just the treadmill

2.13miles in 32.03 minutes
i was kind of rushing needing to get to the salon and all
it has been a busy day of nothing
i need to be downthe road but am burning a cd and can't leave just yet

i have some observations from the gym
i need to find the jimmy kimmel sesame street madoff video - it looked funny from what i could see of it
and i had no idea that SCUBA had such a sexy spin to it - I read a dive magazine while on the treadmill... every other page wa some chick unzipping her tight wetsuit... not that the breathing under water and fear of sharks is bad enough but now i have to contemplate land sharks as well the next time i don a shorty... makes me think twice about adding a dive trip to the agenda

well then again if i ever get under way on another tri i guess i won't feel as self-conscious in a wet suit... decisions decisions...

Sign of things...

I am getting my hair cut today. A little later in the morning than usual. So I figured I would get up, have breakfast and go to the gym. Well wonder of all wonders I slept later than I anticipated. OK 7:30 isn't really that late but when I have been averaging 6:30 on the weekends (eerrrrr) I figured I would have lots of time to do all the things I wanted before heading to the salon. Well now I am feeling a little pressed for time (I know why am I writing, then?). I can still make it for a little bit. Out of procrastination I decide to verify the hours for the little Y. AND much to my SHOCK - they have reduced their hours. The little Y will only be open until 1pm today. AND is not even open tomorrow. Not that that should alter my game plan or anything. Because I need to go RIGHT NOW! And as for tomorrow - I was thinking of throwing some air in my tires, yucking the bike rack onto the car and heading back to the park I visited last weekend. OK - so I best go. I don't have much time. Maybe 30 minutes.

gym

i got so sidetracked by this video a friend sent me i almost forgot to document
I ACTUALLY WENT TO THE GYM TONIGHT!!!
Not only did I go to the gym - I came home from work, had something to eat, changed clothes and headed over there...
In the 4th day of rain I so would have guessed I would have stayed in
But I knew I just needed to do it... Hey and the little gym wasn't very crowded at that 7pm hour...
Might try it again tomorrow
The rain and all don't have me motivated yet to put on a bathing suit and jump in the pool
anyways 2.17 miles in 35.11minutes followed with stretching
I think the stretching is my favorite part - it reminds me of gymnastic days - and what a sense of accomplishment to be able to touch my nose to my knee...
As me how THAT feels tomorrow

MMM - Irish Bands... of course

While out on the path I did not bring along any music. It was nice to walk and just listen to the rain and slapping of feet as others ran up and past me. But while out there I did get a chance to contemplate some music. And of course with St. Patrick's Day right around the corner how could I not go there....
I could tax my brain and go for the truly obscure. And I thought I could be really entertaining and post links to youtube of various videos. But instead (I've posted lots of pics over the past few hours) I am just going to ramble on a list of artists and songs that come to mind
U2 - The Sweetest Thing (ok a Patty Smythe cover but I like it anyways); Enya - Far and Away; Clannad - the theme to Harry's Game; The Waterboys - Hole of the Moon; The Pogues; Black 47 - did they do that Funky Kaylee song; Damien Rice - Cannonball; Snow Patrol - Spitting Games

OK - I know there are more. My brain is just blank at the moment. So this will have to do.

Walk / Run in the Rain

You could call it a case of cabin fever. It poured down rain 2 weekends ago. And then last weekend was so beautiful. The motivation to do anything physical has been minimal at best. Finally today I had had enough. It wasn't raining too too hard. And it wasn't THAT cold. Going to the gym just didn't appeal to me. And then I remembered how much water/rain/flooding I had seen from the road down at the park the other weekend. So I bundled up - long underwear (yes- I am a wimp), tshirt, sweathshirt, fleece pants, scarf, ear warmers, and raincoat - and off I went. I was surprised when I got to the park that there were a number of cars there. And once out there I realised what a die-hard runner is. There weren't that many people out there for a leisurely stroll. Well I kind of was. I brought my camera and headed on down the trail in the hopes of getting some pictures. The greens are always so much greener when it is raining. I took the path to the left until I could go no further (see other posts for highlights). It was a little over a 1/4 mile out. So 1/2 mile down. And then down the path to the right. I went 3/4 of a mile out. For 2 miles total. I wanted to go farther but I know that park well enough - it is so tucked away and you just want to keep walking. But then you do have to turn around and head back to the car. Plus I wasn't too sure how long the light rain would last. I took a number of pictures. It was really a nice afternoon out for what it was weather wise. And I even ran a bit in there. I feel better for it - that's for sure!

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It was a day for ducks

Running in the Rain

I will write more about my excursion out in the rain but as I go through my pics of the venture I can't help but post these sooner than later.

There was a runner that passed me on my way down the trail towards Trader Joes. It wasn't too long until that individual was running back towards me. I wondered how far he had run and how fast. But then I started to think about all the unique things about this park. And the main reason I was out there - running water. Yep - the trail was flooded. So I stopped to take some pics - mostly of the ducks - when another runner came by me. He stopped, looked at the depth of the water, navigated a bit, took off his shoes, took off his socks (always a wise thing to do when you don't know what's at the bottom) and waded through. At that point, I couldn't help but snap a picture or two...

10things Tuesday

Did you see that Prince Charles was named as the worlds best dressed man?
Well it prompted me to visit one of my favourite lists... Top 10 British Men... Truthfully I never get to 10...
(1) Sting
(2) David Beckham
(3) Robbie Williams
(4) Ewan MacGregor (now he may argue that he is Scottish and not necessarily British but for all intents and purposes of this list)...
(5) Gavin Rosdale (have you heard his new song? good stuff... I forogt how much I missed that scruffy voice of his)
(6) Guy Ritchie
(7) Jonathan Rhys Myers (again he may argue the British thing and his resemblance toward Robbie always keeps him lower on my list)
(8) almost forgot Stewart Townsend (again Irish, I know but... oh to be Charlize Theron)

almost a workout

well not really... I have decided over the past 12 hours or so that maybe February is the BLAH month for me... Last year I was sick almost the entire month. This year I feel like I was on the road the entire month. Neither in retrospect were very productive. But I feel full of ambition and motivation last night and this morning. Go figure... OK some of it was predicated on The Police being on TV last night - which turned out to be a LIE! Bad bad PBS channel switching Great Performances and The Police out for Doo Wop. Perhaps I was right in my first thought on the PBS target market - at least around here. So when I got home last night I speedily got a whole bunch done - dishes, laundry, sorting, etc.. It felt good. Now this morning when I walked downstairs to start my day the clutter of the week wasn't staring my in the face. It was already taken care of. SO the next task at hand - oil change... The original thought was to take the car and then do a loop around town pick up a coffee and come on home while they worked on the car. And somewhere in the midst of it all out of my mouth pops - Bacchus you wanna go with me? Now let's frame this picture - this is my 8 year old dog that has two bad back legs that he manages quite well but he is not the walk all around town puppy he used to be. Shoot we hardly make it up to the gazebo. WELL he was all for it - dancing around in circles, barking, following me around. He really wanted to go. So how could I refuse. He is such a pleasure to be around. He is so cute. And people just love him. So I decided I would take him with me and if I have to carry his 25lbs the 1/2+ mile back to the house then so be it. Well that little guy did great! He wigged out over 2 storm drains and I had to carry him a little but overall he did wonderfully. So now I am thinking I need to work in a little half mile jaunt for him on the weekends before it gets too hot. He and his heart might just like it. As for his back legs they seemed to do OK... I suspect if you didn't know you might not suspect at times that he wasn't managing all four wheels so to speak.
Now as for the rest of the workout for the day... hmmm...
Maybe I will work that walk in when I go back to get my car.
I still haven't had any coffee.

Gym bag

does carrying my gym bag to and from work count as exercise
let's be honest i have known all week that some work items were going to take presidence over gym visits
and the weather last weekend lent to just wanting to stay inside
so the gym motivation has been minimal
this week it is going to be very warm so i hope that gets me up and out on saturday...
we shall see

10ThingsTuesday - Snow Memories

Well since we had a late winter storm on NJ standards not even NC standards - I figured let's talk snow...
(1) An emotional storm - February 2006. I had traveled to NY for work and swung a trip to NJ into the mix. When I arrived home that Friday night I learned there was a snow storm quickly approaching and the possibility of me making my Sunday flight was minimal. I could stay and wait it out or I could change flights and get out early. Looking back perhaps the better choice would have been to stay. Dragging my suitcase up the curb and into the airport that blustery not yet snowy Saturday afternoon was the last time I saw my dad. It was gutt-wrenching at the time and even worse in retrospect. The rational cop that he was would say we all made the right decision that day to get me on that plane out of town. So I don't beat myself up on it, too much.
(2) A memorable storm - Winter 92/93 my mom were going to Bermuda for New Years. My dad was taking us to the airport and about 10 miles/10 exits up the Parkway it started to sleet and eventually snow. We sat on the south side of the Driscoll Bridge for quite some time. I remember it well because I had to PEE so bad... Ah and the guy in the Jeep next to us who did as well. He got out of the Jeep, opened the back hatch, emptied a tennis ball can and got back in his car. Not too long afterwards he poured something out of the can on to the road. We eventually made our flight.
(3) We did spend a night at a Holiday Inn in Newark, NJ in 1987 on our way to St. Thomas. Again pending snow and my dad's rational preparedness had us leave for the airport the night before. It surely worked to our advantage.
(4) Snow with the puppy... We had a pretty good snow storm here when the little guy was about a year old. Oh and he loved the snow. We bundled all up, threw on his leash and out into the snow we went. We lived in an apartment at that time and there was a good amount of fields and grass that ran behind all the buildings. We would go back there and walk around and play. I have some pics of that I should try to find them.
(5) Night walks in the snow. I can remember taking night walks in the snow with my mom and neighbor as a kid. It would be so quiet and peaceful in the night time. It was really beautiful. And I suppose we had all the attire to go out there. It is surely not something that would cross my mind to do today. Combined #4 & #5 Sunday evening as the snow fell.
(6) Sleds. I always looked forward to the new sled I would get at Christmas. Now mind you we didn't get that much snow that I would wear the old one out. It was just kind of a tradition. And if I think about it I didn't get THAT many new sleds. It just seemed like I did.
(7) Kid sledding. We would take our sleds and head for the hills. When I was young we would go to the hill on Lakewood Rd. It is now a development of overpriced townhomes overlooking the dumpsters and backside of a grocery store. But as a kid THAT was the hill to go to. When we got a little older and some development started in the neighborhood we would go to the gravel pit. Today that has been flattened to a retirement community. That was always fun. We would go from random him to random hill, one steeper than the next. And we would drag my dog with us. She would get all these iceballs stuck to her fur. We would have to go home and thaw her out and ourselves.
(8) College sledding. That didn't come with a new sled under the tree. The college theory is to borrow trays from the cafeteria and use those to ride down the hill. Good idea. I don't know anyone who ever achieved that. I do remember one time we decided using the wooden bookshelves would be great for snowboarding. Sure, except they were heavy and once they got too cold they split in half. Thankfully they were not our shelves.
(9) Snow ball fights. My dad was always a good sport about snowball fights. Even that time that I soaked the snowballs in water to get them harder. I was about 10 at the time, I didn't quite get the whole ice aspect. I just knew they were good and solid. He would always get me back by just dropping buckets of snow on me as I tried to hide from him.
(10) Snow men. That was more up my mom's alley. We did build a snowman or 2 when I was younger. I ALWAYS wanted to make some sort of snow fort. There never really was enough snow.
And now even a little is too much.

For the geek in all of us....

This made me smile
"3/3/09: Math fans to celebrate Square Root Day"
Of course this is from a girl that is always seeing patterns in numbers...
3/9
6/18
Things like that...

It snowed last night. The roads were crappy. The pwoer went out twice. And the temperature is dropping fast. Today was supposed to be my jump back in the pool with both feet day. I don't even know if the Y was open to tell you the truth.

Monday Music Musings - Movies

I was on the road last week. As I was dashing out of the house at 6am I picked some CDs out of the pile for the ride. One CD in the mix was the soundtrack to Once. That won an Oscar last year, no? Well I didn't want the Oscars this year. What music was nominated? I truly enjoyed the CD for Once.
So I started thinking of other music related to the movies. OK - I know I could go down a wonderful path with this topic but I chosing on a shorter journey... Just a few things that popped into my head over the course of the week...
Like besides all the songs on the Bridget Jones soundtrack, I had no idea Robbie Williams is on the Finding Nemo soundtrack with his cover of Under the Sea....
Or how cool was the sampling of the Planet Bends Between Us (Snow Patrol) on Grey's Anatomy 2 weeks ago. Oh or that they just sampled another song on the preview for Brothers & Sisters (it's the one at the end of the album that is 3 songs in one, they sample a bit of What If This Storm Ends)
I like it when I am watching a movie and it has a song or 2 in it that I know. Moulin Rouge had me in the first few minutes with Ewan MacGregor's tidbit of Your Song. I watch that movie over and over for its music.
I just joined NetFlix. I am trying to think over the course of the week have there been any other movies that hit me with music. NAH - not this week.
Hey but on the Ewan MacGregor front - is he is the new Angels and Demons? I wasn't going to see it in the theater - I have a personal ban of Tom Hanks - I don't believe he CAN act in every role given him unlike those that cast him. But if I get a few hours of Ewan MacGregor in there... I may just have to head to the movies.
OH August Rush - I DID see a movie with music. DUH! I had no idea that Robin(with an N) Williams was in that movie. And I had no idea that Jonathan Rhys Myers could sing. I liked the movie - even if the kid was a little odd. I suppose that was to repreent the genius in him.
This week I think I am in the super hereo comic strip movies section and this Joker is not sampling any Prince in the background.

exercise

i was so going to go to the gym yesterday
then i got a phone call a little after 10am and that got me distracted
i was on the phone for a better part of 30 minutes and then from there i had to address things from the conversation
finally i got back to cleaning when all i wanted to do was lie on the couch
so that's what i ended up doing
sure i pushed the vacuum around but that doesn't count as 4 miles on the treadmill
i was planning on swimming tomorrow
SNOW way is that going to happen now
one of these days and i hope soon i will get back to that gym
i have such a good time when i go