Great day!
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This morning was my required annual screening for work. I HATE doing this stuff. The more I try to relax, the more my heart pounds. Stupid, but it is what it is. Doubly stupid, because all of my numbers are just fine. The nurse said “I haven’t seen a BMI that low yet. (at our work clinic)” It’s 20.8, so it’s not like I’m underweight or anything. And honestly, I would have preferred being 5 pounds lighter, but oh well… That’s the first time I’ve been weighed since last year. And the next nurse was just remarking how everything was in the green and her eyes bugged out when I said I was in my 50s. She said to keep up what I was doing. I remarked she probably didn’t want to do what I was doing, LOL.
Anyhow just so relieved I don’t have to go through that for another year. I’m also to the point I’d rather pay the $500 more in premiums… And yes, we are getting Japanese food for dinner tonight and I’m eating a piece of double layered cookie cake H brought home from school. My reward!
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Still walking up a storm here. Bike riding and tennis/pickleball has become less regular, as the weather just hasn’t been cooperative. My weight has remained stable, but I can see the muscle gains I made after lots of biking and tennis is starting to diminish.
I’ve added in a quick (15 minute) daily workout to my morning routine. Either a vinyasa flow or some pilates that focuses on back and core…just depends on what feels most in need of attention/hurts when I wake up. I’m finding doing either of those helps me not feel so sore/stiff/achy after I have to sit all day at work.
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Great idea on the morning video. So hard to keep those muscle gains going!
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I played pickleball, starting when it was cold, for over 2 hours this morning. After a couple of games we were comfortable in just long sleeves.
May I brag a little here? I was thinking about getting a new pickleball paddle. I narrowed it down to a couple, and just by luck a woman I play with had one of them in her bag (I think it’s her husband’s). I tried it, and really liked it. One of the sites I looked for it on gives 45% off to government employees - saved me over $100. I figured with that discount, AND getting to “try before I buy,” I didn’t need to try the other one I was considering.
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I took up jogging. I started a 6 month couch to marathon training program. Lol!! The marathon thing isn’t going to happen. I’m too fluffy and slow. I’d finish after all the food trucks drive off and they turn off all the lights. 
But I managed to hit the 5 mile mark. I’m going to see if I can hit 10 before Christmas.
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That’s a big gain to get to 5 miles already! Have you run at all in your past years?? Great job.
Edited to say… “jogging” indicates you don’t feel worthy of being called a runner. YOU ARE A RUNNER NO MATTER YOUR PACE!!!
I used to run in my 20s. Those days are long gone, but my energy has increased significantly. I won’t be doing any skydiving, but Christmas shopping should be a breeze.
That is great! But I wouldn’t advise many people (especially people over 40) to go from a couch to a marathon in 6 months. I see below where you used to run in the 20s. That’s good. So do you know what kind of shoes you need? (Neutral, stability, motion control) You can get away with more when you run lower mileage, but once you start aiming for longer distances, issues will crop up.
And you would be surprised at the speed of many marathoners. I believe many races have a 7 hour cutoff, if not longer.
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I ran across this the other day. It is as far towards the other end of the spectrum as you can get. It’s amazing when you can visualize, with the help of normal humans, what a world record marathon pace looks like.
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Not all running shoes are created equal. With running, I need one size larger, and that’s hard to find in my size. Nike and Reebok…NOPE! Those things hurt. The store employee pointed at the clearance section. He found a pair of Brooks on sale for $100 in my size. They’re the most comfortable shoes I ever wore.
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This is amazing. Cool and funny!
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It is REALLY amazing to see how fast those guys (and gals) run. The world record is a little over 13mph! For 2 hours! Even the women are going just shy of 12mph!
In the day (on a good day) I’d be in the top 1% of women (3:08PR), and I couldn’t run ONE mile at the women’s WR pace, let alone the men. I couldn’t run the men’s pace for 200m!
The top 0.25% (like in any other sport really) are just in a whole different league.
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I’m a Brooks (ghost) wearer too. I’m a high arched supinator (feet roll outward unlike most people) Fortunately for me, they still have 10.5s in women’s running shoes - not always the case in dress shoes!. and worst case, I can always size down to a men’s shoe. I used to do that for racing flats.
Very impressive, no matter when or how you hit that PR(Rosie Ruiz methods aside).
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Thanks. I actually was 40 when I hit that. With 1 bathroom stop. A 3:10 with 2 stops was a better actual race though.
I had a shot at sub 3 once and went to chicago. It was the year it was muggy and 90* and they ran out of water and shut down the race for everyone who didn’t clear 20 miles by 3 hours. I knew sub 3 was out of the cards at the beginning and dialed it back, but it was still a struggle! A 3:22 put me around top 100 ladies. Usually 100 run under 3 hours. Still ticks me off! Ha!
Of course 35+ years of hard running has taken its toll on my body. I’m just grateful to run at all now.
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My husband once read about an amateur runner who was introduced to champion Bill Rogers at a marathon. Bill’s fun line was, “you ran for FOUR hours? good job - wow, I could never do that”.
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I used to see Bill Rodgers all the time. I actually bought running shoes from him a few times.
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I always thought the exact same thing. I’d be done and on my way home (I wasn’t much for hanging around, as I’d usually go by myself. My family hated those things) and be thinking of all the people still running at 5+ hours. And I would think NO WAY!!! 5, 6, 7 hours is a long time to be on one’s feet.
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I have never done a marathon. And I have no plans to. I can do a Half maybe once a year. Just kills my other (strength) training.