"We beat...who?"

Sunday, October 24, 2010

I was expecting to feel refreshed after taking a day off from running, but if anything; my legs were more tired than they’d been on Friday. I can always tell just how bad things are when I’m walking up the stairs. There are about 12 or 13 of them in my house, but the days they seem like a steep trail in the Adirondacks tells me I haven’t recovered from previous workouts yet.

I spent a couple of hours of the day in one of my favorite pursuits…finding the newest required reading book for a high school class.

I’m guessing that the high schools know what books are going to be required long before the school year begins. I’m also guessing local book stores, if they had such lists from the schools, would stock up on those titles so that when the kids came to the book stores, they’d actually be able to find the book and make a purchase. That has never been my experience. I suppose my kids could let us know more than 24 hours before they need the book and we could look on-line to make the purchase…and sometimes they do…but for the most part, it’s a mad scramble the day before they’re scheduled to start reading. Anyways, we went to 3 different stores and were 0 for 3 when I called Holly at home and asked her to check the last store within 15 miles to see if they had it. She called back and said they did, but I knew it was first come-first served, so I hurried.

We arrived in time to get the book and since there were five more copies on the shelf, it must be too far from Mayfield for most parents…and the local high school wasn’t reading it. Jack suggested calling some friends to tell them it was here. “What? No, no, Jack. What you do is buy the extras and sell them to kids who aren’t your friends for like double what you paid,” I suggested. He didn’t like the idea. Oh well…Jack had the book and I got to whine some…not a bad ending.

I was still sluggish and dragging my feet about doing any kind of a workout. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and the colors were vibrant. I got Holly to agree to a late afternoon walk and wondered if I had time to fit in a bike ride before we went. To help ponder the answer to THAT question, I turned on the TV to see how badly the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints were pounding the Browns. To my shock and delight, the opposite was happening. It was early in the third quarter, but the Browns, with rookie quarterback Colt McCoy taking the snaps, were up 20 to 3. I decided to watch for awhile, but when the Saints marched (no pun here) down the field and put another 7 points on the board, I figured it was time for me to turn it off and pretend imagine the Browns would win.

Holly, Dakota and I headed for the park and a 1-hour walk. We stayed off the hills because I was leading the way and didn’t feel like walking up. The colors were magnificent and we walked a seldom used trail to an overlook of the Chagrin River where we just had to stop and admire the vista. Overall, it was weak as workouts go, but it was better than nothing at all. Sunday dinner was to be chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, so I could have used a little more sweat, but that will just have to come tomorrow. There was no cobbler on the menu, so at least I wouldn’t be adding those calories.

Oh…and in case you live in an underground bunker with only my blog as contact to the outside world…the Browns BEAT the Saints!

Hike duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 70 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 350.