<p>I’m so sorry, PMK. I hope it turns out to be something relatively minor.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that, pug. Sending healing thoughts to you.</p>
<p>Sorry, Pug. Hope it is easily fixable and doesn’t put too much strain on your back in the meantime.</p>
<p>I am in Las Vegas preparing for the half-marathon tomorrow (I’m walking). I am freaking out at the thought of 60,000 people or so in this race. Please just make it be over! Yesterday I walked 4 miles for my exercise while my friend had a tennis lesson.</p>
<p>My brother died on Tuesday evening. Long story which I won’t go into here, but he lived his life as an addict (alcohol mainly) on the streets, despite the family’s every attempt at support and help. He was 51 and was a constant source of worry to our elderly mother. We postponed the memorial service so a few of us could more easily travel to PA, which is why I was able to still make this trip to Vegas which has been planned for a year. It is a meet-up with my internet women’s running group, so I am excited to meet people I have become quite close to over the last few years. It feels sort of strange to be here right after the death of a sibling, but I feel like we have been grieving for 30 years or so…</p>
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Haven’t been through anything like this, but I think I understand. How very sad in so many ways. Keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.</p>
<p>MOWC, I am so sorry about your brother. No matter how hard the last 30 years have been, it doesn’t lessen the pain now. I’m glad you are meeting up with your group, you need this right now.</p>
<p>Kate (somehow pug doesn’t sound right :)), what bad luck, first your back, now your knee. Sometimes it seems like fate is our enemy with this exercise thing.</p>
<p>I have a day off and had planned this as my start back day, but now I have a cold, so I am going to wait til Monday. The thought of going to the gym just isn’t as appealing as going back to bed. I’m not procrastinating…really…I have a wicked sinus headache.</p>
<p>MOWC, I am so sorry for the loss of your brother. It will be a very sad memorial service, I’m sure. Take advantage of the time you are with your friends in LV.</p>
<p>Pugmadkate: That’s awful! You’ll find out for certain on Monday what happened, and then you’ll be on your way to getting it fixed. </p>
<p>For all of you with colds and sniffles and even the flu: You’ll be much less sick than if you weren’t already strong from exercising! Seriously. Your illness with be much milder and much shorter. </p>
<p>One of my favorite quotes (from someone no one has ever heard of):“If exercise were in a pill, it would be the most widely prescribed medication in the world.”</p>
<p>Dang. Bad news all around. MOWC, I’m sorry about your sad news.</p>
<hr>
<p>Take it easy on the mean streets of Vegas. I feel like I’ve done a half marathon or two walking back and forth between the Convention Center and hotels on the Strip when the cab line was ridiculous. Everything looks so close there, “oh, that’s a few blocks”. And, then, you start walking and realize that the flatness of the deseart floor and the scale of those hotels has turned the whole place into a funhouse mirror in terms of distances.</p>
<p>So sorry to hear aout your brother MOWC. Wishing you peace. Good luck in Vegas.</p>
<p>terrwtt…I wish I could just take time off from the gym but if I do that then I can’t walk without pain. I can go lighter but I can’t stop if I want to be comfortable. Catch 22!</p>
<p>Hope you feel better kate!</p>
<p>MOfWC, I’m so sorry…</p>
<p>pmk, I hope your ortho will be able to pinpoint the problem quickly and help you right away. Same thing happened to my running buddy: sudden sharp pain, swollen knee… His doc diagnosed a tear in the meniscus and said it could happen to anyone at any time. :(</p>
<p>MOWC, I’m so sorry that your brother died. I remember when both of my mother’s parents died after years of struggling with Alzheimers, sometimes the grieving process does begin long before the actual death. </p>
<p>I woke up to good news re:my knee. It seems icing it right from the injury and all through the night paid off as there is hardly any swelling. I can put a little weight on it and bend it further than last night. The downside is that it’s still not bending it very far and it still hurts like a son of a gun. Still icing like crazy, staying off of it and hoping like crazy to A)get into see an ortho doc asap and B) it’s something very minor. </p>
<p>Thank you for all the well wishes. I’m very nervous about my back now that I can only do a small range of motion and only on dry land. I’m trying to not worry ahead but it’s difficult. Luckily, the loratab they gave me is killing my ability to focus, so that’s actually good in this case!</p>
<p>Coldest day for walking, yet. 39 degrees and a stiff wind. Wore this fantasic Polartec Power-Dri tech baselayer stuff – lightweight long-johns and lightweight half-zip top. This stuff is seriously warm and I’ve got the lightest of the three available weights.</p>
<p>Running pants and a long sleeve tech shirt on top. Capped off by the neon yellow Brooks running jacket as a windbreaker and to keep from getting run over. Fleece beanie and fleece gloves. I was toasty warm, worked up a little sweat, and had to actually unzip the jacket a bit pushing up the hills. Got in my usual 5K route at a pretty good clip (3.5+ mph) </p>
<p>BC: If you are still looking for winter gear, Marshall’s and TJ MAXX have a nice pair from Columbia Sports. A [lightweight</a> half-zip mock turtle tech top](<a href="http://www.columbia.com/Men’s-Mountain-Tech™-Long-Sleeve-Half-Zip/TM6755,default,pd.html#]lightweight">http://www.columbia.com/Men’s-Mountain-Tech™-Long-Sleeve-Half-Zip/TM6755,default,pd.html#) for $17 and a really nice [heavy-weight</a> long sleeve crew neck tech shirt](<a href=“http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/186,2685R_Columbia-Sportswear-Technical-Trails-Shirt-UPF-50-Titanium-Long-Sleeve-For-Men.html]heavy-weight”>http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/186,2685R_Columbia-Sportswear-Technical-Trails-Shirt-UPF-50-Titanium-Long-Sleeve-For-Men.html) – heavier than the normal lightweight material, more like stretchy running pants material, really nice shirt. Also $17. </p>
<p>Both in a burnt orange with gray trim color scheme.</p>
<p>Teriwitt:</p>
<p>OK, you’ve thrown down the gauntlet, so I had to start working on the one-leg squat. I immediately realized that balance was a big problem. I can’t even stand on one leg, which makes squatting on one-leg problematic! So I found a bottom step that allows me to reach out and just touch a wall for balance, while dangling the free leg off the step. Just a little bit of balance assistance makes it possible to start working on the squat. I’m able to get down a few inches on either leg, plus I was able to identify which hip makes that creaking sound walking up and down steps! I’m just going to add this to my repetoire of “working on it” and do a few easy reps every day to build up my flexibility.</p>
<p>I tried the one leg squat - I can sink about six inches. Teriwitt your trainer says the same thing my old aerobics teacher used to say. Knees shouldn’t go past your ankles when squatting. I’ve got lousy knees they worry me more than the balance issues. Then I tried the plank to dolphin thing. Need to watch a video to see how it actually works. I’ve done the yoga version of the burpee, but yoga is not my thing. Anyhoo next day my hamstring felt slightly off. Not sure which exercise was responsible! I’m back to pre-Thanksgiving weight. Yay!</p>
<p>MOWC, so sorry about your brother. I know when my mother-in-law passed away after years of severe dementia, it was a relief, but the service was still pretty cathartic. </p>
<p>PMK, so sorry aboutyour injury.</p>
<p>What do we think about stretching before exercise? Is it important? Necessary? What about before running? What about before lifting? </p>
<p>I do it occasionally – actually, I’m pretty serious about stretching my back and making sure that stays limber – but my legs are tight as can be. It doesn’t seem to inconvenience me in the slightest.</p>
<p>Just wondering.</p>
<p>The current thinking seems to be that what we think of as “stretching” – static stretching and holding a stretched position – should be done at the end of a workout, when you are completely warmed up.</p>
<p>Dynamic warmup seems to be the concensus now. Five or ten minutes on an exercise bike (or doing jumping jacks or lunge walking or whatever) to get the heart rate up, breathing up a bit, and limber up the body. These dynamic warmups do not involve stretching and then holding a stretch. Rather, they “limber up” joints and muscles by actually moving them back and forth with little or no load.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of a “mobility/flexibility” warmup I’ve been doing a couple times a week for the past few weeks. Takes about five minutes, although I usually add a couple of flexibility things I’m working on without weights.</p>
<p>[The</a> Essential Eight - Eight Mobility Drills Everyone Should Do.](<a href=“http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1298.cfm]The”>http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1298.cfm)</p>
<p>This stuff is really paying some nice dividends in improving my flexibility. I’m particularly happy with progress on hip flexibility from the lateral squats and the improvement in my oft-sprained ankle from the simple ankle exercises. Contrary to common-sense, re-spraining an ankle is often the result of the old injury making the ankle too stiff. Increasing the flexibility protects the ankle.</p>
<p>The wall slide exercise here is an unbelievably good exercise. It targets that tightness in the upper back from sitting hunched over reading a computer monitor. Terrific. Once you get the hang of this one, you can even do it without a wall. I’ve done it while out walking when I started to feel a little tight between my shoulders.</p>
<p>None of this stuff is stretched to the limit. The goal is to not forcibly stretch muscles, but just to smoothly work the muscles and joints back and forth. The increased flexibility comes over time – doing these things several times a week for weeks, a little bit each time.</p>
<p>I really did mean to walk the Las Vegas Half Marathon and so did my friend. In fact, we wore WAY too much stuff for pure running. But run we did. I’m as sore as a full marathon being as I was not trained (to say the least). Not sure how the injury will react. I’m sure it didn’t help things. 2:39 (including 3 1/2 minute pit stop for her where she had to wait in line) which is awesome for 2 woefully un-trained old ladies! Yay us!!! (and boy are we stupid) It was a pancake course- not a bump except for the stupid white buttons in the road that mark lanes. We’re proud of ourselves- and did I mention SORE!!!
OH- I told my friend that our goal for the last mile was to beat everyone in sight dressed like Elvis. Well, by the time we got there 50 Elvises could have passed us and we wouldn’t have cared…</p>
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</p>
<p>Chicked.
Geezered.</p>
<p>Would that be “Fat Elvis’d”?</p>
<p>Do any of you find yourselves eating the same foods every day? I have always eaten the same thing for breakfast most days, but now I find myself packing the same thing for lunch every day too. </p>
<p>Perhaps if I could find one healthy dinner that H and I both like, I would not have to make many food decisions at all.</p>
<p>^^^ During the week, I’m living in someone else’s spare bedroom and using someone else’s kitchen. (I live in one state and work in another. I. Don’t. Like. It. But it’s my life right now.) So I do exactly that: Breakfast = cup of yogurt and cup of Cheerios. Lunch = ham and cheese or chicken and cole slaw or roast beef and cheese sandwich. (PB&J if none of the above are available.) Dinner = spaghetti and meatballs or rotissaried chicken from the grocery. Add a vegetable. Lather, rinse, and repeat four times per week.</p>
<p>And, during the day, fruit. Lots of fruit.</p>
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</p>
<p>I have found that this is the easiest way for me to lose weight or keep it off. When I start adding a bunch of different flavors to my diet, I start to crave more food. Might sound boring but it works for me. I eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast every day and I just bring a sandwich and a piece of fruit for lunch. I do vary my dinners.</p>
<p>I was reading about a guy who lost hundreds of pounds and he said that his diet is pretty boring these days and that is what has helped him keep it off. I’m very much like an alcoholic, if I start using food as a reward or as entertainment I will fall out the wagon. Boring seems to work the best for me.</p>
<p>A little bit, at least for lunches. A can of Progresso soup is only 300 calories-ish after I jazz it up with some croutons and fresh veggies and stuff. That’s a real lo-cal filling lunch that is probably a bit too much of a staple. I do mix it up with turkey on rye sandwiches, the occasional leftovers or a salad from time to time.</p>
<p>BTW, I’ve got a great new pig-out snack for ya’ll. A giant sour dill pickle. ZERO, that’s right ZERO, calories.</p>