Spinning. It's not your regular cycle.

My friend Julie invited me to a class this morning at the Y called CardioPump. It consisted of about 45 minutes of spinning and then about 55 minutes of weights. Wow. I learned a few important things this morning.
1. A spinning class is in no way, shape or form like spinning on a stationary bike.
2. Despite what I told myself before entering the class, you can't fake it.
3. They make you (gasp) stand up on the bike (and it makes your quad scream).
4. Always, always bring a towel.
5. Channeling your inner Lance is helpful.
All in all, a crazy good but hard work out. I'll definitely try and go again...that is if I can walk tomorrow.

Pentago

My kids got a great new game for Christmas. Amongst all the other electronically powered toys like Zero Gravity Cars, Rockband and various Wii games, they received an extraordinary game called Pentago.

Pentago is so simple it's brilliant. "Minutes to Learn, Years to Master" is it's tag line and couldn't be more true. Two players, two colors of marbles and a board with sections that twist. Place a marble, twist a section. Try to get 5 of your marbles in a row. Easy to play but lots of strategy if you really want to think about it. This game has received numerous awards, all well deserved in my opinion. Check it out, great for all ages.

It's the LAW, people!

Today was a rainy, cold, dark day. On my trip from my office in Chapel Hill to the Surgery Center in Durham, I saw 8 (EIGHT) cars without their lights on. On the way home, I saw an additional 3, one of which was a Town of Chapel Hill vehicle.
According to North Carolina State Law, and the law of many (if not all) other states, if you have your windshield wipers on, you MUST HAVE YOUR LIGHTS ON. Get with it people!

More Thanksgiving Memories

Thanksgiving has various connotations for different people. In my mind, it involves family, food, drink, cold weather and church. Sounds strange, I know, but the church I attended my whole life, St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, always had a Thanksgiving morning service (btw, really bad timing for those who are cooking a turkey, which was, I dare say, just about everyone ). Most notably, there was always a bagpiper who always played Amazing Grace. When it came to the lyric "...that saved a wretch like me", my sister and I always sang "...that saved a wench like me".



When I moved to San Francisco, one of my most memorable turkey days involved martinis, The Grateful Dead, hosting 10 people-dining in my bedroom (the largest room in our apartment) with a flower sheet for a table cloth. Several childhood friends also living in the area came, but they were required to bring their own chairs and plates. Our counter space was so limited I had to put the turkey pan on the floor when it came out of the oven and we concluded the evening with a Port and cheese plate (courtesy of Tracy) and flirting with my future husband by telephone.



Last year, I blogged about Thanksgiving in Hawaii. Quite memorable. I feel like I've expanded my horizons with a day that involved dolphins, maitais and an ocean. There is always something to be said, however, about traditional holidays with family and friends. After all, who else is going to help you with all those dishes?

Disney!

We recently went to Disneyworld again, this time with the kids. Since I'm training for a 1/2 marathon and have to log a certain amount of miles, I wanted to find out just how much I walked in a day.

Day in question was Thursday, first full day at DW. I started my GARMIN 450cx watch at 10am, after we had walked to the boat launch (from the Wilderness Lodge), taken a boat then a monorail to the Grand Floridian for an early morning breakfast. Monorail ride back to the Magic Kingdom, then the watch was started.

I didn't turn it off on 2 trips on Splash Mountain (.49 miles each) and 2 trips on Big Thunder Mountain RR (.53 miles each). I also did not turn it off inside, winding thru lines when there was no GPS signal. At the end of our time at MK, we took a monorail to the transportation center and I turned it off there.

The total distance between 10am and 5pm was almost 12 miles. Subtract the rides (about 2 miles) and the monorail ride (about a mile) and you get 9 miles of walking, just for the first 7 hours. We then went to Epcot and walked for another 4 hours (my GPS was out of battery by then, so no data).

The moral of the story: wear comfortable shoes. For those of you who need further clarification, that means NO flip flops.

Sleep, part deux

So today I had my visit with the cognitive behavioral specialist. It was really quite interesting. We talked a bit about sleep hygiene, a subject I was already familiar with. We also talked about the role my husband, the reflux sufferer, is playing in this dilemma.

The most interesting part, and probably the most helpful, was to put my problem in perspective. So what happens if I can't sleep? I'm tired the next day but I can function. I usually can sleep the next night, a fairly full night. I guess removing the anxiety of worrying about the lack of sleep goes a long way to being able to fall asleep.

I learned some relaxation techniques also, but that one pearl will probably be the most helpful.

Sleep!

As some of you may know, I’m a bit of an insomniac. I generally don’t have trouble staying asleep, but falling asleep is a different story. It drives me crazy these days, as it’s gotten a little out of control.
My natural biorhythms dictate that I stay up late and wake up late. I remember vividly in my childhood being sent to bed at 7:30 every night until about 4th grade. Guess what? At 7:30 I just wasn’t tired. Oh, the games I used to invent in my room late at night, waiting to get tired.
As an adult, I often would like to go to bed early but know it only means more time waiting to fall asleep. On a good day, I am awake for 20-30 minutes before I’m out. My husband, conversely, falls asleep in 20-30 seconds. No kidding. Drives me nuts. Recently I had two nights almost completely without sleep.
In a recent Journal of the American Medical Association, it was suggested that people with insomnia see a cognitive behavioral specialist. I happen to know a really good one. I made an appointment for later this week to see what suggestions he has to offer. Stay tuned!