Monday, June 30, 2008

Day 122, Monday, June 30th

3962 steps for 2.12 miles today. Tomorrow, I head to San Antonio for two weeks. I won't have the Wii or the Wii Fit. That means I need to head to the track in the morning or hit the streets to get some walking time in. Except, maybe for the times I'm behind the push mower mowing the lawn. I suspect most of my yard work will be tree trimming in nature, though. Hubby also wants to get the transmission and clutch changed out in the Jeep and fence painting and construction underway. My right knee is acting up. I need to remember that hula hoop is not a good Wii exercise with these knees!

AT miles: 381.55
YTD miles: 479.38

Not sure how regularly you'll see me for the next two weeks, but I'll be tracking and will do a catchup post when I get back to the big house.

Day 121, Sunday, June 29th

Thursday was a fairly normal day, ran 3.5 and walked with bonnie 1.5.

Long weekend in Michigan. Friday managed 2 miles of walking on walk in the evening with Bonnie and getting around the airport. Also road the stationary bike 8.2. During our walk we say some sand hill crains. One walked in front of an SUV and blocked his path for about 2 minutes. We weren't too sure how friendly he would be to us passing, but he didn't complain too much.

Saturday ran 3.25 or something like that, and walked 1.5. And Sunday ran 3.25 and just walked around the airport.

Total: 23
AT: 654

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Day 120, Saturday, June 28th

A much better day today. In addition to 7354 steps for 3.94 miles, I spent about 30 minutes trying to learn the basics of Dance Dance Revolution. I have it set up on the simplest set up possible and am only doing the dance lesson, and I'm still doing terrible. The best grade I can get is a "D." Yes, I'm a dancing klutz. I also did 30 minutes on Wii Fit.

Some of today's steps came from mowing the part of the lawn that's growing (not very much) and moving several boxes from the garage to the house.

AT miles: 376.96
YTD Miles: 747.79

Friday, June 27, 2008

Day 119, Friday, June 27th

I should have listened to myself a couple of days ago. But I didn't. I stuffed my pedometer into my pocket this morning and went about my business. I pulled it out just before my Wii Fit session to see how I was doing and saw zero and a flashing battery indicator. Yup. It was hungry for more power but I hadn't found my spare battery yet. I went out and bought two. Today's count is bogus, but I didn't do much, so I'll credit myself with a mile and 2200 steps.

I did 35 minutes on Wii Fit and about five more minutes on Wii Sports -- Boxing and the test -- my Wii Sports age decreased from 73 to 60. There seems to be something not quite right about basing my fitness score on how many home runs I can hit, my bowling accuracy, and my ability to return a tennis ball, but (shrug) I guess it's all in good fun. Or maybe I'm just a poor loser! My Wii Fit age was 42 today. It's varied from the mid-30s to the low-50s. I think it's a little more accurate.

AT miles: 373.02

YTD miles: 470.85

I've lost between 10 and 13 pounds since I retired, so I'm pleased with that. Only about 80 to go. :)

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Day 118, Thursday, June 26th

I did get up and pull vines for about an hour this morning. That's mostly upper body with few steps. I got up "too early" though, and by the time I'd pulled today's quota of vines, I still had a little while to go before the post office opened, so I had breakfast. I did have a nice walk to the post office, turned over the correspondence at the window and checked the PO Box -- junk mail and mail from the previous person -- we've had the box for about five or six years, so it's a little surprising to still get mail for that guy. Gave it to the window and walked home with my Wal-Mart flyer. That was about 35 minutes and 3729 steps.

Shortly after I got home, I heard Hershey barking, I looked downstairs and saw Hershey standing near an empty collar lying on the ground. Millie slipped her collar. I dashed downstairs, grabbed her leash and the collar and headed off to where I hear my neighbor's dogs barking in the next block. Sure enough, she was running in the high school parking lot by the stadium entrance. Amazingly, she immediately came when I called. That's a first.

41 minutes on the Wii Fit. Again, not a lot of stepping involved today. Even so, today's count is better: 7357 for 3.25 miles.

AT miles: 372.02

YTD miles: 469.85

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Day 117, Wednesday, June 25th

All my Wii Fit time today was on yoga, so even though I did 30 minutes, I wanted to go through every yoga pose opened to me so far, I got virtually zero steps for that time.

Today's steps: 4139 in 1.82 miles

AT miles: 368.77
YTD miles: 466.6

Tomorrow morning, after pulling vines, I'm going to walk to the post office to mail two pieces of correspondence. That ought to add some steps, and it should still be cool enough.

Day 116, Tuesday, June 24th

Steps: 3759
PED Miles: 1.48
Non-PED Miles: 7.6
Total Miles: 9.08
AT: 341.51
YTD Total: 406.09

Most of my "mileage" today came from not walking :). I did a 6 mile bike ride with my son in the morning, then worked out on the WII. The actual steps are mostly pacing because California is burning and dropping ash out of our sky. We're not supposed to be outside right now :p.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Day 115, Monday, June 23rd

Another low steppage day. 3461 for 1.52 miles. I spent a lot of time on the computer today, so that's probably part of it. I did pull vines for an hour first thing this morning before logging on. I also did 35 minutes on Wii Fit this afternoon, so despite low steppage, I'm not dissatisfied with my energy output today.

AT miles: 365.15

YTD miles: 462.98

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Day 114, Sunday, June 22nd

I feel like I did more than this today, but it must have been one of those days with less activity than it felt like.

3702 steps for 1.63 miles

AT miles: 363.63

YTD miles: 461.46

Or maybe the batteries are getting low on the pedometer. Hmm. I had better start looking for my spare just in case.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Day 113, June 21st

Worked in the garage, mowed the front lawn, moved stuff around in the house, and spent a little time working on Twilight rewrite preparation today. Did 30 minutes on Wii Fit.

8745 steps for 3.86 miles

AT miles: 362

YTD miles: 459.83

Friday, June 20, 2008

Day 112, Friday, June 20th

I wear the pedometer while I work out with Wii, so I think the Wii time gets counted -- at least where there are steps involved.

I am a total dance/aerobics klutz. DDR baffles me. I'm doing something, but if you picture the nerd at the dance flailing around, that's about what the steps mean to me and I'm sure I look just as dorky. As for the Wii version, I'm doing ok at the basic version in the aerobics section -- I've gotten up to 2 stars and it tells me one of three things at the end -- speed up, slow down, or get consistent. I unlocked the advanced one a couple weeks ago and have tried it twice. I managed to get the clapping included today -- who knows how much if any was in synch, but the foot shaking (green steps) leave me looking like I'm trying DDR. At least I understand what the Wii is saying. I can't decipher the DJ in DDR to save my life.

I've been unlocking yoga poses I'll never be able to do because of my knees, but I do the ones I can do, and I'm getting 3 stars on several of them. I think there's even one or two where I consistently earn 4 stars. Triangle -- good for stretching the glutes, and mine have been tight lately.

Steps for today: 6499 for 2.87 miles

AT miles: 358.14
YTD miles: 455.97

Valerie, I hope you're FIL is doing better by the time you read this.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Day 111, Thursday, June 19th

Hubby headed back to San Antonio this afternoon, so I'll be working inside as well as mowing. I won't be able to put off pulling ivy off the front of the house either, so I'll be diving into that.

Before I left Montgomery, I picked up something poison ivy like, and when that happens, it goes systemic on me, so I'm still (over a month later) dealing with pop up ivy rashes. Until I can get it cleared up, I'm not anxious to go anywhere near anything in the great outdoors. I imagine a couple of forays to the ranch (with known rash causing plants) have not helped. As long as it doesn't get worse, I won't need to seek medical attention.

But I did get steps in today. 7536 for 3.33 miles.

AT miles: 355.27

YTD miles: 453.1

My Wii version of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) arrived a few days ago, and I gave it a try today. I'm a total klutz whenever I try anything like this, but I'm discovering with Wii Fit that with perseverance, I am beginning to get the hang of some of this stuff. Maybe DDR will work similarly. Of course, it might help if I could figure out what the heck the DJ is saying about eyes...

I love the Wii Fit. The balance board helps me get emphasis where it is supposed to be for the yoga moves, so in some ways, I think it's a great individual yoga teacher. For instance, I did Downward Facing Dog on it for the first time yesterday, and it told me I was putting too much of my weight on my feet and needed to shift more to my hands. I had been thinking I wasn't getting enough on my feet. That's happened on one other pose. Of course, on the rowing, I can't begin to get my center of gravity into the blue zone, so it fails me every time. Ugh. I also like the way you start with a few poses or activities and "earn" more as you work.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Day 110, Wednesday, June 18th

Another lovely, hot day with no rain in sight, despite what hubby's repeated checking of the weather web site might indicate.

Today's count: 5795 steps and 2.56 miles

AT miles: 351.94

YTD miles: 449.77

We've moved one dump truckload of gravel and have one more to go. Then, we estimate, we'll need two more truckloads (at least) to get all the gravel we need for the driveway in place.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Day 109, Tuesday, June 17th

No one of my zippier days, but here it is:

4955 steps for 2.18 miles

AT miles: 349.38

YTD miles: 447.21

On Friday, I begin the lawn mowing marathon again, so the counts will go up for sure. I didn't do much activity-wise today, but I did get to see a friend and former co-worker, so that was worthwhile.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Day 108, Monday 16 June

Easy day recovering from the golf clinic -- just 1.6 in the evening, as usual. I did not make it to the next shelter and so will be spending the night huddled in my tent waiting for the lightning to go away.

June: 32.3
AT: 217.1
YTD: 264.2

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Day 107, June 15th

Ok. So we're taking a couple days off from reporting. I've been doing that, too. I'm sure you're all recording, so I'm trekking along this lonely segment of trail.

Today's steps: 8990 for 3.97 miles

AT Total: 343.44

YTD Total: 441.27

Yes, I know I'm a fine one to talk -- point taken. I hope you fathers playing along had a Happy Father's Day.

And I seem to be spending the night in Carter, TN, at the Double Springs shelter.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Day 105, Friday, June 13

I see nobody wanted to take a chance of posting on Friday the 13th. I'll start it off on Saturday, then. Yesterday, I was recovering from cutting up trees on the ranch on Thursday. It still added up ok:

6053 steps for 2.67 miles

AT miles: 336.92
YTD miles: 434.75

I've also been playing Wii Fit for a little over a week. It doesn't feel strenuous, but I seem to work up a sweat in my 20-25 minute workouts. Of the Wii Sports game that comes with the system, I don't really feel like anything but tennis or boxing really allows me to get a workout in. Bowling isn't a bad game. I'm lousy at baseball. I am having fun unlocking new segments of the Fit system, though.

Since I retired, I've managed to lose ten pounds. I've been doing a lot more physical work, but I've also sweated a lot of it out. If I can continue to lose, I think that will be a good sign.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Day 104, Thursday June 12

So here I am. Been an on-and-off week. It's awfully hard to get excited about walking when it's barely above freezing and the wind is blowing the rain sideways. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! For Tuesday, anyway, when my steppage total was 3204.

Wednesday I walked before work and a bit at noon. We had company for supper, and after they left, Jim wanted to go for a walk, so we did. That bumped my steps for the day to 10190--quite respectable.

Today is a bit lower again. Walked in the morning, drove my kids to Spokane to the airport, drove home (7 hours in the car.) Did some walking shopping, and Jim and I went for a short walk when I got home. He'd worked a 12-hour day so didn't much feel the need to stretch his legs! My total: 6270.

AT: 365.5
YTD: 462.6

Day 103, Wednesday 11 June

The weather finally cooled off some, but it was time to get off my feet, so rode the stationary bike for a half hour, 11.08 miles. Then went for a walk with Bonnie in the evening 1.5.

Total: 12.5
AT: 558

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Day 102, Tuesday 9 June

Even hotter than yesterday, with a bad-air warning out. I would love to send some of this out to BC to help Val warm up. But it's cooling down nicely now that the sun has set, so we got our usual 1.6 miles.

AT: 205.3
June: 21.5
YTD: 252.4

Day 101, Monday 9 June

Another beastly hot day -- 97 at the grocery store (where of course I had to do extra walking, .7 miles), 103 on our porch on the sunny side of the house while the thermometer was still well in the shade. Fortunately it cooled off a bit as the sun went down and we got our usual walk, 1.6, for a total of 2.3.

AT: 203.7
June: 19.9
YTD: 250.8

Monday, June 9, 2008

Day 100, Sunday June 8

Continues to be well over 90, but we managed 9 holes of golf 2 miles, and a walk after dark 1.5.

Total 3.5
AT: 535.5

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Day 99, Saturday June 7

Friday, it rained too much for golf. So ran 3.5 at lunch and walked to ball game with Bonnie 2 miles.

Saturday was last refereeing day of the season (for me). Did the center for one game and ran the line for the other. Temps in the low 90's was really wipped. I'd estimate 6 miles total. Walked 1.5 with Bonnie in the evening.

Big news is David passed his black belt test. Bonnie took lots of pictures, I'm sure will be on one of her sites soon.

Total: 13
AT: 532

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Day 98, Friday 6 June

We walked about 2 miles getting to and from the ballpark to watch the Sox lose 8-0 to the Mariners. Oh, well, in baseball it is definitely true that you can't win them all.

AT: 196.9
June: 12.4
YTD: 243.3

Friday, June 6, 2008

Day 97, June 5 Thursday

So I've been getting back in the groove with the walking. Wednesday I walked in the morning and again over noon hour. Some yard cleanup in the evening for a net of 7901 steps/ 3.25 miles.

Today I took both walks a bit more seriously, though I passed a house with a beautiful yard on my noon walk in town, recognized the woman working in it, and got invited into the back half acre for a tour. *Almost* inspired me! :P

Today's steps 10322/ 4.24 miles
AT: 349.87
YTD: 446.97

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Day 96, Wednesday June 4

Light rain all day, so was a good one to get off my feet and ride the excercise bike. One member of my group joking said, that if I consider riding the bike a day off, then swimming must be a vacation:)

Total: 11
AT: 514

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Day 95, Tuesday June 3

Busy day, golf in the morning 2 miles, ran 3.5 at lunch, and then a 1.5 mile walk with Bonnie. Raining this morning so looks like an in door day?

Total: 7
AT: 503

Monday, June 2, 2008

Day 94, Monday June 2

The usual Monday half mile of errands and 1.6 miles of evening walk, for 2.1 total.

AT: 190.8
June: 6.3
YTD: 237.2

Day 93, Sunday June 1

Well we survived graduation day, actually was rather nice, but a busy day. Bonnie and I managed to get in a 2.5 mile walk around the pond and I got up early for a 3 mile run.

Total: 5.5
AT: 491.5