Tag Archives: physical fitness

Pre-Swim Post

I have shared various parts of my fitness journey here, my walks and runs, and years ago when I went to the Mohawk YMCA I seem to recall making a couple of elliptical remarks (a play on words when I was on the elliptical machine).  I thought my well-wishers would like to know I had gotten a year’s membership at the Y which allows me use the facilities in Little Falls and Mohawk, NY (I feel I should specify the state for the benefit of anybody just now tuning in).  So far I have only been swimming in Little Falls, but I have enjoyed that quite a bit.

I finally remembered to take a picture of the building.

What, you didn’t think I was going to take a selfie of me in a bathing suit, did you?  Well, it may come to that eventually.  I had been tempted to join for quite some time now.  One of my Elks friends swims almost every morning, and it is not only good exercise, apparently it is also a very sociable thing to do.  Some of them meet for lunch sometimes, and even for dinner at Christmas.  Regular readers know how I live to be sociable.

It turned out to be quite affordable (at least I could afford it) to purchase a year’s membership, and I can also take advantage of weight rooms, exercise machines, and various classes.  So far all I have done is swim.  We are not supposed to swim laps, unfortunately, so I mostly walk back and forth, swish around, and do some of the exercise I learned in Physical Therapy.  And chat with my fellow swimmers.  I was delighted to find that I was already acquainted with a number of them.  And I have made new friends.  Of course I swim without my glasses on, so it is not guaranteed that I will recognize my new friends when I see them outside the pool, but hopefully they will recognize me and help me out.  It is amazing to me how often you do not recognize people when you see them in a different setting anyways, or is that just me?

Anyways, this is my Monday blog post, a shout-out to the local Y.  I encourage everybody to get what exercise they can, according to their abilities and the facilities available.  We’ll call this my Public Service Announcement for the day.

 

I Did Not Take the Pictures as I Ran

Yesterday (Saturday) when I went for my run, I purposefully ran by a few places I have pictures of in my Media Library, thinking I could include them in my Saturday Running Commentary Post.  Then I wrote the post late, in a hurry, and did not bother with pictures.  In my defense, I was anxious to get out for Sunday’s run before I talked myself out of it.

As I ran today (Sunday) (I guess you could have figured that much out), I also ran by a few places I have pictures of.  So I thought I might do a Sunday Running Commentary Post and use a few pictures.

A handsome building, and beautiful inside.

Both days I ran by the Grand Colonial Bed and Breakfast.  It is handily located on German Street.

I did not pause to read it today either.

The informational plaque on the walkway over what used to be a hydraulic canal appeared to be coated with ice.  I did not examine it closely.  Yes, I run slowly, but not that slow.

I did not step on the colored spots either, but I do not rule out doing so in the future.

I continued down the path, thinking I might also run by my beloved Herkimer Historic Four Corners.  Then I saw something that changed my mind: a Do Not Enter sign.  Regular readers know how I love to Enter where it says not to.

I suppose they mean vehicular traffic, not slow running middle aged females.

It was not a bad run, and I enjoyed a full ten minute cool down walk.  I am planning in my head which days to run on in the coming week.  I also hope to continue my daily walks.  Physical fitness,  here I come!

 

Musings at the End of the Month

It is the last day of June. I seem to remember making a blog post where I said June was going to be All About My Novel and perhaps I would have a Julyathon concerning physical fitness. I should have known that July would sneak up on me. These things always do.

I must admit, to begin with, that June was not exactly All About the Novel. Some days I did not work on it at all. Some days I only managed a little tiny bit. I tried not to get discouraged or down on myself. That is always a danger. For example, I could say, “Oh to hell with it, I missed yesterday and I didn’t do very much today. I might as well give up!” Or I could go the drill sergeant route: “I’m a miserable moron who can’t write a word! A lazy, lollygagging bum! I’ve got to get to work NOW!” (Actually, I usually talk to myself in the second person “YOU’RE a lazy bum!” But I was afraid of being unclear.)

However, I did manage to keep making some sort of progress. Now the month is over and where do I find myself? Um, on the couch, composing my blog post as I type it into the computer (it’s actually a netbook or some such thing) (it was given to me by a generous sister). My novel has not progressed by leaps and bounds, and tomorrow should be the beginning of my Julyathon.

Hmmm… I wrote the title of this post before writing the post, and I don’t know that it really fits. Oh dear, that is OK on Non-Sequitur Thursday but is less than ideal for Middle-aged Musings Monday. What’s a blogger to do?

Big Plans for June

The Blog Runner is doing a Juneathon. He is a blogger I read sometimes (I don’t read anybody every day. Sorry, fellow bloggers). He runs a lot more than I do, by the way. Participants in a Juneathon, if I have this right, do something physical every day in June and write about it. This is the sort of challenge that appeals to me. The Blog Runner is doing it to prepare for a particular race.

In my case, the only race I have on the horizon is the DARE 5K in August. If I keep going at the rate of 3 or 4 runs a week I can get there handily. Come to that, I could probably run a 5K now. It would just take me a while. And the hill in the middle of this particular 5K would not be any fun at all.

Moreover, I’m not concentrating on physical fitness this month. June 6 marks one year of working on the novel I vowed I would finish (I have started MANY novels that I have not yet finished)(point and laugh if you must but how many novels have YOU finished?). I decided June would be All About Novel, preparing for my week vacation at the beginning of July. If I work hard for 30 days while at work (um, on breaks, I mean), I should be geared up to really make progress for nine straight days off.

So I commented on the Blog Runner’s post praising the idea of Juneathon but declining to participate. Then I realized I had gone for a run June 1 but had NOT worked on my novel.

In my defense, I had worked on said novel for the previous eight days. This is better than I’ve done in a while. One thing I try not to do is take days off. One thing I have been doing a lot lately is taking a day off.

June 2, 3 and 4 (today) I worked on the novel. I ran again July 3. So I could do a Novel Juneathon having missed one day or a Fitness Juneathon having missed two. Or I could do some push-ups and sit-ups before bed and only have missed one. One thing I can’t do is go back in time and not miss any days. And one thing I am unlikely to do is both kinds of Juneathon. Just saying.

However, a Julyathon for fitness is possible. I don’t think I will write about my physical activities every day, but every third or fourth day I can recount what I’ve done so far. That will leave space for posts about Mohawk Valley adventures, cheesy movie reviews and, of course, my beloved Lame Post Friday.

But first I’ll try to get through June.