Keeping fit - Virtually!

 I'm all set -- I finished the Appalachian Trail and confirmed the address for my medal. I started the Pacific Crest Trail. Why not just dive right in? While I will always walk the dogs in the morning, there are some days when I wonder if I need that second walk. But the aggressive goals I've set for the virtual challenges get me off my butt and onto the road. 

And here's the thing -- while it's called a Virtual Challenge, I still have to WALK the miles to make that happen. It's not like I just plunk in random numbers - everything comes from the Fitbit. But here's the thing I need to check out. My Fitbit does NOT register my cycling at the spin class, which I'm good with -- I don't want to log those miles. The Fitbit doesn't recognize the spinning motion. It seems to clock steps, but NOT KM, and I'm using KM these days, not steps. Weird -- I wonder how it works. 

I went for my walk after dinner last night. I know that it's hot outside, but you'd be surprised at the breeze that is out. That little breeze is perfect for keeping you on the cool side, and it sure helps a lot that I've acclimatized to the darn heat. We still haven't turned on the A/C in the house. It's warm but not unbearable. And it's all in how you look at it. We didn't have A/C when I was a kid, and we didn't have windows that opened, and well, I've just learned to live with adverse things. I'm good with that. 

Here's the other thing when I'm walking. I'm TRYING very hard to get my posture back in check. So I try to walk with my shoulders squared, and to make it interesting, I try to keep a smile on my face. That way, it makes people who see you wonder what's going on!!!!  I have to say that the shoulder thing? It's exhausting - until I build up some strength in my shoulders and upper back. 

Everyone was SUPER friendly yesterday; even the two men chatting on their cell phones acknowledged me, and I acknowledged them. It was a great walk!!!

The only negative in the day - well, I need to figure out the eating thing when I do the spin class. By the time I got home and walked the dogs, it was time to take Lexi to the vet, and I was starving. I did have a protein bar and some almonds, but that's not enough for me. I have no idea how people manage to not eat until lunch. I'd be dead. I had my oatmeal for an afternoon snack!

So, Miss Lexi got to go in the car. She never was a super fan of the car, but she was quite good yesterday and didn't go bouncing all over like she normally does. 

Lexi on a car ride

Of course, you know who was MAD. Oh yes - she was at the door when we were leaving, and she was ready to bolt. Then she ran outside to the side gate and barked. And when we arrived back home, she was waiting at the front window. You know Murphy -- it's all about HER. 

Where have you been?

Lexi got her shots, and now she's good until next year. Since I couldn't go in with her, I decided it was a good time to connect the new phone to the car. And I got it figured out! Now, I haven't connected the navigation system, but I'll try that later today. 

At least the phone and all my contacts are there, and that's all I care about..... for the moment. 

Contacts are back in the car communication system

I had to laugh as I was trolling Facebook yesterday; I spotted this picture of my cousin's dog. So if you ever wondered what Murphy and Lexi would look like if they were morphed into one dog - this is it. 

What Murphy and Lexi would look like if they were one dog

Look at those eyes!!!! That's very weird!!!

Here's my finisher badge for The Appalachian Trail. I averaged just under 11.5 KM per day for 276 days. Regardless of the weather -- rain, snow, heat, humidity, and most of the mileage is outdoor walking.  That was a total of 3,168 KM. 

Finisher badge for The Appalachian Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail, which goes up the west coast of the US, is 4,000 KM. I gave myself ONE YEAR to make that happen. 

WAIT -- before you think that there are only long distances, I'm starting with all the long ones. Some are only 42 KM. There's a NINETY-year-old woman who is walking about 2.5 KM a day using her walker. This was a woman who, months ago, could barely make it up the stairs. Now she's outside walking 2.5 KM a day!!! That's impressive. I want to be like her when I grow up!

And on our group walk across Canada, we are at 20%. We started in Vitoria, BC, and are walking north through BC to Whitehorse in the Yukon, then we head east. We're almost at the Yukon border. Imagine that --- we've walked 2,000 KM and haven't even left one province!!! We are only four people, we started July 1, but we are a mighty team. Some people are rushing across - they are almost at 70%. There are 16 people in that group. What's the point? It's not a race; there's no prize at the end. 

Our first milestone for our cross-Canada walk

At our pace, we should finish the walk in 10 months, and that's perfectly fine by me. I get more value from my entry fee!!! 

And yes, I was back at the long arm yesterday. I got one more quilt done. The next one is loaded and ready to go this morning. 

Customer quilt - DONE

I also did a bit of sewing, but nothing I can share! Gosh -- how does that happen? Well, it'll be shareable at some point, just not now. I desperately need to fire up the embroidery machine - I have a few things that need to be done soon. 

I know that some people are not that fond of Facebook and find it intrusive. But I LOVE the GROUP function. There is a group for the software on my long arm. I had an issue that I just couldn't figure out, and I got an answer within minutes. Hmm -- that's why I couldn't figure it out - that little function is NOT intuitive as far as I'm concerned. I see their logic, but it doesn't match my logic, and the error message doesn't give you enough detail to figure it out. 

The person who gave me the answer must have had the same issue because she went one step further than the error message, which was all I needed. 

There's paperwork to do today, but I have a long errand, and I need to get that quilt done. So I might get to some paperwork tonight. Sigh --- why is there so much paperwork to do? However, I'm happy to report that the binding on the double wedding ring quilt is half done!

Don't forget to say hello to someone you see regularly but have never said hello! Why not - most people will say hello back, and it makes you feel good! 

Have a super day!!!! 

Ciao!!!!