Horse Hill Climbing

No, this isn't about horses on the singletrack! This is about the horse field next to my house and how more than the horses use it. Sometimes I get bored riding and running the same back roads next to my house and last night was one of those nights. So to change it up, I hit the horse field. Dad keeps it nicely mowed around the perimeter and it's exactly 1/2 mile. A couple laps around that baby is one hell of workout. Why? It's field for one -- not real smooth, ankle turning divets -- a nice off-road challenge. It's hilly for a second reason. It's about a 3-4 minute climb UP the hilly sections depending which direction go. If I really want a workout, I go down the short part,and run up the long part -- the long climb takes about 6-7 minutes. And of course I have the horses to contend with. They're curious! What the heck is that person doing in OUR field. They have to come close and check things out and I'm chicken of the horses. Sometimes they run at you and I'm not so sure they are going to try to run me over. Mom and Dad get a kick out of me being afraid of them. They truly are harmless. So last night was a horse field run for about 45 minutes - a nice change up. Variety really is the spice of life!

What Has Chili Bean Up To?

Well... Chili has been consoling hubby for the past few days over his anger over horses on singletrack in Weiser State Forest. He's finally coming around (tonight is the first night he ISN'T going to the trails to wallow in his sorrow), but I still sense a bit of bitterness in his attitude. We rode the horse trails last night for only about an hour 'cause his legs weren't feeling too good after being over there for 3 days in a row and hasn't been riding much at all. Tonight we plan to paddle and I'm hoping to squeeze in a run too. I've been earlobe deep in green beans which I'll take great pleasure in pulling and composting this weekend. Sooo... off to the other blogs and garden!

Fired Up Hubby

Most of you know my hubby, Rick, is an even-keel, unexciteable kinda guy. I actually admire his stress-free attitude - he lets practically nothing get him upset or angered. He's a dear, but sometimes even fire under his butt wouldn't make him jump very high. Until yesterday....

He paddled the Lehigh River while Sheena and I went for a mountain bike ride in Weiser which turned out to be a horse turd dodging ride 'cause there was a horse competition on the trails. You saw my earlier post and if you are reading the RCST blog, horses on soft singletrack is a problem. When I told Rick what was going on, he immediately got hot! He said get Jim Theurer's phone number (the horse guy). He called and no answer. I said he may still be at Camp Muckelratz 'cause I think I overheard someone saying its a two-day event. Rick dropped everything and headed to Camp Muckelratz. No supper, no bath, no nothing -- just straight to the horse event at 7:30 at night after driving 3 hours to and from the Lehigh river. He talked to the guy reminding him of last year's discussion when Mr. Theurer put on the event and no horses on singletrack. All Mr. Theurer could say was, "DCNR said we could use anything we wanted." Rick came home and couldn't shut up. "We" (the bike club) built many of those trails and yes we knew it was multi-use but not for one of the user groups to completely tear it up and not fix it. I went to bed and he followed me saying "you're going to bed on me?" Of course I said no, lay down and tell me more. So he did. The horse people were looking at a map saying, "oh, I heard this trail is awesome." They were referring to Shale Run which ALSO is soft and will be completely ruined after last night's hard rain and 80 or so horses hooves chewing it up today. This morning, Rick was barely awake at 7:00 (he seldom gets up this early on weekends) and he was grabbing the camera, shoes, socks, dry clothes and heading to the woods. I really wanted to go along and trail run, but he couldn't wait 1/2 hour... he wanted to get before and after shots. I can't recall the last time I saw him so "concerned." He's pissed! And rightfully so... many, many, many people volunteered hundreds of hours building those trails. The horse folks aren't quite grasping the work we really put into it... nor is DCNR. Which is why Rick is on a rampage. It's very possible after this we'll pass our leadership of the club onto other folks to manage. I hate seeing Rick fired up! Its just not his style. He commented, "No one can fuck up rocks and water, can they." Hmmm.... he may have a point.

Dodging Horse Turds

It was nice to mountain bike with Sheena today... I'm sorry she had to be subjected to my ranting and raving about horses on singletrack. Yes... there was a horse competition on the Weiser trails today and had I known, I would not have ridden there. You can read all about my rant and rave on the RCST blog. Back to the ride... it was AWESOME! I seldom get to ride with people so when I do, I have a blast. We both were a little tattered and torn by the end of our 3-hour tour, but overall it was a good day in the woods. We climbed, we rock-hopped (well.. tried to rock hop), we climbed a little more, fell, drank, cussed, spit, screamed down White Oak Road, and generally had a good time. Thanks Sheena! I needed that.

Trail Run Follow-up

Xterra has a nice write-up about Sunday's Trail run here. The final results aren't up yet. I'm still not complaining about my run/time... the winning gal of the 10K was exactly 1:00. I was 17 minutes back. I'm old, slow, and haven't been running... 17 minutes doesn't seem all that bad! Although today, 48 hours later, I'm barely walking. Yes, I'm paying for my fun run. The fronts of my quads are screaming bloody murder as are the muscles in my feet. I could sorta feel it when I was twisting and turning on the rocks that the footsies/ankles were straining a little more than they were used and yup, they are pissed off at me now. Oh well, they'll get over it.

Weekend Wrap-up - WW Paddling and Trail Running

Playtime started Saturday with a 2.5 hr whitewater paddle in the Dauphin Narrows. Hubby and I were out a little longer than normal and my shoulders, wrists, and lats were paying for it today. Oh...so...tight... Had to stretch a bit this morning to loosen things up. The river level was 3.75 and dropping fast, so we wanted to take advantage of some nice surfing waves. Rick just loves the river, and we paddled from one side to the other 4 times -- attaining, surfing, and generally just enjoying day. Nice.

And today was the Xterra Trail run -- my first 10K and my very first race in age group 50-59. A 21K was being run at the same time for Xterra Trail Run Series Points -- the winner came in at 1:25! Holy hell. He was 8 minutes behind me finishing my first lap! (The 21K folks did two loops of the 10K and a little extra yardage. )




























So how did I do? 4th in age group 50-59 at at time of 1:17. Yes, there were more than 4 women (yippee - I wasn't last!). I knew I wouldn't fare well 'cause a solitary running race with no other sport with it brings out the hard core runners and they were there in force. Rick and I were getting a kick out of some of them warming up. I was wondering why the totally ripped girl (who won of course) was doing push-ups to warm up, of course while EVERYONE was watching her as WE were listening to the pre-race instructions. Back to my run.... I felt FANTASTIC! Even after a 4 month lay-off and only starting to run at a slow-mo pace about 3 weeks ago. Not sure what the heck was going on, but I was passing people going up hill AND downhill. I must have passed about 2 dozen people and was feeling extra good. I figured why not push it if feeling so well -- so I did. The trails are uber-technical. Rocks upon rocks, with switchbacks, bridges, muddy and slick spots, and steep sections. That's where I passed folks -- on the rocks and downhills (in rocks). I got the impression some of the runners were not accustomed to trail runs 'cause they were almost walking through the rocky sections. Odd. There was a bees nest at one section and I had to yell at the people to keep moving as the bees were stinging them. Get the hell away from them rather than stand there and say "ouch! I got stung!" Doh. It was fun being a group to race rather than always bringing up the rear and racing alone. I could get used to this kind of racing! Fun stuff. And kudos to Don Morrison, the former MASS organizer of years ago. He's been doing more and more Xterra stuff and he does a fine job of it. Great race -- I'll be back next year!

And to end the weekend, Rick and I were going to ride mountain bike on the same trails as the run, but they are rocky, and the rocks were slick so we decided to bag that. Instead, we headed to the Lehigh River Gorge and rode rail trail. Don't laugh, I LIKE rail trail -- it's concentrated, steady riding and that's all I wanted after a hard trail run. We ended up riding for about 1.5 hrs -- perfect. Wasn't the weather incredible?

Race Weekend!

It's a race weekend! I haven't had a race weekend in a while and this will be the last until the Cap City Challenge on September 19. While my bud Donna is doing the Michaux Curse of Dark Hollow 20 miler, I'm doing my first ever 10K! I signed up for it as training AND its my first time competing in my new age group - 50-59! That sucks, but maybe not!? Its an Xterra Trail run put on by Mountain Bike race promoter turned triathlete, Don Morrison. The race is Sunday at Bear Creek -- the same trails the Mid Atlantic Super Series holds their season finale. So I have the biking down (although its not near as much now that I added running again), the paddling is a piece of cake, and now the running. I think I'm set for an adventure race! Cap City will likely be my last race of the year 'cause I have to save $500 somewhere and cutting out racing seems like a good place to start. My work has a "Get Healthy" program that needs completed on-line annually to get a reduction in the health care costs they take out of our pay. I was turned down this year 'cause I didn't do one for Rick (the program is confusing, the website is non-user friendly, and I guess I did something wrong), and it'll now cost me $500 extra a year. rick is NOT a happy camper, nor am I (the program is stupid in the first place -- how many people do you think really tell the truth and say they are "healthy" to get the reduction?)

Day 4 of the "Diet"

Diet is such a poor choice of words for losing weight -- diet is a what we eat daily no matter what it is you eat. You can have a bad diet, or a good diet, but really, we don't "diet" to lose weight - we diet every day. This is day 4 of what I was calling a "cleanse" which was to clean out the high-glycemic food remnants in my system. I ate two bites of watermelon (very high glycemic), and 4 slices of 12-grain bread (some of the grains in the bread are very high-glycemic like spelt and wheat), so I can't say I stuck to the cleansing. Something new I noticed -- that bottomless pit I talked about that opens up and I start shoveling food in? Its because of the high glycemic foods! As soon as I popped the bread in my mouth, I immediately got hungrier afterwards and wanted more -- that's the blood sugar rise. Now I know! High-fiber, low glycemic foods from now on. So the cleanse is a success no matter what. I DID stick to the low calories and by George it's working -- I'm down at least 1.5 pounds, maybe 2. Monday was 1200 calories, Tuesday I wavered a little and hit 1600, and yesterday I got back on the bandwagon and stuck at 1400. Today and tomorrow and are two more days of sticking to my guns. Talk about inspiration!! The scale hasn't gone done in months - so to see it finally drop was exhilarating and certainly incentive to try even harder. The energy level was a little low on Tuesday when we kayaked (thus, the calories went up to 1600), but yesterday wasn't bad and I rode bike/turned compost piles last night too. Today was a slow, tired start, but feeling better as the day goes. Tonight is a run/weights, and tomorrow I'll take it easy again. Then Saturday, it's back to "normal", but normal will be only occassional high-glycemic foods. There's always something new to learn (or put into practice what you know) in the food world, isn't there!

A Toothy Experience

"Hi... my name is Betty. And I'm your Dental Technician. Have a seat and smile, but relax your smile. That's it! Thanks for coming." Betty was the gal at Muth and Mumma that took a picture of my "real" front tooth to match up a computerized perfect match to the crowns she's going to make for me. I learned something new today.... there's actually a "place" that manufactures teeth with people (dental technicians - not to be confused with dental assistants or dental hygienists) sitting at tables with all kinds of teeth surrounding them. Big teeth, little teeth, long teeth, white teeth, stained teeth, multiple teeth and a single tooth here and there. It was fascinating! Teeth on the production line...pumping out teeth. Do you think they get paid by the tooth? Is there a piece rate on teeth? Yes teeth come from somewhere... but I just never thought about a tooth processor as an industry. There's even people who make teeth for monsters! Ha! A very unique way to make a living! I build teeth.

Is it Enough? Or Too Much?

My dilemma of thinking I weigh too much is making me rethink my exercise regimen with the thought if I do a little more, maybe it'll help me drop some poundage. The first "do more" routine is the bike. Let's see....when can I squeeze in a couple more hours. Mondays are already bike night, as are Tuesday's and Thursday's at the Y on the spin bike. Wednesday is run night and the weekend is a run too along with Sat or Sunday already being a bike day. Wednesday also is a paddle day as is one of those weekend days. Holy crap! I'm already doing a bunch! 4 hours of paddling a week and this ain't no float down the river and put the paddle in the water every now and then. This is sticking the boat in the river and paddling UP stream on flat water, then attempt to get through the really fast stuff in the narrows. I'm definitely sweating until I'm done. The runs are averaging out to be about 2-3 hours a week and the bike is averaging to about 6 hours a week. That's 12-13 hours! Doesn't that seem like enough? Oh, and I lift weights and do some core work for another 1-2 hours a week. So my weeks are about 15 hours total all inclusive. Whoops... there's a little more. I'm an organic gardener. That means turning compost piles and hauling the finished compost to the beds. Right now I don't have one compost pile going -- I have 5. It takes an average of 1/2 hour to turn each pile, water it, and give it a big kiss so it heats up well. Can I include that? You bet I can -- another 3-4 hours a week. So now I'm at nearly 20 hours of physical activity per week. The experts claim an hour a day of moderate to heavy activity to maintain weight -- 7 hours. To lose, 60-90 minutes a day -- 12 hours. Interesting. That would mean at 20 hours, I should have wasted away a long time ago. Bottom line - after figuring out my week of activity, it appears maybe, just maybe, I'm doing enough. And I wanted to add more....huh??

Off Line for a Couple Days

Our computer died at home... so I'm offline for a couple days.

FORZE Update and Getting back Into Running

The Cap City Challenge is on the horizon (thank you Donna!!!!) and I started running again (thank you Donna!!!!). Yesterday was my 3rd run in the past week and I must say it was awesome. I truly believe it's this FORZE I'm sucking down. I ran an entire hour non-stop and felt great afterwards AND there are no aches or pains this morning. In the past, I'd hurt for days, could barely stay running for an hour, and would feel like a slug the entire time. Could it be the real concept behind FORZE is to boost your metabolism and make you feel like you can work harder, thus lose a little more weight? They claim this product is to suppress your appetite for weight loss. That hasn't happened for me - the bottomless pit still opens up about 7:30 at night and I start filling it. But it DID boost my activity level which I won't argue with at all. I'll keep tracking and sharing the updates.

Help is on the Way -- Good Riddens to Fat Ass

This pic proves it....take a look at the drooping blubber. Hubby loves taking pics of everything moving south. Geez hubby!

Ahhhh... but help may be on the way. An extremely thoughtful reader (or maybe they too want to see the blubber gone and that svelte, taut, oh-so-fit youthful image return???? (hahaha) ), shared with me a new product on the market by the makers of Endurox and Accelerade... FORZE gps. This product claims to suppress appetite between meals. My biggest downfall is somewhere between 2:00 and the end of the day. It's like the bottomless pit opens up and I start shoveling it in. The problem is, the pit never gets full and I keep shoveling, and shoveling, and shoveling. So FORZE may well be the answer. Today begins the test. My one-month's supply should meet my goal of a pound-a-week less by Aug 1. I'll eat healthy and make sure I get the right ratios of nutrients/calories by 2:00ish, then its the no-food time zone. Stay tuned for updates!