October 15
6 mile run
57 minutes
Didn't feel like I was running that fast. Was surprised when I got home and mapped my route!

Saturday, Oct. 16: 10 minutes warmup on Concept II, 2:24 for 500 m,38 s/m
45 minutes spin class
60 minutes Pilates class

JessicaClippy, yes, I've got a similar issue when I visit my mother & spread out my mat on the living room floor for yoga or Pilates. Her cat Fritz thinks it's there especially for him to lie down on -- that I've done the equivalent of roll out the red carpet for him. At floor level, animals rule & they're curious about our visits down there in their territory.

Saturday

Active rest: sawing, painting, cutting grass. Quite productive and I am pleased.

Ran a 5K today (a 3.1-route I mapped out in my neighborhood) in 24 minutes and 38 seconds, a personal best!

Sunday, Oct. 17: 15:07 on Concept II rower, 45 s/m, 2951 meters, at 2:24 for 500m, projected 6054 meters
60 minutes weights
45 minutes spin class

Oneoftwelve, I would love to run a 5K in 24:38, but that's only going to happen if a zombie is chasing me. (And not one of those blue-faced George Romero zombies that sway side-to-side when they walk slowly toward the shopping mall.)

oneoftwelve

saef. That's a pretty high s/m number for 15 mins, my friend. Part of me wants it to be a typo. Have you thought about intervals (time or distance)? I think they're in 'new workout'. I do distance (200m 30 second rest x 10). I really don't want your arms pulled out of their sockets. Or am I just fretting? (The day has deteriorated around me so that could be the case.)

Active rest. The usual: sawing, painting and a lot of bending and stacking. Also *new* for today: lugging doors and equivalent up and down the garden.

October 16
3.1 mile run
27:30 - my personal best
Oneoftwelve, sub-25 is my new goal, but I can't imagine it yet. You're fast!

And this one I'm really proud of:
October 17
10.4 mile run
1:44

We went out Saturday night. I had a few glasses of wine, got to bed around 12. DS was up at 5. Most of my workout clothes are dirty so I didn't have any of my favorites for my long run this morning. It looked like a recipe for disaster. I told myself I didn't have to do the full 10 I'd planned. Then I kicked myself. Don't give yourself an out like that, I thought, you haven't even taken a step yet. Get your butt out there and see how you feel! And sure enough, I felt great, and I'm SO proud of myself for doing the long run under less-than-ideal conditions, and when I'm not even training for anything! Yea me!

Birchie (I think I like that better than "Silver," which makes me think of a horse), I was looking at the s/m readout throughout my workout & it ranged from 35 to 45. I think the thing registers your highest or last s/m, rather than a decent average. Because I tried to "sprint" through the last few minutes & that was when it climbed to 45. I am not blazingly fast. I like this exercise well enough for a warmup, but find it godawful tedious even for 15 minutes. Also, you could not know this, but my gym is on the equivalent of a "high street" in a U.K. village, with big plate glass windows, and the rowing machine faces the street. I'm glanced at frequently by passersby when I'm rowing. Particularly when the trains are letting off commuters in the evening. Being bored, I've even met their eyes a few times. It's ... awkward. I feel a bit like a working girl in an Amsterdam storefront, only sweaty & unpretty.

Saef - Love the image of you in the window.

Amy - Great job setting a new PR!

Twelve - Awesome run!

Oct 15: 2 mile treadmill run (+warmup/cooldown), 22:57

Oct 16: 20 min dog walk

Oct 17:
- 36 mins in the pool, split up between doing swim/kick drills, straight swimming, helping DH with his form, and doing some aqua arm exercises. 15 laps total.
- 2 mile dog walk

Oct 18: 2 mile run, 23:21

Are you thinking something like: 'Departing on his white horse Silver, the Ranger would shout "Hi-ho, Silver, away!" as the horse galloped toward the setting sun, followed by someone asking "Who was that masked man, anyway?" "Why he's the Lone Ranger."'

And then there's Jeff Beck, I suppose. Hi-ho silver lining!
Mon Dieu! Of what are the gymn owners thinking? What image do they wish to portray? Saef, cherie, is this the place for a nice girl?

Dreadful night's sleep (indigestion); so unlike me. Led to a wash-out of a day. No exercise unless you count crawling about and moaning which I don't.

Are you thinking something like: 'Departing on his white horse Silver, the Ranger would shout "Hi-ho, Silver, away!" as the horse galloped toward the setting sun, followed by someone asking "Who was that masked man, anyway?" "Why he's the Lone Ranger."'

And then there's Jeff Beck, I suppose. Hi-ho silver lining!

Mon Dieu! Of what are the gymn owners thinking? What image do they want to portray? Saef, cherie, is this the place for a nice girl?

Dreadful night's sleep (indigestion) so unlike me. Led to a wash-out of a day. No exercise unless you count crawling about and moaning which I don't.

Monday, Oct. 18: 45 minutes arc trainer, resistance at 8
60 minutes circuit training class, which alternates between Pilates, weights & cardio

Birchie, I think that, for my gym, the sight of people in the plate glass windows vigorously exercising is meant to induce guilt in passersby who are not in there with us but have a vague feeling that they ought to be getting more exercise than they do. And that maybe it will lead them to sign up as members.

The machines in this gym each have their own individual TVs, rather than overhead TVs. But not the Concept II, of course. So my eyes tend to stray to the passing traffic. Most people do glance inside the windows, at least briefly. They'd probably glance in at the weight area, as well, but its windows are partly covered by enormous posters with a faintly erotic vibe that show close-ups of perfectly defined tanned male & female abs with photogenic beads of sweat on them. (No heads, just the abs. Maybe so you can more easily imagine yourself in their place.) That's partly why I feel I'm in Amsterdam. But I don't go tanning, despite all the free offers & cards lying around at the gym's front desk. And working out in a midriff-baring sports bra without a shirt covering it is something I don't foresee doing during my lifetime, due to the loose skin I've got. (The stretch marks have faded, except for one over my ribs on my left side that actually looks like it scored an indentation in my skin. Weird. Like the Harry Potter lightning mark.) So I'm not living up to the advertising. I'm trying, though. I can do the beads of sweat thing quite well.

Tuesday, Oct. 19: 15:06 Concept II rowing machine, at resistance 5, 37 s/m, 2996 meters, for 2:22 for 500 m. This may be my best time yet.
60 minutes weight training

I just saw "The Social Network" over the weekend & so while I was rowing this morning, remembered the scene with the Olympic-level Winklevoss twins representing the Harvard crew team at a regatta in Europe. The race was gorgeously filmed, a real set piece. And I just learned from reading movie reviews that both twins were played by a single actor. (I loved this movie without really liking any of the characters in it very much. There are no traditionally admirable heroes here, though many of these characters would be described as talented & gifted.)

ETA: 45 minute spin class in the evening

Fab work, saef. Keep it up.

20 mins brisk walking to and from the butcher. I parked a little way away and went through the woods.

I really hope there's going to be a bit more moving today but it's not looking that way at present.

October 19:
4.5 mile treadmill run
45 minutes

60 minutes yoga
Shaky legs