Small Training Update

I did my 30 minutes crosstraining on the exercise bike today, while reading Chasing Vermeer, and had no problems with it. I also did more of the stretching exercises to help my foot, but those are going to be done daily whether I mention them or not.

Of actual note, though, is that I've updated my 3-Day Archive page to include all the related blog entries from both blogs. If you visit, be warned as I've included a lot of images on the page.

Training Walk

So I didn't do my crosstraining on Friday, and did a very short walk yesterday. I wasn't sure how I would do today, but I started my walk with a bit of a worry because the pain has kept coming back and I've been so unable to go the distance. I'm already 5 miles behind this week due to yesterday's lack of a walk... what would happen if the pain returns today?

I decided before I started the trip that I would go until the pain got intense and then turn around and go home, but I really hoped I could reach the eleventh milepost... the one I've tried to get to for my last few walks but failed to reach.

To encourage myself, I started off my walk by taking a picture of the nine and a half milepost.

Note the lovely rooster guarding the milepost. He wasn't letting anyone get too near. After taking the picture I turned around and went to the first exercise post and do some stretching. The familiar walk to the tenth milepost was mostly fine, except the lower leg pain started again in my right leg as I got close.

I put my hand on the milepost after taking the picture, looked around, and said to myself, "it's sunny, there are hundreds of people on the trail today, and I can get to the next milepost if I really try."

So I tried.

I made it to the bridge, to the trestle, to the tunnel... and then I got to the golf course. I had to sit down. I stretched some more, whimpered a little from the pain, and thought, "it's sunny, there are hundreds of people on the trail today... and I might be able to get to the next milepost."

I looked down the trail. It was a long way. But I felt fantastic except for the pain and had enough energy to go a long way. And darn it, I've only seen that milepost from a bicycle, if I even noticed it. I wanted to see that stupid milepost. I had to see it.

I stood up, got back on the trail, and realized the pain was completely gone. So I walked. And was surprised to find that when the pain returned, it was fairly mild. And then I reached it...

I was grinning like the cheshire cat when I put my hand on the milepost. And right then and there I decided that I was going to go farther. So I walked on. I finally had to sit down again, and found a nice boulder to rest on. I attempted to audio blog from the spot, but I'd forgotten my pin number. I called hubby-Eric to let him know that I'd finally made it to the eleventh milepost.

Eric encouraged me to go a bit farther, so I decided to try to make it about another half mile, so my mile total would be four miles. Then I got on the straightaway in Kenmore and felt like I could go all the way to Seattle with ease. And while I dithered about whether or not I would turn around I kept walking, and suddenly I was here:

That was my limit though. While part of me wanted to go even farther, maybe even visit the comic shop (which was just off the trail a bit further along), I really needed to get home. So I turned around and walked and walked...

And only had to stop once.

I did stop very briefly to snap a couple of pictures, but I felt fine and I could have gone a lot farther.

I took this picture after noticing the pacifier and wondering about it for a brief moment. It's clear that some little one lost it and someone else found it and put it on the tree so it wasn't on the ground.

My last picture was back in the Bothell Landing area, and is of yet another type of fowl:

I didn't think I'd gotten a picture of that particular type yet.

Five Miles. YES!

Energy Bar review: "S'mores" Luna Bar. Extremely difficult to get open while walking (at least this one was) but worth it once I got my teeth into it. Tasted like a Rice Crispie Treat, and gave a good boost of energy.

Training

I went on a small walk today with my sister, not nearly the 5 miles I was supposed to get in, but NO PAIN! I think I'll try to go on a longer walk tomorrow and see how far I can go. I didn't get my regular crosstraining in on Friday, but I will be doing the swim on Wednesday so I'll get the full amount in even if I miss the day. I really hope the pain stays away so I can get the longer walks in this week. I've been doing a lot of stretching and exercising... I hope the effects remain.

Today I went down to the store, and on the way, I stopped to take a picture of the blooming tree in front of our house. As usual, the sky washed out a bit on the digital image, but the blue was much deeper in real life.

Yo, California, send us our rain back! We don't want a summer drought! C'mon, we'll trade you weather!

Friday Fitness Blogging

• Weight = X
  
• Change From Last Week: +2
  
• Met Training Goals? No:
  
  • Fri = 30 min exercise bike (goal: 30 min crosstrain)
    
  • Sat = none (goal: 4 miles)
    
  • Sun = Half mile (goal: 3 miles)
    
  • Mon = 1.5 miles
    
  • Tue = 1.5 miles (goal: 3 miles)
    
  • Wed = 1 hour swimming
    
  • Thu = 10 min exercise (goal was 4 miles)
• Current Training Goal:
  
  • Fri = 30 minutes crosstraining
    
  • Sat = 5 miles
    
  • Sun = 3 miles
    
  • Tue = 3 miles
    
  • Thu = 4 miles

Not so good this week. The leg pain kept me from getting all the exercise I wanted, and I seem to finally be running out of the abundant (*CENSORED*) supplied energy as well. On the other hand, I feel like I'm just on the verge of getting a lot done, so it's not all bad. I'm going to have to work at it this week though, if I want to succeed.

On the donation front, I'm still a long way away. I sent out another batch of e-mails and got a couple of promises, but no actual money. On the other hand, the free shoes as mentioned in the last post and the huge donation from Laura make up for a lot. Equipment-wise, I think I'm actually just about set.

Training Walk

Well, lots to report today.

First off, I had a walk planned with a friend... then I sorta invited my sister along, then my husband turned out to have some free time. In the meantime, my friend got busy and wasn't able to do the actual walk with me.

However. My friend, Laura, was able to talk with the manager of a local shoe store that sells the shoes I have been prescribed by my doctor. Amazingly, they gave me a free pair of shoes and the second pair at 30% off, which Laura paid for. And, as if that wasn't cool enough, she also bought me a t-shirt which should help considerably with training.

I walked into the store unsure of why I was going to it, and walked out with $200 worth of merchandise, most of which is crucial to my success on this walk.

With that in mind, I want to thank Brooks Sports, Inc for the free shoes, and Laura White for the other pair and the shirt as well as for hooking me up with the free pair in the first place.

Laura also has some more ideas for fundraising, which is appreciated since I'm very poor at it and I've got a long, long way to go.

As for the training walk itself... not so good. My new pack works great, I had a lot of energy, but the lower leg pain started up soon before I reached the half mile point and didn't go away. Eric and Lisa kept walking way ahead because I just couldn't go as fast as them. I think I need to see a physical therapist and get this pain sorted out... quickly. Luckily, the insurance will pay for that.

I did go the full distance, but I had to stop several times, once for quite awhile, to let the pain drain off before continuing.

This time I took a couple of pictures from the bridge. This is the one you can see in the trestle image.

This first image is looking back the way I came. The trail is on the right bank through here, invisible behind the heavy brush.

This one looks forward. You can see the trestle up there not too far away, and part of the curve of the trail on the right. As I took the pictures, leaning against the wooden railing of the bridge, I could feel the bridge still shaking from the passage of some bicyclists just moments earlier.

Later in the walk I noticed some ice in the shade and snapped a picture.

The ice stood out to me because it's pretty unusual to see bright sunlight and this kind of ice at the same time around this area. It's also not really that common to see this kind of ice at all, for that matter. They were fairly large slabs, and I'm sure we could have picked them up like plates. It was a cool thing to see and a reminder that, despite the sunlight and warm temps, it's still winter.

The distance of this walk was the same as yesterday's walk. Tomorrow I'm saving up my energy for the evening swim, then I'll be walking with the Bouncing Betties on Thursday evening. Friday is crosstraining day, so I'll do some exercise bike, then I'll just have to see how it progresses from there.

Energy Bar review: I finished off yesterday's Clif bar. Nothing new, sorry.

Training Walk

Ok, so I did another training walk today to see what would happen. My goal was to get down to the trestle and back, which would be between a mile and a half and two miles, if I've figured out the distance right... closer to a mile and a half. I started to feel the shin pain before I reached a half mile, but it never got as bad as it was before, which I think may mean it is healing (or that the new Superfeet are working). I didn't push it, but I kept walking, and I made it to the trestle! Slow and steady wins the race, I guess. I snapped a couple of pictures from the trestle then returned to my car on the parallel trail from Blythe Park.

All told, a bit over a mile and a half. Still nowhere near where I need to be, but better. Here's the pictures from the trestle:

This one is looking back the way I came. The bridge is part of the Sammamish River Trail.

And this one is looking towards Blythe Park, which is the left bank of the river. The right bank has some apartments, which you can just see through the trees. I think the trail and the river diverge at this point and don't meet again.

Energy Bar review: "Chocolate Brownie" Clif Bar. Not easy to open while walking, at least not so it can be eaten. Looks completely unappetizing. Gotta be one of the ugliest things I've seen in a long time. Tastes ok, nothing special. Nicely chewy, not too chewy (I'm not breaking off my teeth trying to get a bite). Too much to eat on a short walk, so I'm saving the rest for another walk. Conclusion: I could live with this.

Training Stuff

I went out and got new Superfeet. I went to REI first, but they were out. The sales clerk suggested going to Nordstrom as they had still had some earlier. After walking around a bit and looking lost, we found a sales clerk who was able to help, and I grabbed a couple of pairs... hopefully they will last until the walk itself. I may need another pair before then, depending on how much walking I do.

While we were at REI I got a new walking pack that has room for water bottles. My current pack is great, but I really need to carry water with me, and one that can hold two bottles is perfect. I also grabbed a sample of energy bars to try out. Eric likes the Clif Bars, so I got one of those. I also got a Luna Bar and Powerbar. I'm hoping one of them really appeals to me. I'll try one on my walk today (which will be happening very soon) and the others on my next two walks.

I plan on a short walk today... I hope to make a mile. Tomorrow I'm walking with at least one friend, maybe more. We'll see. Thursday night I'll be walking with the Bouncing Betties. I also plan on swimming on Wednesday, with maybe a short walk that morning.

Training Walk

A short walk today (less than a half mile) just to test the muscles and see if they are healed yet. I'm happy with the results, although I'd much like to go on a longer walk. I think I'll need to go on a short walk every day for awhile to build up strength faster. We'll see...

In the meantime, I walked around the in-laws neighborhood today, in the bright sunlight. I took a couple of pictures for you to enjoy. First up is the result of not getting enough snow. Since we can't do snowmen, you sometimes see replacements:

This particular fellow is made of rocks. There was a black glove at the base of the rockman, apparently the makers hadn't figured out how to put a stick into the body to make arms.

My second picture is just one of a whole lotta birds we saw. This fellow was posing, so I snapped a picture of him. Just after I took the picture, he flew off.

Lastly, I'm doing this training for a purpose. I'm still trying to raise my minimum level to walk the Seattle 3-Day. If you can, please donate.

Friday Fitness Blogging

• Weight = X-2
  
• Change From Last Week: -2
  
• Met Training Goals? No:
  
  • Fri = 30 min exercise bike
    
  • Sat = 3 miles
    
  • Sun = 1 mile (goal was 3 miles)
    
  • Tue = 1.5 to 2 miles (goal was 3 miles)
    
  • Wed = 1 hour swimming
    
  • Thu = none (goal was 3 miles)
• Current Training Goal:
  
  • Fri = 30 minutes crosstraining
    
  • Sat = 4 miles
    
  • Sun = 3 miles
    
  • Tue = 3 miles
    
  • Thu = 4 miles

Despite having some leg problems that stopped me from walking my full distance for three of my walking days, I did manage to get quite a bit of exercise in. In particular, the full hour of swimming helped use up some of my now abundant energy and gave me the ability to exercise my legs without pain.

I apparently lost two pounds since last week's weigh in, but experience has taught me that even weighing in at the same time every week you get a good bit of variance. Until the weight loss creates a pattern, it's best to just ignore it and concentrate on feeling better.

Riverbend on the Elections

You feel it all around you. It begins slowly and almost insidiously. You stop wearing slacks or jeans or skirts that show any leg because you don't want to be stopped in the street and lectured by someone who doesn't approve. You stop wearing short sleeves and start preferring wider shirts with a collar that will cover up some of you neck. You stop letting your hair flow because you don't want to attract attention to it. On the days when you forget to pull it back into a ponytail, you want to kick yourself and you rummage around in your handbag trying to find a hair band... hell, a rubber band to pull back your hair and make sure you attract less attention from *them*.

From Riverbend's Blog.

Training Update

As I said, I didn't walk today. I did go check out Blythe Park, which is right where I thought it was. In fact, there's a nice trail that parallels the Sammamish River Trail going from the chicken park to Blythe Park. It's about a half mile, so the full loop would be a little over a mile. A good walk to keep in mind for future reference.

Not much else to report. I plan on using the exercise bike tomorrow. Nothing like a nice long ride while reading a book.

Tomorrow's Walk

In the interests of keeping my leg from becoming seriously injured, I'm going to forgo tomorrow's walk. If the weather stays nice, I may visit Blythe Park so I have a better idea of where it meets the Sammamish River Trail. But I won't walk.

As a replacement, tonight I'm going swimming, and I'll do my crosstraining on Friday as scheduled. Between the two it should make up for some of the workouts I'm missing.

I feel like this must be a pale shadow of what a real athlete feels like when injured. I feel GREAT. I feel strong and healthy. But I can't do what I want to do because it hurts too much. It's incredibly frustrating.

Audioblog Second Test

Hey, the second one made it, too!

Transcript: "Here's my second test of the audio blogging software. The first one didn't seem to make it to my blog, so, we're gonna go for a second try and see if that one makes it. Um... I don't know what to say except... It's a try! ... wow, that was dumb. *click*"

If I do use this to blog during, say, the 3-Day, I'll write up transcripts once I get home.

Audioblog First Test

So it took well over an hour to post it, something to remember when/if I use this on the road. Let's see if the second one shows.

For anyone who doesn't want to listen to, or can't listen to, the audio file, here's what I said: "This is just a test of the audio blogging capabilities of, well, Audioblogger. Let's see if this actually works. If it does, um, a wierd little icon should appear on my blog in just moments. Coooool. *BEEP!*"

Testing Testing...

I'm trying to set up and test Audioblogger. So odd things might appear on this page if it works. If it doesn't work... well... I guess it just doesn't work.

Update: Two tries, and nothing has posted yet. I'm not sure what is going wrong because the system is dead simple. There is absolutely no way to mess it up because there aren't any options to play with. The best I can figure is that maybe I typed in my number wrong. But I was extra careful the second time. So maybe it just doesn't like me.

What the?

This has got to be the most bizarre political story I've heard recently. Some small part of me is convinced the whole thing was just made up by somebody to fool ... I don't know who. Truly odd beyond anything I've seen recently. If it is true, and I'm not sure it is, the hypocrisy on the part of conservatives involved in this is mind-blowing.

Searching for Milepost Eleven

I went on my required training walk today, but again I couldn't do the full three miles due to severe pain in my lower right leg. I tried stretching this time, but apparently the muscle is just not healed. I did try to walk through the pain, but that only can take you so far. I might have made two miles, I definitely got well over a mile, but I didn't reach three miles.

I started out in Bothell at the 9 1/2 milepost and had a mostly ok walk to the tenth milepost. As I approached 10, I felt the pain shooting up and considered simply turning back. I didn't want to, as I have the energy to go much further. I think I could have walked all the way to Seattle today, if not for the pain. After standing at the milepost for a minute to let the pain drain away, I decided to "just see what's around the next corner." Around the next corner was a bridge. I decided to "just cross the bridge." Once across the bridge I seriously considered going back, but I could see an old railroad trestle and couldn't remember if it was part of the trail or not, so I decided to just walk over to it and check it out. Once there, I could see the trestle was an offshoot, but I saw the tunnel and thought, "well, I'll just go through the tunnel, because it would be a shame if the eleventh milepost was just on the other side." On the other side was the golf course, and I could see well down the path. I started to walk it, but I suddenly realized my foot felt odd, almost numb.

I sat down on a fence near the golf course and checked to see if my foot was really numb or if I was imagining it. I was imagining it. But my leg continued to hurt, and I couldn't stomach going further with this pain, not knowing when I would stop. So I headed back to Bothell Landing.

Once I got home I tried to figure out how far I'd gone by looking up maps of the trail. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have just a basic map showing major landmarks and the mileposts along the trails. The best I could find was a King County map that just doesn't have any detail. Mapquest doesn't show the trail, but I think the railroad trestle goes across to Blythe Park, which gives me a slightly better idea of where I was.

Oh well. I met the strange fowl at the park again:

Just before I took this picture I saw one of them attack one of the roosters and scare it off. The rooster was clearly outclassed. Speaking of roosters:

"There are chickens in the trees!" They seemed to be gathering in there, I think somebody must have thrown some seed over that way. I know that somebody throws seed around frequently. These are well-fed birds. I also saw a fleet of ducks with some geese thrown in for good measure. Like I said, a truly fowl park. Further along the trail I found evidence that it is still winter.

Anywhere the sun hit the ground was steaming, but in shadow the ice clung to branches. Heh, when I went out to my van to drive down to the trail (doctor's orders, I can't walk on the hills!) I couldn't get my key to work in the driver's side door because it was frozen. I went in through the passenger side.

Training Walk and Doctor Update

So I went to see a podiatrist this morning for my heelspur issues. Now, I'm going to confess that I've been calling it heelspur even though the heelspur is just a symptom of the real problem. That's because most people have a vague idea of what a heelspur is, but if I said I'm suffering from Plantar Fasciitis people would say, "What?"

When I first was diagnosed with Plantar Faciitis I started calling it "Facist Feet" since every time I said "plantar" someone would say, "Ewww, you have warts?" No. Sorry. "Plantar" just means "feet". Faciitis doesn't mean facist, but it sounds like it. The plantar fascia is a muscle thing that pretty much covers your entire foot. One end of it attaches to your heel bone and then it extends across your arch and reaches to your toes. When it gets irritated, usually from repetitive strain, it starts to hurt.

When I first got the condition, the podiatrist I visited gave me a night splint and told me to wear a certain brand of shoes. He also gave me a list of exercises to do. I was deeply suspicious, but to my surprise, the night splint worked and within a few months I was "cured".

Unfortunately, this is not a condition you are ever completely cured from. So it returned, and with a vengeance. My new case wouldn't respond to the night splint, I'd forgotten the exercises, and worst of all I couldn't even wear the splint anymore because it hurt so bad.

So I went to the doctor to find out if there is anything that can help me.

First off, I'm not to stop walking, but I should cut back a little and avoid hills completely. The lower leg pain is probably another symptom of the PF, I need to concentrate on walking normally if I can and do exercises to strengthen the muscle in question and also hamstring stretches. In fact, the lack of stretching before I walk probably caused that pain in the first place. Oops.

As for the PF itself, lots of exercises to work on. The doctor is checking into getting a different night splint for me and possibly a couple of other helper apparatuses. Apparati? In addition, I need to get new inserts for my shoes and probably new shoes too. I shouldn't wear one set of inserts for more than six months, although the shoes themselves may last longer... and I might want to replace the inserts more often since I'll be doing a lot of walking.

So, speaking of walking, I only did a mile yesterday, two less than the schedule. But I couldn't walk through the lower leg pain and was afraid to make it worse. We did spot another fowl at the Bothell trail. I swear, it's practically a farm down there...

I didn't get too close to this guy because of the way he (it?) responded to a cyclist going by. I didn't want to risk agitating it. We did wonder that it was sitting on the cement and not moving, but when we got back from the walk, it was up and moving around.

Again, I didn't get too close, but I got a nice picture anyway.

Training Walk Pictures

I had a decent training walk today, except for pain in my right leg, which came and went, mostly came, during the walk. It was also very wet, and Eric and I got soaked during the walk. However, I took some pictures, which I thought you might like to see. If not, you can leave now.

First up is the bridge over the Sammamish Slough. The bridge was recently renovated, and new art was installed.

Once again I found proof that the river trail is a bit... fowl. These didn't appear to be ducks or chickens, though. Hmm... can we get another view?

Ok, fine, don't look at me. Whatever. Stupid bird.

This one just made me say "Well, duh. Who wants to enter a garbage bin?"

And lastly, as we headed up the hill toward home I couldn't help but notice this warning, which apparently is telling us about a dangerous supervillain on the loose. Be careful, everyone! The evil zapper is after you!

Is The Draft Returning?

Tim Dickinson of the Rolling Stone believes it is inevitable due to the way this country's leadership has run the wars so far.

Training Update

I did my required 30 minutes of crosstraining yesterday, but I was a bit foolish about it. I kept delaying until I realized I had exactly one hour in which to exercise, take a shower, get dressed, and eat lunch before going to work. It made the ride on the exercise bike more stressful than it should have been (and incidently meant I didn't watch a video while riding because I didn't want to take the time to move the bike).

Today I need to get a 3 mile walk in. I also have a book waiting at the library. How convenient. Maybe I'll to the loop, maybe I'll mix things up a bit and do the trail and hit the library on the way back. It all depends on the weather and on timing.

Friday Fitness Blogging

So, back to fitness blogging, this time here on the boring blog. I'm not comfortable enough to put my actual weight on the blog yet, though I may change that later. In any case, "X" represents a real number that I'm trying to get down from.

• Weight = X
  
• Change From Last Week: -
  
• Met Training Goals? Yes:
  
  • Tue = 3 miles
    
  • Thu = 3 miles
• Current Training Goal:
  
  • Fri = 30 minutes crosstraining
    
  • Sat = 3 miles
    
  • Sun = 3 miles
    
  • Tue = 3 miles
    
  • Thu = 3 miles

The image to the right will change depending on whether or not I lose any weight. That's my fast way of reading progress. In addition, my training goals are taken from the 24 week plan of the 3-Day. While the 3-Day plan starts on Monday, my fitness week starts on Friday. If a day isn't listed, it's a rest day according to the training plan. I will likely be trading rest days and crosstraining days during the next few weeks, so that might change.

Pictures

I thought you might want to see the pictures I took on my last two training walks. First up is the Library Boulder.

The plaque reads: Bothell native Tracy Ruiz-Conforto won two gold medals in synchronized swimming in singles and struck gold again in pairs with her partner, Candy Costie of Kenmore.

The Complete Book of The Summer Olympics adds some details, including the fact that her name is spelled "Tracie". Her father was Hawaiian and mother Norwegian-German... definitely an American through-and-through. The solo event, basically water ballet with a single dancer, was discontinued after 1992 and replaced with a team event. The book also says she only won two gold total, not three, since there were only two synchro events. She came back in 1988 and won Silver in the solo.

On today's walk, I felt compelled to take a picture as I walked through the Pioneer Cemetary. The colors are not as vibrant as they were in real life, unfortunately. But the image was striking to me at the time.

Training Walk

Staying on the schedule, today I did the Town-Gown loop again, this time all the way through. I did stop at the library to make some photocopies, but that was close to the end of the walk anyway. It took me about an hour and 25 minutes including the stop at the library (which was about 20 minutes thanks to a comedy of errors). So I'm going just under 3 miles an hour. I can handle that.

The training schedule calls for 30 minutes of cross-training tomorrow, then 3 mile walks on Saturday and Sunday. At the moment, unless plans adjust again, the cross-training will be the exercise bike at home and the two walks will be with Eric.

Next week's schedule is the same as this week's except the Saturday walk is up to four miles. We'll see how I feel after Sunday's walk, but I think I'm up to it. In fact, I think I'm rarin' to go.

Today's walk was very pleasant. The sun is out but there was a comfortable chill in the air that made it easy to walk. Walking through the campus at Cascadia I chatted briefly with a professor... it appears that the bookshop on campus has free coffee, so the staff and faculty are always visiting to get coffee. The professor came out of the store when I walked by and commented on my 3-Day shirt, and I told him it is good walking weather.

I would put up some pictures from my last two walks, but I don't have time to get them off my camera, crop them, and upload them before I need to go to work. So I'll try to put them up later tonight.

My walking group for the 3-Day, the Bouncing Betties, is meeting next Friday evening to make plans to conquer the wo--- er, to make fundraising plans and discuss training. I also need to contact the 3-Day folks about the second mandatory training session... I need to get in on one.

I'm still only at $200, but it's a very solid $200. I need to raise $4000 to reach my goal, or $1900 just to participate. That's a lot of dough. I hope I can do it. Plus, I need new shoes soon and probably ought to buy more socks. I'm confident that the rest will take care of itself, but the money worries me.

On the advice of co-worker Elise, I'm going to revive my Friday Fitness days over here on this blog and record my weight and such as taken every Friday morning I don't forget. I sort of was thinking about it, but Elise convinced me to actually do it.

Ok, time to grab lunch before I head off to work. Feel free to offer constructive advice, good cheer, or other positives in the comments. And if you are inclined to donate, go here.

Pain Update

Ok, 3 mile walk followed by 4 hours of retail. I should be a gibbering heap of agony right now. I'm not fantastic, my feet are killing me, but I feel great otherwise. I was even up for some housework when I got home. I feel like I've got my life back.

I joined a 3-Day team, the Bouncing Betties. I'm hoping being on a team will help me to walk a little more often and stick with the training schedule. I'm still way far away from my goal for fundraising, but hopefully being a member of a team will help a little with that, too.

I've got an appointment with a podiatrist to try to help with the heelspur pain. I hope he's got some ideas on how to improve the foot a little. Right now, both feet hurt, but my right foot is far worse. On the other hand, at least I'm able to walk. Last week when I complained about the pain, I needed the cane to even do that much.

More later.

Training Walk

It's 24 weeks, out, and I've started on the 24th week schedule. This calls for four 3-mile walks this week, and one 30 minute crosstraining session.

Today I did the whole Town-Gown loop, although the way I walked it was more a figure-8 than a loop. I first went down to the library to return a couple of books, then walked the loop until I got to the post office, where I sent off a package, then walked the "gown" part of the loop backwards then went home.

It was definitely over three miles, but I'm not sure exactly how far it was. Still, I'm on track. Monday - rest. Tuesday - 3 mile walk. So far so good.

Watch Closely...

Keep track of the names of the Senators who vote "yes" on Gonzales, as those are the Senators who don't believe our troops deserve the protection of the Geneva conventions, and think that torture is fine and dandy. No one who has even a slim thread of a soul could possibly vote "yes" for Gonzales.