Golden Apple Perfection

Venue, the God of Outdoor Events, was smiling down upon the Westchester Cycle Club on Sunday and sent a perfect day for the Golden Apple and the 1,000+ participants. The 100 and 125 mile riders were able to start early with but a slight chill in the air, maybe with arm warmers. The 75 and 50 milers saw the sun breaking through as they set out on their journeys. The 25 milers had bright sunshine from start to finish. I rallied some slow C riders for the 50 mile ride, and it was great. They ride just a bit faster than me, enough to push me to quicken my pace and prove to me that I can ride faster than I think! Everyone was given a pair of Golden Apple 25th Anniversary socks when they checked in and there was still Ben & Jerry's ice cream available (in addition to a full lunch) when we were done. Volunteers were plentiful and the entire event was well managed. I'm sure the Club brought in the revenue they need to support its activities and to donate a chunk of money to charity as well. I'm sure Mike the Event Man slept well on Sunday night.

DH returned from his XY vacation late late Friday night. Although he had a great time with his buddies and his mule, he did suffer from altitude sickness. He never really acclimated and wasn't able to do some of the hiking. One day he took a 3 hour nap in the meadow while the other guys hiked up to 12,000 feet. Doesn't sound too unpleasant to me! He was still feeling crappy on Saturday and when he took his bike out, he just couldn't do it. His heart rate was very low because his red blood cells were all pumped up, but his breathing was wacky. So he didn't ride on Sunday. I did pick up his socks for him. He is feeling better and is planning to workout today.

I am updating the Fitness Challenge after week 2 and except for me, the other participants are fairly consistent. 40 milers for the 1st week did 40 miles in the 2nd week, and 6 milers for the first week did 6 miles in the 2nd week. My mileage dropped from 31 to 17. Last week was not a good week for working out. Hoping this week will be better. One person dropped out after seeing the totals from the 1st week. It was too demoralizing to compare herself to the top contenders. That's exactly what I did not want to happen and why everyone has an alias (a fitness challenge spirit name). Oh well. Some people have commented that they are defintiely out there a little longer because of the challenge and that's what it's all about!

Pass Interference

Waiting for the bus from Giants Stadium to Arena parking lot, slightly drunk man steps in front of me. Pass Interference. Penalty: He has to move halfway to the back of the line.

Leaving Giants Stadium, 3 lanes merge into 1 to get on the NJ Turnpike. Dirtbag driving Suburban cuts me off. Pass Interference. Penalty: He has to return halfway to the stadium parking lot. Throw in a personal foul for driving that gas guzzling monster, and he has to go all the way back to the stadium parking lot.

Driving home, son #1 changes radio station, son #2 calls pass interference. Penalty: son #1 loses control of the radio for half of remaining time in the car.

Monday morning, son #1 gets to sleep an hour later than son #2 because he doesn't have a first period class and can drive to school. Pass Interference. Penalty: son #1 has to drive son #2 to Cold Stone Creamery. Seems reasonable to me.

Commuting into NYC, man stands in front of me on train platform as train approaches. Pass Interference. Penalty: He has to return halfway to his car in the parking lot and miss the train. Ha!

Coffee break, deli across the street, purchasing refreshments for myself and a colleague. Deli worker ignores me requiring supervisory deli worker to tell him to help me and then gives me only 1 little jelly package for my colleague's pumpernickel bagel. Guess what deli worker, that's PASS INTERFERENCE. Penalty: forfeit half of the grape jelly packages and pumpernickel bagels in the deli.

As you can see, I am a ruthless referee, handing out penalties whenever I feel like it, just like NFL referees. And I don't have to wear a stupid zebra striped shirt either!

Penis Envy, $4000 on eBay, Flapper Pillowcase Dress, Phitness Phreak, INvalidation, HS Reading List

DH has gone on an all-boy vacation with a bunch of his buddies. He flew out to Reno and then drove to Bishop CA where he will get on a horse and ride into the high Sierras for 5 days. DH does not know anything about riding a horse, so hopefully all that will be required is that he remain upright and the horse will know more than he does. I know there are also mules involved. Oh, and guides. That's a good thing. Hopefully the guides will know how to do things like set up tents and cook and kill snakes. Now, I must admit that I am jealous. I would have gone on this trip without thinking twice, if I could. Oh well, another disadvantage of not having a penis.

Since DH is out of town, I get to drive to Giants Stadium tomorrow evening for the opening game of the football season-- Eli v. Peyton. I don't mind going to the game, although I probably would have given my ticket to a friend of son #2 and watched the game from the comfort of my living room. I just hate driving to Giants Stadium especially for a night game. I tried to talk the kids into agreeing to sell the tickets on eBay. I am told that these tickets are selling for over $1000 each, and we have 4 of them. They didn't even respond to my suggestion. So drive I will, to cheer for Eli and the Giants. Son #2 said I can wear his Tiki jersey.

Last night son #1 went to a Great Gatsby party at a very nice catering venue. One of his friends had neither a bat mitzvah nor a sweet sixteen, and her mom agreed to throw this big shindig for 60 of her closest friends. Good food, DJ, photographer, the whole shabang! Once again, I am jealous. I would love to make a flapper dress out of a pillowcase and go to a Great Gatsby party. And at my age, there would be drinking in addition to the good food and DJ, which would defintiely lend itself to many Kodak moments.

I am preparing the first update for the Fitness Challenge and boy, the competition is much tougher than I thought it would be! From September 1-7, I had 31 miles. I thought I would have an early lead which would fade over the next few weeks. Well, Phitness Phreak had 42 miles and 26.2 or Bust (who is obviously training for the NYC marathon) had 30 miles. Several participants had 25ish miles. A couple of people commented that they were defintiely motivated to do a little more because of the Challenge, and that is definitely what this is about. I hope no one is discouraged when they see how many miles some people have logged.

Speaking of fitness, I went for a club bike ride this morning. It was absolutely beautiful-- blue skies, temp in the mid 70s, just perfect. We rode past Club Fit, one of the biggest gyms/fitness clubs in the area. The parking lot was packed! I could visualize all those people riding stationary bikes and running on treadmills. How could they even think of being indoors on a day like today? I'm sure there's a myriad of reasons and explanations but they are ALL INVALID.

Today I was helping son #2 write an essay about Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild. That really piqued my interest and now I have to read the book. So that's what I'm gonna do!

Potential Energy

Every Labor Day weekend the bike club books a block of rooms at a small motel in Red Hook and rides the backroads of Dutchess county. On Sunday, I drove up with another club member, just for the day. It was a damp drizzly morning, and while many decided to wait until noon and take a shorter ride, 5 of us set out in the morning, knowing the weather was going to improve. It ended up being a fabulous ride, probably one of my favorites this season. We stopped at a beautiful farmer's market in Rhinebeck and bought fruit, cheese, bread and muffins for lunch. Then we rode to the Staatsburgh Mansion, and picnicked right on the banks of the Hudson. We continued to ride beautiful backcountry roads, past apple orchards, horse farms and corn fields. Our last stop was at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, home of the Fischer Performing Arts Center, which was designed by Frank Gehry. What a sight to behold! I'm so glad we rode the extra few miles to see it. The last few miles we rode were under a deep blue sky with a smattering of high clouds. Our ride was 44 miles. Of course there were hills, but nothing too dramatic, and I seemed to match the speed and pace of these women very well (there was 1 husband, but he slowed down to ride with us). The only disappointment was discovering that Red Hook does not have a Dunkin Donuts. I got over it.

I have already "banked" 27 miles in the September Challenge. Riding 84 miles over the weekend certainly gave me a major league head start. Everyone in the challenge has to have an "alias" which reflects their fitness challenge spirit. That way no one has to be embarrassed when I post weekly mileage updates if they are in last place. l have thought about it (hmmm.... Black Trek, no that doesn't reflect any spirit... Vergence Ranges, no that's too easy..... Hills for Breakfast, getting closer, at least that has attitude) and finally decided I will be Potential Energy. That's what you have when you get to the top of a hill. It's about fighting gravity which is trying to keep you down. When you climb the hill and fly downhill, you forfeit all your potential energy and you have to climb the next hill. There is always another hill, but there is always a reward when you get to the top! Everyone can find their potential energy if they are willing to fight against whatever is pulling them down. So what do you think-- Potential Energy exudes spirituality, right?

The Millbrook Ride

Many years ago, (uh, about 20), my brother and I would ride from our parent's home in Hopewell Jct to Millbrook. It was always a favorite bike ride, really beautiful, challenging, and most of it on quiet back roads. When DH became my DH, he would ride with us, too. Yesterday, DH and I both took the day off and we decided to take the bikes up to Hopewell Jct. and ride to Millbrook. We even found the original route directions in my brother's handwriting. I knew there was a couple of really big climbs on this ride, but DH kept assuring me that the hills would be smaller than I remember them. Not. I'm grateful they didn't get bigger but they certainly didn't get smaller. This was a very challenging ride for me, 40 miles round trip. I felt like my legs were toast when we got to Millbrook. Luckily the ride out is more difficult than the return trip, but we still had to go over Chestnut Ridge. You know you are in trouble when you turn onto "Overlook Road." DH stuck with me, even though I ride much slower than him. He was wearing his heart rate monitor which beeps whenever he is not "in his zone" (kind of annoying but the monitor is broken and he can't turn the beep off). Everytime he pulled up alongside me, his heart rate monitor was beeping because his heart rate was way below the zone. Riding my speed for 40 miles, his average heart rate was 108. Holy cow the man is fit! Well, this ride was still a major success. It was as beautiful as I remember it, Millbrook is a funky little town, great for a lunchbreak, and although it wasn't a beautiful sunny day, the cooler cloudy weather was a nice change from the summer heat. We saw a soaring eagle and got to visit with some cousins. When we got home, I fell asleep on the couch watching the Yankee game. Today is the perfect recovery day, as the remnants of Ernesto churn up the coast. Tomorrow I shall ride again! The September Monthly Mileage Challenge began yesterday, and 40 miles converts to 10 miles in the challenge. Not a bad way to start the month!

September Challenge Is On

I have organized a Monthly Mileage Challenge at work. So far I have enrolled 13 people and I'm hoping to enroll a few more today and tomorrow (this is a tough week to get this going because so many people are on vacation). Here's how it works: All cardio activities will be converted to mileage. Running, walking, elliptical are all straight miles. Biking is 4:1 (bike 4 miles to get "credit" for 1 mile), swimming is 1:4 (swim 1 mile and get credited 4 miles). Stairmaster is 1:2, cardio classes are 4 miles per hour, etc. These conversions may not be perfect, but the idea is to "level the playing field" so anyone can get involved and log some miles with almost any activity. This concept seems to be working because the participants include a few folks who need a little motivation to get started as well as marathoners. Everybody keeps their own log and reports their mileage to me weekly. I will send a weekly update (using aliases) so everyone can see how they are doing (if they are in it to win it). The entry fee is $10. The winner takes 50 percent, 30 percent buys a healthy lunch for participants, and 20 percent is donated to a charity. So if I can get 15 participants, the winner gets $75. Not a bad chunk of change! I'm psyched. I am definitely in it to win it! Especially since I am looking at new road bikes, every little bit helps.

Bike Shopping!

I love the Black Trek but ..... I've started shopping for a new bike. I'm not sure if it's easier or more difficult because of my size. There is certainly less available in my size with a full-sized (700) wheel but getting the proper fit is more difficult. Yesterday DH & I went t the LBS and mostly talked. He only has 1 possible bike in stockin a 44 frame--A Bianchi Eros Donna. I'm going to take it out for a test ride on Tue. Then I will probably wait a week or two for some of the 2007s to come in. I'm not in a rush. I can ride the rest of the season on the Trek, but the idea of a new bike makes me salivate and dream of breaking thru the 13 mph wall.

On Sat DH & I rode with friends A& H. They are riding in a big 3 day charity ride in a few weeks and needed a long ride. We rode 42 miles and they took turns dropping back to ride with me. I don't think they minded, and DH liked it because he felt like he was doing intervals. But it does make me a little self-conscious about my slow pace. It also motivates me to keep working at it. At the same time, I have to tell myself not to get too obsessed about comparing myself to other women. If I want to do that, then how many women my age do I know that can ride 40 miles or something equivalent. So I know I need to stick to doing what's right for me and work toward my own goals. I can be realistic and still have plenty of room to grow.

I haven't ridden in 2 weeks and I really felt it especially in my quads. You don't really get a break riding on my part of the planet. Seems like there is ALWAYS another hill. But that's what riding is all about. It's the hills that make you tough and strong, mentally as well as physically. Sunday was supposed to be a hiking day but it was a wash-out. I used the day to get lots done around the house. I t was another mother’s triathlon—cooking, laundry and (my worst event) ironing.

Monthly Mileage Motivation

I am still struggling to find the motivation to get back to healthy habits with some consistency.  I need to rethink goals.  Having a number as a goal (pounds, percent body fat) is not getting the job done.  I know that if I do the right thing consistently, the pounds and the body fat will take care of themselves.  I need a performance goal.  At the beginning of the summer, it was to run a 10K, but that was shelved due to toe and knee issues.  I am planning on riding 50 miles in a bike tour next month, but I already rode 50 miles last month.  With the summer winding down, performance goals have to be more creative.  These goals need to be short term, or they kinda slip away.  

So, I'm thinking about starting a friendly fitness competition for the month of September in my office.  It would be based on total mileage, but since the idea is to encourage cardio activities of all types, every activity would be converted to mileage.  As an example, walking, running, hiking, elliptical, stair master would all be straight mileage.  Bicycle miles would count 4:1, cardio classes would count 4 miles per hour, etc.  I'm sure conversions could be determined for just about anything (strength training does not qualify).  Indoors or outdoors.  Participants keep track of their own mileage, but have to keep some sort of log and provide weekly updates.  Entry fee $10.  Winner takes 50 PERCENT, 30 PERCENT used to bring in a healthy lunch at the end of the month, 20 PERCENT goes to 1 person chosen at random ( cannot be the winner).  Loser has to buy 2nd place a Jamba Juice?

Anybody have any suggestions? Should this be "ladies only?"  Should the number of entries be limited? How can we "level the playing field" so anyone can participate?

The 2006 Boston Massacre

A couple of months ago, we bought 4 tickets to see the Yanks play at Fenway.  It was very exciting to be there, to be part of the 2006 Boston Massacre. There were plenty of Yankee fans everywhere, so we felt “safe.”  My son did send one Red Sox fan over the edge with his “enthusiasm,” but when the ARSF (asshole Red Sox fan) told my son to “sit the F%&k down,” he exercised sound judgement and complied with the request.  

From the Boston Globe:
The truth is that this has been a very good year to be a Yankee fan. They lost Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui within two weeks in the spring, they also lost the scary-good Robinson Cano for about six weeks, and they had concurrent problems with their starting pitching. They had to wait out a Red Sox surge, knowing there was plenty of time in a long, long season to pull themselves together. In its present form, it is a thoroughly likeable and rootable team.

From the NYTimes:
More than 35,000 sad souls had shuffled out of Fenway Park by 5 p.m. on Monday. There were sea gulls circling the center-field bleachers then, but they might as well have been buzzards. In 75 punishing hours, the Yankees had pounded their rivals into little more than a carcass.

This 3 day trip to Boston included a visit to the Museum of Science to see the Body Worlds exhibit.  I had already seen it in Chicago, but it was just as fascinating and enlightening the second time through.  DH was similarly impressed, son #1 was totally grossed out, and son #2 was underwhelmed.  At least we tried.  We also hopped onboard the Duck Tours and visited Emack and Bolios on Newberry Street.  On the way out of town, we had brunch with some old and dear friends of mine.  That made the weekend a complete success.  

Uterus Is Right

I am so ready for menopause. Bring it on. A couple of months ago I was 2 weeks late. I thought I was done. Yeah, I wish it was that simple. This month I was 2 days late and I was having conversations with my uterus. Don't do this. I will still respect you. I'll compromise, we can adjust the schedule. Everybody else understands that I'm not having anymore babies. Why can't you. Uterus did not listen. In fact, Uterus punished me by getting started at a most inconvenient time and requiring a trip to Walmart to purchase shorts, panties and feminine hygiene products in order to continue road trip to PA. Uterus' final words were You're old enough to know better than to venture forth totally unprepared. Uterus is right. I am in deep denial that I still do this monthly cycle thing.

The Boys are Back in Town

Son #1 came home yesterday and Son #2 came home today. It is wonderful to have them home, but already life is much more structured and filled with obligations. Laundry, dinner, appointments, whys and why nots. Son #1 came home with a letter from the camp director praising his wonderful qualities as a counselor and inviting him back for many summers to come. That made me proud. Son #2 received similar praise for a speech he gave at the banquet as the captain of color war's losing team. That also made me proud.

This weekend was perfect for spending time outdoors, with blue skies, low humidity and temps up to about 80. Yesterday I went for a club ride, 23 miles. Today I got off the bike and went hiking. I emerged from the woods 6 miles and 4 hours later feeling pleasantly tired and yet recharged. The smells and sights of the flora and fauna were wonderful and so vibrant after spending so much time on my bike. It was a nice change.

Chihuly at the Botanical Gardens

This exhibit is extraordinary! Dale Chihuly is an artist known for his glass sculptures. This exhibit was designed specifically for the Botanical Garden's collections and landscapes. Most of the art is displayed in the Haupt Conservatory -- the glasshouse -- but other pieces are placed in outdoor settings. Imagine turquoise ice cubes floating in a green slime covered pond with bullfrogs calling! Some of these sculptures are bound to elicit different responses at different times of the year. It is on display through late October and I might go back in the fall, just to see it against the splendor and colors of that season. Well, here are some images, but a camera (at least one with me as the photographer) does not do this exhibit justice.

Atomic Banana and Scrambled Tofu

Son #1 was home for a doctor’s appt.  His broken ankle is healing very nicely, so the doctor took off his cast. Yahoo!  Now he is wearing an aircast, and he can begin to put a teeny tiny amount of weight on it.  So that’s progress!  I took him back to camp where the entire staff is involved in a game they call Atomic Banana.  Everybody has the name of another person that they are trying to get “out” by pointing a banana at him/her.  If you get that person out, then your next target is the person that your original target was targeting.  Certain locations are “safe,” such as the dining hall or when you are working.  It’s walking between locations and less structured periods of time when you are most at risk! At least half of the staff gets taken out in the first 2 days, then the remaining people get more and more paranoid as they try to run between buildings and locations without getting nuked by a banana.  So yes, every staff person runs around with a banana in their pocket.  Son #1 was very excited that despite his handicap of being on crutches, he survived the first day and then he went home for a day!  I wonder if he is still in the game or if he got taken down.

I cooked this last night, and it was super delicious.  I made the rancheros version, adding 1 cup of salsa at the end.  Served it up as a wrap with cucumber cilantro salad.  And, I had leftovers, so I get to eat it again for lunch today!      

Theatre on the Hudson

Last night I went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at Boscobel. We picniced before the show on the grounds overlooking Constitution Marsh and the Hudson River. The heat wave had finally broken and it was a perfect night for spending some quality time with a few friends, sitting under the theatre tent and laughing!

Laying Low

Combine the need to recover from an 85 mile bicycle weekend with this f*%$ing heat wave (being outdoors for any length of time--even nanoseconds--is not an option) and you discover new ways to entertain yourself. So, I have been immersing myself in various forms of media-- tunes, books and TV.

This Friday evening I am going to see a local theatre company's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and I never read the play, so I am reading it. I think it might have been really confusing if I didn't already know the storyline, with everyone falling in and out of love with everyone else! Those fairies are quite mischievous. I put aside another book for a day or two to read the play--The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. So far I am not thrilled but I don't hate it either. I will reserve final judgement until I have finished it. I do most of my reading on my train ride into NYC, which is 50 minutes. I would rather read a book than the newspaper, even though I sometimes think I should be educating myself more by reading the paper.

At home, I have been TIVOing my new addiction-- Project Runway. I did not watch the first 2 seasons, and I'm not sure what made we watch the first episode this season, but I love watching these very creative people whip up these incredible designs. The personalities of the designers are now beginning to "explode" as one designer is eliminated each week. I'm not sure its a good idea to give them all sharp scissors. Maybe they should be using the ones like we had in kindergarten that had blunted, rounded ends.

I finalized my playlist for the Summer CD Swap. I still have to burn copies to mail out to all the swappers. Here is the playlist-- the theme is Food and Drink. I am naming this CD No Jimmy Buffet because I avoided the obvious Cheeseburger in Paradise and Margaritaville.

All You Can Eat--Ben Folds
Beans And Corn Bread--Louis Jordan
Busting Up a Starbucks--Mike Doughty
Chicken Man--Indigo Girls
Dirty Martini--Joe Jackson
Elderberry Wine--Elton John
Hospital Food--David Gray
I Saw Elvis ( In A Burger King )--Bob Martinson
Orange crush--REM
Peanut--Squad 51
Please Don't Talk About Murder While I'm Eating--Ben Harper
Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)--Squeeze
Red Beans--Marcia Ball
Rhubarb Pie--John Fogerty
Tea in the Sahara--The Police
The Diner Song--The Contes
Tom's Diner--Suzanne Vega & D.N.A.

New Ride

My new wheels, 4 of them. Subaru Outback. Mine is blue.

Drink or Die

Yesterday was the Harlem Valley Rail Ride. I rode 55 miles at an average speed of 13 mph. That is further and faster than I have ever ridden. I ran into a few WCC riders at registration and I was able to ride with them. I was much happier riding with them than waiting for the 55 mile group ride, especially when Judy told me that 55 miles was going to be a stretch for her (me too!) and that she rides about 11-12 mph (me too!). She then proceeded to become the “rabbit,” taking off at about 17 mph down the rail trail! I guess she underestimates her riding ability (me too!). The second half of the ride was more difficult than the first half, and the last 5 miles were brutal. It was also hot and sunny (drink or die was the day’s mantra), so we slowed down quite a bit. At the 52 mile point ***tired legs*** we were climbing up a fairly long (but not steep) hill ***hot ***riders were stretched out over the entire length of the hill ***long***no one was talking ***water*** everyone put there head down ***hard work**** and just kept those wheels moving ***granny gears***the only sounds were shifting bicycle gears ***grind it out**** and heavy breathing ***arrrrgh***. I made it up that hill and the next 2 hills. I never got off to bike to walk. The whole thing worked out very well--I didn't have to ride alone or with a big group, I was pushed to ride a little bit harder (and proved to myself that I can do it), and DH was able to take off and ride as fast as he wanted. He was perfectly happy to ride 55 miles by himself. But of course he wasn't.really by himself because there were 1300 riders and excellent support services and rest stops. At the end of the ride we jumped into the town pool, had lunch, packed up the bikes, gear, and tired a$$es and then got our iced coffees for the ride home. Pure bliss.

We had decided to make a weekend out of it and stayed at a lovely B&B. There were group rides and some ''tourist'' activities available on Saturday. DH and I joined the 30 mile ride. As the shortest ride, this attracted the full spectrum of riders. We eventually split into 2 groups but stopped often to regroup and have lunch. It was the perfect prelude to the real ride. What could be better than riding down country roads on a beautiful summer day with DH and a group of friendly folks?

That's right, I rode the Black Trek 85 miles this weekend. Go Xena!

Running -- The Mind Game

On Friday, DH and I were all set to ride with the Cycling Club, but we bagged it because of severe T-storm warnings. The weather has been fairly violent over the past 2 weeks, and we decided to stay home. So I went over to the HS track to see what running a few miles would feel like. When I got there, it was just me and the track in the early evening, with ominous skies. After the first half mile, I settled into a nice easy (slow) pace (Mind: wow, this feels pretty good, no pain in toe or knee, I can just keep going! No one else around, I can even sing). At 1.0 miles, it started to rain, but lightly (Mind: this isn't too bad, I can run in this....can I get electrocuted wearing a heart rate monitor and an iPod in the rain? Maybe I should stop). At 1.50 miles, the wind picks up (Mind: this is getting harder, is that my knee I feel getting stiff? 1.5 miles is respectable for a 50 year old lady with a bad toe and a cranky knee.... but I did want to run at least 2). At 1.75 miles, the rain picks up (Mind: I am Xena the Warrior Princess, outrunning the evil storm) At 2.0 miles, the 17-19 year old soccer boys show up, totally ignoring the rain (Mind: ooooooh, I like the change in scenery. Well, if they can play in the rain, I can certainly run in the rain. I don't want them to think the mother of sons #1 and #2 is a total wimp). So I ran 2.5 miles, most of the time thinking positive thoughts. My HR monitor and iPod continued to function and I did not get electrocuted. My knee stiffened up a bit, but it seemed to ease up the next day when I took out my bike. I only ran 2.5 miles, but it was enlightening to think about what I was thinking about! For some reason, I became much more cognizant of the impact of state of mind on performance, and how quickly that state of mind can change. Now what I need to figure out is how much control I have over that "attitude." I want to keep Xena around and banish the fear of electrons. And of course this has other applications to other athletic endeavors and life in general! Yesterday there was a cycling club event which included rides for all level riders followed by a picnic. I had to choose between the D ride (25 miles) and the C ride (40 miles). I was leaning toward the C ride until I was told that the terrain was hillier than usual, so I took the D ride. I know I could have ridden another 15 miles, but I probably would have been on the edge, especially if I was pushing to keep up. Should I have brought forth Xena or is a slight fear of electrons a good thing? The D ride was challenging, and yes we took it slow, but it was still 25 miles! The bottom line, I guess, is that I went for a great bike ride, and had a lovely time at the picnic afterwards. I continue to be impressed by the friendliness and healthy attitude of almost every club member that I have met.

As an aside, DH faced a similar decision, either the C ride (40 miles) or the B ride (58 miles). He chose the B ride and totally rocked it. He came back so revved up and pleased with himself. Although he still needs to lose some weight, he is in very good shape. He attributes much of his success to having spent the "off-season" doing some serious swimming. The decision to hit the pool resulted from the need to rest and rehab his achilles tendon, which was chronically inflamed. Biking (and therefore spinning) and running were totally off-limits. He became a disciple of the Total Immersion approach to swimming and totally retaught himself the "proper" way to swim. When the outdoor cycling season started, I don't think he ever thought he would be able to ride 58 miles in July and ride strong! Although he is still cautious, so far his achilles has not been a problem. I don't know if his achilles will stand up to running, but I'm waiting to hear him say "triathlon." Wondering how long it will take for him to say it out loud.

Tour de Spin

During the Tour de France, spin classes mimic the tour. Yesterday was stage 15, from Gap to L’Alpe (as in mountains) D’Huez. There are 3 climbs; the third is 14 km, 8% incline with 21 switchbacks. In spin class (endurance, 75 minutes) this translated into going uphill for 55 minutes, feeling your heart pounding, wishing for an oxygen tank, and leaving giant sweat puddles on the floor. In other words, it was awesome. As an aside, the 116 mile stage was won by Schleck (Luxenberg) with an average speed of 24 mph! Don’t know how those guys do it, for 21 days. And I don’t know how they can eat enough. They burn on average 6,000 calories per day.

As spin class was starting, we got to watch another Mother Nature spectacular. There was a huge thunderstorm that brought hail that got progressively bigger until golf balls were falling. We had a tornado last week, which is a rare event in New York, so this storm was a little frightening.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day at the Pleasantville Music Festival. There were lots of musicians, many local, but a few big names. Roger McGuinn of the Byrds was the biggest. He opened with my favorite Byrds song of all time—Chestnut Mare—and got around to all their hits. The last band was World Party, which seems to be enjoying a comeback with a new “hit record.” I had a great time, sitting in a beach chair, listening to live music, wandering among all the vendors, picnicking and watching all the kids dancing, galavanting and eating continuously! Then there was dinner at a Thai restaurant to make the day complete.

As an extra perk, I got to introduce myself to a distant cousin who is a bit of a celebrity around NYC. Janet Maslin, long-time film critic and now book critic for the New York Times, introduced Roger McGuinn. We spoke for a few minutes, tried to figure out exactly how we are related. Our best guess is that our grandfathers were first cousins.

Son #2 came home for 2 days, when the camp switches over at the half-season. He devoured all the leftovers in the house—everything from a big bag of chips leftover from the World Cup Party and some chocolate chip cookies in the freezer (no need to defrost, they are good nice and crunchy), to a couple of slices of pizza, and a demented bagel. He was very happy to sit around, play video games and watch baseball games. He was very happy to get back to camp, too.

How to Weigh Yourself Correctly

I can't believe I've been doing it wrong for so many years!

Haiku

Here’s a Haiku for yesterday’s “adventure in fitnessland.”

Four pound hula hoop
It’s much harder than it looks
Need ibuprofen

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had to move my day off around to get son #1 to the doctor (see entry on broken ankle) or to do some training at work. I’ve been using this as an opportunity to try some of the funkier classes at the gym. Last week it was urban rebounding, which involves jumping on a mini-trampoline for a half hour. Yesterday it was a hula hoop class. When I was a kid, I could kick anybody’s a$$ when it came to hula hoping, so I thought this was gonna be easy and fun. Well, it is NOT easy to keep a four pound hula hoop going for 15 minutes, even standing in one place. Try moving around or doing lunges while hula hooping and it gets even more difficult. Last night my waistline was really sore, but not a DOMS kind of sore. I was beaten up by the hula hoop, like getting punched in the arm, except it was consecutive punches around my waistline! OK, it wasn’t THAT bad, but it was bad enough that I certainly didn’t want my DH to embrace me! This morning it was much better, but I won’t be doing any hula hooping for a few days. It was definitely a fun workout and I am told that your waistline gets used to it. So I might try it again. Maybe I’ll take the ibuprofen BEFORE the class.

Tend to Your Garden

The theme of this past weekend was “friends” from my oldest friend to my newest friends. It made me realize how important friends are, and once again I promised myself that I will work harder on my friendships. I have a tendency to neglect my friends. Yes, we are all busy and don’t necessarily live close by, and I hate the telephone, but there really are no excuses for allowing friends to fade away. I remember a colleague, a man of great wisdom, who would often comment, “you have to tend to your garden” when he spoke of family and friends. So this weekend I tended to my garden of friends. I even got to water the family tree a little bit!

On Friday evening I rode with the cycle club. Whoever shows up for the “fling” picks a ride according to their level, given about 2 hours of daylight. Just to be on the safe side, I chose the shortest ride, 15 miles, and rode with 3 other women. We finished well ahead of the other riders, so next time I will probably go on the longer ride. Afterwards, everyone is invited to hit the local pub for food and drinks and assorted chit chat, so I joined the dinner group. It was quite friendly and I’d like to think that I made some new friends.

On Saturday evening, we went to a 50th birthday party for my oldest friend. Judy and I grew up next door to each other and we moved in when we were 2 years old. Over the years, we have drifted apart, but we always drifted back together. Since we’ve gotten married and raised families, we have managed to speak to each other and see each other fairly regularly. Several of my childhood friends were there, some of whom I haven’t seen in years, so we took lots of photos. And of course Judy got out the pictures, including the class photos from elementary school. That was good for more than a few laughs. When we left, I turned to my husband and said, “my friends got fat.” None of them are obese, but they all need to lose at least 15-20 pounds. That was the only disappointment of the evening. I hate to see them struggling with their weight, because you know it isn’t going to get any easier as we get older. None of them have particulary active lifestyles either.

Yesterday, DH and I hosted a World Cup Party and BBQ. For every friend that did make it, at least 1 friend was unable to get there. So we had a small but enthusiastic crowd. Of course I had way too much food, and then one friend who is Indian and has a small catering business brought a small tray of roasted chicken with delicious Indian spices and then made shishkebabs! We finished off with an ice cream cake because Saturday was DH’s 51st birthday. About half of the group actually watched the game!

And on a final note, family. My uncle was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. They discovered something in his lung quite by accident, when they did a CT scan looking at something else. He will require surgery but may not need either radiation or chemotherapy. DH lost his uncle to lung cancer a couple of years ago. He fought the disease for 3 years, and during that time, I would constantly remind (even nag) DH to call him. DH was grateful that I did that, so he is now returning the favor. He has been reminding me that I need to call my uncle, and I finally did. He sounds very upbeat and wants to get on with the surgery so he can get on with his life! The man is 78 years old and behaves as if he is half that age. He works full-time, travels, skiis, hikes, and just lives life to the fullest. Go Uncle Go.

Fitness, Food and a Broken Ankle

We spent the long holiday weekend at Skytop Lodge in the Poconos with my mother, brother, sister-in-law, and 2 nieces. It was loads of fun and quality family time. DH and I brought our road bikes and went out for a nice ride on Saturday. The only problem is that the lodge is on top of a fairly large hill, large enough that the first 5 miles were downhill. As we are coasting along I kept thinking “it’s going to be a tough ride back!” The uphills were steep! The next day we rented mountain bikes and took off on the muddy trails. That was really fun. We were only on relatively flat roads, so I know mountain biking can be much more difficult but I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity too try something different. On the last day we went hiking. There was a guided “fitness” hike which was described with verbiage to keep beginners away. Well, good thing it wasn’t really all that difficult or that guy in penny loafers would not have made it. Or the other people who should not be partaking in anything described as physically demanding. I wish I could get into their heads—do they really think they are “fit” or do they think the description is inaccurate or that there will be options if they can’t climb out of the ravine? Anyway, with hearts pounding, they put one penny loafer in front of the other and made it out alive. Then brother, nieces and I went for a real fitness hike, complete with switchbacks and a gazebo atop the mountain. The view was awesome and we could see all the way to the Delaware Water Gap. In between all these outdoor activities, there was a belly dancing class, water aerobics, and the great indoor sport of eating large quantities of food. In addition to huge buffets for breakfast and lunch, there was the omelet man, the crepe man, and the stir fry guy. Luckily there were lots of healthy choices, so while I definitely ate too much, at least I ate too much good food and not junk. Except for the chocolate obsession dessert, with ice cream.

So at one point I decided to call the kids at camp especially so they could talk to grandma. Son #1 gets on the phone and the first sentence he utters is “I broke my ankle.” That kinda put a damper on things, especially since the camp had called my cell phone but I didn’t have it turned on. To make a long story short, we were not that far away from the camp, so we picked up his xray at the hospital, picked him up at camp, brought him home, had our favorite orthopedist check him out and put a real cast on, and then took him back to camp. The only glitch is that the break is oblique, kinda like a fault line in his bone. The doctor wants to be sure it doesn’t slide out of alignment, so he needs to see the doctor and have it xrayed once a week for the next 3 weeks. Luckily the camp is only 80 miles from home, so DH will pick him up on Monday evenings and I will take him to the doctor and then bring him back to camp on Tuesdays. Ah, keeps life interesting. It’s always something, right?

A Poem about the Lifecycle

In my attempt to appreciate poetry, I found an anthology of poems entitled Boomer Girls: Poems by women of the baby boomer generation.  Edited by Pamela Gemin & Paula Sergi. Here’s one that immediately connected.


Fitness Club: Riding the Lifecycle
By Judith Hougen

The control panel counts time, calories, miles
gone, outlining hills to come, the red lights
beating calmly, saying the place you need to go
is at least 15 pounds from here, how willing

are you?  mile after mile.  I could have pedaled
these phantom wheels across America by now.
Anchored to this amputee of the modern age,
I give away the last thickness of fat to computerized

inclines, to a blinding honesty that must negotiate
with everything I see.  After years of struggling through
a life fed by half-truths, I am laying down the past like
the careful molasses of asphalt: a thick methodical

roadway.  It doesn’t solve everything, but it’s real.
I am willing to hold the sad weight of every lie
I told while raging at the world through my body.
These days movement is no longer

optional.  I have learned to welcome
the sanity of each mile, to love the woman
inside this engine, who reinvents the wheel
daily and now has important places to go.

Hurts So Good

I've spent the last week (since the kids went to camp) kicking my own ass, with a little help from a personal trainer. To prove what a warrior woman I am, today I went to the gym twice! Today I didn't have to commute into NYC and I didn't have to be at work until 9:30, so I went to the gym early, did a little cardio to warm up, then got beaten up by aforementioned personal trainer. I was done with work in the late afternoon, but since the weather has sucked for the last 5 or 6 days and taking the Trek out was not a good option, and DH had to work late, I went back for a spin class. That proved to be the proverbial "icing on the cake." I am officially beat! The abs, the inner thighs, the triceps, you know the feeling. It hurts so good!

Odds and Ends

I’m feeling the pain!  Yesterday’s workout used bands, steps, balls and a dab of free weights—no machines.  The lunges and squats got me good!  Walking up the stairs at the train station this morning with my backpack, well, I’m glad it was only 1 flight!  

Other news—sons #1 and #2 are both at camp.  So we borrowed a child for a couple of days.  A friend of ours went out of town for a few days and he was going to take his son with him.  The boy child would have had to spend 2 or 3 days doing nothing but hang out in a hotel.  Now while I would jump at the opportunity to watch TV/movies, order room service, read, use the fitness center and can you throw in a massage, more than a day of mindless activities would make me crazy.  Boy child must feel the same way because when I offered to have him stay with DH and I, he was very happy.  So far he has been the perfect house guest! He even brought his own computer and wiggled into the wireless network in 10 seconds flat.  

Sons #1 and #2 both have summer reading lists.  I abhor this practice. If you want to turn a kid off to reading and fill him with resentment on the first day of school, assign summer reading.  Require the honor students to read more than the “regular” students so they feel like they are being punished for being smart.  Son #1 complains bitterly about summer reading because summer should be a time when he can read what he wants to read instead of what someone else wants him to read.  So instead of digging into Liberalism and the Limits of Justice (I kid you not! This is on his Amazon Wishlist), he has to suffer Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.  Son #2 dislikes reading, so when given a choice of books, he selects the shortest, regardless of the content.  He won’t read an extra 100 words even if he would potentially enjoy the book 100 X more.  Luckily, the shorter books on his list are probably better choices for him—Into the Wild by Krakauer and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Haddon.  

While on the topic of books, tonight is my Bookclub meeting.  This month’s selection is The Ha-Ha by Dave King.  I’m having trouble getting through it and for the first time since joining the club, I may not finish it.  I still have the train ride home this evening, but I don’t think I’ll get through 100 pages.

And lastly, I have a new hobby—T-shirt transformation.  I bought this book, Generation T, 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt.  This is perfect for my level of sewing skills.  So far I transformed a tanktop that DH was getting rid of and I added an iPod pocket to a sleeveless V neck.  Nothing extraordinary, but I will try to get some pictures up.  I need to get to work on making digital photography a habit in my everyday life.  

I Ride C

On Sunday I made the transition to level C. There was a self-paced ride for levels C and up. There was a choice of a long (44 miles) and short (35 miles) route with a sweeper riding at the back of each ride, instead of a leader at the front. This offered several advantages. First DH and I could both ride, even though we did not ride together. We both chose the shorter option. He found some guys that rode his pace and I found some folks that rode my slower pace. At the end of the ride, his bike was already on the car and he put my bike on the rack while I visited Dunkin’ Donuts. Second and more important, having a leader at the back gave me the security of knowing that I would not be left in the dust or struggle to keep up the pace set by the faster riders. I ended up riding faster than my usual pace and finished with the middle of the pack. Woohoo! It was a hot day, but we were done before things really heated up. I actually emptied my Camelback at mile 28, which was good and bad. Good that I drank that much water but obviously bad that I had to ride the last 7 miles on empty. Overall I declared the ride a major success. DH enjoyed it, too, and the iced coffee was excellent.

Finding Motivation

I have been doing better, but still feel like I’m not 100% there. Yesterday, I took advantage of not having to commute to work and went to the gym early. This was good! And it felt great to be pushing and pulling those weights. I was home early enough to go out for a bike ride on a really beautiful day but I never got off my butt. This was bad, a lost opportunity. I have been lazy about preparing food, and I know I have gained back a few pounds. I’m not worried about that, as long as I get my act together those pounds will come off fairly easily. So I have been searching for some motivation to get it together. I have been reading the blogs of some totally awesome women and they certainly inspire me—check out the accomplishments of Heather and Nancy. Then there’s the perseverance of Slem and the wisdom of Kyra. I thank Flo for the reminder that once in a while, you’re going to have an off day, and Skwigg for reminding me why it’s important to keep going even if you have an off day. So in the spirit of moving on and getting my act together, I have been doing a good job with food today and working on emptying the bottle of water on my desk. I am going to the Yankee game tonight so I won’t be working out, but I will get my gym bag packed up tonight so I can get there tomorrow. The last few weeks have been very busy, but next week son #2 is off to camp to join his brother, and DH and I will have 7 weeks without children. Yes, I am spoiled. My kids have been going to sleep-away camp for 6 years now! Although we don’t have a big vacation planned, we do hope to put together some getaway weekends. We will be spending July 4th weekend at a resort in the Poconos with my mom, brother, sister-in-law and nieces. Plan to bring the bikes up to provide opportunity to burn some of the extra calories we are bound to consume. The last weekend in July DH and I are going to ride the Harlem Valley Rail Ride and I made a reservation at a B&B for the weekend. I am planning on riding the 50 mile option. Looking forward, taking it one day at a time.

CD Swap

It is time for the Summer CD Swap.  Everyone summer I organize this illegal activity among a group of friends, who live in various locations across this fair land.  Many of these people (but not all) are friends from high school (so we’re talking 30+ years ago), and this is a unique way for us to stay in touch—with music!  Every person in the swap creates their own unique mix of music, burns a CD for everyone in the swap, and mails them out.  I have found the ideal number of swappers is about 7 or 8.  So, over the course of the summer, you receive 6 or 7 CDs filled with a musical surprise.  Every CD is bound to hold at least a song or two that you have never heard and a couple of tunes that bring back memories, fond or other wise.  The CD Swap for which I am the Commissioner has a few other rules:

1. There is a theme, and you have to have at least one song on the CD that relates to that theme (most swappers have more than 1 song, and often every song related to the theme).  


2. You can’t have more than 2 songs by the same artist.  This just keeps it interesting.  As much as I and some of my friends love the Grateful Dead, I prefer to expand my musical horizons during the swap. You can always send a 2nd  CD along, if you’re in the mood to rip and burn!  


3. There is a deadline, but no overdue fines.


4. If you accept the challenge and fail to mail out the CDs, nobody gets too bent out of shape, but you probably won’t be asked to join the next swap.  

A friend of mine IMed me this morning that she was ripping a stack of CDs that fell into her lap like manna from a VW Passat.  Her car is being serviced and she picked up a loaner from the guy who owns the dealership.  In it was a huge stack of his CDs.  She was very excited and reminded me that it is time for the swap!  My iPod awaits.

XY and XX Hikers

On Saturday I had to get up early to deposit son#1 at non-local HS to take his SATs. So, I got to the gym early, had plenty of time to stretch, do assorted core activities, take a spin class, do UBWO, and stretch out some more! I sure felt it the next day, but it was a great feeling.

On Sunday I did some trail maintenance with my hiking buddies. Our first task was to clean up the "white trail." It made me realize how much maintenance these trails really need. There were several downed trees across the trails, and since we were not carrying a chain saw, all we could do was cut off as many of the branches as possible so you could easily hop over the trees. We hammered some new trail markers onto the trees (leave a half inch of the nail out, to allow the tree to grow without popping off the marker), and lopped off overhead branches that could poke your eye out! Our second assigned task was to try to finish the yellow trail so it connected back to the blue trail. It was like a dream come true for the people in our hiking group with gender XY. Wander around in the woods without having to ask for directions. Tell hikers with gender XX that all you need is a compass and a topographical map to succeed in this mission. When mission fails, blame it on lack of adequate number of XY hikers. When we finished a little walk in the woods and found ourselves at a trailhead about a mile away from where the cars were parked, XX hikers walked down the road to the deli to enjoy refreshments and conversation while XY hikers made their way back to the cars (we assume on marked trails, but we can never be sure). We walked up and down some big hills, had some good laughs, and definitely burned some calories. We saw some incredible wildlife, including a very new faun sleeping in the tall grass.

Sweat and Balance

It’s been hot, and we have no AC.  We’ve been “sweating it out” for the past 3 days.  AC Man came yesterday and it’s an electrical problem (bad breaker).  DH will be home early today and he will wait for the electrician.  The boys have been sleeping in locations other than their bedrooms which has caused some minor disagreements but nothing major.  Neither one has suffered bodily injury.  DH and I have been sleeping in our fairly hot bedroom, with the windows wide open, jealously listening to the compressor for our neighbor’s AC unit going on and off.  I’m sure it will get fixed today because the heat wave is over, but at least we will be ready for the next one.

So, the last few days have been about balance.  On Tuesday I didn’t get to the gym because I had to work late.  I had to take a phone call from Chicago at 5 pm and that took about an hour.  By the time I got off the train, it was almost 8 pm.  On Wednesday I was just plain lazy.  I blew an opportunity.  I took the day off because I had a doctor’s appt at 1 pm.  Did I get up early and go to the gym?  No.  Did I get up at a normal time and go for a bike ride? No.  I did get up at a normal time, and I did get things done around the house that absolutely needed to be done, but I could have gone for a bike ride and then gotten down to chores.  Did I really do laundry instead of going for a bike ride?  How sick is that?  On Thursday, I had my training session with trainer, then I packed veggies for the organic food coop, then I had to be home in the afternoon for aforementioned AC Man.  Of course, all they can do is tell you “he’ll be there between 1:00 and 4:30.”  But the poor overworked AC Man did not ring my doorbell until 6:00.  I was hoping to either take a bike ride after AC Man had fixed the AC or get to the gym for spin class.  What a total disappointment, since AC is still not fixed, could not leave for bike ride, bike ride probably not feasible anyway considering violent thunderstorms, and AC Man came too late, even for spin class.  At least I did some cooking and I have packed a very nice lunch for today.

The bottom line is I need to commit anew.  May and June have been about standing still, not moving forward.  Actually, my body fat has crept up a little bit.  I have been indulging in some bad habits and not practicing good habits very consistently.  I have really been sliding on my strength training.  It’s a good thing I still work with a trainer—I know I am going to get pounded on Thursday mornings! It’s definitely more difficult to get to the gym because I want to spend time outdoors, so strength training and cardio have become separate events.  I expect things will get easier in a few weeks when the boys are off to camp for 7 weeks, and the next two weeks are going to be very busy getting them ready.  So once again, it’s about balance.  But whatever way the scales tip, I can’t make it worse with bad habits and laziness!

  

Holiday Weekend

I so enjoyed the Trek over the holiday weekend.  On Saturday morning, I showed up for a club ride that was aborted.  Only 1 other person showed, and the leader had to work.  I decided to return home and take the opportunity to ride with DH.  We did the usual ride with an add-on loop to bring the mileage up to 21.  He rode my pace, which was just under 12 mph.  When I asked him if I was slowing him down much, his response was “considerably.”  Still, it was nice to be out with him and it was turning into a really nice day.  We finished before it got really sunny and hot, which was good.  We watched son #2 play baseball in the late afternoon; the perfect complement to the morning’s activity.

On Sunday we had tickets for the Yankee game.  It was a fun game, which the Yanks won.  Rivera came in for the save.  As expected Richard was selling beer in our section.  Richard and I went to JHS and HS together.  The man is a CPA who has been selling beer at Yankee Stadium for over 30 years.  Actually, I think he’s a beer man who has been dabbling in accounting for 30 years!  When we got home, I went to the track and ran a couple of miles.  I really wanted to keep going but I held myself back.  I only ran 2 miles because I wanted to see how my knee would take it.  Tried to stretch out, warm up, stick to a padded track.  A few hours later I could feel my knee getting stiff.  The knee saga continues.  

Monday was a warm and sunny day. I tried to find a riding companion but was not successful.  DH offered to ride with me, but I declined so he could ride his usual pace.  I mapped out a ride that looked to be a bit over 20 miles. I decided to take it slow to keep my knee in the game.  Luckily, the knee was not a problem. The route was a big figure 8, so I had the opportunity to quit at 10 miles, but the ice cream store was on the 2nd loop!  I had my ice cream cone at mile 14 and I was ready for the biggest climb of the ride.  When I got to the top, I knew the rest of my ride was going to be relatively easy, and I settled in for the last few miles.  It was 22 miles, and it was a great ride! I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more with a companion, but there’s something to be said for going solo.  I went my own pace, thought my own thoughts, and stroked my own ego (whether or not it deserved stroking).  

In the late afternoon, son#2 came along to the supermarket to make sure I bought everything needed for a BBQ/fajita dinner including the watermelon to make watermelon salsa.  Son #1 was a complete vegetable on Monday after reffing a soccer tournament on Saturday and Sunday.  He worked 2 very long days, and was totally beat.  He apologized for stinking up my car with his smelly feet and socks.  He gave me a lesson in offsides.  Today he promised to teach me about penalty kicks.  I can’t wait!

Two Events and In Between

I have participated in two “events.”  On May 7, I rode in the Five Boro Bike Tour.  It was a great day, and a great bike ride.  It is 42 miles, most of it flat.  Most of the hills are the ramps up to the bridges (and there are 5 of them).  We rode over the lower level of the Verrazano Bridge, which was very cool.  It was a perfect day—beautiful sunshine temps into the high 60s.  I came home with a sunburned nose! Riding with 30,000 other bike riders was quite an experience.  It makes you realize that this is really a big city and that there are lots of people committed to this type of lifestyle.  I made two decisions that were key.  First, I rode the hybrid.  I decided that riding with cleats with 30,000 other riders was going to be difficult if not down-right stupid.  That was a good choice.  I’d say that 75% of the riders were on mountain bikes and hybrids.  And I would say that 90% of the bikes that got flats were road bikes.  I had pedal clips put on the hybrid at 4:45 the day before the ride, and that definitely helped with my riding “efficiency.”  Second, I decided to take the train into the city.  Metro-North made this easy and I felt like I belonged to a special club.  All the bikes and bikers were in the front 2 cars of the train both coming and going, and there was all this bike karma and energy there.  Everyone had a different bike, different attire, different reasons for riding, but we shared the experience and I know I felt special.  

On May 14, I ran a Mother’s Day 5K.  I can’t remember the last time I ran in a race.  It’s gotta be at least 17 or 18 years.  The good news is that I ran it in 32:15, which is under 11 minutes/mile.  For me that’s fast.  The bad news is that my knee stiffened up.  It feels OK today, but it was “bothering me” yesterday.  When I saw the doctor about my toe, I had him check out my knee as well, and he really didn’t see any problem.  I know there is a problem, just not something that is easily defined or discernable on X-ray. So right now, I am going to put my 10K plans on hold and concentrate on cycling.  I may seek a second opinion, but it’s not a big rush.  I’m fine with limiting the running and spending the summer on my bike.  My toe is no better, no worse, it’s something I can live with for now (especially if I run less).  I could have surgery to remove the bone spur, which is causing inflammation and pain, but I would still be left with an arthritic joint.  The recovery is 3 months, so that is something I would put off until the winter anyway.  

In between these 2 events, son#1 and I went college touring.  We visited 3 colleges in 3 days: Wesleyan, Tufts and Northeastern.  We both liked all 3.  I also enjoyed spending the time with son#1.  We talked about some of my experiences in college, especially my father’s prohibitions.  I made it clear to Eric that I would not limit his experiences the way my father did.  That also got us into a discussion of what I would do, where I would go if I could do it all over again.  That could be an entire blogatation.  The bottom line is I would do it very differently and I am determined to let him get the most from his experience, in and out of the classroom.      

Music for Mother and Me

When mom was visiting, we took atrip over to the library and checked out 20 CDs, everything from Madame Butterfly to Loretta Lynn. I now have the job of copying them and mailing them to her. She did the same thing when visiting with my brother. In fact, this has been going on for about a year. When my brother was visiting her, he took her to buy a new VCR and she said she wanted a CD player also. She bought 2 or 3 CDs and has not looked back. I have no idea from where this interest in music has sprung, but I'm all for it. I took it upon myself to nurture this and copied a few things I thought she would enjoy. Now she makes requests, I try to find them through the library system, copy them and mail them to her. She even bought herself a portable CD player which she keeps on her night table for when she has trouble sleeping. We found this case for a CD player and about a dozen CDs in the basement and offered it to her and she was so happy. Now she can take her music with her when she travels. As happy as I am that she is enjoying all this music, it is difficult to fathom. I think my parents had about 10 record albums in the house when I was growing up, and I played them far more often than they did. I didn't care what I was listening to, I just played them and learned to appreciate them all, from Tchaikovsky's piano concertos to Man of LaMancha. If she had any computer savvy, I would buy her an iPod! That would be a hoot.
Yesterday I endulged my own music habit on iTunes. Those Apple people got it right. It is so easy to explore and buy music. I ended up buying a mix of old and new. Here's what I added to my playlist:
Taylor -- Jack Johnson (Live)
Better Way-- Ben Harper
Tom's Diner-- Suzanne Vega
We Belong, Promises in the Dark, Love is a Battlefield-- Pat Benatar
Take on Me-- a-ha
Cruel to be Kind-- Nick Lowe
Ain't Nobody-- Chaka Khan
Everything Falls Apart-- Dog's Eye View
As I Lay Me Down, Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover-- Sophie Hawkins

BTW, I ran 4.5 miles today indoors. I got tired of waiting for the weather to improve so I went to the gym and got on the hamster wheel, uhhhh, I mean treadmill. Got it done. A few minutes after I got home a friend called looking for someone with whom to share a big pot of vegetarian chili. How lucky am I? I made the salad and the rice and prepared some "mix-ins" (cilantro, cheese, scallions), found half a bottle of wine and we had a wonderful dinner.

More Core

I so love being on the bike.  Apparently lots of other people feel the same way.  I went for club rides on Saturday and Easter Sunday and both rides drew about 20 riders.  Saturday’s ride was not the prettiest, but I felt strong and it warmed up to 70 by the time we got done.  Sunday’s ride was perfect—the perfect distance, the perfect terrain, the perfect weather and the perfect blooming landscape.
I have been thinking about where I want to go with my “program.” If I could quit working and workout several hours a day everyday, I would do it all! Ride, run, lift, hike, pilates, urban rebound, swim, maybe even yoga!  But the reality is that I’m going to have to establish some goals and fit the program into my available time.  So 10K and a Trek is going to be my mantra for the next few months.  I also need to strengthen my core.  I have no doubt that strengthening my core will have impact across all activities, beyond running and riding.  During the week, I am going to focus on core, lifting and running.  On my day off, I am going to aim for a nice bike ride.  On weekends, I will mix riding and hiking.  This still sounds like I’m biting off more than I can chew, but I’ll see how it goes.  
I have been very inconsistent with workouts over the last few weeks.  I have not been as good about my nutrition as I should be.  Then there was Passover and Plattsburgh cinnamon buns and jelly beans everywhere!  I have gained a pound or two, which is not a big deal.  It will come off once I get back on track.  
And I am back on track. I got back to the gym last night and it felt good.   I did a series of pre-exercise activities, ran 30 minutes, prehab activities, and lifted.  It took me 90 minutes to get thru this workout.  I did not have to drop my weights.  This morning I am a little sore through my core, which is a good sign.  Shoulders, back, glutes, obliques, I hit them all yesterday.  I’m downing the H2O, the lunch bag is packed with good food.  
DH had an Achilles setback.  He started stretching it and it got very sore.  So he is back on the clogs, no stretching.  The good news is he has taken out his bike a few times and been pain free.  I just hope he doesn’t push the bike.  

I Am Cranky

Last night I had too much to do around the house to go to the gym.  I made dinner.  I cleaned up the kitchen.  I hemmed a pair of pants for son #1 who needs "something nice" to wear 1 night during school trip to Mexico. I watched American Idol.  Most of the contestants were mediocre. I folded several loads of laundry which had been sitting in laundry baskets for several days.  I prepared 2 more loads of laundry with specific directions so son #1 can get it going when he gets home from school.  I tried to set up TIVO to record final episodes of Sex and the City but other scheduled recordings plus son #2 needing to watch Yankee game made this impossible.  I stayed up until midnight to watch final episodes of Sex and the City.  The reconciliation of Carrie and Big was unrealistic—fairy tale ending was a disappointment.  DH’s alarm woke me up at 5:30 am (now I know how he feels 4 days a week when I get up before him, but usually I wake up before my alarm goes off and turn it off), fell back to sleep only to have my alarm go off at 6:00. I’m tired.  The weather sucks. Tonight is likely to be more of the same.  No gym--library, food shopping, preparing DH to prepare son #1 to pack for Mexico, reviewing carpooling and food for the 3 days I will be away.  I am not looking forward to driving 5 hours tomorrow to Plattsburgh! Ahh well, this is the way life works.  But I still have the right to be cranky.      

50 is a BIG Number

"You're only as old as you feel." That's what they say. I don' think I feel fifty. I don't think I look fifty. But I think I think like I'm fifty. And that means I think about what a big number 50 years is, and sometimes that freaks me out. Well, I have decided I will be the fifty year old lady that I want to be, and not your "typical" 50 year old lady. So onward and upward, to 51!
I did have a really great birthday and first weekend of my 51st year. DH sent me a dozen roses, and on Saturday night sons #1 and #2 took DH and I to dinner at a very nice but not real fancy restaurant. I enjoyed the dinner and watching them open their wallets when the check came!

I picked out a couple of races and events-- the 5 Boro Bike Tour is May 7, Mothers Day 5K on May 14, and a 10K on June 10. I'm going to ask Niece A if she will enter this race with me. I don't expect her to run with me, just to wait for me at the finish line!! I entered the Spring Fling Challenge at Pink Dumbbells, and set goals of 10 miles/week on foot and 25 miles/week on wheels (spinning and hiking will count). I am excited that the Daylight Savings Time has started and the weather is warming up and I can take it outdoors. On Saturday I ran 3.4 miles on the road and on Sunday I hiked 7 miles. I took my bike out for a 2 mile ride just to check the alignment on my new saddle. If I didn't have a ton of things that needed to get done, I would have taken it out for a 10 mile ride. It felt so good to be on the black Trek. DH took his bike out for the first time since we returned from Hawaii last summer. So far, so good.

On Saturday I donated an old bike to Pedals for Progress. I got there a little early and they already had at least 50 bikes that they were getting ready to pack. What a great way to open the bike season.

Oh, How Tempting

And I'm not talking about food. While I was at the gym today, one of the trainers overheard me talking about Simply Stu's Tri and she asked me if I planned to do any more triathlons. I responded honestly-- I don't know. Turns out she has a little training business and she is running a "Get Ready for a Triathlon" training program. I know that she has been successful teaching an intro to rode biking program for women, but this triathlon workshop is new. It will probably run on Thursday afternoons this spring, 6 sessions, 2 hrs. each, with 5 or 6 women. It is so tempting, but I think I'm going to say no, for three reasons.
1) Bad timing, even though Thursday is my day off. First of all, I have to work a couple of Thursdays in April, and 2nd, I need to stay flexible in order to visit colleges with son #1.
2) I need to learn how to swim properly before I can think about perfecting my swimming for a triathlon. It's the cart before the horse thing (or is it the chicken and the egg).
3) I don't want to feed the obsession with fitness by taking this training program and then training for a triathlon. Why enroll in this program if you're not going to do a triathlon? and why do a triathlon if you're not going to train for it?
Yeah, part of me wants to do a triathlon because I know I can, even though I'm 50 years old. It's no longer about being fit and feeling great, it's about proving a point. So for now, I think I will stick to my original goal of finding a 10k and riding 50 miles in the bike tour. 'Cause that's about fun and fitness. And I am going to try to teach myself how to swim for real. Total Immersion, baby.

BTW, comfortably sore has morphed into pain even when contemplating walking up a flight of stairs. Spin class last night and trainer inflicted squats this morning. I warmed up this morning on the rowing machine instead of the arc trainer or the treadmill. Thought it might make it a little easier on my sore legs. Yeah, right.

Simply Stu's Wall of Fame

Last night I did a LBWO. Over the last 2 weeks, I have been very inconsistent about my strength program. But I didn't need to back my weights down. I got through a good workout, and it felt really great. This morning I felt it a little bit in my legs, mostly my inner thighs. As the day has progressed I am feeling it more, in my quads, my outer thigh, my butt, just about everywhere, even my abs. Still, I am comfortably sore (as opposed to comfortably numb, I suppose). At least I know I got it right and made it count for something, but I'm pretty sure I can still walk up stairs without excruciating pain.

I sent my tri results into SimplyStu and he replied, asking if this was my first tri, wanting to know my "story." So I sent him the whole story, since he asked for it:

I did a sprint triathlon about 19 years ago. Over the years, I have fallen more and more out of shape. You know the story-- work, kids, house, etc. Although I've never had a big weight problem, it was getting more difficult to keep my weight down and even 1 pound a year was starting to get a little scary. I always loved bike riding but my Trek was very neglected. I even bought a hybrid so I could ride more upright but it always felt heavy. When I turned 49, I thought long and hard about where and what I wanted to be when I turned 50. I decided I had 1 year to turn this around. This is what I did:
I started taking spinning classes. Learned to use a heart rate monitor.
My husband bought me 3 hours of personal training at our gym. I started a strength/weight lifting program. I never lifted weights before this. I still work with her once a week.
I committed to working out 5 days a week. And I stuck to it-- at least 4 if not 5.
I joined the local cycle club and I rode with them almost every weekend thru the fall. I resurrected the Trek and learned to ride with cleats.
I joined the hiking group at the gym. I hiked almost every Sunday thru the fall. ( I survived being attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets-- another story for another day).
I can't believe the transformation--
I lost about 6 pounds (I'm only 5 ft tall, so a few pounds is enough to make a difference).
Reduced my body fat from 25 to 19%. I have muscles that you can see!
I've become much more conscious about what i eat (or don't eat).
I've increased my level of fitness to the point where I can once again finish a triathlon, and not feel totally wasted when I'm done.
I've made new hiking and biking friends.
I bought lots of smaller-sized clothes!
I have tons more self-confidence and energy. There is no motivation like success, and I feel like I can accomplish much more (notice I did not say I can accomplish anything-- I;m much too pragmatic for that). I have never run a 10k, so that is my next goal. I also want to ride 50 miles in the big bike club tour in the fall. I'm even considering putting some time and effort into swimming. It's been months since I swam any laps, and it really felt good!
So this tri came at just the right time for me-- it was really a celebration of a year long journey and the beginning of my next journey.
So, I am a born again triathlete!

He loved my story, made sure he included it in the results he posted on the website as a "Must Read". I really do appreciate the recognition and that serves as motivation to keep things going. In fact, over the last 2 days I've been taking the time to prepare food, pack lunch for DH and myself, and get to the gym for the UBWO. I've even been thinking about trying to learn how to swim for real and becoming a real triathlete. Ahhhh, so many miles, so little time. It's a thin line between fitness and obsession. And sometimes those miles get lonely. So, for now, I'm aiming for a 10 k (and 50 miles in the fall bike tour).

Images of Midtown Part 1

The other day I packed my camera to work and took some pix on my way in and during lunch. Midtown Manhattan, through the eyes of a commuter.

Born Again Triathlete

About 19 years ago, I did a sprint triathlon. I don't remember my time or very many details. I remember my DH made me drink ALOT of water before and after the race. And I remember the look on my dad's face when he saw me coming across the finish line. And I remember feeling pretty darn proud of myself. This time, I was kinda on my own. I drank alot of water, without being reminded. Dad is gone, but he was with me because he taught me to take care of myself. And hot damn, I sure had that same feeling of pride. I did the whole thing indoors at the gym, and when I finished, I considered yelling "I just finished a triathlon and next week is my 50th birthday!" but I refrained. It felt good enough to yell it out in my head. But when I get the T-shirt, people will know that I am a triathlete (so don't mess with the girl). Now, there is no motivation like success. Spring will spring very soon, next week we change the clocks, bike club rides are scheduled. I want to get out there, run and ride, feel strong. Bring on the hills!! Next stop: 10K.
Here are the details:
1/4 mi swim 12 min, 15 mi bike 61 min, 3.1 mi run 38 min for a grand total of 1hr 51 min. I'm not and never have been a speed demon. The upside is I have plenty of room for improvement.

Worldwide Triathlon This Weekend

I can do this: 1/4 mile swim, 15 mile bike, 3.2 (5 k) run. Split the events over 2 days if you want or need to. Inside or outside, change the distances, just commit to doing a triathlon over the weekend. What a great idea! What a great way to celebrate my 50th birthday. P.S. Big Toe update: arthritis and a bone spur, to be treated conservatively. Anti-inflammatory (Aleve) 2x/day x 7 days, begin taking glucosamine, soak in epsom salts 2x/day, tape big toe to second toe when working out, OTC orthotics (this may not work- tried a few and they were uncomfortable). No restrictions on running, but avoid high heels (as if I wear high heels to begin with).

Eye Candy v. Curves

The spinning studio has 2 rows of bikes, and I usually set up in the back row.  Yesterday there was a very buff and fit gentleman in the front row, and he was no youngster.  In fact, he was probably pretty darn close to my age!  I have to admit, I was enjoying the view.  I know there was no way I could catch him on a bike going nowhere, but I was motivated to at least have him feel my presence, to let him know that I could chase him down if we were on the road.  OK, so that’s a fantasy, I’ve never been fast, but that fantasy sure got me going nowhere faster than usual!  It gave me an extra boost of energy that I was able to take home with me.  Nice.  

At one point I looked around the room and in this particular class, the women outnumbered the men 2:1, and some of these ladies are very fit, slim, and well, HOT!  If I was a guy, I would probably be looking at these ladies with a different pair of eyes.  So how much of a distraction is the opposite sex when you are working out?  I am happily married to the same man for 20 years, but I can still look and have an occasional fantasy.  This works out in his favor, I assure you! For me, the eye candy is not a distraction, it is “entertainment” and somewhat motivating.  On one hand, I would hate to belong to a women-only gym like Curves.  I love thinking “I could spin this guy into the dirt.” On the other hand, I would like a women-only weight lifting environment .   I have gotten over feeling intimidated by the men-dominated weight room, but that was a big hurdle. But I do feel isolated and I am unlikely to ask any of the men for help or advice.  So here is what I am proposing.  Every gym should set aside times when the weight room is off limits to men.  Even the trainers should be women.  Create an environment that is far less intimidating and far more supportive for the ladies, from the beginner to the experienced competitor.  And if the men complain, just wait it out for a month or so until they see what their wives and girlfriends look like and feel like!  They can take step and pilates classes during these times.  Hmmm, I think I am going to have to stuff the suggestion box!!

Shelly v. Belly

Scene 1-- Grand Central Terminal, Shelly and her evil twin Belly are taking the escalator down to the food court.

Shelly: I'm hungry, and if I'm going to the gym I should eat something now.
Belly: Yummy!! Look at all the green cookies and cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day.
Shelly: I'm not eating that junk.
Belly: But you're hungry, buy something you'll enjoy!.
Shelly: Didn't anybody teach you about "empty calories?"
Belly: Calories are calories. And you're going to the gym, you can burn those calories off on the treadmill.
Shelly: Eating junk food gives me food hangovers. And as a vegetarian, I need to think about getting some protein with those calories.

Standing at the Hale and Hearty Soup counter--
Shelly: small spicy lentil soup please.
Belly: that's gonna make you thirsty, better get a Snapple.
Shelly: Snapple, that's 50 g of sugar and over 200 calories
Belly: OK, Diet Snapple.
Shelly: hmmmm.... Can I have a bottle of water with the soup please?

Final score: Shelly 2/ Belly the Evil Twin 0
Stayed tuned for more action packed adventures of Shelly and Belly

March 13, 1971

Last night the Allman Brothers Band celebrated the 35th anniversary of recording Live at the Fillmore East.
Set 1:Statesboro Blues, Done Somebody Wrong, Stormy Monday, You Don't Love Me, Hot'lanta, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, Whipping Post
Set 2:Mountain Jam, Woman Across The River, *Desdemona, *Come And Go Blues, *The Sky Is Crying, *Jessica,Encore:@The Weight
*w/Chuck Leavell, @w/Susan Tedeschi
Set I is the double album (start to finish) of "Live at the Fillmore East."

This show was awesome. The band was tight-- Derek and Warren traded centerstage and their guitar lines weaved in and out, with 3 drummers providing the rhythm. Greg can still sing, but prefers not to. Elizabeth Reed was totally hot and The Weight with Susan Tedeschi singing was the perfect encore. Derek Trucks has become an incredible lead guitarist, he was really off the charts. It was a spectacular performance. I really enjoyed this one.

Another Notch

Heading into the homestretch, my birthday is March 31. This last week has been less than ideal. Today DH and I had to go to a funeral, which required 4 hours in the car. I planned to get up early and go to the gym, but that just didn't happen. I only worked out 3 times this week, and I definitely miss those endorphins!! Tomorrow I am going to see the Allman Brothers (yeah, still love rock and roll), so I won't be working out. I do plan to finish out this challenge with renewed commitment and energy. Usually when I miss a few days I get to the gym with tons of energy. That's how I plan to start the next 50 years!
After running 5 miles yesterday, I started thinking about a) running on the roads (yes, running up and down the hills, stop being such a wimp) and b) running a 10K. I'm thinking about it, haven't made the commitment yet. I worry a little bit about the stress on my soon to be 50 year old knees. And with spring just around the corner, I know I am going to crave my bike (with new Terry Butterfly saddle which is my birthday present). What a terrible decision-- does the 50 year old lady train for a 10 k or does she ride up and down the hills on the black Trek? OK, so I'm not choosing between the NYC marathon and a century ride, but I'm pretty proud of myself. I know I am far more fit than most women my age, and I know there's lots more room for improvement. The warm weather yesterday really got me psyched for spring. As Emeril says, time to "kick it up another notch!"

Birthday Saddle

It's been ordered, and it shipped. I will soon be riding with my butt on a Terry Butterfly Tri saddle. I'm psyched. It's my birthday present from DH and sons #1 and #2.

Check out Terry Bicycles. They prdouce bicycles, components, apparel, and even jewelry for women only.

Today is going to be a gift-- mmid-March and temps close to 70. Son #2 has plans to work on a school project with a classmate of the opposite sex. I don't think it would be appropriate to leave them alone for large periods of time and DH is in Florida visiting his mom. A nice bike ride just may not work out. May have to settle for a run.

WTF??

I have lost all faith in America. Why is Kevin in the top 12? WTF is going on, America?? The French are laughing at us! Starry Starry Night should have sent him back to Levittown, to the HS cafeteria where he can work on being a chick magnet. He should be on American Doofis. The only way I can hope to recover from my disappointment is to go to the gym, plug into my iPod, and run a few miles while listening to some talented people sing. Well, at least they got rid of the Brady kid (Will Makar). They got that one right!

What's Inside YOUR Gymbag?

They should do this on Entertainment Tonight. Everynight, they should open another star's gym bag and do an inventory. What do you think was inside Hillary Swank's gymbag while she was getting ready for Million Dollar Baby? What was in George Clooney's gymbag after filming Syriana and he had about 30 pounds to lose? Does Phillip Seymour Hoffman have a gym bag?


So here's the exclusive inventory of the contents of the gymbag owned by VergenceRanges-- after she ate the Peppermint Stick Luna Bar.
1 pair Nike sneakers (notice the yellow band for the Lance Armstrong Foundation), 1 pair wonderful Sidi bikeshoes, 1 pair Nike flipflops for the shower (I try to avoid buying Nike products, but I guess I haven't been too successful with that strategy), 1 complete set workout clothes, 2 towels-- 1 small for sweat management and 1 big for shower, 2 water bottles-- 1 small for most gym activities, 1 big for the big spin, 1 bathing suit in desperate need of replacement, 1 silly swimming cap, 1 pair swimming goggles (these 3 swimming items seldomly used and always find their way to the bottom of the bag), 1 HR monitor in homemade carrying bag, 1 pair headphones, and assorted hair/shower and other items usually classified as "health and beauty." Wow, pretty darn exciting!
So, no sooner do I get this posted then I see a column in Sports Illustrated about what's in some basketball player's gym bag. Hey, I thought of it first!! But this guy's gymbag was more like his traveling/carryon bag. So he had books, iPod, video games, etc. That's cheating!!

I am a Regular

Once again, I am spending 2 days sitting around the house waiting for town inspectors, plumbers and propane tanks. I have been assured by the plumber that I will be cooking on my new gas range this evening! I'll believe it when I smell the pizza. Yesterday I was very cranky. The inspector came but left without telling me whether or not the gas line "passed." I only have one electric skillet but dinner required 2 skillets, so I had to cook sequentially instead of simultaneously. And the boys are doing some computer realignment (son #2 gets basement computer, son #1 gets son #2's computer, and laptop floats between basement and other locations) and there was this constant low level bickering all evening. Plus the schools were closed-- snow day, so the 3 of us were in the house all day. That's not a big deal-- I barely saw them except when I offered to make waffles (another electric appliance that does not require stovetop or oven). I didn't get to the gym. My trainer cancelled our morning appt. because of the bad weather (she travels from fairly far north). I could have gone to the gym early and gotten home before the snow became an obstacle, but it was so warm in bed! DH will be home on the early side today and I am hopeful we will both workout this evening. Then I can come home and cook on my new gas range!! Yippee!!

Which brings me to the point of this post-- I am a regular. My trainer told me that the gym has about 2400 members. Now, those members are pretty spread out-- there are the tennis people, the racquetball people, the swimmers, the "group exercise" mothers of small children, the spinners, and the weight lifters. Of course there is some overlap, usually there's a primary activity plus weight lifting. You would think most of the membership comes through the fitness center-- weight lifting plus all the treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc. But most of the time, I see the same people, at least the same "core" group in the fitness center. I call them the regulars. I don't know their names, but I can describe them to my DH and he usually knows who I am referring to ("she always wears Yankees clothes and she dances on the treamill"). I had the realization, that I am one of these people! If they ever think about it, then I am one of the people that they see regularly in the fitness center. If I had to take a guess, I would say there's about 100 of these people. I am an "after work" regular. There are "before work" regulars, morning regulars (the aforementioned mothers with small children), and the afternoon retired regulars. At most that probably adds up to 1000 people. That means there are 1400 irregular members who are not getting the most out of their gym memberships. I guess that's how gyms make it work. Sign up lots of people and hope at least half of them don't show up so the regular members don't complain. Even though I use the gym at probably its busiest times (evenings and weekend mornings), I never feel it's too crowded. I rarely wait for a piece of euqipment or a shower. And I like seeing the same people, somehow it is comforting and reassuring. Some of them are even my friends! So I am a regular and proud of it! Do they have a Life is Good T-shirt for us Regular Gym People?