Well-Trained Bodies - July

[Ali in OR]

Just remembered that it's July 1st, so I'll repost:

15 min yoga for low back, 15 min on treadmill this morning. Hoping for a walk or hike later.

[Laura Corin]

Saturday  - driving from Scotland to Snowdonia.

Sunday - short but hilly walk with Husband before Calvin and Hobbes arrived by train.

Monday  - walk with Hobbes to scout a longer family walk for Tuesday. Unfortunately we both fell on slippery paths - he is just a bit bruised, but my right calf feels quite wrenched  as my right leg ended up twisted under me when my left foot slipped.  Tomorrow's walk is eta changed to be an easy one, so we'll see if I'm ready for that. 

Edited July 1 by Laura Corin

[Harriet Vane]

@Laura Corin So sorry about your fall! Hope you are shipshape again quickly.

[Harriet Vane]

I was an absolute slug all weekend. No regrets—it was the post-travel haze. Even though there was no jet lag to contend with, I had had little sleep and was also covered with mosquito bites (itchy!!!). I focused on sleeping and doing laundry.

Today I hit the gym first thing for a solid weights/core workout. I also walked our lane twice just as a break from desk work.

[knitgrl]

Last week, I made it to two TKD classes. Belt testing went ok. Although I flubbed up a little on my patterns, it was much better than last time. The self defense part was not very good; sparring was ok. I want to get some pattern practice in today, but am not sure if that is going to happen. We are going to be leaving to go see ds25 for a few days, so this afternoon is just going to be filled with packing. I told kids that they needed three changes of clothes. Dd9 included three socks in her load of laundry, so, um, yeah. That is where we are at.

[Laura Corin]

7 mile walk up an easy path with Hobbes and Husband. Leg not too sore.

[wintermom]

@Laura Corin I hope your leg continues to recover quickly. The scenery looks amazing! I'd love to visit Snowdonia and Wales!!

 

I played 2 hrs of mixed doubles tennis yesterday. My friend, Anna, and I played against my dh and another guy. We ladies did REALLY well against the guys. We did lose, but it was close 4 - 6, 6 - 7, and then we lost the tie-breaker. It was so much fun!! I also walked the dogs in the woods twice. And before tennis I did some re-claiming of the patio stones were the grass had grown over. That was hard work! The stones ran alongside the driveway to allow 2 cars to park side by side, and since we've only had 1 car for the 24 years we've been at this house, the stones weren't needed and the grass took over some territory. 😉 

I played 2 hrs of ladies doubles tennis today, plus did 2 dog walks. 

[Ali in OR]

We had a quick overnight trip to Oregon's Cannon Beach Monday/Tuesday. Got some walks and hikes in. Back home today for a yoga for lower back and 15 min on the treadmill. A few pics of the Oregon coast:

 

[wintermom]

@Ali in OR Gorgeous photos!!! Thanks for sharing. Dh and I are planning a trip to Vancouver Island in Sept, and hopefully we'll see some ocean scenery similar to this. 

[Harriet Vane]

@Ali in OR Spectacular!!! Thanks for sharing.

[Harriet Vane]

Gyrotonics yesterday, plus I had an appointment immediately afterwards with the PT for a MAT adjustment.

Today I started off first thing in the gym for weights/core. 

[Laura Corin]

Quick walk up a river gorge with Husband and Hobbes before going on a slate mine tour in the afternoon. 

[Soror]

@Ali in OR and @Laura Corin thank you both for sharing the beautiful pics. 

Ali, I hope that you get some rest this summer.

Laura, best wishes for a speedy recovery. 

I've done some mobility work and walking this week.

I tried a gym last night. It is a "functional fitness gym (Crossfit-esque). I've been considering joining a gym for ages. I cannot seem to reestablish my morning exercise routine. I keep running out of time in the morning and feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I've thought about joining a regular gym but of the 3 we have I'm not keen on any for various reasons and that leaves me with designing my workouts or buying a workout plan. I have reservations about Crossfit style gyms (injuries- I'm afraid I'll push myself too hard) but I think I'll try it out. I'd like to challenge myself. I'm bored. They have some class times that work with the kids' EC schedule. Before Covid I did the gym when the kids did TKD but after Covid I worked out at home. That worked well until I injured myself last year and since then I've yet to reestablish a habit long-term- either my sciatica flared up or I couldn't consistently get the time. Now, their schedule is more consistent I think I can make it work. In the mornings, I'll aim for just walking and mobility and hikes when the weather cooperates on the weekend. 

This weekend we hope to get more work on the shop. The gym has a workout today but I think 2 days in a row is a bad idea to start and we have family plans. I plan on going next week on Monday and Wednesday when the kids have EC.

[wintermom]

@Laura Corin Thanks for more amazing photos! I hope that the slate mine tour is fun. I remember going on a tour down a coal mine in Alberta as a kid (I think it's close now). It was fun wearing the hardhats, and taking the elevator down.  If you see any slag piles of slate and can snap a photo, that would be really interesting to see, too! 

Got in my early morning dog walk in the woods with the mosquitoes. 😉  I'll do another dog walk later on. No tennis until the weekend.

Happy 4th of July to all the American friends here! 

[Laura Corin]

Yes @wintermom the slate mine tour was good - the guide came from a mining family and gave us some interesting background. At the end, he asked my daughter to read out loud a translation of a Welsh poem, which she did beautifully. He congratulated her and my mind went back to much poetry reading when she was small.

The town is all slag piles of slate but I didn't take an photos.

4th July good wishes to Americans! A confusing day in this family with 3/4 US passport holders and 4/4 UK passport holders. So are we celebrating independence from the UK  or obsessing over the UK election today. The answer? Climb a mountain.  

Or rather, three of us hiked up the foothills of Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon, and Hobbes climbed all the way to the top. Chilly and breezy on the way up, with some rain on the way down,  but amazing views. I liked the placid and pristine sheep by the lake and the mountain high above.

Edited July 4 by Laura Corin

[wintermom]

@Laura Corin Gorgeous photos! Thanks for sharing. I love the look of that stone pathway, however I'm thinking that it's likely not the easiest to actually walk on. I tried having some uneven stones on a wee path in my backyard and eventually just went with tiny pebbles. 😂

[Ali in OR]

30 min fitbymik dumbbell workout. I was looking specifically for about 30 minutes and ended up with one that kind of mixed pilates and dumbbells with some work on the ground. Some was hard for me (I can't really do sit ups without something holding my feet down) but overall I think it was pretty good.

We'll have a pretty lazy day today and will eat some not-every-day kinds of foods (hamburgers, homemade ice cream). Happy 4th everyone.

[Soror]

@Laura Corin it is so lovely that you are getting a vaca with the kiddos. Do you expect any word on the job while you are gone?

@wintermom any update with you and your son? 

 

I did mobility work and a little walking yesterday. Today will be mobility, maybe short upper body strength, and  more walking- I'm checking on the neighbor's dogs this weekend so I'll walk there (about 1.5 miles away) and we're going to drop off my car for an oil change and walk to the theater. I need the extra walking because I'll have lots of sitting between the 3 hr drive (to and from the dealership to get my oil change- work car they require going off) and then seeing a movie with the girls for our 'not back to school' celebration. We started school on Monday. It's been a bit rough, as it usually is the first week of school.

I'll be happy to not be working so I can figure out my schedule. I like to have order to my mornings but that is not happening between work stuff to do and not sleeping well. Maybe once I'm not working and get a more regular exercise schedule I can check in with you guys more. I'm sure I've missed a lot in the last year+. 

I haven't been very sore! I know I'm not out of the woods yet for DOMS but I'm feeling pretty confident that I didn't overdo it.

[Laura Corin]

5 hours ago, Soror said:

@Laura Corin it is so lovely that you are getting a vaca with the kiddos. Do you expect any word on the job while you are gone?

@wintermom any update with you and your son? 

---- 

I'll be happy to not be working so I can figure out my schedule. 

I'm glad you are looking forward to not working. 

The good news is that my employer has agreed to my working semesters only, four days a week. Overall that will be about .55 of a full-time job. I'll get summers to relax and travel with my husband and also time in January to get on a plane and see the sun. The actual duties are still not quite decided - the more interesting possibility that was dangled last week has to be approved at the highest  level - due to internal politics - but I will end up with something on that schedule.  So this is my last working summer.

Friday - gentle potter around a Victorian resort town, including a walk along the river. I was a bit sleepless after the election, and the others were tired after Snowdon.  Tomorrow we drive back home.

[Ali in OR]

Today was opening day for one of our favorite varieties of blueberries, Spartans. They're huge and sweet. July is when blueberries are ripe here and many, many people lay in a supply in the freezer for the year. And there are some people who now live in other places who vacation back here when the Spartans are ready--a worker at the blueberry farm was talking about someone who takes the train from Minnesota, with a cooler, to fill up on Spartans each year. Anyway, we still have some bags in the freezer from 2023 so we didn't go too crazy. Dh and I got there at 7:00 am and picked 38 pounds (3 buckets) in about an hour. Easy picking today. We'll eat at least 10 pounds of those fresh over the next few days (taking some to dd's foster home and some to a BBQ tonight) and the rest will go in the freezer. And I'll pick more of a different variety in a week or two.

Came home and walked the dog around the outer perimeter of the neighborhood--about 27 min but I walked a bit at the blueberry farm so the exercise ring is closed.

 

[Soror]

2 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I'm glad you are looking forward to not working. 

The good news is that my employer has agreed to my working semesters only, four days a week. Overall that will be about .55 of a full-time job. I'll get summers to relax and travel with my husband and also time in January to get on a plane and see the sun. The actual duties are still not quite decided - the more interesting possibility that was dangled last week has to be approved at the highest  level - due to internal politics - but I will end up with something on that schedule.  So this is my last working summer.

Friday - gentle potter around a Victorian resort town, including a walk along the river. I was a bit sleepless after the election, and the others were tired after Snowdon.  Tomorrow we drive back home.

I'm so happy to hear that. It seems like a good compromise until you're ready for full retirement.

[Soror]

1 hour ago, Ali in OR said:

Today was opening day for one of our favorite varieties of blueberries, Spartans. They're huge and sweet. July is when blueberries are ripe here and many, many people lay in a supply in the freezer for the year. And there are some people who now live in other places who vacation back here when the Spartans are ready--a worker at the blueberry farm was talking about someone who takes the train from Minnesota, with a cooler, to fill up on Spartans each year. Anyway, we still have some bags in the freezer from 2023 so we didn't go too crazy. Dh and I got there at 7:00 am and picked 38 pounds (3 buckets) in about an hour. Easy picking today. We'll eat at least 10 pounds of those fresh over the next few days (taking some to dd's foster home and some to a BBQ tonight) and the rest will go in the freezer. And I'll pick more of a different variety in a week or two.

Came home and walked the dog around the outer perimeter of the neighborhood--about 27 min but I walked a bit at the blueberry farm so the exercise ring is closed.

 

Those are huge, yummy. Ours were ripe in June here. Dd1 picked some for work, she works for a farm. They didn't have very many blueberries aren't as common here.

[wintermom]

@Laura Corin That sounds amazing for your new job schedule. I'm actually jealous! I'd love to transition into something similar in the future. 

I got in a nice dog walk this morning, and then I saw the eye surgeon for my cataracts. I have booked July 26 to have both eyes done. The cataracts are progressing so aggressively that I'm close to not being able to drive without strong glasses. Yikes! I can still play tennis, though, which is great news. The distance is short enough, that there are no issues.

[Eos]

On 7/4/2024 at 12:01 PM, Laura Corin said:

Yes @wintermom the slate mine tour was good - the guide came from a mining family and gave us some interesting background. At the end, he asked my daughter to read out loud a translation of a Welsh poem, which she did beautifully. He congratulated her and my mind went back to much poetry reading when she was small.

The town is all slag piles of slate but I didn't take an photos.

4th July good wishes to Americans! A confusing day in this family with 3/4 US passport holders and 4/4 UK passport holders. So are we celebrating independence from the UK  or obsessing over the UK election today. The answer? Climb a mountain.  

Or rather, three of us hiked up the foothills of Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon, and Hobbes climbed all the way to the top. Chilly and breezy on the way up, with some rain on the way down,  but amazing views. I liked the placid and pristine sheep by the lake and the mountain high above.

Wow! Thank you for these.

 

On 7/3/2024 at 11:36 AM, Ali in OR said:

We had a quick overnight trip to Oregon's Cannon Beach Monday/Tuesday. Got some walks and hikes in. Back home today for a yoga for lower back and 15 min on the treadmill. A few pics of the Oregon coast:

 

Glorious!

I've been running around so much that I think I'm actually getting plenty of exercise with daily life. I probably get 12K steps or so per day, even without hiking or walking. Now that the 4th is come and gone I can settle in a bit and focus. Will try to check in here most mornings, it does good things for my heart 💜

[Harriet Vane]

On Thursday I rode the recumbent bike for half an hour. Yesterday my intentions were better than my follow-through. Today I will hope to fit in a walk while killing time waiting for my foster teen during a visit.

[Ali in OR]

I did a recent Adriene yoga--Power and Balance. Good workout for me (I prefer balance to power). We're in for 4 more days of temps around 100°. Planning to get chores done early, take it easy inside, maybe read on the patio at 8:00 tonight--I love to be outside when we have warm nights. Most nights it's pretty windy here and one doesn't want to linger on the patio. 

[Eos]

Stairs and pies and housework for me. Tomorrow my pie output will ramp up to 25 every other day, it's doing great things for my arms. I need to do some cardio on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That's my goal, I'll check in about it.

[Soror]

55 minutes ago, Eos said:

Stairs and pies and housework for me. Tomorrow my pie output will ramp up to 25 every other day, it's doing great things for my arms. I need to do some cardio on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That's my goal, I'll check in about it.

That's a lot of pies!

+----_-----

Work around the house yesterday and today with bits of mobility. 

[Harriet Vane]

I did manage a long walk yesterday evening with dh. Kinda spooky because the coyotes were howling like crazy. We have woods behind our house—the homes closest to us have heavily wooded yards, and there is a nature preserve and a creek behind some of them. Instead of walking our usual beloved, secluded lane into the woods we walked in the neighborhood we can access a block over. Dh’s back hurt and he desperately needed to walk so we figured we were fine in a normal suburban neighborhood. But still eerie listening to the howling. 

[wintermom]

I spent most of yesterday outdoors watching my ds18 play in a beach volleyball tournament. It was his first tournie and his partner and he did really well. They made it to the gold medal match and lost in the tiebreaker. We'd had heavy rain the night before so the conditions were swampy with pockets of quicksand (it would suck down your shoes if you walked through - which I learned about the hard way). I don't know how all the players could move on these courts, and the balls got heavier and heavier with water over time. Just crazy, but hey, they got to play vball, which was the whole point. 😂

I did play some fun ladies doubles tennis after the vball, and then we joined ds's vball partner and parents for Thai/Laosian dinner. Spicy and delicious!

 

Edited July 7 by wintermom

[knitgrl]

We were out of town this week. There was a bit more walking than usual, and we got in a family hike one day.

[Eos]

18 hours ago, wintermom said:

I spent most of yesterday outdoors watching my ds18 play in a beach volleyball tournament. It was his first tournie and his partner and he did really well. They made it to the gold medal match and lost in the tiebreaker. We'd had heavy rain the night before so the conditions were swampy with pockets of quicksand (it would suck down your shoes if you walked through - which I learned about the hard way). I don't know how all the players could move on these courts, and the balls got heavier and heavier with water over time. Just crazy, but hey, they got to play vball, which was the whole point. 😂

I did play some fun ladies doubles tennis after the vball, and then we joined ds's vball partner and parents for Thai/Laosian dinner. Spicy and delicious!

 

Oh my!

[Eos]

Yesterday was an absolute slog but I probably got close to 12K steps with many many stairs. Today is pie day.

[Laura Corin]

Quick catch up.

Saturday - drove back from Wales, so zero exercise. 

Sunday - mostly just tidying after the trip, but took a four-mile walk up hills too.

Monday - I'm not working this week, so swam over a kilometre at the pool and will work in the garden this afternoon.  

Below is a local meadow view in the rain from yesterday's walk.

[wintermom]

Played mixed doubles tennis last night. My partner, Anna, and I took on the 'boys' again. We did well, but lost in the tiebreaker. We make a good team, and have a lot of fun playing together. 

Sadly, I seem to have tweaked my right wrist cut down enormous weeds and it's affecting my tennis and typing. I'll have to rest it during work so that I can play tennis later on today. 😂

[Laura Corin]

25 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Played mixed doubles tennis last night. My partner, Anna, and I took on the 'boys' again. We did well, but lost in the tiebreaker. We make a good team, and have a lot of fun playing together. 

Sadly, I seem to have tweaked my right wrist cut down enormous weeds and it's affecting my tennis and typing. I'll have to rest it during work so that I can play tennis later on today. 😂

I like your priorities. 

[Ali in OR]

Rest day yesterday. 30 min on the treadmill this morning. After much celebratory food last week, this week I'm going to try to focus more on my eating plan, including using My Fitness Pal to plan/track. Weight is up since end of school year--not good.

[Soror]

@wintermom 😂 good luck

The volleyball game sounds fun to watch but hard to play. Congratulations to your son on doing well.

@Laura Corin how many weeks off do you get?

@Ali in OR I'm with you. I'm a little thicker right now. I'm just trying to get in plenty of movement and good food.

I'm trying a different gym today. I went to it before but only for cardio class. They have an obstacle course now so they're in the running. I'm all about exercise being fun. The lady that runs it is positive and encouraging. We'll see how it goes.

30 minutes walk + 15 minutes mobility this morning 

We're going to the lake for a couple of hours this afternoon before the girls do tkd and I go to the gym. We ought to sleep well tonight.

The start of our second week of school has gone much better. They have been very motivated to get things done to make it to the lake. Dd2 is done and dd3 is nearly done +she's doing a math test now). Both started their work last night.

[knitgrl]

10 minutes of pattern practice after not having done anything TKD-wise since belt testing. I may take a walk later this evening.

[Laura Corin]

3 hours ago, Soror said:

@wintermom 😂 good luck

The volleyball game sounds fun to watch but hard to play. Congratulations to your son on doing well.

@Laura Corin how many weeks off do you get?

@Ali in OR I'm with you. I'm a little thicker right now. I'm just trying to get in plenty of movement and good food.

I'm trying a different gym today. I went to it before but only for cardio class. They have an obstacle course now so they're in the running. I'm all about exercise being fun. The lady that runs it is positive and encouraging. We'll see how it goes.

30 minutes walk + 15 minutes mobility this morning 

We're going to the lake for a couple of hours this afternoon before the girls do tkd and I go to the gym. We ought to sleep well tonight.

The start of our second week of school has gone much better. They have been very motivated to get things done to make it to the lake. Dd2 is done and dd3 is nearly done +she's doing a math test now). Both started their work last night.

If I were working full time I'd get 34 days of holiday plus 5 national holidays, but that's reduced because of my four-day contract.  This time I've taken two weeks 

[knitgrl]

I did manage to do the walk. I drove to the cemetery for a change of scenery and some shade. Almost 2 miles in just over 30 minutes.

[Soror]

I went to the exercise class at the other gym. I think this is the one (at least for now). I like certain aspects about the other gym better- some of the strength work and it is slightly cheaper. However, I am concerned about injuries with certain moves that they do. This gym has a friendlier atmosphere, (IMO) less injury risk, more class times, and a very fun obstacle course. 

Last night the class was full-body focused and then I played on the obstacle course. She only sometimes uses the obstacle course for classes on Friday but I can play on it before or after class. I can still do the monkey bars 🙂 I even conquered the one set that had ascending bars. I made it up one of the smaller warped walls and a stand-alone wall. There were lots more that I didn't try. I am sore today. 

I think this gym has a good community. They are doing this obstacle race together in St. Louis in August and I am thinking about signing up. I'm excited about working out with others again and just to be more consistently working out more. 

[Ali in OR]

Bodyweight circuit x2 and a 15 min Sunrise Yoga. I will visit dd today. I'm definitely taking her out to lunch and I'm trying to decide if we should do a walk first. Normally that would be yes, yes, yes! But it will already be 90°, she doesn't wear hats, and she has to be hydrated by someone else (she doesn't hold a cup or drink independently). I'm trying to think of flat shady places to walk--we'll see what we come up with. Tomorrow is supposed to finally be cooler (5 days at about 100°).

[Laura Corin]

@Soror I'm glad you are finding a gym 'home'. 

I was a bit stiff this morning after gardening,  but my back is doing okay. This morning I took a quick walk up the Den.

This evening I'm trying out a yoga class. It's included in the public leisure centre membership that I use for swimming.  I hope the class will be fairly relaxed and low key, as I'm not confident to go back to my previous full-on class and I hope this will be a bridge.

I've booked for a different yoga class on Friday morning to compare. I can follow that with swimming, if they have not switched on the wave machine for the kids who are now off school.

[wintermom]

@Laura Corin Hope your back is feeling better soon!

@Soror Glad you're enjoying the gyms, and wise to think through what movements will fit best with your body. 

@Ali in OR Enjoy your outing with your dd today! 

My wrist was sore from playing tennis yesterday, so I found a spare for today's match. I'm trying to rest it and use my left hand more, but it's challenging. I will rest from tennis until Thursday.

Sharing a couple of my favourite blooms in my backyard. I wish I could have bushes of these all year round, but at least I can enjoy them in the summer.

 

[knitgrl]

9 hours ago, Soror said:

Last night the class was full-body focused and then I played on the obstacle course. She only sometimes uses the obstacle course for classes on Friday but I can play on it before or after class. I can still do the monkey bars 🙂 I even conquered the one set that had ascending bars. I made it up one of the smaller warped walls and a stand-alone wall. There were lots more that I didn't try. I am sore today.

That sounds like fun! A playground for adults!

[wintermom]

@Laura Corin I have a Scottish term question for you - especially because you're also a hiker. What exactly is a 'Monroe' in the context of hiking up big hills in Scotland? Just watching Landward and one man wants to bag 282 Monroes.  I would love to know this, as I may want to bag a few whenever I get a chance to visit Scotland! 😊

[Laura Corin]

2 hours ago, wintermom said:

@Laura Corin I have a Scottish term question for you - especially because you're also a hiker. What exactly is a 'Monroe' in the context of hiking up big hills in Scotland? Just watching Landward and one man wants to bag 282 Monroes.  I would love to know this, as I may want to bag a few whenever I get a chance to visit Scotland! 😊

The Highlands were formed largely from one big plateau that was carved into valleys by glaciers. That means that there are a lot of mountains that are a fairly similar height. They are called Munros after the man who catalogued them. https://www.visitscotland.com/things-to-do/outdoor-activities/walking/mountains-hills/munro-bagging

[Soror]

2 hours ago, wintermom said:

@Laura Corin I have a Scottish term question for you - especially because you're also a hiker. What exactly is a 'Monroe' in the context of hiking up big hills in Scotland? Just watching Landward and one man wants to bag 282 Monroes.  I would love to know this, as I may want to bag a few whenever I get a chance to visit Scotland! 😊

Different mountain heights have different names- bagging a Munro is climbing to the top. Munros are 3000 ft+

[Laura Corin]

Yoga last night was fine - very gentle Hatha. I did everything except the forward bends, having told the teacher I would be avoiding them. I have classes booked with the same teacher on Friday and next Tuesday.

Rest day today - my right calf is stiff, for some reason, and I'd like to hike tomorrow. I'll take a gentle walk and otherwise do some housework to hold back the building dust that is seeping throughout.