Did a personal best time on my first 10 miles today. 
Happy tired now, probably soon to progress to dead tired, but I’ll take it.
Back spasms this morning. Ouch! Took some pain relievers and feel better but I should take it easy this weekend. Boo! Maybe some light walking since that doesn’t seem to hurt too much
Just bug spray. 
For day hiking anywhere on the east coast, it would be absolutely shocking, unheard of, to have wildlife problem like bears or cats. They don’t want anything to do with people. I’ve never even seen wildlife beyond the occasional squirrel or raccoon. People do see bear or moose from time to time hiking in NH, but I’ve never heard of an encounter.
Camping? Bears will forage your campsite for food. I use bear resistant coolers when car camping and a bear cannister for backpacking. Put food and smelly stuff like toothpaste in the cannister and put it a hundred yards away from the tent. The bears can sniff around that til the sun comes up and I don’t care. I don’t want anything to do with them and they don’t want anything to do with me! Never ever ever bring food into a tent.
Poisonous snakes are probably the one legitimate hiking risk, but only if you step on one without looking or stick your hand into a rock crevice where one is hiding or something. They don’t want anything to do with people, either. There aren’t any where I hike, but you never really hear of hikers getting bit even where they are common and frequently seen. I think if you just look where you are walking, the odds are you won’t unwittingly step on one.
@interesteddad, thanks. I needed that.
“Did a personal best time on my first 10 miles today.”
That’s awesome. A personal best, as one gets older, is that much more of an achievement.
Hope your spasms iron out Deb. Sounds uncomfortable!
Run outdoors last night, laps in my brother’s pool today in the hot summer sun!!! Tomorrow, major yard work!
Pre-race jitters here in Springfield even though I’m not racing. Gorgeous lake and park. Flat course. Heat will be a huge factor for the run, but my daughter may have an advantage there since she’s been training in hotter weather. After she takes off on the bike I’m going to run about 4 miles.
Hope all goes smoothly - I’m sure she’ll do wonderfully!
I ran 5 miles. I did 3.6 during the swim and then some more after she left on the bike. This is a beautiful lake area. We had some rain, which concerned me for the bikers, but it moved out. Still a cloud cover which I hope holds. Our friends finished the sprint tri and we have one on the run in the Olympic right now (10K).
Nice 2.5 mile run with D this morning. She’s off to work at a camp for a couple weeks so I’ll be back to running solo.
I bought Jeff Galloway’s book on Running - Getting Started & got to the chapter where he says Don’t Stretch - don’t stretch before running, after running, or on your days off. He claims that, for runners at least, stretching is a major cause of injuries. He also recommends against Yoga and Pilates, at least the parts that require stretching. Thoughts? This book was published in 2014, so I assume it reflects his current view.
I don’t stretch, and I’ve never had a running injury that would have been prevented by stretching. Everyone is different- and if you have specific tightness somewhere, it can help. Sprinters need to stretch.
Daughter had a strong bike leg and is 30 minutes into the run. Sun is coming out.
Gertrude, I have not read his book, so can’t comment on his specific reasons. Some recent studies hinted that for runners, a mix of flexibility and stiffness in the right muscle groups is key and so is dynamic stretching.
The dynamic warmup suggested in here is what our middle school PE teacher made us do back then, LOL!
http://www.runnersworld.com/ask-coach-jenny/a-runners-guide-to-warming-up
Fingers crossed, MOfWC, for her to finish strong!
Off to my run. It rained last night. So much for my hot weather training! 
The scientific literature on stretching, including more recent studies, is inconclusive about its benefits outside of specific sports events where flexibility is a necessary component of performance. The current conventional wisdom is that pre-exercise dynamic warming up, particularly movements that simulate the activity that will be engaged in, will appropriately raise muscle temperature and blood flow and prepare the muscles and connective tissues for the stresses of the activity while pre-event static stretching can cause injuries and will actually degrade performance because the elongated muscle fibers will not be as capable of producing contractile force.
She finished strong snd crushed it! 6:21- hugely under her goal. I’m used to my son and gf winding up in the medical tent to get IV fluids, so this is a nice post- race time. She’s stiff and sore but happy.
WOOHOO! Sounds like a good/fun day for all!
Congrats to your daughter MOWC! She must feel great about her success.
Well done, MOWC’s D!
That sounds like a tremendous achievement. That’s a very long distance to keep up high intensity exercise!
Maybe for the serious runners they are finding what they need to do stretching or not, as well as other activities to do or not to do.
I always do a very basic stretch before walk/jog. I have heard it is as important to do some stretching after. I don’t push myself too hard on this activity, just do it to get a good work out. Swim a mile breast stroke (at indoor pool) to alternate. Lose weight better with walk/jog, but if it is too hot outside to do the one, do the other.
Main thing is listen to your body, and respect your limitations due to age, weight, etc. I had to build up my knees and leg muscles with swimming before they were good to go for jogging.