by Claire on May 22, 2010
I have been a negligent blogger. But I have good reasons, many of which I’ll update you with soon. To get caught up, I’ll take a page out of my how to scrapbook file and tell you about the most recent stuff first.
Today, I got up early and met my regular walking girlfriends on an early morning walk. The weather threatened to rain on us but we were fortunate and missed it. It started raining just as we got back. We even got to enjoy some sunshine.
This was a walk that took us all through downtown Bellevue, parts of the really pretty residential areas, and down by Meydenbauer Bay. There were some parts of the walk that were deceptively tough – that, or I’m out of shape again. I think it’s the former. I hope it’s the former.
By the end of the 6.2 miles – although I think we really did 6.5 because we had to backtrack at one point – my lower back was really tight and my hips were stiff, so I’m writing this while icing my back and drinking a coffee.
Here are some of the pretty scenes from my walk. If the quality is poor, blame HTC’s camera phone functionality. 
Some of the beautiful mansions – I won’t call them McMansions because they were all different. I think all these homes are gorgeous, but I wouldn’t want one. I get tired just looking at them let alone thinking of what it takes to pay for them and maintain them.
This one had a fountain in the entry. I thought that was kinda cool.
So, this one (below)… this is very close to what I pictured my dream house being when I was a little girl. I loved – still do – dormers on homes. Not sure how practical they are in the inside, but they are one of my favorite architectural features on a home. This also probably wouldn’t necessarily be the style of home I’d choose today, if I were buying, which I’m not. But still lovely. Makes me think of Home Alone.
Heading down toward Meydenbauer Bay
A glimpse into Meydenbauer Bay.
More shots of Meydenbauer Bay, looking west toward Seattle.
This one is looking east into Bellevue.
This park is in the middle of downtown Bellevue. Gorgeous with that waterfall there. The water looks like one of those Infinity pools.
Tagged as:
bellevue,
walking
by Claire on September 26, 2009
So the stress I’ve been in has eased up momentarily, at least enough for me to drop 2.2 pounds. That’s a net loss of about a half pound in one week, so that’s fine by me. A healthy weight loss is about 1/2 to 2 pounds per week.
I’ve also picked up my activity this week. Getting out and moving is a fabulous stress reliever for me. This week, I ran my regular running route twice (3 miles), climbed the stairs at my mom’s nursing home (almost 4 flights up to her floor) at least twice a day (I never take the elevator there anymore), walked from her nursing home to the mall and back (about 6 city blocks one way).
This morning, I went on a 10K Volkssport walk with my regular walking buddy. This was a beautiful walk. I lived near this area for 10 years and never knew any of these trails were here. Some of the walk was almost like hiking up in the Cascades or something. The weather was perfect for a fall morning as well with the clouds breaking away and the sun coming out to a soft 70 degrees. We started out at 9 and finished up about 11:45. Straight walking would take me probably an hour and a half to do 6 miles at a 15 minute mile, but we stopped now and then to follow the map and to let this little one take a break.
Yes, Little Miss Lily came with me on her first Volksswalk! I’ve brought her with me before, but usually just left her in the car because I wasn’t sure how she would do, and I didn’t want to carry her the whole 6+ miles. This time, since the majority of this was off road, she came along and she did awesomely. She walked nearly the whole way, and, as my mom said, she probably could have walked the whole way – it was just in my head that she couldn’t. She was so cute too – getting all sorts of compliments.
Tomorrow I have to get up early and head off for my second official 5K run. This one is for the Fetal Hope organization – a new cause close to my heart. In my first 5K run, I timed at 38 minutes. I’m hoping I do as well this time, if not better, but there is more uphill in this route. Plus, I feel like I’m starting to get a head cold, and that is bothersome to me. Anyway, at least I’m getting some activity and hoping for another loss at the scales on Monday. And if not, that’s okay too – it’s about getting healthy, not just the number on the scale (although I like that too…)
Tagged as:
10k,
5k,
chihuahua,
fall sports,
fetal hope organization,
hiking,
lily,
Running,
volkssport,
walking
