Readers’ Workouts – 5/12/15

by Carol5 Comments
So, here are my steps for the week.  Pretty inconsistent, but that's because of the run on Saturday. And here's my current workout plan. I just finished week 16. YAY! This week I'm taking it easy and getting some yard work done. Hopefully, by next week I'll have a new plan. Tuesday - 3 miles at the park. 20 minutes of garden work (I'm counting it.) Wednesday - 30 minutes of weights at home Thursday - Ran 2 miles at the park Saturday - 10.4 mile trail run. (Okay, I walked up some of the hills.) My time on the run was 2:38:59 which put me 61 out of 93 women (165 out of 210 overall). This is my brother and me towards the end of the race. This picture is actually one of the half dozen the website scrolls through - Salt Fork Spring Challenge. It was a really hot day, in the mid 80s toward the middle/end of the race I'd say. How was your week? Readers’ Workouts is...
Read More

Health-Related Web Sites

by Carol1 Comment
As I'll mention in my next post, I need to come up with a new plan, now that the run is over, so of course I turn to the internet. I'd like my goals to focus both on fitness and healthy-eating. In case you haven't noticed, the Internet has tons sites designed to promote a healthy lifestyle. Some are just trying to sell things but a lot have are excellent sources of valuable information. Some sites, such as Blender Babes, are one-stop centers of health-related information presented in an appealing and engaging manner. The topics typically found in these health-related sites vary and are trending; moreover, they are guaranteed to result in frequent return visits by web users. Some topics may include such things as recipes, which are my favorite, video presentations and tutorials, 101 advice tips on healthy living, exercise routines and products reviews on new and/or refurbished products. Actually, these kinds of outstanding sites have something for everyone. Health-Conscious Recipes Detox smoothies, banana smoothies and the...
Read More

Excerpt from A Twist of Fortune by Mike Martin

by Carol1 Comment
Excerpt: The schooners made the Banks Fishery possible and created one of the most remarkable and profitable fisheries ever seen in the world. For nearly a hundred years crews would venture out for three or four trips from May to October. Then they’d bring their fish back to Grand Bank for onshore salting and drying. People thought both the cod and the Banks Fishery would last forever but technological changes and greed would alter that projection. By the mid 1900’s, there had been a shift from the sailing schooners to more mechanized vessels and more effective methods for catching codfish. The vessels used enormous nets that hauled in large numbers of fish but devastated the cod population. Then the fish companies developed trawlers that swept up everything in their path and dragged the bottom of the ocean. By the 1980’s they were dredging the waters, scooping up everything. Soon they were joined by floating factory ships that caught and processed the fish...
Read More

Thursday’s Tale: The Tortoise and the Hare

by Carol1 Comment
I've got one of Aesop's best known fables today, "The Tortoise and the Hare." A Hare one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: "Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race." The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue. Yes, slow but steady wins the race, but I think even more appropriate, over-confidence and cockiness can lose the race. As...
Read More

Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

by Carol4 Comments
I read a lot of mysteries, and one detective whose name popped up several times in other folks lists was Arkady Renko. I had no idea who he was, but being a sucker for mysteries set in interesting places, I finally decided to pick up Gorky Park, the first in the series. I am definitely glad I did. Renko is reminiscent of other detectives I've read. the story takes place in Russia in the early 80s. The system is corrupt and while Renko is not a good Communist Party, he's also not forcibly against it. He kind of accepts it all, recognizes it exists and throws away the occasional murder file to keep the crime rate down. but the murders in Gorky Park pull him in. He needs to solve it, whether it be because of the crime itself or due to "the woman" who's attached to the case. You know here, the girl our hero irrationally falls for too quickly and...
Read More

Readers’ Workouts – 5/5/15

by Carol7 Comments
So, here are my steps for the week. Not so great, but not too awful, either. And here's my current workout plan. I just finished week 15. Tuesday - 5o minutes on the elliptical. 20 minutes of arm machines. Wednesday - 30 minutes of weights at home Thursday - 40 minutes on the elliptical Friday - 3 miles on the treadmill I didn't get my long run in, which kinda sucks, but we saw Othello on Saturday and ate dinner out. Sunday was Amber's Scholars banquet and Monday evening was her band banquet. There is only so much time in the day, so I'm not going to worry about it. I'm trying to decide what my next set of goals should be. Or maybe a plan that keeps me on track. Maybe I just try to repeat the week 14 above with variations as needed. Suggestions? I'm also thinking about doing a Whole30, but I think I'll wait until June for that. This month, between banquets, Mother's Day,...
Read More