I would, too, if I lived in Tennessee! Ya’ll got snakes that can kill you.
The only species of poisonous snake in New Hampshire is the timber rattlesnake and experts believe that there are probably as few as 25 of them in the entire state. No copperheads. No water moccasins.
What I saw was probably a Northern water snake. It was quite a bit up ahead crossing a wide gravel trail at the edge of the lake. No sign of it by the time I got there…
<p>Trying to imagine my cat out jogging alongside me…</p>
<p>We see garter snakes all the time in Vermont - they basically live under the rock that serves as the step to our front door.</p>
Yeah. I saw garter snakes in my yard in Mass. pretty frequently. That’s the only kind of snake I’ve ever seen in New England until today.
<p>hopscout, that’s a nice little tutorial.</p>
<p>Week 9 workout 3, check. 30 mins with a 30 second sprint at the end. Didn’t keel over! Made it through the program, yay! I got a lot of support here. Thank you.</p>
<p>I think I’m going to hold steady at 30 mins for a while and try to increase speed and/or try out a couple of different locations for fun. Plus get myself out to a track one of these times so I can find out my pace. Would love to get a Garmin, but I’m hanging onto the change for right now. :-)</p>
<p>Yay!!! Congrats on the 9 weeks of success.</p>
<p>Deborah:</p>
<p>You could get a pretty good idea of the distance you are running using one of the mapping sites:</p>
<p>Google Pedometer. This one lets you plot a route using Google maps (street or satellite view). You can choose “automatic for runners” where you just click points and it follows roads to connect the dots. Or, if you are running in a park or off-road, you can do it manually, connecting dots with straight lines. For example, I need to do the manual mode to get from my door to the public street in my condo development. Then, I can do auto mode for a route to and fro in the subdivisions:</p>
<p>[gmap-pedometer.com[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I think MapMyRun allows you do the same with a slicker interface and the ability to save your run and see other people’s runs, but you have to join (free).</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.mapmyrun.com%5DRunning”>http://www.mapmyrun.com]Running</a>, Running Maps and Running Routes, Runners Community | MapMyRUN](<a href=“http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/]gmap-pedometer.com[/url”>http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/)</p>
<p>These are accurate enough to get a decent idea. For example, the walk/jog I did the other day recorded as 3.1 miles on the Garmin. I just plotted it on May My Run (without being real precise about the route from my door to the public road) and came up with 3.15 miles.</p>
<p>My hike yesterday wouldn’t be as precise because the trails in the woods aren’t always visible on the satellite view. But, as long as you are running on public roads or bike paths shown on the maps, the distance should be close enough, with some variation for cutting corners, etc.</p>
<p>Excellent work, Deborah!</p>
<p>Cardio dance class this a.m.</p>
Thanks, MOWC, iDad, and CJane. If I do a run (jog) where my daughter did cross country practice I should be able to get a pretty good idea 'cause I know what the loops are. Of course that also means contending with real hills…
I need to choose a 5K race for late August or sometime in September to help keep me motivated and on track. Open to suggestions. 
PNW.
<p>Or to phrase that more accurately for my case, I am going to need to find a 5K event. :D</p>
<p>I did the little 5K charity run in my dinky small town – a traditional fundraiser for the elementary school PTA. Low key, low drama. Easy logistics. Of course, I walked half of it.</p>
<p>I went over and did the actual race route five or six times and just stuck to the strategy I had practiced: jog 400 meters, walk 400 meters, jog 400 meters, walk 400 meters, and so on and so forth. So the “race” was just another workout, but with a lot more people around.</p>
<p>I had another in mind a couple months ago, but I needed to stop all jogging for several weeks to let a sore Achilles fully heal, so I didn’t sign up for it. Then, things got crazy with the move.</p>
<p>iDad, I can definitely see appeal in low key.</p>
<p>I very recently learned about a couple of cool flat, easy 5Ks.</p>
<p>Got in two hours of tennis - we did better than we have done in the past. I’ll credit it to adding one gram of lead tape to my tennis racquet at 12:00. Basically my racquets have been a mess since I had them restrung and the stringer put in something that I didn’t like.</p>
<p>Haven’t done anything since last Monday but that’s okay as I dropped my intake of calories. I had a fairly big sleep deficit last week and got in a lot of sleep Friday night and Saturday during the day so I’m feeling pretty good right now. I’m looking forward to go back to running tomorrow.</p>
<p>Nike Stock got killed on Friday. They missed earnings badly on Thursday afternoon, mainly on Europe and China. I exited my Nike position on Monday because I was pretty sure that they were going to miss earnings. Nike took the other apparel makers down with them.</p>
<p>I went to Marshalls today and the selection of athletic clothes was smaller than I’ve ever seen it. I guess that there are a lot of people scooping these up at TJX. I have been thinking of buying TJX. I don’t really need clothes but I wanted to take a look at what’s out there.</p>
Gary Taubes weighs in on the just published JAMA study with an op-ed in today’s Sunday NY TIMES:
[What</a> Really Makes Us Fat?](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/opinion/sunday/what-really-makes-us-fat.html]What”>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/opinion/sunday/what-really-makes-us-fat.html)
<p>I’m not changing one iota of what I’m doing. I’m big on low-fat, high carb, and that’s working just fine for me.</p>
<p>When it’s working, it would be crazy to change!</p>
Thoughts on this article, iDad?
[Low-fat</a>, low-carb, or low-glycemic? Study shows which is best to keep weight off - TODAY Health](<a href=“http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/29/12478728-low-fat-low-carb-or-low-glycemic-study-shows-which-is-best-to-keep-weight-off?lite]Low-fat”>http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/29/12478728-low-fat-low-carb-or-low-glycemic-study-shows-which-is-best-to-keep-weight-off?lite)
Taubes’ piece seems to suggest the the lower the carbs, the better the subjects kept off the weight. Does this mean the second diet with lean protein and low-glycemic carbs was less effective than the ultra-low carb Atkins?
<p>I couldn’t stick to any diet that didn’t permit me copious amounts of fruit and vegetables.</p>