Weeks Ending January 13- January 27, 2007 weeks 16-18

Not much to share on the what I've dones, only a sparse 14.5 miles with a combined total of 161 miles. Life has been busy with family, friends, work, being on the Bargaining committee for the union, the Beautification Committee for the town, it doesn't leave too many hours to spare... plus it's been cold, and I don't like the cold. I will walk even if it's 20 degrees but there can't be even a little bit of a breeze... 20 degrees is cold and trust me I don't see another soul out there walking when it's that cold... the dogs love it.

This is the week I start a new "routine"... I need to watch what I eat, I know I don't take enough calcium in and now that I'm an old lady it's important. Milk, a.k.a. cow puss as some people tend to refer to is just doesn't sit well with me... I've never been a milk drinker. Yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheese of all kinds I can do and need to add more of them to my diet. I don't like meat all that much and seriously need to add iron to my diet as well. I've never had a problematic my fruit and vegetable intake it has always been my preferred food group. I need to watch what starches enter my body and how much of the processed white flour passes my lips. I need to continue to cut back my intake of sugars in my coffee and soft drinks. I need to jump up my exercise routine... I have an extra 5-10 pounds that just wont leave my body no matter what I do.

I've decided I am going to try jumping rope, I figure if I can start with 5 minutes without dying I can eventually work my way up to 10-20 minutes of it. I use to jump rope a lot as a kid.

We are in the process of rethinking the laundry room to include and area for the dogs during the day as well as an area for exercise equipment... if we could decide between an elliptical machine or a tread mill we would be golden. We are also going to be adding a large weighted punching bag in the garage... mostly for DS#2 but with a house full of males I am sure he wont be to only one using it. The Bean is on it's way for more core exercising. We currently have a weight bench and set as well as a growing collection of small dumbbell weights. .. just trying to keep it fun and varied; I'm too hyper to do the same thing day in and out.

So the short of it is, I'm going to force myself to eat better and to step up my routine... I hope the others in my family choose to follow. I never thought when I started walking about 4 years ago it would ever turn into "this".

Sunday January 6, 2007 Skinner State Park and Mt. Holyoke, Hadley Massachusetts

Okay, so we suck, we only made it 4 miles, but in our defense it was a grueling 4 miles... and I'm ashamed to admit it we went west instead of east. When we hit the bottom of Mt. Holyoke we realized we were only 1/2 mile from our starting point and chose to go back to the car and not trudge another 4+ miles over two more mountain peaks; we just didn't have it in us yesterday but am pleased with the 4.

It started with a good even incline that within minutes had all of us breathing quite heavily but luckily it flattened out for a bit just as we needed to take our first short break. It was at this point we were laughing at ourselves for being "old" but also congratulation ourselves that we were at least out there trying to conquer another mountain. The first third of the mountain was quite nice with good inclines and sections where it leveled out in-between for a little bit of a break. The second third of the walk was along a paved road... good, even, and easily navigatable inclines; all this was, was a precursor to the hell section of the mountain. The last third, or little bit more than a third was what felt like straight up the side of a concrete building... it wasn't really all that bad but it was extremely rocky and quite steep. Once we reached the summit the fun began... we literally walked across the very top of the mountain; some of my very favorite kinds of hikes. It's not difficult by any means but for me it's an incredible feeling knowing I am walking the top of the mountain.... slopes to the left of you, and slopes to the right... just plain fun; I could do it all day long if they let me... but they don't let me often as they are always afraid I'll fall over the edge. My husband doesn't understand my need to look straight down at how high we are up; I have a fear of heights for crying out loud but it doesn't seem to bother me up there. I can't tell you how many times I'll step back from an edge and realize there was silence behind me and a deep sigh of relief as I stepped back; you'd think they'd get over it by now and realize I'm not going over. The walk down the mountain was mostly uneventful but rocky, muddy and steep in some areas but not very difficult. So a total of 4 miles hiked with a final total of 146.5 miles still about 3.5 miles short of where I would have liked to be.

January 6, 2007 Week 15 Anticipation...

Getting to the point we walked the dogs this week a total of 14.5 miles with 146.5 miles walked since October 1, 2006... still a few miles short of where I wanted to be but they will be easily made up tomorrow on our hike.

We had so much fun last week in Massachusetts we decided to go back again this week... the mountains are just a touch bigger and more rugged than they are here in Connecticut; more of a challenge.

Here's your link for information, we will be doing section 7; 7.1 miles over the peeks of several mountains.

http://users.crocker.com/~mmtrail/mmsection.html

This will be our longest and most intense hike to date but we are up for it, as well as looking forward to it. The trail guide as well as everything I have found online promises some beautiful views even though it is January in New England and most of the trees are bare.

Expect and update in the next couple days of how things went.