Happy 4th of July to all, hope you have some fun, get some exercise and relax too!
Sara - How did your car turn out after the hail? Sounds like you are really keeping up with the work outs, thanks for the motivation. Aren't the rail to trail walks great, we have quite a few here in Washington and Idaho and they make really great places to walk & bike ride. As for your diet, sounds great, have often wondered about eating smaller meals more often, makes sense to fuel the body with less food more often, wish I could follow it too! I'm sure I could work harder on it if I put my mind to it, however work doesn't really help with that. Right now I'm lucky if I get to eat lunch because we are so busy.
Keri - You would have liked, perhaps even loved our vacation, would have loved to have you join us. Details to follow. Sure hope your marathon training works out for you, life has its way of interfering with our goals so do what you can and don't worry about what doesn't happen. I love the slow still gets you there, as you found out during the rain storm, starting early but going slow still gets you there before the storm. I know what you mean about not wanting to get going on a walk, run or bike ride but once you get going and then of course when you're done you're glad you did, will explain more later.
Soundy - Congratulations on having to deal with the pants slipping, who needs the scale to tell you when you loose weight when the pants can do it better. I'm always happy to read about all the good things you do for your family & others.
Cindy - Sorry to hear that the house hunting is keeping you off the exercise wagon, perhaps the house hunting and worry about finding a place is keeping you is shape? From what you've posted I think you are doing more than you think, just because it doesn't feel like a workout it doesn't mean your not getting exercise.
Kay - Glad to hear you found a way to get some walking, running & time with your Mom. Sometimes its better not to keep track of the time or distance you walk or run. I know I like to know how far and how long, but sometimes it's best just to do it and be glad you did.
Jan - The exercise wagon is waiting outside your front door, come join us. I know how hard it is to get on it and stay on it, I'm a creature of habit, if I'm on the wagon I'll be there a long time, if I fall off then I stay off.
Clarice - Congrats on the 1/3 mile, how are you doing? Yep, you just had surgery but if the weather is nice go out and enjoy it, Hubby in tow of course.
Allison - We would love to help motivate you, we post from all over the US but drop right into your home when you read our posts.
Our vacation went better then I thought it would considering how unprepared I was for the bike rides. We left on Saturday the 18th, by the time we got to our camp we had enough time to set up, cook dinner(hubby cooked), eat and watch some DVDs. Sunday we headed out on our bikes, it was overcast but didn't think it would rain. Nice ride, flat and no wind or rain, decided to go farther than planned, shouldn't have, the rain started and wouldn't let up, decided to turn around, when we got back to where we were it stopped raining, it was like Mother Nature was trying to tell us not to push to far the first day. The nice thing about bike riding is that by the time you get back to camp you're dry. We rode 23.78 miles that day, but who's counting? Monday we drove to where we rode to on Sunday, then headed to the end of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. Luckily no one told me that the last 5 miles was all uphill or I wouldn't have enjoyed the first part of the ride so much. The sun was out and we were riding on a nice flat paved trail often through small towns where we enjoyed checking out the homes, gardens, etc. The bonus came when I got to coast back down the hill for 5 miles, that's when I got to enjoy the beauty of the trees, river & waterfalls. That made it all worth it! We rode 30.37 miles that day. We took a couple days off and drove over a beautiful pass into Montana. The next day we moved to another campground so we could finish riding the trail. On Thursday we headed out on what we thought would be an easy ride, 10 miles out and back, all went well then I decided to go another 10 so we could take the next day off and do some hiking with the dogs, then finish the trail the next day. About 2 miles into the next 10 miles the wind started up, we kept going. Got to our destination, ate some jerky and granola and hoped the wind would stop. It did, then started up again, blowing in the opposite direction so the ride back was against the wind as well. We stopped about 10 miles later for some well deserved ice cream, figured we had/would burn off all the calories. Then 1/4 mile from camp I shifted gears and parts started flying. I derailed my derailer, bike locked up. Told someone about it the next day and they said I was lucky I didn't sail over the top of my bike. Rode 42.14 miles that day. What to do now, we had 8 miles to go to finish the trail, it must be done. Hubby tried to fix my bike but didn't have all the parts he needed. THEN he remembered the DAHONS, our bikes that we take with us to ride around the camp. They are folding bikes, look like a clown would ride in the circus. Saturday morning we headed out on the DAHONS, once again I was really, really glad that know one told me it was a 5 mile ride uphill to our destination. There were times when I didn't think I would make it, then someone rode past us and told us to water the bikes so they would grow, guess that made me mad as I started pedaling like crazy and passing people, even my husband. We stopped a couple of times but finally made it. We took some pictures and did some shopping. Hubby bought me a cute little horn so I could honk to let the other bikes know I was going to pass them up. Once again I got to enjoy the beauty of the trail as I flew back down the hill. We rode 16.5 miles, for a total of 112.79 miles. For those that have fallen off the wagon I just want to say, I fell off the wagon too but ended up getting on the train. I know we all get frustrated with what we can and can't do both because of our ages and our tumors but I want to let you know that sometimes it's not our age or tumor that keeps us down it's our attitude. I can do more now then I could ten years ago. I can remember riding my bike with my husband, we went on a 20 mile ride, I could barely walk when we got home, not to mention doing anything else. Last week I rode for 40 miles, mostly against the wind. When we got back to camp I helped make dinner, took a shower & did the dishes and slept very well. Anxious to do it again soon, NO, but glad I did. Have a great weekend, Jill