Bike Ride
This morning on my bike ride, I heard a kingfisher as I was crossing the river. I stopped to see if I could get a look at him, but had no luck.
I did see this, though.
Deer are a fairly common sight, but I’d never have seen them if I’d been zooming along in the car. It was cheering to see them all hanging together on a chilly morning.
I enjoyed using my new rear view mirror for the first time; also, my front and rear lights to make me more visible to motorists on these dark mornings.
My husband put “Map My Fitness” on our new iPhone for me. He thought I’d enjoy it, as I’ve been alternating between bike rides and running on the treadmill all summer, and this would be a way of accumulating data about my exercise. It’s actually been a little depressing, though… Yesterday, I ran 6 miles in 60 minutes on the treadmill, and it said I only burned 549 calories. Today, a 12.1 mile bike ride only burned 342 calories. This may be one of those instances where ignorance is bliss!
Today I want to “start school” — which means doing a baking project as described here, and then taking the girls to a scenic overlook and talking about the big picture of what we’re about this year. I’ve been bothered by the fact that I don’t have a clear sense of how I want our days to look in terms of scheduling. It occurred to me this morning (as I was praying — funny how that happens) that this is something to toss out to the girls and ask them to consider how to organize their time. I’m not trying to abdicate my responsibility; I have the final say. But I think there’s a wisdom in giving them some investment in the schedule we decide to implement.
These are items on a long list of things to do today. So I’d better get offline and down to business…
5 Comments
Barbara H.
How neat to see the whole group of deer coming at once!
I wish you well on your new school year.
Amy @ Hope Is the Word
You inspire me, Janet, in more ways than one! I so want to be fit and a dedicated exerciser, but it doesn’t take much to totally get me off course. Beautiful photos, too!
bekahcubed
Yeah, so counting calories “out” in exercise is definitely disappointing. It’s nigh on heartbreaking except for the glorious realization that we (many of us) burn 1200-1500 kcal per day just breathing and keeping our bodies warm or cool and the like. Otherwise it would be “Hello Spinach salads, hold the vinaigrette.”
Love the pictures you got on your ride–and that you were riding. Reminds me that I need to get on my bicycle more.
Janet
Bekah, isn’t there some kind of metabolic afterburn, too, with aerobic exercise — you burn more calories maintaining basic functions for awhile even after you stop exercising? And you add lean muscle mass so you burn more calories all the time? Just thinking of ways a calorie calculator isn’t a complete picture.
Amy, it can be a fine line with me between commitment and obsession when it comes to exercise. I think it would be good to scale back a little, actually.
Carrie, Reading to Know
Oh, I LOVE seeing groups of deer! We have a family that passes by our house every day and I love it! (Twin fawns this year!)
Laughing at your “ignorance is bliss” statement. I would think so too!