Day 50: New swim suit

My old swim suit, which I'd had for years, and don't remember how I got it in the first place, had as much viable elastic as the flat top sheet of a bed.  I bought a new one, one that fit and fit fine when I tried it on at home, fresh out of the packaging.

I went to the swimming pool today.  It had been a while, and of course I go take a swim class when the weather is nice and sunny, instead of yesterday, when it would have made more sense to be exercising indoors.

As it had been a while since I was last in the pool, my lymph system kicked in overtime, so halfway into the class I need to use the restroom.  The suit is a one piece, so yes, the whole thing has to be removed and then put back on.  The suit was water-soaked, there was the friction (suction?) between the suit and my skin, and the elastic was brand-new; getting it back on was like trying to fit a full-size fitted sheet on a queen-size bed.  Success, finally, but I still needed the buoyancy of the swimming pool water to get everything in place.

That was in the morning.  In the afternoon, a celebratory walk at Miller's Landing and Mill A Loop (the "real" name for the trail).

Day 49: Another walk around Mill Loop A

Today's weather was cold and cloudy.  I finally pulled myself together and went to Miller's Landing.  I thought about just walking Third Street, but with all the traffic, gravel and stoplights, I decided walking by the river would be less stressful.

Construction was going on both sides of the river.  McKay Park's grass is almost all gone, and the ground is being prepared for the viewing area.  On the other side of Colorado Avenue bridge, irrigation pipes are being put in deep trenches and covered up.

As I crossed the bridge over Whitewater Park, the park attendant was in a deep discussion with a man who was down in the water, who held a large surf board.  I decided not to say anything and walked on by.

The windstorm and the lateness of the afternoon probably deterred others from walking.  I saw a covey of children in a day care group, being herded by three adults; two moms with their babies and toddlers; and was out-paced by a man walking a Pomeranian dog.

I checked my time when I returned to Millers.  I had an extra distance to go, thanks to the construction at McKay, but even with that and walking into the wind, my time was shortened--hurray!  I'm walking faster!--so I need to add to the route to keep the half hour mark.

Old Mill District's smoke stacks and flag foot bridge

Day 48: The extra mile

Today, Saturday is a quiet day.  It is the day before Good Friday and Easter, a private day of reflection.The sky is grey, there is a bite in the wind, the smell of snow, a a touch of melancholy.

(I made an appearance at church cleaning--it wasn't my turn, but I still showed up, late, and told them that I wouldn't be there at cleaning for the next six months, due to my work schedule.)

It was too windy for the hat, so I wrapped my scarf around my head and joined the many in their walks.  After I crossed the view bridge and was on Shevlin-Hixon Drive, I decided not turn left to the flagged bridge, but continue straight on to Riverbend Park.  The wind died down a bit as I went past the berms that hide the Hampton Inn, and followed the road past the parks' administration building to Riverbend Park. 

The restroom was as if the custodian had just left it. I enjoyed it for a short while, as it was a nice, heated room, then decided to go further to the footbridge that joins Riverbend and Farewell Bend Parks and walk back along the Farewell Bend side of the river.  The loop that goes around that bridge down to the flagged footbridge is supposed to be 1.3 miles, while the loop I usually walk is either 1.6 or 1.1 mile, depending on which sign or marker you read.  I know I didn't get the full 1.3 miles, as I didn't go to the dog park route.  Maybe some other time I will, when it's not feeling like snow will start any minute.

The sky and the wind and the smell of snow continued as I walked between the river and the riverside condos that my friend Bonnie and I had checked out years ago--a million dollars for dark, small rooms with fake library books in the open house decor.  They are undoubtedly worth that much even after the Recession.  More were being built.  I went on, my body not complaining, not aching.

When I got to the flagged bridge, I walked it, back and forth, just for bragging rights, and continued on my usual route, back to Miller's Landing, where my kidney reacted to the sight of the restrooms, like Pavlov's dog to the bell.  There were a few flakes of snow that touched my face as I went down the sidewalk, but that was it.

The horses at "Two Bit Bridge," which connects Riverbend and Farewell Bend Parks.

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Day 47: Slough

In my dream last night, I was in front of a mirror.  I couldn't see my head or my feet, but I saw the white shirt I had on, sort of a Gibson Girl touch to it, more so as I put a thin belt on at my waist, creating a peplum.  I had under the peplum a white skirt, with a eyelet underskirt--or was it the other way around?  My hands were thin, making my fingers look long, and for what I could see of my legs, they looked thin too, as I had after I got out of college the second time.

And I woke up to the body I have now.  The bathroom scale was not friendly to me today, nor was the one at the veterinarian's office, when I took the cat there to have his claws trimmed.

I put off the walk, with one excuse and another, until--fine!  I'll go!--and went off to Miller's Landing at three thirty.  There were six cars there already, and four of the cars had people sitting in them, reading the newspaper or their cell phones.  There was one more car, and that one was that of an apparently homeless woman who frequents the parks I work at.  She has a library on her front dash, including "Good News for Modern Man."  She had a sun screen on the windshield, and was sleeping in the driver's seat.

There were a dozen kayakers in and around the water, but few other people in the area.

I stomped through my loop, and back to the car, wondering if there was going to be any more progress and how consistent did "consistent" have to be, anyway, to have any results or to be ready to go back to work, where there seemed to be so little progress. 

About an hour after I got home, I could feel the front of my thighs "burning" from the walk.

 
Flag bridge in Old Mill, where I cross to get to the other side.
"The footbridge at the Old Mill District is a great location to admire the vista of the river. (Photo: William Sullivan / Special to the Statesman Journal,"

Day 46: Accessories

I bought a hat for sunny days, and got to wear it for the first time.  There was a constant breeze, but the hat stayed on, even thought I still needed my coat and gloves.  I walked up to and crossed over the Simpson Avenue bridge, adding extra distance to my route.  I walked past the restaurants in the Old Mill.  The place was crowded with Spring Break crowds.  I overheard a tour guide tell people that there are Apple and Facebook employees who live in Bend and commute to California, staying there for their Monday through Thursday work week.



Earlier in the day, after I went through my yoga routine, I did some work with five pound weights.  Not a lot, but more than I'd done in a long while.  I didn't give it another thought until bedtime, when I was resting, and my back muscles were twitching, like little live sardines flopping around on the floor, all along my spine.  I finally got to sleep, but then when I awoke in the night, there they were again, including one big one between my shoulder blades that would not quit jumping around until finally I pushed both of my shoulders forward, which made it harder for their actions to be so annoyingly noticeable. 

Not a Day: Motiviations

One of the things that come to mind when I'm working out is a memory of a woman I briefly met while I was cashiering.  It was my first year, and somehow, clothing was 80 percent off, and the store was going nuts with people grabbing clothes to buy.  This customer brought up a pile of clothes.  She was older than me, thin, and beaming.

"I'm getting all new clothes! I'm finally getting some clothes that will fit.  I lost a hundred pounds since last year, and I went down so many sizes, and now I can finally afford to get some new clothes!"

I asked her how she did it, being careful, as weight loss from disease or surgery are rather touchy subjects.

"I walked a mile a day.  Every day.  I got twin grandsons and I wanted to be able to get down on the floor to play with them when I go to visit."

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I am reading a couple of books.  "Secrets from the Eating Lab: The Science of Weight Loss, the Myth of Willpower, and Why You Should Never Diet Again"   is one that I'm skipping around in, and which I now own, due to spilling grape juice on a library book.  The other is "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Yoga Illustrated, Third Edition" which is seven chapters long, and I hope to complete and return by this time next week.  

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I found this sweet little essay the other day What does one day of eating look like for you? at Quora, which featured this, and I quote: I've eaten so much turkey, that President Obama has invited me to the White House for Thanksgiving, and pardoned me.  

.  Here is the photo that illustrates the essay

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On Facebook, one of my friends posted a video from the Motivation  page, that was dated March 6, with over seven million views, of a man who made his changes (starting at 500 lbs.) in 390 days.  Obviously, the man in the video was more diligent than I have been, but I'm still on my way.

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Day 45: Progress

A short while after I woke up this morning, my body (which seems to be separate from my brain from time to time), was hoping in a Holly dog sort of way:  "Walk!  walk?  we're going for a walk today?!"

So I scrubbed my plans to do a loop at Juniper and go swimming, and opted for a walk at Old Mill Loop again.  The temperature was 47, the sky grey, and round wet snow was drifting down when I got in the car and drove to Miller's Landing.

Miller's Landing, copyright Bend Parks and Rec.

McKay was still in the throes of construction work, so it was back to the round about.  I noticed that The Pavilion parking lot was near the round-about, so the walk to the Pavilion isn't far from McKay or Miller's.  There were no kayakers Whitewater Park. I briefly studied how the riparian area was made, so that the water going into it isn't as turbulent as it had been during construction.

It seemed as though I made the walk in a matter of a few minutes, instead of a skin-crawling half an hour.  As I neared the flagged footbridge, I noticed that the Simpson Avenue bridge didn't seem as far away as it had even yesterday.  Next week, tomorrow, sometime soon I will just walk out there and cross the bridge and add another mile to my walk.

I didn't check to make sure I'd walked half an hour, but I did go around the perimeter path of Miller's Landing.  Afterwards, I went to the library, and without a second thought, trotted up the inside stairs to the second floor, easily.

This is Day 45, half way through the 90.  I didn't meet my goal of making the 90 by January, but I'm still at it!

Day 44: Grey day

Old Mill Loop has become my default walking route.  It is closer than Juniper, and it is in the open.  Unlike Juniper, the restrooms at Miller's Landing are open in the winter, which is a very good thing.  One of the things that make the Loop even more useful is that there aren't the activities that gave me pause at Juniper, such as the picnic table were a bunch of kids from the high school are hanging out, nor the picnic table where someone has thrown a tarp over it, and may be camping beneath it while the overly large mutt guarding it growls at me.

The Loop is generally sunny, and the people walking it are doing just that.  Every so often, someone jogs by, but the paved path is pleasantly wide, so that two wheel chairs can pass each other.

Today was damp and windy, temperature was 47 when I left the apartment.  I had my scarf wrapped around my head, my jacket hood over the top of it.  My sleeves have thumb-cut cuffs in them, so I was able to wear gloves without having the cold breeze hitting my wrists.  Down in the river, there was a kayaker, in an bright orange kayak, looking as if he were wearing a parka, plowing through the lower part of Whitewater Park.

I walked into the wind, up past the McKay construction area, going up onto the Colorado Avenue bridge, which had a traffic flagger stopping traffic due to some work at the other end, and crossing at the round-about.

When I reached the footbridge, the wind seemed to stop, and I walked easily back to Miller's Landing, and even with the extra distance due to the construction, I still make the route in thirty minutes.

Whitewater Park.  Photo copyright Bend Bulletin
 

Day 43: Pavilion

I walked the Old Mill Loop, of 1.5 miles, in 30 minutes.   The flags on the Old Mill food bridge were St. Patrick's Day green, and the weather was fair.  I went further south, around the outer rim of the Les Schwab amphitheater fence, so I know I made the whole loop instead of the cut-off, as I did before.

I did a victory lap at Miller's Landing, then drove up to The Pavilion, which is by the old Mt. Bachelor Park and Ride parking lot.

Indoor scene, looking out.Photo copyright Bend Parks and Recreation

The Pavilion is a new building.  It's co-owned by Parks and Oregon State University-Bend.  It has a regulation competition size ice skating area, that is cleared off for summer's pickle-ball and roller hockey and whatever.  There are bleachers, and dining area that is outside, with a barbecue where food is grilled on the week-ends, and an indoor dining area that can be reserved for a party room.  There are skate rentals, lockers, restrooms (both indoor and out), a posted menu and dining hours, posted prices for rentals and sessions, and a chirpy receptionist.  Some of my co-workers were there, dealing with a large mound of snow and ice that was parked on the east side of the building.   There were people skating, including a girl who pushed a beginner's walker around while she got her bearings.  I saw that there were a number of the walkers, stacked to the side, child and adult sizes.

Next year, perhaps.

(Wow, I'd get a seniors discount!)

Day 42: Old Mill Loop

The Colorado foot bridge is now open.  The weather was a bit damp, but still nice.  I parked at Miller's Landing, and started my walk, going over the footbridge to the west bank, where McKay Park is still being worked on, and went under the Colorado Avenue bridge and followed the sidewalk to the Old Mill District.   The Art Depot and the Les Schwab railroad cars flank the path, and the dead vines on the fencing was delicate and lovely.  I wondered where I'd cross the river, as I wasn't aware of any part of the path that went directly to the next foot bridge, but there were other walkers ahead of me, and I followed them.  They went behind the Les Schwab stage, and from there the path started up again.  

Along the path were low sidewalk lights, that reminded me of tombstones, more so when I was memorial plaques on them:  Names, dates, and a short phrase or career description, including  one that said, "He was a swell guy."  I stopped and read every one, of course.

Then over the footbridge with its collection of flags, and on to the other side, where there were more memorial light boxes, and information boards of the history of the old mills that used to operate there, and I stopped to read all of them.  There is also a fly casting course, which confused me, as I thought that it might have been Frisbee golf (and why would there be Frisbee golf in a pedestrian area?).  There was no fly casting while I was walking by, so I missed seeing the sport in action.

The path led back to the Colorado Bridge's pedestrian underpass and back to the park and the car.  It took more than half an hour, due to my constant stopping.  The loop is 1.5 miles.

Mural on back of Les Schwab Amphitheater stage.

http://www.theoldmill.com/blog/2013/06/26/have-you-seen-our-new-mural/