News about Cathy

I just read on Cathy's blog that she had a heart attack on December 1. She founded this group/team of exercisers as I recall. She has an amazing post about her experience that every woman should read here. This link for Cathy is not the blog on the right hand column here, so she has more than one.

A cooling rain

Columbus got a quick downpour this morning about 11 a.m. and then it cooled off. This afternoon I went for my first walk this week--in the 90s it's just too hot to walk on concrete and asphalt. The neighboring apartment complex had all its streets repaired this spring and summer, and is quite pleasant now for walking. Several little Chinese and Indian girls were playing and picking up acorns--they became treasures--gold coins, babies, jewels. Same things I played with my friends back in the 1940s.

When the sidewalks were installed last year, our street side bushes were cut down almost to the ground, but they are now about 7 ft. tall and blowing in the wind.

The heat is back

After a brief respite with wonderful cool evenings and nights when we could sleep with the windows open (until a skunk strolled by), the temps are back up. Passing through Bucyrus, Ohio, last evening about 6:30 p.m. the temperature sign read 100 degrees! So I'm inside today--no walking for awhile. I may be out of shape, but I'm not stupid!

Too hot to walk much

We've been at our lake home most of the summer (on Lake Erie), but except for 6 a.m., it's been too hot to walk much. I've done quite a bit of bike riding. This week we had a lot of family here, and there was almost non-stop eating. It's going to take a lot to burn up all those calories.

Easter Monday

Pretty good for this last week. Easter Sunday was only 2 miles because it started to storm. Had I not been so lazy, I could have walked right after church and made the 4 miles.

All yesterday I thought about how much Easter means to me. Our church service centered around new beginnings and the resurrection. The music, the lilies and other spring flowers on the altar, and pastor's sermon about "God's got you" meaning no matter what happens He has you in His hands to guide you had me thinking on my walk about how God is with me through tough times and through beautiful times.

My walk today was brisk and full of bird twitterings. I know it is Spring here because I heard a meadowlark and a brown thrasher. The juncos are still here, but by tomorrow morning, I bet they will be flying North - no matter when Easter is on the calendar, most seem to go north on Easter Monday (leaving just a few stragglers behind).

Monday Walks

So far, so good - now it is three days in a row. I really haven't lost much in the way of pace - just need to get it under a 15 minute mile. Saw lots of squirrels today. Yesterday watched a muskrat - funny little guy and amazing how he just dove under the water. I never did see him come up for air.

It is now Spring - the scillas are in bloom and the hyacinth are popping up.

Back to work tomorrow, but home in time to walk.

From my mall walking days

A tall, nice looking man carrying a broom stopped at my table at Panera and said, "Didn't you used to walk at the Lane Avenue Mall?" I had no idea who he was and didn't recognize him, but I agreed, that was indeed me for many years. Coffee at Caribou; walk for 30 minutes at Lane; on to open the Veterinary Library at 7:30.

"How did you remember me after all these years?" I asked, after he told me he was a maintenance worker there in those years.

"I always remember pleasant people," he said.

Maybe he remembers the times I forgot to change back into my dress shoes and had to come back and look for them.

Thursday Thoughts

Well, 3 days out of 5 days isn't too bad! Still did my exercises, but missed walking 2 days. Today was really brisk and breezy, but it did step up the pace.

I am on vacation til next Tuesday so I should get my miles in, my exercising done, and my time to enjoy the coming of Spring, besides doing Spring Housecleaning.

The famer neighbor moved his cattle back to the field along my route. When the cattle were at his other farm I missed seeing the newborn calves. I counted at least a half a dozen - I'm sure over the next week the number will grow. I am looking forward to my walks and the awakening of the Canal. Each day brings new bird songs and new joys of Spring.

60 minutes a day? Everyday?

This reminds me of taxes. We're all getting used to the health police telling us we need to exercise 3 x a week, and then they up the ante.

"If you want to prevent your weight gain over time you need to be physically active at the level of 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity, so the equivalent of one hour a day of brisk walking or 30 minutes a day of jogging or running," said I-Min Lee, M.B.B.S., Sc.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Lee and co-authors studied more than 34,000 women starting at an average age of 54, following and updating their activity level for 13 years. The women were divided into three groups. Those exercising 60, 30 and less than 30 minutes. "These two lesser activity groups of women were significantly more likely to gain weight compared to the most active group of women," said Lee.

The study appears in this week's JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association. "We found that physical activity was effective in controlling weight only among women who started off with a normal BMI," said Lee. "The women who were overweight or obese, physical activity, with the range done in the study was not sufficient to control their weight."

For heavier women, researchers say not to let the 60 minutes of daily exercise discourage you from starting or continuing to exercise. "While our study shows that this might not be sufficient to maintain normal weight it clearly is sufficient to reduce the risk of developing many chronic diseases including heart disease, certain types of cancer, type II diabetes," said Lee.

Researchers report that women in the study consumed a regular American diet and did not restrict their calories."

Article here.

Word definitions

Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

Chilly Sunday

Here it is - a week gone. I did manage short walks on Monday through Friday. Then it snowed Saturday and is colder today. The few days we had of warm weather spoiled me and turned me into a sissy with the drop in temperature yesterday and today. Even so, my other goals are doing better than I expected. I look forward to my Sunday morning breakfast and newspaper, then to church for some reflection and inspiration to guide me through the week. I know that the job I have is where God wants me, but need a little reinforcement to continue for the next 3 and 1/2 years.

At home, Spring housecleaning and my walks are on the agenda for this week after work, as well as next Saturday and Sunday. Then some Easter preparations.

As for my walks, saw robins and the finches are turning yellow. The male cardinals' feathers are brighter red and all the birds songs tell me Spring is here. The purple crocus are blooming and more buds are showing on the daffodils.

I have plans for my walks this week - each evening out of the office by 5 and home in time to do the 4 miles.

Almost Spring

Here it is my first walk since way last December and 4 miles at that. I have been such a slouch at my personal life - no work/life balance this year. But I'm working on it - really behind with what I need to have accomplished so here goes.

Walking 4 miles a day - weather permitting, that means leaving work at no later than 5PM

Nautilus starting April 3rd every other day until April 30th - then Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

At least 30 minutes of exercises/modified yoga every day

Take at least 2 hours each day to enjoy the world around me

No checking work e-mail from home on days off

No more than 2 hours overtime each week and working only 1 Saturday a month - until September 30th. Then no over time at all until after January 31, 2011.

"Like the last 2 will happen, but it is a goal."


Now for my walk - the snow is gone and most of the ice is off the canal. Saw a few critters - some squirrels and some song birds. The cardinals' songs are now of Spring. I am seeing little sprouts popping up - some of the daffodils are already budding out. The canal was pretty quiet - but I know it won't be long before I'll see turtles and fish. Am waiting for the Blue Heron to come back.
The farm fields are pretty rugged in places - erosion in some places and the ground is saturated. The ditch along the road is slowly draining. And so it was not very eventful, but it felt so great to be outside walking again.

Sunday Thoughts an d New Year Ramblings

Although late in posting, Best Wishes for the New Year! The holidays were great with another Minneapolis Christmas at my niece's home.

Now that the holidays are past, I have taken time to gather my thoughts. The weather has not contributed much to walking, so I'm doing some jazzerize, modified yoga, and will start with weight training in a couple of weeks. Work is still a bear - when this "stimulus money thing" is over, I hope to never hear the word "stimulus" again. Managing the stimulus funding is a trip and a half, especially when the rules are changing constantly.

I have been able to schedule a day off for most weeks between now and Easter to restore my soul and my sanity. I still put in extra hours, but that day off helps me from getting burned out.

One thing I am looking forward to is a new computer at home, a digital camera, and hopefully hi-speed internet. I have procrastinated long enough for the new computer. If only I could just buy the thing and like magic have everything working in one hour. That truly is wishful thinking!

Oxidative damage--what is it?

Can we improve cognitive function with diet and exercise? Watch this video about Alzheimer's Disease research.