no pun intended, of course!

My knee was still sore, so I didn't run today. I walked 1.5 miles.

Friday: 4 miles (80 minutes)
Saturday: bike 25 miles (110 minutes) plus upper body stretches (30 minutes)

I need the encouragement to stretch more. I'm surprised how little I do stretch now that the doc tells me I should.

I wanted a horse too when I was a kid. We lived on an almond orchard. The neighbors had a horse so I thought we needed one too. Dad said no, so I tried riding my dog...that didn't work out too well.

i did have a pony and then a horse (small standardbred, perfect size for me) while i was growing up, but couldn't afford to keep a horse while in college, then not really the time to spend with one after that; i did love to ride though. seeing photos of bridget with her horse makes me wish i still rode. loved my standardbred, she was such a good horse.

today: it keeps getting dark earlier and earlier, you'd think i'd realize that this time of year, so went out just as it was almost dark, walked 1 miles mostly in the dark using my flashlight (really bright little LED light), 20 minutes. plus another 1/2 mile earlier for 10 minutes while still at work.

i love stretching on my new foam roller, every time i lay back on it, my thoracic and cervical spine goes crack crack crack, can hear each vertebrae one by one. and then the way it opens my chest. and since i learned to do these in yoga class: spinal twist, shoulder stand better than traction for my neck and really stretches my calves and other parts of my legs depending how i hold them, and this other T-shape pose cracks my sitz bones.........

I made a roller out of a piece of 4 inch diameter pvc pipe I had laying around. Then I had an old piece of dense foam pad (the type you use for backpacking) that I cut and rolled around the pipe in two layers. Then I wrapped duct tap all around it.

The first thing I do is lay flat on my back until my head touches the ground. This could take 10 minutes. Does yours do that? Then I put the roller under my neck and start rolling. The first time I did this and felt the pop in my back I jumped a little with surprise.

Sunday: bike 25 miles (120 minutes) plus upper body stretches (30 minutes)

Windy today! The ride was a little slower. I saw a hawk today come down from his perch and invite a frog, which was sitting on the bank of a creek, to dinner.

no, i'm not that stiff. have more mobility than that. maybe too much. not sure how true this is, but my chiro said that in the beginning, as inflammation starts to cause the erosion, one's joints can be too loose, causing misalignments, subluxations, etc. that seems to be me. tight in some ways, loose in others.

so cool. i saw a hawk invite a little field mouse in the woods to lunch one day! a friend said he watched a hawk scoop down and pick up a snake, saw the hawk take off with the snake, the thing dangling in the air, as my friend was driving along the thruway; that would be very cool to see.

i wanted to go for a bikeride, but a little too cool, so opted for the walk instead:

walking, 1.5 miles, 30 minutes

boy is it pretty outside with all the maples in full peak colors!

Here's a big hurrah for everyone over tha past few days!


I've been out in the boondocks in South Dakota where my sister does't have wireless, and there is not even a locked network visible. What?!?! I'm serious. How doe people live like this?

Anyway, I swam for 30 minutes day before yesterday and did tai chi for 10 minutes & walked for 30 minutes yesterday.

There is no pool within 30 miles of here, so wish me luck on keeping my back in order.

Go TEAM!

Hi Erica

Sounds like you are doing well against all odds

Went for pre-dinner walk with kids this evening.

Stats: Walk 0.6 mile / 25 minutes

Keep up the good work everyone!