Carol: Week 17--107 degrees, Hot Yoga & Armadillos

[This article was first published as Week 17: Continued Heat Wave Dampens Training on Technorati.] 

Just as predicted, the start of school this week left little to no time for my 3-day for the Cure training walks with my Pink Me Out walking buddies (who could use a little bit of help with their fund-raising).

Of course, the record -setting 107 degree temperature did little to ignite much enthusiasm for our training expeditions. I couldn't even kindle enough desire to  plan for our training.

According to our virtual trainer, we're supposed to have 31 miles racked up this week. Jeepers creepers, I'll be lucky to finish my week with 10 miles.

I did manage to squeeze in a hot yoga class, though. (And, yes, I do think there's something inherently twisted about doing hot yoga when it's 107 degrees outside, but I also think there's something inherently wrong with putting up a donut shop next to a yoga studio.)

I was doing pretty good with the whole hot yoga thing until we got to that crazy crane pose. (Yeah, like that's going to happen in my lifetime.) Undeterred by my failure there, I successfully transformed myself into the next pose--a frog. Our very lovely yoga instructor who also happens to be a former yearbook editor of mine wanted us to be  jumping frogs visualizing a bug on the ceiling. Since there was a grasshopper stuck to the outside window, I was OK with that whole visualization thing, but at 53, not very OK with that jumping thing.

Well, all that visualization of critters got me to thinking about the armadillos that were wreaking havoc in my front yard at five in the morning. I don't know if you get bonus points (or miles) for chasing armadillos off your front yard, but surely that's gotta count for something.

Carol: Week 16--Organizating Time For Training

[This article was first published as Week 16: Organizating Time For Training on Technorati.]

I spent my last day before I had to report back to school walking five miles with one of my 3-day for the Cure training buddies.

I'm not sure if it was the heat index of 104 degrees or the thought of another school year looming before me that sapped my energy. (Heat like children can sometimes just suck the life right out of you.)

During our walk my buddy (also another teacher) and I tried to figure out how we would continue our training schedule once school got underway.

Organization, according to school experts, apparently is the key to a successful school year. Hails bails, let's go out on a limb here and just say that organization probably is the key to a successful anything.

With work, the heat, grading, planning and our own family obligations, finding time to train for the 60 mile Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure walk may prove challenging. I thought perhaps the organizational guru Peter Walsh might have a few inspirational tips, but I'm way beyond his tips for designing a workout schedule. I did find some useful and interesting suggestions for streamlining my morning routine, though--things like making effective to-do lists or using music to "rock my routine."

While I admit I'm not the most organized person in the world, my problem still seems to be more a matter of running out of time for all the things I need to do than wasting time because of disorganization.

And, no, I don't think any to-do list or Rolling Stones song is going to help me with that.

Carol: Week 15 of Training: Waist Not Want Lots

[This article was first published as Week 15 of Training: New Study Sheds Light On Waist Sizes on Technorati.]

 Just when I vaguely start feeling good about myself over these training walks for the 3-day for the Cure, those warm, fuzzy feelings dissipate faster than a cool breeze on these 100-degree-plus days.

 News venues reported a recent cancer prevention study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine that the bigger your waistline the more troubles you'll have compared to those with teeny, tiny tummies. In fact, along with that spare baggage, you also carry twice the risk of dying over a decade.

Apparently waist size is more important than weight.  

As if that info wasn't enough to burn away those warm, fuzzy thoughts, the tummy stats are true even for those people with healthy body mass indexes. And even more disconcerting than that was the fact that this new study measures the ideal waist size at 35 inches for men and 30 inches for women--a full five inches smaller than the inches given by the American Heart Association.

Jeepers. I don't need a tape measure to tell me that I fall outside the "ideal." In fact, I can't recall when the last time I was "ideal" for anything. It's all rather depressing.

According to the lead author of the study,  Eric Jacobs of the American Cancer Society, people should start "eating better and exercising more if you see your waist size starting to increase."Gee, thanks, Eric. Let's see how many more miles it'll take before my waist gets in line with these new guidelines.

Carol: Week 14--Trying to Stay Out of the Heat & Hot Water

[Article first published as Week 14--Trying to Stay Out of the Heat and Hot Water on Technorati.]  

With temperatures soaring into the triple digits, and last month setting heat records across the country, wanting to walk more than a few feet can present quite a challenge.

Still, I've managed to keep my training schedule for the 3-day for the Cure, walking at least two miles a day and up to four or five miles when I can. I've also managed to squeeze in a hot yoga class although we probably could have just yoged outside in the 100 degree plus temps and gotten the same results.

Despite highs predicted at 104 degrees for Friday, I, along with my two walking buddies, plan to brave the heat and squeeze in a long 9-plus mile walk around White Rock Lake before school starts.

With my summer winding down and the start of school just a few weeks away, I've been trying to cram in all the things that I can't seem to find time for during the school year. That, of course, includes what I like to refer to as "preventative maintenance."  So since I'm walking the walk and raising money to fight breast  cancer, I thought I better schedule my yearly mammogram.

When I called for an appointment, I discovered I hadn't had a mammogram in several years--four years to be exact. Embarrassing, I know. I guess when I thought about getting one, life got in the way and I thought I had actually had one. Dumb, I know. I guess I'm part of that group of women--an estimated one-fifth between 50 and 74 years old--who fell behind on getting mammograms, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

My training buddies were mortified that I had let four years go by. Needless to say, I scheduled my appointment speedy quick and I'm in the clear.

At least (for now), I'm back on track and out of hot water with my walking buddies.  Now, if I can just get out of this heat.