Hair Bands

Okay, whose first thought was the bands used to tie your crazy hair up or down while you are working out?  Fleurty and Fit makes some cute ones you should check out (I haven't ordered one yet but it is on my list).

When I say Hair Bands I am speaking as a child of the 80s....Poison, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, etc.  This morning while I was walking I had enough of the lightweight 80s bee-bop music from my current Pandora station. So I created a new station on my Pandora app. I used "Shot Through the Heart" as my sample to create the station. It was fun to hear some more powerful music - Scorpions, Europe, etc. It made me feel stronger.

Speaking of stronger...my knee seems to be recovered. I had a twinge or two while I was walking but nothing that concerned me and nothing afterwards. My happy walking feet burning up the pavement!!!

I wish my cell phone would truly capture all the beautiful sunrises I am enjoying during our morning workouts. This morning the sky was so pink. I loved this shot anyway because it shows the road out before me. And who doesn't love a pink road?  Made me so happy knowing that I am back on my walking regimen.

I was very satisfied with these times for the first time back in almost a week.  I wanted to test my knee and still get a good workout. I think I am accomplished that goal. Even though the times don't really reflect it, it took my body awhile to warm up this morning.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	49:47.1	3.05	16:18
1	16:16.2	1.00	16:16
2	16:06.1	1.00	16:06
3	16:14.7	1.00	16:15
4	1:10.1	0.05	21:55

This evening after dinner we took the dogs to the prairie at a nearby park. Started in 1977, the prairie has been planted with tons of beautiful native prairie plants. It is fun to go throughout the season and see all the different plants in bloom.  Many of the plants are taller than me already.  (See end of post for just some of the beautiful plants we saw - photography is one of my passions.)

This guy was not at all happy to have us in his prairies...I think he said lots of bad words!  Redwing blackbirds are one of my favorites...

Millie and Zommie (our 13 year old dachshund) had a good time checking out all the interesting smells. And afterwards we let them run and play ball.

 

It was a nice evening.  I was surprised that Millie tired out before us!!

I took the following flower/foliage pictures this evening as we walked through the prairie. You might think this is a boat load of pictures but I assure you it is just a fraction of what I took :)  They do a guided tour a couple times a month. I need to remember to go sometime to find out what all the different flowers are.

Making Progress

Look at him go! Had so much fun he came back up and did it again.

Okay, drum roll...3.2 pounds.  I have slightly recovered before starting to write. I confess I am initially disappointed.  I know, I know...I should be happy for every loss.  And I know in a few weeks I will be thrilled by a 3 pound loss.  I just thought here at the beginning I would have bigger losses...like my husband.  He lost 7.2 this week!!  We both have worked really hard. Why does it seem to fall off men faster?? 

I am so glad we have that 10K race scheduled.  I am extra motivated to do well before the race and hopefully by race day habits will be taking root. 

Last night I ended up walking 2-3 miles with a friend so I decided to take this morning off.  The last couple of days I have felt a bit worn out so I think a break could be good. I am sure we will end up doing something active tonight...maybe a bike ride.  And I will be back to my morning walking schedule tomorrow morning.  My husband has to work early so I will be on my own.  I think I will try a new route and get in at least 3 miles.

As you may have guessed from the pictures we made it back to the prairie trails again tonight. We waited until about 7:30 p.m. for it to be cooler, but it sure was buggy out there.  At one point I got bit on the shoulder blade and I couldn't reach it.  My husband had gotten a bit ahead of me and I could not pedal fast enough to get to him for a back scratch. Next time we have to remember the bug spray!!

A "before" picture if I ever saw one :)

Before we started riding on the trails I challenged my husband to a biking dual.  There is a loop around the soccer fields that I think it about a half mile. I rode it first and then his challenge was to beat my time. I pedaled my heart out....for 4:21.  Then my husband cruises in at 3:07 - okay he pedaled hard too but I didn't realize he was going to beat me by so much.  My original plan was to ride again and try to beat my first time. I changed my mind though because I wanted to save some energy for the trails...maybe next time.

Just made plans for a good friend to join us on our long Sunday walk.  She has lost an incredible 87 pounds.  I hope she will let me tell her story on this blog.  She has been so inspirational to me!

Biking on the Prairie

Okay, I am not kicking myself about this like I did last week.  But this morning I did not get up to go walking. I just wanted to stay in bed a little longer.  Last week I think it ruined my day because we had only been counting calories for a couple days and I was questioning my will to do this thing.  Today I just realized I needed a little rest.

I don't want to feel like I have to workout everyday.  While in the losing phase of this journey I think I will push myself harder.  Then when I get to a maintenance phase I would like to follow the 3-5 times a week activity recommendations.  Hopefully, by then, the activity will just be fun things we have discovered that we like to do.

Unloading the bikes.  I love our bike rack...so easy to use.

Speaking of fun!  We had a great time tonight.  Since I didn't go walking this morning I wanted to do something active this evening.  We settled on riding our bikes and then debated on where to ride them...neighborhood, levee, bike trail.

Then while I was on the phone with my mother-in-law she mentioned that she was going to one of our local parks to mulch a flower bed that had been recently planted.  We offered to meet her there to help her.  We planned to get there a half an hour before her so we could ride our bikes for awhile first.  When we arrived as planned, she was already there so we mulched.  My job was to fill the buckets with mulch for the two of them to spread around the plants. It felt good to work my upper body a little.  And it felt very good to be helpful.  Many hands make light work. She was very appreciative :)

Next to the park is a prairie restoration project.  Volunteers have planted native prairie plants over several acres.  It is a beautiful place to visit.  I like to go several times throughout the season to see all the changes in the prairie.  I have spent hours there photographing the flowers and foliage. At this time the prairie plants are about a foot tall, but by summer's end many of the plants will be 4-6 feet tall. There are mowed trails  through the prairie for people to walk through and enjoy the scenery.  They hold tours and even offer golf cart rides through it for disabled people.  Such a neat project!

Off I go! No, that is not my underwear...there is a white stripe at the top of the pants.

Okay, back to the bikes.  After mulching we decided to try riding our bikes through the prairie trails.  It was so much fun. There were small hills and lots of curves.  One tight curve almost took me down!  I squealed but managed to stay upright.  My husband was like a kid...huge grin!  He is loving his new bike. I can't wait to go back.  I couldn't take my camera out on the trail because I didn't have a pocket. I guarantee I will take pockets and my phone next time. We took these pictures near the entrance with the cell phone and then left it in the car.   

We both had a great time! It was definitely a physical challenge, but we had too much fun to notice. I know we will be back soon.