Painting and Other Things

Before I continue my Acadia National Park travel recap, I thought I would write about my real life weekend.  It's not all hiking and unicorns in my world.

A month ago, my older son and my daughter made an arrangement whereby my daughter was going to live rent-free in an apartment that my son owns in exchange for painting the entire apartment.  You know the saying "Mother knows best"?  Do you see where this is going?  Somehow, I knew that I would be painting during the month of July.

The deal was that the painting needed to be done early enough for my son to get a tenant in for August. My husband got drawn into this, but he always has a positive attitude when it comes to helping our children.  So, one day about two weeks ago, my daughter and husband took a day off work, and they painted the living room.  The prior tenant had painted it a very unflattering bright blue, and it was a sloppy paint job, too. It's now a pleasing linen color. Progress stalled there.

As the month of July was drawing to a close, I could sense tension in the air to get this thing done and over with. My husband, daughter and I ended up spending a good part of the weekend working on the apartment.  We painted the bedroom and bathroom in "greige". We did the trims and doors in glossy white. I wish I remembered to take more pictures!

The only picture I took was this corner of the bathroom - after cleaning but before painting

The bathroom ended up this color

Cleaning was not part of the deal but oh my, the bathroom and the kitchen appliances were in bad shape. I figured I would work on that, since there were people coming in to look at the apartment.  Personally, I would rather clean than paint anyway.

Well, it was hot and messy, but we got the job done and it felt very satisfying to do it - the apartment is painted, cleaned and painted some more!

On Sunday, we visited with my husband's running buddy's grandbaby.  She is 4 1/2 months old, and her nickname is Little Gal.  The baby's mom is working on getting back in shape so she joined the guys on their run.  While they ran, I visited with my friend (baby's grandma / running buddy's wife) and Little Gal. I just love that nickname and she is adorable!


I know I missed a few weeks recapping my workouts, but I'm not skipping this one.
Last Week's Workouts: On Monday through Thursday I hiked, biked and walked in Acadia National Park (at least 4 hours per day), on Friday I ran 3.1 miles and did Yoga with Suzy.  On Saturday, I did Zumba with Tammy and on Sunday I swam 40 laps.  I also painted and cleaned for 7 hours over the weekend.


It was an active week!

Acadia National Park - Part 1

My husband and I just got back from a five day trip to Bar Harbor, Maine and Acadia National Park. This has been on my bucket list for years and we finally made it. This trip was nonstop activity!

The first full day we hiked Cadillac Mountain and Dorr Mountain from the Gorge Trail. I admit that was not our planned route as I got a little confused on the Park Loop Road. But ultimately it turned out perfect because evidently this is a less trafficked trail. One of the major differences from hiking in the Adirondacks - no mud! Another cool thing is the steppingstone trails. It made it feel easier because the first day was hot!

Stepping stone trail up Cadillac Mountain 

Cadillac is the highest peak in Acadia at 1,529 feet elevation. You can also drive to the summit of Cadillac. That means when you get to the top of the peak there is a parking lot and a virtual crowd of people. We didn’t spend much time there. We headed back down the way we had come and headed up Dorr. That was a steep but short climb. We ate lunch on Dorr Mountain and enjoyed a nice view of the harbor.

If you zoom in there is a cruise ship in the harbor 

In total we hiked 5 miles in just under 4 hours. After the hike we headed straight to the hotel pool for a swim before dinner.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Frugal Summer Fun

My husband and I have been taking advantage of the nice summer weather to do some fun activities. In the last couple of weeks we went to two free outdoor concerts and the race track and stayed within our budget.

One night last week, our library had an outdoor concert.  This is as low key as it gets. The band was a local group and we knew two of the band members.  While I was there, I also ran into the library to check out some books.

A couple of nights later, we dragged out the lawn chairs again for the Harbor Jam free outdoor concert. Performing was David Victor, who was formerly with the band Boston.  Boston was big in the 1970's and 1980's with hits like "More Than A Feeling", "Amanda", and "Peace of Mind".  In addition to Boston songs, he also played Styx music, like "Babe", "Come Sail Away" and "Too Much Time on My Hands". Remember all those good oldies?

At Harbor Jam, in addition to the usual vendors selling yummy but not so good for you food, the local culinary arts school had a food station. That seemed like the logical place to get some dinner. My husband and I both got gourmet cheeseburgers on brioche rolls with cole slaw and a pickle for $6.00 apiece.  We had brought a small cooler with drinks from home.  I have had restaurant meals that paled in comparison to that $12.00 outdoor dinner.

Last Friday, we went to the Saratoga Race Track for an alumni event hosted by our (college) alma mater.  The tickets were $25 per person which included: track admission, a program, buffet lunch (subs, wraps, salads, chips, cookies), drinks (beer, wine, iced tea), and raffle tickets to win prizes like tickets to the college football and basketball games.

I'm not a big better; I usually allow myself $40 for betting for the day.  But I did hit some winners and ended up with $41 more than when I left home which was pretty nice.

This year the new 1863 Club at Saratoga Race Track opened. On Friday, the cost is $275 per person which includes: track admission, a program, and a buffet lunch.  So where we spent $50 for the two of us for an awesome track day, apparently we could have spent $550 for pretty much the same thing.

Meanwhile, I’m glad our alumni event was last week; the races are canceled today due to high temperatures expected to be around 97 degrees.😓

Sometimes I think the enjoyment is higher when the cost is lower (or free!). If I arrive late, leave early or don't have the best view, it doesn't faze me. Whereas when you spend a small fortune you expect perfection and any little inconvenience or flaw can ruin the experience. 

Hope you are enjoying some summer fun and staying cool!

Algonquin and Iroquois

On Sunday, my husband and I went up to the Adirondacks to hike Algonquin and Iroquois peaks.  We were motivated by a small group from our running club who went to run repeats up the mountains.  But more about them later.

We left home at 6:08 a.m. and pulled into the Adirondack Loj parking area by 8:25 a.m.  We were more than a little concerned about parking on the weekend, and even at that time the lot was about 80% full.

We signed in at the trail register at 8:45 a.m.  The weather was perfect for the Adirondacks, warm but not humid.  My husband and I don't take breaks when we hike, other than a minute here and there to adjust gear or grab water.  I would say our pace is moderate and steady. My husband would say we are slow and steady. Halfway up, the four runners we know zipped past us with a quick hello, and one stopped to take our picture.

We reached the summit of Algonquin at 11:50 a.m. which means just over 3 hours.  I hiked Algonquin in 2014 and remember having a little meltdown on the way up.  Not this time - I felt really good and strong on this hike. Algonquin is the second highest peak in New York State at 5,115 feet elevation. Mount Marcy is the highest.

The summit was cool and windy and the clouds had rolled in so I put on my fleece. It was busy up there, but not as busy as I had imagined. We found a sheltered spot to take a break and eat our lunch. 
At 12:10, I listened in as another hiker asked the trail steward to point the way to Iroquois Peak. It looks like it is close, but that is the great illusion of hiking.  It's never as close as it seems. Back in 2014, I skipped Iroquois so I was determined to do it this time.  After all we were right there and I have no intention of climbing Algonquin a third time.

To climb Iroquois, you first hike down the exposed ridge following yellow paint marks and cairns which is the marked trail to Lake Colden. That takes you up and over Boundary Mountain.  These mountains are so named because supposedly that was the boundary between the Algonquin and Iroquois tribes years ago.

When you get to the yellow arrow pointing left to Lake Colden, you go straight to Iroquois. Iroquois is an unmarked trail, formerly a herd path, but is now very well defined.  We saw the runners heading back from Iroquois and we saw another running club member who was hiking with a group of her own.

47 minutes later we were at the top of Iroquois. Iroquois is New York's 8th highest peak at 4,840 feet elevation.  It was my 20th high peak in my possible quest to become an Adirondack 46er. My husband took a photo of me in honor of peak #20. I took a few photos because the clouds had cleared out and the views were amazing.
It took exactly 47 minutes to get back to the summit of Algonquin - talk about consistency. The hardest part of the day for me was having to summit Algonquin a second time.

It was exactly 2:00 p.m. when we headed down from Algonquin. Shortly after, we saw two of the four runners  heading up Algonquin the second time! Of course they passed us on their way down as well.  We were slow heading down and I did some on my butt, which is just easier.  Another misconception is that downhill is easier; it's not!

We were able to pick up the pace the last mile or so.  An older hiker passed us, grumbling about his group having gone ahead of him.  My husband recognized the voice - it was someone he knew.
Oh the relief of seeing that trail register and the parking lot!  We signed out at 4:50 p.m. which was just over 8 hours on the trails. Our total distance for the day: 10.8 miles.

View of Boundary and Algonquin from Iroquois

Skies cleared for views

Mount Marcy from Iroquois

One Month In

Although today is a Saturday it is the one month anniversary of the date I started my new job. I have to admit that I struggled a little the first three weeks. Not with the work itself - that I am learning. Rather, I was surprised at how much less volume of work there is at the new job. This work has a routine of monthly, quarterly and annual reports and budget duties. At my old job it was just nonstop.

It really was an adjustment to accept this slower pace. Last week, which was my fourth, I was finally able to accept that less is Ok.

One thing that helped was an email from a former coworker. I was on the committee that hired him at the old job, but I didn’t work with him directly. A few months ago, he accepted a lateral transfer to the agency I work for now. We work one floor apart and have not crossed paths yet!

He left our old agency for the same dissatisfaction with management that I felt. In his recent email he said that the work volume here is far less than it was at the old job. Then he wrote “you get used to it”. One month in, I am getting used to it.

And now a segue to work clothes. I was mentally keeping track of what I wore to work each day. One nice thing about changing jobs is that all your clothes become “new again” because the new coworkers haven’t seen them. I wore a different outfit for 19 straight days. That means I went almost a month without repeating an outfit.

Looking at my summer work wardrobe, I have around 5 dresses, 10 or so tops, 4 skirts and 4 pants. I also have a lot of shoes. To some people that may seem like a lot of clothes and to some it may be a little. For me this is enough - I don’t want more and I don’t want to spend my money on more summer work clothes.

However, I am excited because I found my favorite running shoes in my size online in pink (Mizuno Wave Rider 19). The current version is 22 which I had previously tried and disliked. I couldn’t even find the 20 or 21 in my size to try, so finding the 19 was awesome. I just hope they are legit and not a knockoff!

Muddy running shoes after a spring trail run 

Same garden this morning 

Have a great weekend!

Lots of Walking

Last week I did a lot of walking.  Here is a chart I made.  Notice that these were the four work days last week.

Day	Steps	Miles
Mon., July 1, 2019	6,282	2.6
Tues., July 2, 2019	7,735	3.4
Wed., July 3, 2019	7,769	3.2
Fri., July 5, 2019	7,583	3.3

There is a reason for all this work day walking, and that is I am taking a morning and afternoon break. The numbers are from my iPhone since I only wear my sport watch when I work out. That means this is just work day walking, and doesn’t even include walking around the house.

Since I did all this walking I am Ok with only two workouts last week.

Last week's workouts:  On Thursday, I ran the Firecracker 4 and on Saturday I ran 5 miles.

Thanks for reading.

Reading Lately

The Elephant in the Room by Tommy Tomlinson
This is a non-fiction book about a year in the author's life as he attempts to make changes to lose weight and get healthy. On Christmas Eve 2014, Tommy's older sister Brenda died due to complications from her own obesity. That was a wakeup call for Tommy to change his life. Admitting that he weighed 460 pounds at the start were "the hardest words I've ever had to write".

Tommy Tomlinson is an award-winning journalist by profession; he is a sports writer who worked for the Charlotte Observer for 15 years, followed by ESPN and other periodicals. So, this isn't just a story about a guy on a diet, it's a well written memoir. At the end of each chapter (month) he reveals his weight and loss (if any) for the month and year to date.

Realizing that a drastic diet would never work, Tommy came up with his own plan. He bought a Fitbit to track the calories he burned with his steps and exercise.  He kept a meticulous journal of everything he ate and the calorie count.  He figured that as long as he burned more than he ate, he would lose weight. His plan was to do this slowly and in a way that would work for a lifetime.

Along the way, we get to hear about Tommy's childhood in the rural South, his faith, friends, family and wife Alix. Huge Southern meals with fried everything and a half dozen biscuits apiece were the norm growing up, but his parents stayed stick thin after working all day in the fields. Tommy, of course, just grew bigger.

Fortunately, he had good teachers who recognized his writing ability and although his family was dirt poor, he went to college on a Pell Grant. The first semester, he maxed out the emergency credit card that his parents gave him buying junk food.

At age 29, Tommy was diagnosed with throat cancer. He survived, obviously, but treatment left him with a low, raspy voice - another burden along with obesity and bad teeth. At least, he wrote, God made the top 6 inches of him perfect - he had Paul Newman blue eyes and a politician's thick hair. 

I won't divulge the results of how 2015 ended up for Tommy.  However, in my edition of the book, there are two afterwards: his weight at the end of 2016 and 2017. Go for it if you like reading weight loss stories like I do!

Firecracker 4

On July 4th, I ran the Firecracker 4 which is a 4 mile road race in historical Saratoga Springs, New York. This was my fourth time running this race. I am pleased to report that I hit a PR for this race. Here is a chart of my results the past four years:

Year	Time	Pace	Division Place	Division Total	% of Division
2019	48:38	12:09	78	101	77.2%
2018	51:33	12:53	74	100	74.0%
2017	48:45	12:11	76	98	77.6%
2016	51:48	12:57	136	158	86.1%

In 2016, I was the oldest age in my division and I had my slowest time for this race; there are a lot more runners in the younger divisions. In 2018, it was extremely hot and the entire field ran very slowly. Yesterday, even though I was about 3 minutes faster overall than 2018, I was slower compared to the runners in my division. With a pace of 12:09, I am good with it!

Smiling for the finish line photo 

Lots of runners 

In a couple of decades, when I get to the 70 - 74, 75 - 79, 80 + I will be in the top 3 of my division and earn a medal!

Overall, it was a lot of fun. People get into the spirit with lots of red, white and blue clothes, tutus, and even headware to be seen. They added a free beer ticket after the race this year. The only time I drink beer is after a run that includes beer! But it certainly hit the spot on a hot day.

Berkshire Botanical Garden

Last weekend, we met up with my sister and her boyfriend in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  Stockbridge is the hometown of artist Normal Rockwell.  One of his famous paintings is of Stockbridge at Christmas time.  The town looks exactly the same, because they work very hard to keep it that way!

We met on the porch of the Red Lion Inn which was nice and relaxing.  They have rockers and it's very welcoming.  We walked about 20 feet to have lunch at a cute café.  I did not want a big lunch that would leave me stuffed. I noticed two older ladies at the next table had the quiche special; it was accompanied with a small salad.

Both of the ladies wrapped up leftovers! It was a small meal, so it struck me funny that they didn't finish it.  I certainly finished mine!

After lunch and strolling around the cute gift shops, we drove about a mile on Route 102 to the Berkshire Botanical Garden.  It had rained earlier, and was cool and overcast. A lot of flowers were not in bloom. I am not an expert but I think that the flowers blossom more in sun. The last time we were there it was a beautiful sunny day and my face was orange with pollen from sticking my face in the day lilies. We have a photo of that to memorialize it! For some reason that photo cracks my husband up every time he sees it. 🤷‍♀️

We had four free admission tickets to the Botanical Garden courtesy of the public library. I went to two different library branches last week to get the four free passes.

After the Botanical Garden we  headed over to the Lee Outlets.  By then the sun was out.  I picked up a couple of outfits at the Oshkosh store for a 1-year old's birthday party we have on July 4th. And a sports bra at the Champion store.

Pretty white and magenta blossoms 

Bupthalmum Sunwheel Daisy Speciosa Telekia 

Shrubs shaped like llamas 

Thanks for reading!

Goodbye June Hello July

June is over and that means that 2019 is halfway over as well. My main accomplishment for the month of June was getting a new job. Check. You know what, I'd still rather be retired. July 1st means I am officially 3 years and 5 months from retirement!

As far as running goals, I have done 6 races so I am on track to meet my goal of 12 races for 2019.  I have only run 135 miles for ALL of 2019, which means I am far below my goal of 450 miles for the year. After I read 26 Marathons by Meb Keflezighi, I requested the book Meb for Mortals from the library. This is Meb's book about how he eats, trains and thinks. I could increase my running by adding one extra day per week for a month.  I will certainly think about it!

Last week's workouts: I did Zumba on Wednesday with Michelle, I did about a 3.5 mile trail run on Thursday, and a 3 mile run on Saturday.

I am guestimating the distance of the trail run.  It was supposed to be 3 miles, but there were three of us at the back of the pack running together, and we missed the marker to go right up a hill.  Yes, it was a hill trail run! It's hard to explain but it meant we ran one section twice, and we still ran up that hill. At the top of the hill, I fell and landed on my right butt / hamstring.  I am OK, just a little sore - that is a good place to land; I have seen fellow trail runners take bad spills. I had to walk a little bit after that. Since I have sciatica that runs down my left hamstring, at least now both sides hurt equally! The only thing that makes it feel better is to keep moving.

At the end of said trail run, I fell behind the other two, and missed the marker heading back to the main lodge where our group was having a BBQ. There wasn't any danger; I could hear a dog barking in the direction I was heading. I followed that trail, and it led me to some houses. I was not lost enough to approach them, but it felt good to know civilization was close by.

I backtracked and saw the markers I missed. By the time I got back on our trail, I was running with (actually, being passed by) some of my running club peeps who were finishing their second loop. All in all, it took me 59 minutes! Quite an eventful trail run and I needed that after the work day.

A few months ago I read Meet The Frugalwoods and ever since then I have been following her blog.  Liz (Mrs. Frugalwoods) is starting a July Frugal Month Challenge. You still have until midnight tonight to sign up and join the group. You get an email a day and if you are on Facebook, you can join the special FB group. I already have a good balance of frugality in my life, however I am very curious to see what I can learn from this challenge.

I am looking forward to July because my husband and I are going to Maine. I have never been there, and that is on my bucket list. We are going to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
Hopefully I will get some real hiking done in July.

What are your goals for July?