I love this weather. Was able to do my workout outside last night. Combined both parallettes and rings. I just did not want to go back inside! The unevenness of the ground and even the height of the grass made the core strength demands on the parallettes more challenging. For those who can, take your body weight workouts outside for added variety and challenges. 
Michael - do your neighbors ever come over and use your playground equipment?! I’d like to put in a 400 meter mondo track on my property. Guess it would take the right kind of buyer if I ever sold it.
Lol ohiopublic, do it! We decided we are never going to move out until we croak so it will be our kids’ problem, not ours.
We have new neighbors with a 5 year old son on the same side of the property where the cargo net is located. Wednesday evening the father and son came over as I was doing a rings workout and the son wanted to climb the ladder opposite the cargo net which he did with his father’ assistance. He also wanted to climb the cargo net but I advised against it because the openings are 12x12, large enough for a 5 yr old to slip through if he misses his footing. One of my concerns in building all of this was the risk of uninvited “guests” using the equipment when I wasn’t home to stop them and the potential liabilities. I considered fencing the property but the cost was ridiculous. Instead, I tripled our liability coverage for a nominal premium increase. As far as I am aware, no one else has tried to use the equipment but neighbors walking down the street have done real double takes. The A frame for the cargo net is massive. 12 ft high and made out of 14 ft long 6x6’s. It took 3 people to lift each side of the A frame for assembling at the top.
If all of they is not enough of an attention getter, I told my wife I would take a walk with her around the block this afternoon - but that I was going to drag my push/pull sled. She punched me. I may still do it anyway 
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LOL, I was not clear about 2 lb dumbbells. Those are perfectly fine for the exercises such as those described by Pizzagirl. The problem is the home gyms - many folks who have not done any weights assume that they should start at the lowest weight and grab these 2-pounders first. The result is… no result, and the person feels demotivated. The other opposite is picking a weight that is too heavy. I have seen people in hotel gyms who pick up a pair of free weights they can barely lift and try to do some basic stuff like arm curls… They give up quickly. A Goldilocks approach is the best when doing those arm-toning workouts: the weight should feel just right, i.e., your muscles should ask for a break after 8-10 reps, but should be able to do another 8-10 rep set after a short rest and so on.
Ohio- do it! You could host beer miles! Michael- definitely drag the sled!
I’ve done that with weight equipment. I had one kettlebell (forget the weight right now) and it was great, but I wanted to add a slightly heavier one. Well, I went a little TOO heavy (which I should have realized when I could barely get it out of Target…) and I can’t do a whole lot with it.
Got home after 1 am, so I was pretty wiped this morning. Went to the shaded trail for a not very early start and ran into a friend who wanted to run with me because she is struggling with an injury and wanted just a few more slower miles. Got in 4 chatty miles at a faster pace than I normally run and got faster every mile. Unfortunately, our chattiness made me late for the cheap Sonic iced tea (ends at 10) so I paid double for my “fix”. I declined the sweeteners this morning since I really am going to try to detox a little bit.
What are y’alls thoughts on Stevia? Still bad? Not AS bad?
7 miles on the trails today. Like the uphill training aspect of it. The downhill stuff is hard on my knees. Running is meant to be done on flat, left-turning 400 meter ovals.
Lol, Ohio! When I was running that hot, hilly marathon, lots of people were cheering, “Great job, you survived the hardest part! It is all downhill now, 5 miles!” And I was thinking, “Oh dear Lord…”
Stevia, once banned due to a belief of linkage to cancer which has now been disproven, has been now declared by the FDA as “Generally Recognized As Safe”. Here’s a link to an article with more info:
https://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/1644/the-truth-about-stevia-the-so-called-quot-healthy/
In moderation, like so many other things, I don’t think there’s any issue.
“Well, I went a little TOO heavy (which I should have realized when I could barely get it out of Target…) and I can’t do a whole lot with it.”
If you continue using the smaller weights, it will come handy soon. 
Thanks for the article, MIchael. I’m going to make an effort to really limit artificial sweeteners, but I do have some Stevia for when I really want a little something in my iced tea.
Thanks, Michael. I too think moderate amounts of these sweeteners are OK. The problems arise when sweet-toothed people replace all sugar with Splenda etc. Some of these sweeteners could lead to changes in gut flora and promote growth of undesirable bacteria.
I stepped on the scale today for the first time in 15 years. The thread made me do it. Damn, I look good, but I’m going to continue my gradual dietary changes and maybe step up a little activity.
In all the talk of artificial sweeteners, is anyone (everyone?) here familiar with an incredibly well-written story on the history of the family of the makers of Sweet 'N Low? Riveting read: ‘Sweet and Low: A Family Story,’ by Rich Cohen
One of the things that differentiates Stevia from traditional sugar alternatives is that it is made from a plant and not from chemicals compounds. It’s not an artificial sweetener. That’s a big plus in my book.
“Plant-derived” is not automatically a plus! 
Stevia can change the taste of certain foods, and there was some uproar about some of such reformulated products.
A-ha, Vitamin water was one of them. Not that I would ever drink that stuff.
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-stevia-why-does-it-taste-bad-2014-7
Really? I like VitaminWater Zero. I just can’t get worked up about artificial sweeteners.
Pizzagirl, if you like the taste, that’s fine. I just don’t like any sweet drinks, regardless of what is used to sweeten them.
Wondering how sabaray’s run went today!
I personally don’t drink anything with sweeteners of any type added in, however the Quest protein bars I eat use Stevia as their primary sweetener. I find I tolerate it well.
BB, I would agree that just because something is plant based doesn’t mean it’s good but have you encountered anything raising issues about Stevia? Everything I’ve seen indicates it’s far superior in its safety and lack of side effects than other alternative sweeteners out there. But if I’m missing something, I would revisit eating the Quest bars.
Did a run on the treadmill in the hotel’s fitness center. Food tour is today so I will not have any trouble getting my steps in.
I have trouble going on my run when my son is racing because I’m nervous and want to track him on the tracker. Made myself get out there (wasn’t feeling it) and competed my goal 7.4 reluctantly. My legs were tired and it got hot. Turned out the tracker wasn’t working (frequently the case) and there weren’t any bike splits on the athletes anyway. His swim wasn’t great, but I finally got a bike split and he crushed the bike and is way up in the field. We’ll see how the run goes. He said it was going to be really hot- Ironman 70.3 Syracuse.
Definitely a #noshirtsummer day for me today. Got my Oiselle ambassador program singlet yesterday and it is gorgeous- beautiful turquoise and green colors. If any of you ladies want to try any Oiselle stuff I can give you a 10% discount code if you PM me.