September Goals...

September is going to be a busy month...

I have set the following activity goals: 

• AVG 12000 steps per day 
• AVG 5 miles per day

This is a stretch goal for me; I admit it, I am out of shape.

I have signed up to walk a 5 k on September 14. My goal for this 5 K is to beat my previous sponsored 5 K record of 55:57.  I am working at it.

I have planned a girls (Mom-Daughter) getaway weekend for my birthday weekend.  Sorry sons, but if I invite boys I have to pay for an extra room...I am cheap and saving for a trip to Belize.

Yes, I said Belize.

I will also be helping my oldest son pack up his office and residence as he prepares to move to Belize in early October.

I am so excited for him and and his girlfriend.  They are making their dreams come true.

And I have a reasonably priced dream vacation destination in my future; Belize in December is looking more like reality every day.

I promise to do my best to not to be the mom/mom-in-law from hell when I visit:)

Searching for a gym...

In mid July, when I realized that I was actually going to keep the goal I set of walking 10000 steps a day, I decided to reward myself with a gym membership.

When I look for a gym (I have done this a time or two in the past), I look for three things, in order of importance:

• A lap pool (for water walking)
• In indoor track (for walking in inclement weather)
• Accessibility (hours of operation/proximity to residence)

I found two gyms (with the above requirements) in my area:

• The Natatorium in Cuyahoga Falls  
• Akron General Health and Wellness Center - North

I love the Nat; I used to frequent that place when I lived in the falls years ago.  

• PROS: Familiar, lots of free programs to members, awesome aquatics centers, member's guests are allowed  at  reasonable rates; best hours of any gym with pool; pay as you go monthly rates; walk in enrollment;  etc, etc.
• CONS: A few miles from my apartment in the opposite direction of work.

In all fairness, I needed to check out AG.

• PROS: Very close to my apartment; 3 locations to use.
• CONS: Higher rates than Nat; hefty enrollment fee; less open hours; appointment needed to sign up; no month-to-month option; etc, etc.

Yeah, I chose the Nat.  

Not only do they offer all of the above, they have on-line membership renewal, receipt availability, sign-in tracker, activity calendars....WIN-WIN. (I love technology.)

A piece of advice to AG: Asserting that an enrollment fee keeps your rates down does not fly when your yearly rates after the enrollment fee are more per month than the Nat's rates for monthly, non-resident, non-senior members.

Well, I best go make use of that membership....

What I did on my summer vacation...

I was shocked to realize that I last posted almost 4 months ago...
Damn...what have I been doing?  Not  sharing on my blog, obviously.

Summer has come and gone.

It was not overly eventful or exciting....but lazily enjoyable.

I have made a change in my extra-curricular activities. 

At the beginning of summer I was using the few extra bucks I had each paycheck to visit one of  the local racinos conveniently located on my way home from that thing called work. However, losing a few bucks within a few minutes was doing less and less to relieve the stress of the workday.

I like the racinos because they are somewhere I can go by myself and not feel out of place by myself and not spend too much hard earned money.

But I do like to get something back for the little bit of hard earned money I spend; something more than just a few minutes of play time.

I decided I needed to find a new activity that I could do by myself or with others that was reasonably priced and helped relieve stress.

I took a walk to think about it...and kept walking.

After that walk in late June, I decided two things:

• I set myself a July activity goal of 10000 steps a day.  That goal seemed reasonable until I tried to keep it. It was a little harder than I anticipated.  But I did keep it and set the bar a bit higher for August: AVG 11300 steps and 5 miles per day. August is done and goal achieved. Yay me.
• I decided to not play my aforementioned play money and save it for a gym membership. I spent July walking and shopping for a gym.

I am feeling better even though the scales are not showing a loss.  Maybe the after-walk ice cream is not such a good idea....

Oh well, one small step...