exercise

Vacation odds & ends

Not a whole lot going on in my world this week. I’m getting in lots of writing time, as well as playtime. Enjoy this roundup of randomness.

The diet is going about the way it usually does when I’m at the Boyfriend’s: Lots of meat, cheese, nuts and Atkins bars; fewer veggies. But the carb count is under control, so I’m still hoping for a good scale reading in the morning.

Exercise is okay. I’ve gotten more than I would have before bootcamp, but not quite as much as I was getting while doing bootcamp. I did W2D1 of C25K Tuesday morning, then took another 20-minute walk on the treadmill after dinner.

Imagine that: I had time to kill and had just read Roni’s inspirational post, Wouldn’t it be fun to find out?

Sadly, when Wednesday rolled around, I used the “I walked twice Tuesday” excuse to skip getting on the treadmill Wednesday.

Ah well. What’s that saying? Progress, not perfection … Two walks in one day is progress, definitely.

— While I was at Starbucks in Flagstaff Tuesday for writing time with some friends, I saw the cutest car. It’s a Mazda, I believe, and I just love the color. If I were in the market for a new vehicle, I just might go for a green one. A few years ago, I was in love with metallic copper/orange, but that green looks mighty appealing. You don’t see many that color out on the road.

The one color I won’t be getting? Any shade of gray. Three of my four vehicles have been that color.

My first, a Mazda GLC, was what they called “Toronado Silver” — but it was really a dark, metallic gray. My second car, a red Chevy Cavalier, broke the mold. But car No. 3, a Nissan Sentra was again — you guessed it — dark, metallic gray. The saving grace was that in some lights, it shimmered kind of purple-y. When the Nissan got totaled in 2005, I ended up with a slightly used Ford Focus in … silver.

So you see why I want my next vehicle to be some other — any other — color. A sapphire blue would be nice, too.

— On Tuesday, I found myself with time to spend in my favorite “office,” the terrace outside the Starbucks in Sedona.

When the Boyfriend had an apartment in Sedona, I used to hang out there to write all the time. Who wouldn’t love that view?

Unfortunately, my regular writing sessions with a view ended when he moved in December. I spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon there on Thanksgiving (inside, because the wind was a little chilly that day), and that was my last long visit.

— Apparently, Arizona is on fire. There’s more than one wildfire burning, and the smoke has settled in the Verde Valley.

There are at least five fires, according to this news report. One of them is near Crown King, about an hour’s drive from the Boyfriend’s. Another is somewhere around Payson, about an hour and a half away. The result is a lot of smoke blowing this way. The sky is usually a brilliant blue, not yellow-gray.

Hmm. I’m beginning to think I might have something against the color gray.

I know I have little desire to read “Fifty Shades of Grey.” I don’t have anything against erotic romance … Some of my favorite stories to read are in the Harlequin Blaze line, the company’s raciest. And I’ve bought my share of racy e-books. But anything that started life as “Twilight” fan fiction is suspect in my book.

Y’all can start throwing things at me — or leaving hateful comments — if you want, but I’ve tried to read the “Twilight” books and cannot get through them. I can barely get past the first chapter. They’re poorly written; the characters are whiny. If “Fifty Shades” is anything like them, there’s no way I’m plunking down $10 for an e-book I won’t be able to finish.

— I have a new snack obsession. I finally cracked open the bag of Thai Lime & Chili Cashews I picked up at Trader Joe’s on my last visit, and they’re fantastic. They’re a bit spicier than I expected them to be … they’re even spicier than the “tangy lemon” almonds supposedly made with real Tabasco.

Maybe my Midwestern taste buds are finally adapting to their new home, because spicy or not, I find them seriously delicious. I need to measure these puppies out carefully lest I down half the bag.

Yeah, I know the bag already looks empty. That’s because I transferred the nuts to a bag with a zippered top. Can’t have my favorite new snack going stale!

Week 1 finished

I did it!

That’s right — I finished Week 1 of the Couch to 5K program.

Sunday’s workout happened late, at about 9 p.m., but it did happen, and that’s what matters.

I spent a total of 36 minutes on the treadmill — 30 on the C25K workout and 6 extra after the cooldown. My speed was 3.4 or 3.4 for the walking parts and 4.0 for the jogs.

My Week 1, Day 2 workout was done on Wednesday. I spent 40:30 total on the treadmill, logging 2.294 miles and burning 264 calories. My speed ranged from 2.5 to 4.2 mph, with the walk/jog intervals at 3.5 to 3.8 mph (walk) and 4.0/4.1 (jog).

Exercising on a budget

Normally, I’m not a big fan of the Boyfriend’s thrift-store shopping habit. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: I’d rather have brand-new crap from Walmart than someone else’s used crap.

Still, he persists in picking up stuff like this exercise bike. Sure, it was a steal at only $20 — but I hate the thing. The monitor console doesn’t work and it makes my arms hurt every time I use it.

I know, I know. That means it’s working my arms, right? That doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Its best feature? The front wheel creates a cool breeze that rushes over my face as I’m riding.

Fun? Not so much.Yeah, I know exercise can’t always be fun — it’s not all Zumba and yoga, friends. But I like to at least enjoy myself a little.

I’m much more excited by the Boyfriend’s most recent thrift store find: a treadmill.

It’s not the biggest treadmill in the world, but it works … even the display works perfectly. It counts distance and calories and will take your pulse if you want it to. There are four pre-programmed workout tracks, or you can use it in manual mode.

There’s also an incline, which the Boyfriend takes great delight in cranking up all the way. I prefer a more gentle incline — or better yet, none (for now, anyway. I’m sure I’ll work up to hill climbing someday).

The Boyfriend looked the model up online — Image 10, I believe — and discovered that it retailed for about $400 at Walmart. You wanna know what he paid for it? $20. Yes, $20. Another steal … and this time one I can enjoy using. We can open up the garage door so we have a view of the great outdoors.

What’s wrong with walking in the real great outdoors? Nothing, of course — at least not right now. In another month or so, it’ll be way too hot to walk in the desert unless I get up at 6 a.m. … and I don’t get up at 6 a.m.

I’m looking forward to getting regular treadmill time again. It was one of my favorite cardio machines at the gym. I gave it a test run (walk) Sunday afternoon. I went for 30 minutes at speeds varying from 3.2 to 4 mph.

Now that I have access to a treadmill at the Boyfriend’s and at home (my roommate bought one a month or so ago, and she just showed me the secret to turning it on — the power switch is hidden), I decided to tackle the Couch to 5K program again. I even downloaded the app for my iPhone.

Armed with the app to keep track of what I was supposed to be doing, I hit the treadmill again Sunday night. I did the 5-minute warm-up at 3.5 mph, then alternated 60 seconds of jogging at 4 mph and 90 seconds of walking at 3.2 for 20 minutes and did 5 minutes of cooldown at about 3 mph.

That app from active.com is super-cool. I love that it tells me when to switch from jogging to walking without me having to watch the treadmill timer or my watch. And it, too, is a bargain at just $1.99.

The timekeeping might have been super-simple, but the actual moving was anything but easy. More than once during the jogging parts, I thought I might keel over. My heart thundered in my chest and I gasped for breath. Sweat literally poured off my face. Lucky for me, the walking bits gave me time to compose myself for the next run.

I’m ready for Workout 2 …

I’m also ready to admit that sometimes — only sometimes — thrift-store shopping can be a good thing.  I can overlook the fact that gently used exercise equipment used to be someone else’s used crap when it comes at a bargain-basement prices like that. Heck, since someone gave it away, it probably didn’t get all that much use to begin with. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

I still don’t particularly want to visit thrift stores with him, but I’ve instructed the Boyfriend to start looking for 8-pound weights. I’m sure he’ll find some somewhere. He’s cool like that.