It's been a very busy week for me here in Tucson. The weather's been wonderful, health's been good, and the mood is, for the most part, high here in the Village.
I won't try to tell ALL the exciting things that have transpired -- just a sampling. We had a bike rodeo here in the park on Thursday. I was surprised at how many of us showed up -- probably 30 or more. The leader showed us some skill maneuvers and we got to practice them on our bikes. This included obstacle avoidance, quick right turns (like to avoid someone making a right turn in front of you), and quick stops. It was lots of fun, and it was good to practice these moves.
At church choir practice on Wednesday, I practiced my short solo for this coming Sunday and it went well. Then at Far Horizons choir on Thursday, our director told me that I wasn't "ready" for small group singing or soloing. This, along with my normal apprehension about doing something new, led to my decision that I'm not going to do that solo tomorrow. I sent our director an email begging out. I pray that she gets another soprano to do it. Maybe I'll sleep better now.
Last evening's movie here at the park was called "Flipped." It's about a childhood boy-girl friendship and I really enjoyed it.
Thursday evening, Jack and I went with Donna and Al to see "Secretariat." What a fantastic movie that was! Even though we knew how it was going to turn out, we were on the edges of our seats. We had a nice time with D&A, too. We have wonderful friends.
I bought EA Sports Active -- yet another fitness program for my Wii. I have done two workouts with it, and I like it! I'm also keeping up with Dance Dance Revolution, My Fitness Coach, Wii Fit Plus, Just Dance, and Gold's Gym Cardio. All good fun, and all different enough from each other to keep things interesting. My weight's still stuck between 140 and 143, but I suppose I could drop some, if I really were trying.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Cookies!
I was feeling a little nauseous last evening, and I'm not sure why. I'd eaten some "raw" cashews, almonds, and craisins, but have difficulty believing that's what made me sick. I had a nap and regained enough strength that, when Jack appeared at my door with baked-from-scratch chocolate chip cookies, I was all over them! What a treat!
Today was hiking day and I decided to give it a try. I wore my heart rate monitor just out of curiosity. I didn't realize that the Esperero Trail in the Sabino Canyon area was SO challenging! I went about 5 miles total, and Susie and David went back with me. The rest of them, including Jack, went the whole way. My heart rate, for the 2.5 hours that I was hiking, averaged 131. And I had a high of 185.
Looking online just now, I see that my "maximum" heart rate is 226 - 54 (my age).. which gives me a maximum of 172. By looking at the chart at the bottom of this page, it seems as if, in order to increase my stamina and aerobic endurance, which seems like a good goal, I should shoot for 70-80% of this maximum rate. That gives me a range of 120 - 137. So my average, including the time I sat for lunch, is in the range. But what about that high reading? And all of the times that the thing beeped, telling me that my rate was over 168? Am I endangering my heart to do this sort of exercise? I don't even know whom to ask!
I did slow down, or even stop, when the thing started to beep, and my heart would slow right back down into a normal speed. I just don't know if I should even DO hikes anymore. I've never considered myself to be cardiovascularly strong, though I don't really know why. I guess it's that I seem to get out of breath easily when doing stuff like hiking or riding bikes. Should I start being concerned with such things? (Times like this, I really miss Michael! He would know!)
Today was hiking day and I decided to give it a try. I wore my heart rate monitor just out of curiosity. I didn't realize that the Esperero Trail in the Sabino Canyon area was SO challenging! I went about 5 miles total, and Susie and David went back with me. The rest of them, including Jack, went the whole way. My heart rate, for the 2.5 hours that I was hiking, averaged 131. And I had a high of 185.
Looking online just now, I see that my "maximum" heart rate is 226 - 54 (my age).. which gives me a maximum of 172. By looking at the chart at the bottom of this page, it seems as if, in order to increase my stamina and aerobic endurance, which seems like a good goal, I should shoot for 70-80% of this maximum rate. That gives me a range of 120 - 137. So my average, including the time I sat for lunch, is in the range. But what about that high reading? And all of the times that the thing beeped, telling me that my rate was over 168? Am I endangering my heart to do this sort of exercise? I don't even know whom to ask!
I did slow down, or even stop, when the thing started to beep, and my heart would slow right back down into a normal speed. I just don't know if I should even DO hikes anymore. I've never considered myself to be cardiovascularly strong, though I don't really know why. I guess it's that I seem to get out of breath easily when doing stuff like hiking or riding bikes. Should I start being concerned with such things? (Times like this, I really miss Michael! He would know!)
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Beautiful Sunday
Actually, I'll talk a bit about Saturday first. Jack and I were at the Home Show at the Convention Center in downtown Tucson when we heard the news about Gabrielle Giffords, the US Congresswoman from Arizona. She was shot and critically wounded at the Safeway store at Ina and Oracle, right here in our friendly city of Tucson. Along with her, there were 6 people killed and several badly hurt. People are blaming politics, of course, and Sarah Palin, with her goofy "gunsights" imagery is being blamed. Incidentally, I am not going to allow any comments in this blog about opinions regarding politics. Just ain't happening.
I will state for the record that I cannot abide any politician using gunsight imagery to identify candidates that she wishes to have "gone." I call that inappropriate, violence-inspiring, and just downright dangerous. I'm surprised that she's allowed to live free in this country, with that sort of attitude.
In church today, Pastor Bruce talked about how sad he was about this happening, but how hopeful he was for the world at the same time. Me too. I enjoy surrounding myself with positive people who carry positive messages. This makes my world a happy place. Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I'm not political enough. But maybe I just like living the way I live. I'm not afraid.
After a fine omelet at Village Inn, Jack and I were thwarted in our attempt to get to the Fiesta Room to practice setting up for our Fitness with the Wii presentation tomorrow, so we took off and did a little shopping. I actually was successful in finding 6- and 7-lb dumbbells. I just got the 6-pounders for now. And I got a bit more yarn for playing with knitting.
Later in the day, we did get in and set up the stuff for the presentation, and, after numerous trials and errors, we did get it all to work. The secret lay in changing something in the back room, moving the "channel" indicator to 0, and then .. bingo! There it was. I'm hopeful that tomorrow morning it works on the first try.
It was dark by the time we got back here and ready to go over to Jack's for dinner, and I didn't feel like a) driving; b) riding my bike; or c) walking, so I opted to stay here and enjoyed some of my delicious tuna salad. And now it's time for bed!
I will state for the record that I cannot abide any politician using gunsight imagery to identify candidates that she wishes to have "gone." I call that inappropriate, violence-inspiring, and just downright dangerous. I'm surprised that she's allowed to live free in this country, with that sort of attitude.
In church today, Pastor Bruce talked about how sad he was about this happening, but how hopeful he was for the world at the same time. Me too. I enjoy surrounding myself with positive people who carry positive messages. This makes my world a happy place. Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I'm not political enough. But maybe I just like living the way I live. I'm not afraid.
After a fine omelet at Village Inn, Jack and I were thwarted in our attempt to get to the Fiesta Room to practice setting up for our Fitness with the Wii presentation tomorrow, so we took off and did a little shopping. I actually was successful in finding 6- and 7-lb dumbbells. I just got the 6-pounders for now. And I got a bit more yarn for playing with knitting.
Later in the day, we did get in and set up the stuff for the presentation, and, after numerous trials and errors, we did get it all to work. The secret lay in changing something in the back room, moving the "channel" indicator to 0, and then .. bingo! There it was. I'm hopeful that tomorrow morning it works on the first try.
It was dark by the time we got back here and ready to go over to Jack's for dinner, and I didn't feel like a) driving; b) riding my bike; or c) walking, so I opted to stay here and enjoyed some of my delicious tuna salad. And now it's time for bed!
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