about it! In the mean time, thanks for the encouragement, and I plan to keep it up. This has been the most fun exercise I’ve had ever. </p>
<p>Going down hill can be very unnerving to newbies, particularly if you are on a dirt path as opposed to asphalt. In either case, as you pick up speed, you are absolutely, positively sure you’re going to lose control so you are constantly on your brakes and going rigid, literally, from the stress. When you go down hill, slide slightly to the rear of your saddle to help keep your weight centered on the bike. Modulate your brakes instead of constantly squeezing them to keep your rims from overheating and losing braking effectiveness. Keep in mind that your front brake does most of the stopping and the primary role of the rear brake is to keep the rear of the bike in alignment with the front as you use the front brake. Don’t be afraid to use the front brake; you will be hard pressed to control your speed without it. That being said, don’t use your front brake as you go into a curve or turn and be careful not yo slam it on so hard that you lock up your front wheel, particularly if you are on a loose packed dirt path. Apply your brakes as you approach a curve or turn, then release them going into the curve and even on loose pack, your wheels will usually track where you are pointing them without an issue. With proper use of your brakes and keeping your upper body relaxed (no death grips on the handlebars 
), you will be fine.</p>
<p>And yes, there is a perverse corollary of Newton’s Law that seems to afflict cyclists:“What goes down must go up”.</p>
<p>nrdsb4 and mkat:</p>
<p>Nobody beats me in the spaz on a bike department. In fact, my first bike ride after 20 years was the day I found out that I could hit 100% of my max heart rate without keeling over dead!</p>
<p>Everywhere in New England is hilly. Short, steep hills. So I dusted off my trusty Fuji 12 speed, put air in the tires, lubed up the chain, and went for a ride. I came to the steepest hill on my outbound leg, and new I would need the lowest possible gear (I was still probably 220 pounds at that point). I started up the hill and realized quickly that I had completely screwed up and shifted both derailleurs to the highest possible gear. I probably wouldn’t have been able to pedal that gear on a flat stretch of road. I quickly started going slower and slower and pushing harder and harder, knowing I was done if I stopped halfway up the hill. I made it to the top, somehow, and more or less collapsed by the side of the road, panting like a dog. That’s when I looked at my heart rate monitor and saw 100% for the first time.</p>
<p>Just a complete epic fail on my part!</p>
<p>Awww, interesteddad, that hurts to read. But it gives me hope, because I’ve followed your posts and know you’ve come so far. </p>
<p>I used to ride my bike joyfully EVERYWHERE as a child. I remember that in the summer, I used to go out after dinner and ride in circles on my cul de sac, pretending I was riding one of the show ponies at the circus. You know, standing high up on the frame like they did on horses, etc. I had such an imagination, a young female Walter Middy in the making.</p>
<p>This new bike stuff is a lot more complicated, lol.</p>
<p>Boy, would I love to still have the last bike I had as a kid…</p>
<p><a href=“http://schwinncruisers.com/bikes/corvette/#1963-corvette”>http://schwinncruisers.com/bikes/corvette/#1963-corvette</a></p>
<p>Loved my orange krate . Outfitted mine with a long sissy bar. Was never any good at popping wheelies though . <a href=“Schwinn Sting Ray "Orange Krate" Bicycle”>http://www.antiquewhs.com/2005011.htm</a></p>
<p>My little brother had the Sting Ray, but I don’t think his was as fancy as that!</p>
<hr>
<p>Wow. My Bobby Flay Lobster Avocado Cocktail was to die for. Better than in the restaurant. I’m stuffed to the gills with lobster.</p>
<p>From the sugar files: I was out of prepared horseradish. Looking at the labels in the store, one of the brands of bottled horseradish had sugar on the ingredient list. Why?</p>
<p>Glad I had my grilled steak/heirloom tomato salad/pan-fried chanterelles dinner before I read your lobster post, idad! :)</p>
<p>Oh, yeah! Someone had to dispose of extra sugar and there was that batch of horseradish to be made… </p>
<p>On a similar note… Almost impossible to find dried fruit that has not been doctored with loads of sugar! Mangoes? Are they @&)*%# kidding me? Who needs to add sugar to mangoes!!!</p>
<p>Pretty soon I will start checking the labels on table salt to make sure it does not have sugar in it! ;)</p>
<p>I will confess that I did add the sugar Bobby Flay calls for in the lobster recipe. Pretty small amount to balance the lime juice and the tomatillos. Still, all in all, a pretty healthy meal. The killer flavor in the dish was the fresh tarragon. </p>
<p>Steak sounds good. I loaded up my little camping Weber grill in the trunk of the car this afternoon. I’ll be hitting up the local butcher for a big ol’ rib eye to grill.</p>
<p>Yeah, dried fruit already is just about pure sugar. Doesn’t need any more!. I used to think plowing through a big container of golden raisins was a healthy snack. Yikes! And, then there’s always raisins on Frosted Flakes. Yum. That’ll make you weigh 250 pounds!</p>
<hr>
<p>Another NFL workout from the Patriots starting at just past 24 minutes into this video:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.patriots.com/media-center/videos/Patriots_All_Access_presented_by_GEICO_9192014/c5ad5271-3282-4d56-be09-ad87f1ea6f2a”>http://www.patriots.com/media-center/videos/Patriots_All_Access_presented_by_GEICO_9192014/c5ad5271-3282-4d56-be09-ad87f1ea6f2a</a></p>
<p>Darrell Revis, arguably the best defensive back in football, gathered up several of his team mates to go workout in Arizona before training camp. Lots of familiar stuff, including the diabolical sideways step over box steps with DB. One of the Cosgrove workouts made me do those. Awesome exercise. But, what really made me smile was Darrell Revis doing the ValSlide body saw core exercise at the end of the segment. He was doing it on a hockey slide board, but same thing… It’s a good one. Makes the abs burn.</p>
<p>Sometimes it is so inspiring and uplifting and smile worthy to read this thread after you have been away from it for a day or two. You all make me feel inspired and smiley sharing the successes, pitfalls and struggles. :)</p>
<p>Back on the “healthy eating” wagon after a temporary pitstop yesterday celebrating my new year. Breakfast was a honeycrisp apple halved and stuffed with crunchy natural peanut butter and some green tea. “Lunch” in Columbus (visiting my daughter) was 2 scoops of Jeni’s amazing ice cream (you’ll know if you’ve ever had the chance to experience it!) - my flavors: goat cheese with cherries and black raspberry with sweet corn. Simply amazing! Dinner was Italian in the Short North - a eclectic area not far from the OSU (BOO!!) campus. Arancini for an appetizer. D1 and I always “share” entrees - this time 2 of them - spaghetti with spicy marinara topped with the world’s largest and most tasty veal meatball and second entree, linguini with clams. Finished it off with a warm blueberry crustada (like an open crispy round individual pie) topped with honey vanilla gelato. Went to bed with a happy belly! </p>
<p>Did at least offset the calories - well, maybe a scoop of ice cream anyway - with 2 longs walks - one visiting a small private college campus and one in a beautiful neighborhood to house gaze near my D’s new apartment. </p>
<p>Thank you abasket. Now, I’m not feeling the pangs of guilt wash over me for the two teaspoons of sugar in the Bobby Flay lobster dish! We’re not worthy! ^:)^ </p>
<p>Unfortunately, my mouth is watering and I’m now going to go to the kitchen and devour everything I can find. :)</p>
<p>Sounds like a terrific day, abasket! Jeni’s ice cream is amazing - we can buy pints down here. </p>
<p>H and I both finished in the top 10 for the fitness/weight loss challenge - I won four personal training sessions - awesome! We went out for brunch and I really pigged out - but I did run 11+ miles beforehand, didn’t quite make it to 12. Close but I didn’t plan my route well and it was a lot of hills and hard. Had an egg scramble with cheese, bacon, hash browns, a buttermilk pancake and spiced peaches with a tiny scoop of ice cream to finish it off. Last night we grilled salmon and had a huge salad. </p>
<p>Today I’m dealing with a sick sabapup and trying to get the house in order. As you can tell I’m really enjoying that workout. </p>
<p>I am considering ending my 33 day streak today just so I don’t get locked into a streak. I wasn’t able to get up and run at 5am in downtown San Francisco before our 6:30 airport shuttle (and I felt like it would be creepy out there anyway), so it would have to be tonight at home after a long travel day if I’m going to run. We walked SO much yesterday- besides my 8 mile run. I had over 19000 steps on the Vivofit not counting the run. The walking included an almost vertical climb up a hill to Grace Cathedral. I used to RUN up that hill in the late 90s and 2000 when I was in SF a lot and training for Big Sur Marathon. I don’t know how I did it. I had a 5 week trial in San Francisco in 2000 and ran all over the city- including over the GG Bridge. That was pre-Garmin days.</p>
<p>MOWC, streaks I’m thinking are your own mental battle to win or lose - and that does not mean win = keeping streak going. Beating the necessity to have to have a streak is a win - it’s also a win to realize that while you are still going to run a gazillion miles, other exercise is worthy and is good for you physically/mentally. And the other part of that “win” is that streak or not, you will wake up tomorrow without crutches or too many limitations - in the course of this year, that is a WIN. :)</p>
<p>I hear you, abasket. Running is just so much more efficient for me than anything else. </p>
<p>If I may be so presumptuous to suggest, all of us on this Board in one form or another are exercise/fitness junkies :). And while our attention to fitness and nutrition results in tremendous physical and mental health benefits, I think we all at times succumb to a bit of obsessive behavior (at least I know I do, I shouldn’t speak for others 
). As I get older (I’ll be 61 tomorrow), I’m realizing more and more how important it is to temper my obsessive tendencies with a more flexible and elastic set of expectations and demands on myself. Any day that I’m moving and using my body is a plus. May not be the weight lifting session I had planned or the intense bike ride I had in mind, but as long as I’m up and moving, its good. Ok, enough of my philosophical rant and musings. Time to eat something to recover from the fast, challenging 50 mile ride I just finished with members of the all women’s race team I sponsor. Oy, some things never change lol. </p>
<p>Happy B-Day MichaelNKat!!! Hmm…anyone want to do a research study on why so many of us seem to have September b-days???</p>
<p>Happy Birthday, Michael! You didn’t ride across the Philly Half Marathon, did you? </p>