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<p>Quick. Hurry. Go weigh yourself! Think of all the weight you’ve lost!</p>
<p>Seriously though, glad to hear it all went well. Sounds like healing will go quickly if you can already put weight on it. Being pain free is good news.</p>
<p>I guess the downside is no burpees for you!</p>
<p>Idad, I think you should try a turkey trot this year. </p>
<p>I went ahead and signed up for the same race I did last year. I am going to see if I can get my time under 28 min. I was remembering that last year at this time I was working through knee problems, so the only thing holding me back this year is my mind. Unfortunately, when it comes to making excuses for not running, my mind is very powerful :)</p>
<p>Bromfield, your poor foot. I hope it heals quickly so you can get back to working out.</p>
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<p>The PTA at my daughter’s old elementary school sponsors a little small town run with a 5K walk/run in October. I might do that one.</p>
<p>This jogging thing is slow progress for me and I’m not in any big hurry!</p>
<p>Half hour practice session on the tennis court this morning. The other person is a good player but has a weird health problem where he has trouble metabolizing fat so his energy output drops sharply after a relatively short period of time.</p>
<p>Bromfield- sounds like it went well. Heal fast and you’ll be back soon.</p>
<p>Runners are stupid. After 1 full day at 9000 feet and not being at all acclimated, I decided to reproduce a run I did in 1992 called Gothic to Crested Butte. It is the course of a 1/3 marathon race held every July 4. Gothic is basically a tiny shack that sells water and Popsicles on the way to some of the more popular mountain bike trails toward Scofield Pass. It is higher elevation than Crested Butte. H and WildChild dropped me off since they are doing some insane mountain bike trail. </p>
<p>As soon as I started I decided it was a huge mistake. Too bad I was 8 miles away from the house with a large ski mountain between me and it! I wore my trail shoes ( good decision) even though my surface was packed dirt/gravel with concrete path the last 3 plus miles. I really struggled with the uphill miles between Gothic and Mt. Crested Butte. It wasn’t all up, but a lot of it was. I had to take a lot of breaks to get my air back. I carried water- another good decision. Gorgeous overlooks for me to stop and enjoy. I saw deer, cows, little chipmunks and a honey badger (I swear). </p>
<p>Once I got to Mt. CB it is almost all downhill into Crested Butte-some of it pretty steep. I took off my tech long sleeved shirt at 4 miles and tied it around my waist. It was about 50 to start and 62 at the end, but the sun is strong.</p>
<p>I suspect my pace was easily 2 minutes a mile slower than 1992, but I’m pretty proud of myself for even doing it.</p>
<p>I got an email from a former CEO/coach (not the one I just left) and I thought about his words while I was out there wanting to quit or at least walk. He wrote. “…hang in, you’re tougher, smarter, and just better than virtually everybody you’ll be competing with…”</p>
<p>So- 8.4 Gothic to Crested Butte done. Hope my family members survive mountain biking.</p>
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<p>Hey, I think I had that disease, too! I must have had trouble metabolizing fat just walking to the mailbox and back! I bet Gary Taubes could write a whole book on that!</p>
<p>MOWC:</p>
<p>That sounds like a fantastic run/jog/walk. Nothing wrong with stopping to pant like a dog! I’d probably have stop and catch my breath just driving on that route!</p>
<p>BTW, your ol’ buddy Dr. Cooper was in the news this week. I guess he gave Rick Perry and his wife some kind of fitness evaulation and it was included in the list “free gifts” from “corrupt supporters” that were part of the journolista vetting ritual in articles this week. Oh, that evil Dr. Cooper, trying to curry favor by getting the guv to exercise and drop a few pounds. The horror. I wish someone would offer to give me free fitness coaching. I’ve gotta pay for all this damn iPod nazi stuff…</p>
<p>If anyone has an experience or tips with weight maintenance, I’d love to hear it. I cruised along for five weeks with the scale barely budging a quarter pound up or down and then, out of the blue, I packed on 1.5 pounds last week. I’m still tracking my food every day and it’s really hard to see any rhyme nor reason. I think my average calories two weeks ago jumped to a whopping 2000 calories a day, which should not be enough for me to gain weight. No big jump in carbs. Probably just the normal fluctuations that I need to get used to seeing now that they aren’t masked by steady weight loss, but I’m clearly going to need some new ways of looking at this deal and staying motivated.</p>
<p>I bet the 1.5 will disappear fast. Sometimes there isn’t any logic. Is it cooler? Weight can go up when weather cools off. Maybe super-hydrated?</p>
<p>H and WildChild made it back. Some blood, bruises and possible broken (probably just sprained) pinkie finger on H, but alive. 66 year old H said it’s the hardest thing he’s ever done, but they had some gorgeous terrain and views. </p>
<p>In other news- 2 of my friends completed Leadville 100 this morning. One in 23 hours and one in 29. It’s the hardest trail race imaginable.</p>
<p>
This can be a real condition. I have a friend who was morbidly obese. Did all the right things, strict diet and very intense exercise. Successfully took off over 100 lbs. Had about 30 or so to go, which would not budge. She was part of very legit, medical weight loss program. All kinds of things were tried with diet and exercise. A fantastic trainer took her on as his personal mission, practically moved in with her, ate all meals together, trained together daily. Weight did not budge. They ran all kinds of medical tests, couldn’t pin it down. She was referred to a university department, where the endocrinologist there finally determined that she was missing/did not have the right amount of a specific hormone/enzyme? and her body was indeed not metabolizing fat appropriately and was consuming muscle mass instead of fat for fuel. (Whatever the syndrome she has also was a culprit in a few other, what seemed to her. unrelated conditions, such as infertility). She does have to take medication for this (not sure what) and lost the last 30 lbs., but of course, still has to monitor diet and exercise regularly.
This was a case, though, where everyone thought the former fatty just wasn’t doing everything she could, and in fact, there was a physical component beyond her control.</p>
<p>Leadville, moutain biking adventures that involve blood, running on mountains –
The MOWC clan gets the extreme sports award for this week.</p>
<p>Another dance fitness class today.
Similar routines, different instructor, whole other energy level. This was 40 minutes of hard cardio! Felt great, though.
Tomorrow the gym awaits.</p>
<p>CJane, your friend might have polycystic ovary syndrome.</p>
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<p>As I plow through Good Calories, Bad Calories, I’m more and more convinced that there is always a physical, metabolic, hormonal component to fat storage. For some reason, there is a disconnect between the medical fields that understand the endicrinology and the medical fields that work with weight loss and obesity.</p>
<p>My oh my! Leadville - :eek:</p>
<p>Great job, MOfWC and your team!</p>
<p>12.5 miles this morning on a beautiful, flat road going past picturesque vineyards. Unfortunately, the road ended at a winery, and I decided not to explore any further. There was some bike ride going on, which, at first, alarmed me, but I was very impressed how friendly the bicyclists were! Some cheered me on as I ran, some said good morning, etc. I was keeping an eye on real estate for sale for jym, but didnot see anything nice.</p>
<p>Now we are sitting at the winery which blocked my running path in the morning
and enjoying the scenery. There is a marathon in Napa valley in March, and I’m
seriously thinking about registering for it. If I survive the one in a few weeks. :)</p>
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<p>I don’t know. It’s all new territory for me, so I’m learning as I go. I wouldn’t think that increasing from 1850 to 2000 calories per day would have me gaining weight, but metabolism is a funny thing, so I guess that’s possible. It’s also possible that increasing my calories a bit while continuing to do strength training is adding muscle mass. Logically, my diet and exercise is the same as it’s been for the last year, so I don’t expect to see the scale going up.</p>
<p>See what happens this week. I doubt it’s a trend.</p>
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<p>My friend has always been in good shape and not overweight but he has
always had this problem but it’s gradually gotten worse with age.</p>
<p>He can exercise strenuously for about 15 minutes - about the time that
the body’s sugar resources are consumed. Afterwards, the body is
supposed to tap its fat. If it can’t get to fat, then it metabolizes
muscle and that seems to be what is happening in his case. He has seen
many doctors and specialists and is still trying their suggestions.</p>
<p>One of the problems is that he’s in his 60s, he is muscular and fit
and he’s complaining that he gets tired after strenuous exercise.
Most of his doctors look at him and ask him what the problem is.</p>
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<p>I asked him about his diet and he said that he’s on a low-fat diet. I
suggested that he try increasing his fat intake - he already
understood the science as to why. He’s willing to take medications and
make changes but he would like this thing solved.</p>
<p>Could you ask your friend what her condition was?</p>
<p>Friday I skipped the aerobic part of the routine so went for a 3.5 run/walk yesterday morning. (45 minutes) Felt it in my hamstrings yesterday and the front of my thighs today. Don’t think I did any real damage, but it’s clear that my climbing the mountains in Vermont muscles are still underdeveloped. Went to a new Y today - different machines and equipment. I finally got to work out with a real kettleball. I like it and think I’ll get one, but have no idea how heavy. The one I liked was unmarked, but quite a bit heavier than the ten pound one. I also got to try those TRX bands. I did the inverted rows that I’ve had to skip from the New Abs workout. (They are hard!) I also tried doing a plank with my feet in those things. It wasn’t too bad, once I finally got my feet in position. I’ll be interested in seeing what new muscles feel it tomorrow!</p>
<p>Well, I was all set for a little walk/jog to the park when I had the good sense to look at the weather radar and saw a huge line of angry red thunderstorms bearing down on us. So, I bagged that plan and did Airdyne intervals instead. Six half-mile intervals, a little faster than I’ve ever done them before. Short and sweet: 30 minutes of sweating buckets and panting like a dog. I love these short little interval workouts because it’s easy to get motivated to do them. I mean, thirty minutes isn’t that daunting.</p>
<p>mathmom:</p>
<p>Here’s the video on the Perform Better site discussing ketllebell sizes:</p>
<p>[Kettlebells</a> Training Video - Intro, Size/Weight Selection](<a href=“http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_199_A_PageName_E_kettlebellvideo1]Kettlebells”>http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_199_A_PageName_E_kettlebellvideo1)</p>
<p>The recommendation is that most women start with an 8 kg to 12 kg kettlebell.</p>
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<p>Inverted rows are seriously hard at first. I usually sail through the first three or four and, about the time I’m thinking, “piece of cake”, the reps start getting really, really hard! I would wager that almost of all us need to work on pulling exercises. </p>
<p>The nice thing about TRX is that you can just take a step or two backwards, which will put you more vertical and make it a little easier. It’s infinitely adjustable, even on the fly. </p>
<p>It’s a lot like pushups. It’s not just arm strength, but learning to engage the large muscles of the back and stiffening the core to provide the power. It’s one of those things that only comes with time and reps, I think.</p>
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<p>Fantastic that you were able to the plank with your feet in the TRX handles. That’s a pretty advanced version of plank.</p>