Queen of the Mountain

Well another weekend is done.  BOOO!   Moving onward!   

My weekend was fun!  However, aren't they all?

On Saturday Jason and I headed to Colonal Denning State Park in Pennyslvania. Jason suggested the park and we both did a little research before hand.   Separately we both stumbled upon information for a specific trail leading to Flat Rock Vista/Overlook.   Jason found it because an online trail guide talked about the beauty.  I found it based on a geocache that is hidden near the overlook.  Combine an amazing view with the promise of a geocache and that was the trail we decided to do.   We talked before heading for the park that the trail was listed as more difficult....ok it's listed as Strenuous.  But seriously.....'we are tough'  we can handle it!  So off we went!

We quickly found the park and the parking lot at the trail head for the ascent to Flat Rock.  Of course the sign denoting the difficulty of the trail was posted (showing strenuous/difficult of course).  Jason pointed to the sign and jokingly remarked that the sign should just say 'welcome to hell'.  We chuckled and off we went!

Uhhh yeah we hadn't gone long when the comment was made "yes, it's hell"!!   It was steep.  It was rocky steep.....navigating the trail was a puzzle as we constantly searched to find the best footing  among the large boulders, the smaller rocks, the loose rocks/stones and the piles of leaves.   There were no switchbacks to make the ascent easier.  It was pretty much up.....at some areas were the ascent was a  bit too steep to navigate safely, they made steep steps....but otherwise it was just up (well steps are up too....and just as difficult because they were not a low rise step ha ha ha).    We laughed about the mountain to the left of us being where we would end up.  We were wrong.   We did climb that mountain.....but when we  reached the crest of that mountain and then descended a bit before heading back up to another ridge ...then back down a ways to where the overlook was located.   Was it worth it????   YES.......  ABSOLUTELY!

We searched for that stinkin' geocache and could not find it!   GRRRR  After a long search in the woods....we headed back down the mountain.    Somehow in the search for the geocache I dropped my top layer/sweatshirt that had been tied around my waist.   Luckily I figured it out maybe only 500 feet back the trail (which is bad enough) so back up I went.  I found the sweatshirt and we headed back down.   Going down was just as difficult.  It was easier in terms of cardio...but it was still pretty tough.  

Will I do this trail again?   Well.....as we were going up we made the comment, "Who in their right mind would do this more than once?"  On the way back down however, we were talking about consistency with hiking....and how if we continue to hike at least weekly that we would probably zoom up the mountain like it was nothing.  SOOOO, before we got back to the car we have decided to do the hike again....this fall.  Furthermore, it has somehow turned into a challenge....first to the overlook wins. (I don't know what the winner gets...we didn't get that far!   So a race up and a leisurely walk down together!)   Besides I still have to find that geocache since I didn't have any luck!  (I forgot to take my lucky pen!  Lately, if I don't have my lucky purple pen it seems as if I don't find the cache!  But if the pen is with me, I find the cache!)   

Sunday was sadly rainy and icky.  We had a nice laid back kind of day.  We did some geocaching.  We took a longdrive.  We hit up a few stores.   And we stopped by the James Buchanan Birthplace State Park   I always wanted to go in.  It's just a tiny little park...but a really neat and pretty area.  I wasn't overly impressed with the monument but oh well.   

So how did my legs fare after the hike on Saturday?   On Saturday night I was standing somewhere and I could feel the muscles in my legs quivering a bit. Not really hurting, I could just feel them.   But that passed and Sunday I had NO ill effects!   

I  didn't weigh myself this morning.  Tomorrow hopefully!!

Last week on Monday I set some goals in my blog post.    They were relatively simple...

1.  RUN  on Tuesday and Thursday

2.  TRACK (my food)!    And Stay within Budget

3.  HIKE 

4.  WATER ---chug a lug!

I am happy to announce that I ran on Tuesday and Thursday!  Both days were over three miles.   They were slow but I did it!

      

I tracked every bite of my food...so that continues to be a victory!   However, I was over budget a bit on a few days.

This is the total calories

This is net when you add in my exercise/activity!

SO not exactly a victory but really in the grand scheme of things not too bad!!!!

Hike.... Check and check....one easy on Wednesday and the  killer on Saturday

Water......I struggled at the beginning of the week but by the end of the week I was chugging over 120 ounces of water daily!

I'm going to call it a victory with last weeks goals.

This week?   Pretty much more of the same.

1.  Water

2.  Run at least 2 times (preferably 3!)

3.  Track and stay within my caloric  budget (not eating too many of my earned calories!)

4.  Hike and walk.

5.  Use the stair stepper at least ONCE!  Right now my cat is the one that uses it....ok, maybe not 'use' but she sits on it!

So this weeks goals are nothing too fancy and exciting...just living a good healthy lifestyle.

   

Tri Colored foam where are you??????

arrrgggghhhh     Stupid scales.   Yes, I was up.  I figured I would be.  I had assumed that some of my weight loss from last week was due to 'fever weight loss'  I had been hoping to hang onto some of it....and it had looked like I had managed to hang onto most of it.  But then my official weigh in....grrrr  nope!  I was still down about two pounds from the previous weigh in....but still up from last week.  No worries......I know that some of it is the monthly water retention dealio.

Meanwhile.  As I mentioned, I ran on Tuesday!  Go me!

Wednesday I was only scheduled to work until noon.  I hooked up with my friend for lunch and then headed to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal





where I walked a few miles and enjoyed the AWESOME weather!

It felt so good to get outside in this wonderful weather!  I was and am so over winter weather that these days of fabulous upper 70's temps has been very welcome!    I can start to see the green new growth popping up here and there and it excites me quite a bit!!!!!

After my long walk, I headed to the car wash.  My car was DIRTY.  I was so disappointed.  They are supposed to have tri colored foam.  This is NOT tri colored foam! The lack of the tri colored foam makes me want to cry!!!!!     But at least my car is clean!

See, this is how it is SUPPOSED to look!!!

A few errands/stops at stores later and I was home for the afternoon/ evening.   I had eaten a large lunch and actually blown quite a few calories on lunch so I kept my dinner lower on the calorie count.   I was a bit high on my calorie count...coming in at a total of 1504 calories.  But I am counting it a victory because I SOOOOO wanted something sweet after my lower calorie dinner.     It wasn't that I was hungry...I just wanted!   I ignored that sweet tooths call and guess what?   I was fine!  (and lets not forget that I was out walking and moving for a few hours...so if I include my earned calories I was still under goal!) 

I woke up today......it was  Thursday and if I remember correctly, on Monday I wrote a blog post and set a few goals for my week.  Drat...one of those goals was to run at least twice....once on Tuesday (check)  and one on Thursday.    Yup....even though I had an offer to go to breakfast I remembered that goal and I said no to breakfast and strapped myself into my running shoes and off I went!   I actually ran slower than Tuesday.  Go figure.  I wonder why?   Who knows... I did feel like I was a turtle running through peanut butter.   So, I knew I was slow even while I was running!  Oh well....who cares.  I was out there working it!    Slow is 100% better than laying in bed thinking about running.   Slow is 150% better than indulging in a fattening breakfast!   Slow is a victory!!!!                                                                                                                                                                                  Meanwhile, my poor little toe hurts....it's the 'little piggy that had none' on my right side.  (yeah, think about the nursery rhyme and then you will know which toe I mangled up!)  This little toe is black and blue and swollen.  It's feeling a bit better and the swelling is going down.  Yeah, maybe that affected my run today.  That and my hip....my right hip has been aching a bit lately.  I haven't been sure what is up with my hip...I was originally thinking it was just arthritis.....but the other week Jason massaged it and now I'm thinking now that it is muscular in nature. (What makes me think that?  Just how the pain in my hip was intense for the first few minutes as he massaged...but then eased up and felt wonderful for a bit until it stiffened up again)  Hmmmm  maybe I need to research stretches to work that area and stretch it out really good.  

So I am thus far on track with my goals for the week....well the water is so so.  I'll have to work on that one!  :-)

Perfectly Imperfect

It really is amazing how much writing down your goals and letting the world know those goals keeps us on track!   I woke up this morning.  I KNEW that I had told the world that I was going to run on Tuesday morning.  Drat.....it was Tuesday morning.    I wanted to skip it!  I wanted to skip it soooo bad!   But I knew that I had told the world so I crawled out of bed to go out for my run.   Peer pressure really does work I guess!

Immediately I ran into an issue.  Literally!   I was walking and rammed my toe into my stair stepper exerciser.  OUCHY!   It hurt and I will admit that I had a momentary thought of skipping my run because my toe HURT.  I didn't though.   I've had a horrible run of bad luck with running and injuries. Every time I try to step back into running it seems as if something happens. Pneumonia, sprained ankle, snow storms,  blisters, demon flu......yeah, it's been crazy.    I wasn't letting a little toe pain stop me today. Off I went.

Some days when I run I have some amazingly deep thoughts.  Today was one of those days.  The last few days or so (maybe weeks) I've ran across a few different blogs where the author is writing about running.  (yeah, I can't remember which blogs right off the top of my head...sorry! If I had known I was going to have an epiphany I would have made a list of whose blogs so I could tag!)   In all of these the post has some mention the fact that it doesn't matter your speed....or how you look.  If at any point both of your feet are off of the ground, then you are running. It doesn't matter how slowly or how fast.  It's running.  Not wogging.  Not anything other than running.    These blog posts came back to me while I was running this morning.

I have long put myself down for my slow running speed. I hesitate to call myself a runner...because I'm SLOOOOW.  Today it hit me....why yes, at one point in each stride, both of my feet ARE off of the ground.  I am therefore running.    I tried to down play my efforts...but today I realized that what I'm out there doing is EXACTLY perfect.   It is exactly perfect for where I am in my life.   Would I like to be faster?   Of course!   But where I am at right now with my running is absolutely perfect for me....right now.

So this morning, I had a perfectly imperfect run.

My lips were chapped and dry the whole time!   Perfectly imperfect!  (Although I have a date tonight with Jason....I'm laying on the Chapstick heavy so my lips are 'kissable'.  Hahaha.)

I did hurt my toe before the run.  Why yes, it did throb while I ran.   But it was perfectly imperfect!!

My nose ran like a faucet on my run.  Perfectly imperfect!

I ran slow.....and why yes, I did walk for a few minutes smack dab in the middle of my run today.  Perfect imperfect!

It may have been an imperfect run......but it was PERFECT for me today...right now...where I am at today!

Recovery

I'm not feeling too hopeful for this weeks weigh in.   I believe last week I was on a "sick low" when I weighed in.   A weigh in skewed by fever!   I know that toward the end of the week I was about 2 pounds higher.  I'm still tickled with that weight though....it's lower than it has been!    

So how could I label last week?    Lots of different ways.  Different titles for last week could include:

Continually Tired

Never Ending Cough

Come again...and again....and again fever

I miss that Man

I think I can....make it through a work day

Keeping the Pharmaceutical Companies afloat

Yes, that was one nasty bug that I somehow contracted!  Last week was LONG.   I was tired, exhausted really.  I slept long hours but that cough and fever knocked me for a loop.   The medicine just didn't seem to help.....and I tried different concoctions and potions.  I'm like my own little pharmacy.  (I'm still taking Mucinex D trying to keep the chest congestion from settling into Bronchitis or Pneumonia......is that even possible?) 

I did make it to work after a day or two, but those first days back were a example of willpower as I struggled to make it through the workday.  

The worst part of the week?  Jason and I were both sick....apart from each other and that made the week seem SOOO long to not see him!

So I did make it through the week of being sick. (Love sick too since I couldn't see my sweetheart! ha ha ha)

The victory for being sick??????  I tracked ALL of my food!   Every bite!  Every morsel!  EVERYTHING!   

The weekend FINALLY Arrived.  And luckily, I wasn't feeling 'too bad' on Friday.   But I still took it easy!  There is no way that I want this illness to rear it's ugly head again!

Jason and I hooked up on Saturday early afternoon and headed down to Rockville.   The reason?    After the hike the previous weekend, I knew I was going to be investing in new hiking boots.  Rockville is the location of the closest REI store.   I tried on pair after pair of boots.  I could FEEL my feet slipping in the shoes.  One pair were so heavy I felt like I had lead weights on my feet! 

 I finally did settle on a pair.   I settled on a pair of Salomon hiking boots. I was originally looking at a pair of mid ankle boots....but ended up going with more of a backpacking boot....with a higher ankle support.  It feels good on my ankles (that roll quite frequently) and it helps keep my feet more firmly strapped up in the shoe....more secure and more support.  

Jason and I made our way back to Hagerstown and we parted company relatively early...we each had family functions/dinners that we wanted to attend.

On Sunday I lounged around a bit in the morning, I hit up Panera Bread with my parents, Brother and nephews for lunch and then Jason and I headed out together.   I had put on my new hiking boots when I left the house. I know that the more I wear them, the better it will be when I actually hit a trail.  Jason and I are both still recovering though, so we went to the City park to simply walk.  It was perfect...nothing too strenuous but still a bit active.   We circled the park a few times and managed to rack up 5 miles.   

I also managed to pick up a geocache that I had for some reason never gotten at the park.

And I saw the wonderful texture of this box along the railroad track.   

So the verdict on the new boots????????    My heels feel WONDERFUL!   (thus far at least)   The sides of my feet have some hot spots and slight bistering though!   (Really??????   GRRRRR   Jason says it just proves how unique I really am!!!!  ha ha ha) I am hoping that it is just a 'breaking in of the boots' feeling and that my feet will toughen up and all will be well.  The hot spots are kinda where this picture is marked....

If not.....back to REI I will go and we will try another pair of boots.  No biggie (that's partly why I purchased them at  REI.....because of their wonderful no question asked return policy!)

So that brings me to Monday.  Back to the grind!    What are my plans and goals for the week ahead of me????

1.  RUN

       I plan on attempting to run at least 2-3 miles on Tuesday and Thursday morning.   I have 3.5 weeks until            the Cooper River Bridge Run......I am TOTALLY not trained and ready for this....but I have 3.5 weeks!  

     I was running 2-3 miles the weeks before I blistered up.....so if I can run 3 miles a few times this week, I             SHOULD be able to add one mile each week and be ready to run 6....or at least interval run 6 on April 2!

2.  TRACK (my food)!    

 

     Ok, not even just track my food...but keep my caloric intake as close to the goal of 1200 calories.

3.  HIKE 

      On Wednesday I get off work at noon.   I have plans for right after work, but I am hoping to get out at some       point to get a hike in.  (Might I also mention that the weather is supposed to be in the 70's on Wednesday!)

4.  WATER 

      Drink drink drink!

Weekly weigh in

Wow....Lets just say that this week has been NUTS.

Wednesday I made it to work.....but I have to be honest and say that I probably SHOULD have stayed home.  It was a ROUGH day to get through.  My head was HEAVY and in fairness, thank heavens it was a SLOW day because I rested my head quite a bit. 

I DID weigh myself though in the morning.   Are you ready?     I weighed in yesterday at 225.8.   That is a 6 pound loss!   Go me!

I'm cautious about celebrating.  I have been sick.  Not puking sick though...and I have eaten.  With the exception of one day (Tuesday) I have actually eaten right at my caloric goals.  I've been spot on...accidentally it almost seems.  I ate what I wanted... and put my food into my tracker each evening and surprisingly, my food intake has remained right at my goal.  GO ME!!!

So 6 pounds lost!   Thank you Jason....hiking 3-4 miles up a mountain and then 3-4 miles back down a mountain apparently did the trick.  And the difference this week?  I didn't come home and screw it all up by eating like a starving pig!

Jason has told me that if we can hike religiously on the weekends that the weight will drop.   I think he is right! 

Meanwhile....I have less than one month before the Cooper River Bridge Run.  That is a 10K on April 2.   I had been starting to run again.  But then missed last week due to those massive blisters.   This week I can barely walk, let alone run.   I'm starting to get nervous!!!!

Oh heavens....if I can hike AND run 2-3 times a week imagine how healthy I will be!!!!!

We talked quite a long time this past weekend about hiking and fitness and eating healthy.   We are both in our forties. He talks about being out of shape.  I'm DEFINITELY out of shape and need some fine tuning (aka to lose weight).    The best motivator?  Our age.   I don't want to be bedridden at age 60 or 70  or even 80.  I want to be the 70 year old that is running marathons, teaching zumba classes (like the amazing zumba instructor Anita that I have talked about so many times), competing in triathlons and thru hiking the Appalachian trail.  Not that I WILL do any of those things.  But I want to have the OPTION to do them.  I want to be fit enough to enjoy my life to the bitter end.    Jason talks about running into a trail runner a while back on a hike.  He stopped to chat with this man....who was 70 years old and running a mountain trail....UPHILL.    Jason said "I hope I'm like you when I'm your age'  and the guys comment was 'Start now and you will be"    

Now is the time!   

(And just for the record...the scales dropped again this morning!!!)

Catching up

Where to begin!!!!!  I guess I'll just start where I left off.....which was Friday morning.  

Friday Jason and I decided on driving a few hours south and exploring Douthat State Park.   It looked gorgeous.  I looked for hotels and we decided to stay in Staunton, VA and just drive the extra hour to the state park to hike.  (the park is kinda in the middle of nowhere...but well worth it!).   We actually made plans to be off of work on Monday also.  Plans were made and we were both excited.

Friday afternoon and evening I was hungry as a bear that just woke up after a long winter of hibernation!  And sadly enough I indulged.  :(

That night I slept HORRIBLY.  My chest was hurting...I wasn't sure if it was indigestion because I ate so poorly or some kind of chest congestion. I woke up tired as all get out.  I had little or no voice and the sinus pressure in my head was incredible.  No worries...sinus problems.  I trucked through the few hours of work and then we headed out for our weekend!  By the time we got the few hours south to Staunton, I was running a pretty nice fever.  (No, I do not know what it was....I know I couldn't get warm and Jason later told me that I was radiating heat  ha ha ha)   I still didn't feel too bad...a bit congested...just tired and feverish. We checked into the hotel and I dozed on and off all through the evening.  (This guy really is a keeper because he took this all in stride....calmly amused himself while I slept and talked and kept me company when I was awake....and tucked me in when I drifted off again)  Finally at about 8PM I fell asleep for good and slept until 8 in the morning.  I woke up and other than a tightness in my chest and some phlegmy coughing I felt fine.  I judged where I was physically and decided that I could hike.  Off we went.

I smeared a thick layer of vaseline on my blistery heels.  I covered that with a square of gauze bandage and then affixed that to my body with duct tape.  I wore a thin pair of socks over that....and when we got to the trailhead, I added a nice thick pair of socks over that before donning my hiking boots.

We hiked about 6-7 miles.  Half of it uphill and the other half downhill.   When the tail got more strenuous and challenging we decided to turn around.  It was a good call.  I was feeling my heels and my body was getting tired.

 We went down to the lack and looked across at the mountain thad we had just been on. Very cool.

And then we moseyed our way back to the hotel to rest up for another day!

We got back to the car and I was immediately made to strip off my boots and my extra socks and Jason visually inspected my feet.  They were hurting....but I did no more damage.  I will DEFINITELY be buying new boots in the next week or two though!

On Monday we awoke and we were both feeling sluggish.  So we spent some time in Staunton.  I have always loved the old building that used to be an insane asylum.    So we went over that we and hiked a local trail there...and then yes....moseyed up around the building to grab some pictures.

This is the DeJarnette Insane Asylum built in the 1930's

Sadly this building will probably be torn down....the owners I believe are hoping it falls down.  I was told it's all cinder block construction and basically 'jail cells' so it would be way too costly to save.

We left the DeJarnette Center and we were heading to the historic downtown area when we passed the old Western State Lunatic Asylum. Yup, we had to stop here and visit that one also. These two asylums worked in tandem for the first part of their lives.

Look at these wrought iron rails!!!!

Luckily, they are slowly turning these old buildings into condominiums.  It looked as if they had two of they buildings completed with people living in them....and one more being worked on.  HOpefully someday they will have totally remodeled and saved all of these gorgeous buildings!

At this time we started homeward.  We thought it would be fun to take route 11 north instead of the interstate.  Wow...that most than doubles the drive time.  But it was pretty...it was definitely more fun.  We even got to stop at a covered bridge where I was able to pick up  a cool geocache there also!  

By the time I got home I was exhausted and collapsed on the couch.  I had made sure I got home in time so that I could accept an invitation to go to dinner with my brothers family.   I couldn't make that.  By the time I hit my bed (which was EARLY)  I was feeling quite ill!   

Yes, the chickens came home to roost....I should have taken it easy this weekend after being sick on Saturday.  I didn't and now I'm paying the price of being sick again!   And what's worse?????   I feel horrible because I have infected Jason.    He has texted me that he is running a fever and is coughing up a lung now also.

So this morning I grabbed a slice of toast and then thought about weighing myself.  I normally do NOT eat before weighing in...but I did today. And I am showing a FABULOUS loss for this week. Lets see if I can hold it until the official weigh in tomorrow morning!

Bring it on!!!

The good news?   I had that weigh in on Wednesday for my I Pity the Fool Challenge.   I walked into the bathroom and went to weigh myself the next morning.  THIS time I had my glasses on.   I noticed that the scales were cockeyed on the tile floor.  I learned long ago that my digital scales don't handle the fluctuations of an uneven floor and the tile floors in the bathroom where I am currently living is notoriously horrible.  I can move the scales from one tile to the next and my weight can fluctuate by POUNDS.  I'm not talking about ounces...POUNDS.   So when I actually looked at the scales while wearing glasses it didn't take me long to notice that the scales were NOT in their proper location.....I weighed myself without moving the scales and my weight was the same as Wednesday.  I moved the scales back to their rightful spot and voila....my weight was the same as it had been on Monday (and the week previously)  WHEW!!!!!

I know, I know....the scales shouldn't rule me.  And I'll say that they don't rule me.....I don't base my life off of them.  I use them as a guide for how I'm doing.

  

My eating hasn't been too bad since the rough day of Snack food on Tuesday.  I've managed to keep my caloric budget in check.   And I've done it honestly!!!  Hahaha

The blisters?  The one foot is fine (the skin is tender but it doesn't hurt at all) ...the other one still hurts a bit.  The weather is supposed to be fantastic this weekend.  The weekend plan?  More hiking.  Not sure where yet...but I'm sure I'll be sharing pictures next week.  What is the plan with the blisters?  I've been keeping it cleaned (hydrogen peroxide) and creamed (Neosporin) and covered (band aid during the day....either sock or aired at night when I'm home).   For the weekend?   Slathering the area with Vaseline, covering it with a gauze pad and taping that on with duct tape.   A thin pair of socks over that and then my normal socks over that.  On both feet.  And then bring on the trail.  

Jason has vowed to inspect my feet to make sure I am not hiding any new or worsening blisters on my feet after each day of hiking.   ha ha ha.  I TOLD him last weekend on the first day that I had picked up some blisters.  He knew that I had covered them  to protect them for day two of hiking......but he didn't know how bad they really were.  Ha ha ha ha  His words were "I followed you on the trail at times  and you didn't limp or walk with a weird gait or anything...I had no clue!"     Yeah, that stunt of mine will only work once I think!   He's got my number now!

A Vicious Fight

I fell and I fell hard yesterday.   It started in the morning at work.   I was hungry....and I knew I had those pesky cheddar pretzel bites in my drawer at work.   Well....they are gone now at least!!!!   

Junk food 1

MaryFran 0

The afternoon rolled around.   I had eaten my lunch but it hadn't hit the spot.    Or maybe I was bored...I don't know.  All I know is that I headed to the snack cabinet at work.  I opened the doors and I peered in.    Why yes...cheese puffs sound delightful!

Junk food 2

MaryFran 0

After I ate those cheese puffs I sat there thinking about the BBQ chips on the cabinet.  Oh yes...I could hear them calling my name!!!!  I caved!

Junk food 3

MaryFran 0

Come on now...all that salty food.  I was drinking water but I wanted ...no I NEEDED something sweet.    I looked over at the counter and there lay a bag of Cadbury Eggs. 

Junk food 4

MaryFran 0

It wasn't pretty.  I'm not proud.   I know I have to clean it up if I want to lose this weight.

I DID order a salad for late dinner. So I guess I ended my day at...

Junk Food 4

MaryFran 1

I was talking to Jason and jokingly told him that he needs to stop me from eating junk food and bad food.    He immediately almost reared back at the suggestion and said 'no way!   I am not falling into that role.  I'm no Hitler and I do not agree with a Nazi regime'.   (Smart boy!)  we laughed some about how in the world he would keep me from eating junk...outlandish ideas that had us cracking up.      But the end result was the same as it has always been for me......this is MY battle to overcome.  He made it clear that he will support me 100% and has reminded me on many occasions that the weight will fall the more long hikes we do.   So he's in my corner...but it is totally MY battle to fight!!!!

So my weekly weigh in....not good.   I glanced at it in disgust and then walked away...and honestly I can't remember the exact numbers......but let's just say a pound or two....I'm not going to dwell on it....I DID fight a battle with salty foods yesterday...and lost.  

My one heel is feeling good...the other blistery heel still aches.   So I haven't been running either!   Grrrrr

Sixteen

Well.....it's been a while.  (just shy of a week)  Let me go back to where I last wrote and start from there.  In my last blog entry I weighed in and talked about my slow start to my "I Pity the Fool Challenge"   I didn't come right out and say it, but I totally implied that I would be shaping up and knuckling down to actually show a loss and get this challenge moving.   Yup...that was the plan.

Plans Shmans!!!

Ok, so it didn't work out that way.  I ate.  I was hungry as all get out.   I couldn't stop eating.   I think part of it is that I let myself get hungry (beyond hungry) and then I just gorged on food.  Not a good method.  Although the Fried cheese bites were tasty, the tater tots were fresh out of the fryer, and the.........I just better stop right now!

By Friday/Saturday morning I was absolutely petrified to weigh myself!  I felt bloated and icky.  In my mind I was SURE that I had gained sixteen pounds in the few days since I had last weighed in.  I was too afraid to check....so I just moved on and VOWED to not eat junk food over the weekend!  I figured next Wednesdays weigh in would be time enough to face the music!

So we move on to the weekend. 

It was my Saturday to not work in the morning so we were able to get an earlier start to the fun.   What fun did we have planned?   The weather was forecasted to be GORGEOUS.  Like REALLY pretty.  (The weekend before we had dealt with temps in the teens as a high....this weekend they were calling for 60 degrees!).   We decided to go hiking at Mason Neck State Park in Lorton, VA.   This is part of a nature preserve (and borders more preserve land)   The weather was just what they called for, fabulous!   Some of the trails were in great shape...some were a bit muddy.   Not an issue.  We were wearing water proof hiking boots.  We didn't go into the visitor center....and instead opted to try to hit as many of the trails as possible in the time we had. 

We managed to hit up almost all of the trails!  A bit shy of 10 miles of hiking.  WOO HOOO  

Through the woods and by the bay....it was all pretty.

Through wetlands too...

We were at the tail end of the day.  We were both getting tired.  I was starting to feel some hot spots on my heels from my hiking boots but we decided to push onward  to take the Eagle Spur trail another one of their out and back hikes.  What a DELIGHT!   We had went out to one of the other bird blinds and checked that out.....but we figured a bird blind/observation point on a trail named the Eagle Spur Trail HAD to be a good bet.  Ohhhhh was it ever.  It was the most serene and beautiful spot!    (Yes, we saw some eagles....and YES, I WILL be returning with my good cameras instead of a simple no frills cell phone!!)

By the time we got back to the car it was right at sunset.  We decided to go to the bay to watch the sunset.  More beauty!

How was my food on Saturday?   I had an English Muffin for breakfast.  For lunch I had a Kind bar and a block of Cheddar cheese.   After hiking for a few hours we hit dinner HUNGRY.  I had about 4 hot buffalo wings, a slice of pizza and a 1/4 of a stromboli.   My calorie Count for the day.... 1397 calories eaten.....rough estimate of calories expended through hiking?  1337.  There ya go.   I was wiped out and I slept like a log!

Sunday was still warm but it was overcast.  We pondered our choices....and had settled on trying to find mostly indoor activities but I had found a park near us that offered a 1/2 mile boardwalk hike.  I kept it in the back of my head because I knew that if it was only drizzly that we could do that just to stretch our muscles after the previous days hike.   We got in the car and it looked like any kind of outdoor hike would be a bust (yeah, better rain gear may be on my list of future expenditures!).    A mile or so down the road the rain stopped.  YAY!   I threw out the idea of this short boardwalk hike.   Jason jumped at it.  So off we headed to Huntley Meadows Park.    What a great little discovery!!!!    The boardwalk took us right through the wetland preserve. 

Love seeing all the beaver dams!!!

When we stepped off the boardwalk we were walking through a nice tree cover (well, it would be nice tree cover were it a season that had leaves on the trees!). 

  

So much interesting fungus and  mushrooms

This was a wonderful hike.  We were able to link some of the trails together to pick up just over three miles on the one series of trails (the other series of trails were not interconnected and we didn't go over there on this trip).  It was pretty enough that we traversed this same path a second time and we vowed to hit up this park three more times...at least (it is about 2 hours away from home).   Why three more times?   There are three more seasons that we want to experience at this park!   The grand total for day two?   Just over 6 miles!

Sundays food?   Not as good   I ate 1530 Calories and expended about 689 calories.  I actually picked up mixed fruit and had a banana instead of junk food when we stopped!   Soooo proud of myself on that one!!!!

16 miles in two days.......and two pretty decent eating days........ I faced the music on the scales.   I am almost exactly the same as I was last week (within 2/10ths of a pound!)

My feet are TORN up.  I've been wearing these boots on almost weekly hikes for the past almost three months....but this weekend tore up my heels.  BAD.  (Day two they were covered and protected and I pushed on....ha ha ha...I just didn't tell Jason how bad they were until AFTER we were done day two of hiking otherwise he would have put his foot down and we would have missed the beauty of Huntley Meadows Park!!)   

Soooo....the question remains....do I hope that my feet and the shoes have reached an understanding?  Or do I go buy new boots.  I have had a few slight blisters as I started to wear these boots...they ARE leather so they do take a while to break in.    However, I like shoes....new boots for hiking may be the most fun option!  :-)  (and i would continue to wear these....on SHORTER hikes..as the blisters didn't kick in until about mile 6.....and just general use as they ARE comfy!)  ahhh  decisions decisions decisions.....