Lifestyle Fitness for all stages of life
Hello Ladies,
What a great Friday I had last week! Props to Carissa for being all over it on Monday. I have attached some fun pictures. My photographer I’m sure won’t have anything on their blog for a while. Sadness, but my MOH was a picture taking machine. Some are from the rehearsal, but most from the wedding.
Will hopefully see everyone soon! Aloha!
Lisa
Lisa, Carissa and Stephanie all wed over the weekend. It was certainly HOT, HOT, HOT!! Carissa sent us this message on Monday. Congratuations to each of you!
Hello Girls!
Thank you all so much for your warm wishes, clearly they paid off! I had the best time ever at my wedding this weekend and as you all know it couldn’t have been a more beautiful day. It could have been about 15 degrees cooler…holy crap, 96 degrees and a wedding dress is brutal! Stephanie and Lisa I am sure you guys had an amazing beautiful day as well, and I sure you can relate to the heat stroke I suffered. Anyways, my photographer has already posted some pictures on her blog and I thought I would share them with you all. Hope to see you guys next week at boot camp!
http://kimhayesphotography.com/blog/
Cheers,
Carissa
Swimming sensation Michael Phelps has an Olympic recipe for success - and it involves eating a staggering 12,000 calories a day.
“Eat, sleep and swim. That’s all I can do,” Phelps, who won two more gold medals today, told NBC when asked what he needs to win medals. “Get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can.”
By comparison, the average man of the same age needs to ingest about 2,000 calories a day.
Phelps, 23, will swim 17 times over nine days of competition at the Beijing Games - meaning that he will need all the calories he can shovel in his mouth in order to keep his energy levels high.
Phelps’ diet - which involves ingesting 4,000 calories every time he sits down for a meal - resembles that of a reckless overeater rather than an Olympian….
I honestly almost wrote something on the theknot.com last night… I felt very accomplished and appreciative of the group I get to work out with each week.
I think I mentioned this to some, but here was the post on Mandy’s pics:
Mandy’s pictures are up!
Date: 7/31/2008 at 6:57 PM
Everything looked amazing - I only hope I have a wedding half as beautiful!
http://katemcelweeblog.com/gorgeous-gonzaga-mandy-josh/
Preview:
Mandy
my favorite
so real!
sassy!
Last night I asked the Brides if anyone was walking up the aisle to the traditional Wedding March. The answer was a resounding NO. One woman said that the song comes from an opera and is part of a rape scene. I had to know if this were true, so did some research. Here is the history of the wedding march:
Before the 1850’s, in most church ceremonies, music was not usually permitted. organ music before or after the marriage vows was being permitted about 1852, and soon became customary. At first, the organist was left to select as he pleased from Bach and the other classicists. Gradually, however, two favorites appeared, The Bridal Chorus from Wagner’s Lohengrin and the Wedding March which Mendelssohn wrote for Midsummers Night’s Dream. Everyone knows the opening strains of Wagner’s “Here Comes the Bride”, also the gay Mendelssohn music which accompanies the wedding party as they march away from the altar. Thus was set the wedding’s traditional musical entrance and exit, which has existed now for over 100 years.
From Wikipedia - here is the story of the Opera Lohengrin:
Synopsis
Place: Antwerp, on the Scheldt.
Time: 10th century
Act 1
King Henry the Fowler has arrived in Brabant where he has assembled the German tribes in order to expel the Hungarians from his dominions. Count Telramund acts as regent for Duke Gottfried of Brabant, a minor and brother to Elsa. Gottfried has mysteriously disappeared and Telramund, incited by his wife, Ortrud, accuses Elsa of murdering her brother and demands that she give him the dukedom.
Elsa appears surrounded by her attendants and, knowing herself innocent, declares that she is willing to submit to the judgment of God through the ordeal of combat. Elsa chooses a knight she has beheld in her dreams as her champion(Narrative: “Alone in dark days.”) and sinks to her knees and prays that God send her relief. Telramund, at the behest of the king, agrees to fight.
At first, the Herald calls upon the unknown knight in vain. When he calls the second time, however, a miracle takes place. A boat drawn by a swan appears on the river and in it stands a knight in shining armour. He lands and dismisses the swan before respectfully greeting the king and asks Elsa if she will have him as her champion. Elsa kneels in front of him and places her honour in his keeping. He asks but one thing in return for his service: she is never to ask him who he is or where he has come from. Elsa agrees to this and the combat area is prepared. After everyone apart from Ortrud has prayed, the combat commences. Telramund is defeated, but the victor grants him his life. Taking Elsa by the hand, the unknown knight declares her as innocent and asks for her hand in marriage.
Act 2
Night in the courtyard outside the cathedral. Telramund and Ortrud, both banished, appear in tattered garments. Ortrud, a heathen witch, daughter of Radbod, the Duke of Frisia, tries to revive Telramund’s courage. She plots to induce Elsa to violate the mysterious knight’s only condition.
When Elsa appears on the balcony in the light of the morning, she sees Ortrud and takes pity upon her. Telramund, unobserved, retires into the shadow of a house. The populace assembles and the Herald announces that the king has offered to make the unnamed knight the Duke of Brabant. He refuses the title, however, and requests to be known only as “Guardian of Brabant.”
As the king, the Knight, Elsa and her attendants are about to enter the church, Ortrud, clad in magnificent attire, appears and accuses the Guardian of Brabant of being a magician. Telramund also appears. He claims to have been vanquished by fraud, as he does not know the name of his opponent, and neither does the wife-to-be herself. Lohengrin refuses to reveal his identity and claims that only one has the right to know his origin — Elsa and Elsa alone. Elsa, though visibly shaken and uncertain, assures him of her confidence and they enter the church together. Telramund, however, has managed to recruit four knights to his cause.
Act 3
The bridal chamber. Elsa and her new husband are ushered in with the well-known bridal chorus, and the couple express their love for each other. Ortrud’s words, however, are impressed upon Elsa, and, despite his warning, she asks her husband the fatal question. Telramund and his four recruits rush into the room in order to attack the strange knight. Instead it is Telramund who is slain. The Knight sorrowfully turns to Elsa and asks her to follow him to the king, to whom he will now reveal the mystery.
Change of scene: On the banks of the Scheldt, as in Act I. The troops arrive equipped for war. Telramund’s corpse is brought in and the stranger defends his slaying of Telramund. One thing remains — he must now disclose his identity to the king and Elsa. He tells the story of the Holy Grail, and reveals himself as Lohengrin, Knight of the Holy Grail and son of King Parsifal. The time for his return has arrived and he has only tarried to prove Elsa innocent.
As he sadly bids farewell to his beloved bride, the swan reappears. Lohengrin prays that Elsa may recover her lost brother, and lo! the swan dives into the river and appears again in the form of young Gottfried, Elsa’s brother, who had been turned into the swan by Ortrud’s magic arts.
A dove descends from heaven, and, taking the place of the swan at the head of the boat, leads Lohengrin to the castle of the Holy Grail. Elsa is stricken with grief, however, and falls to the ground dead, longing for her beloved.
One of the best ways to keep up your motivation and conviction is to enter a race. Here are a few coming up soon:
For a complete and current race schedule, visit RaceCenter.FEATURED EVENT
ALL WOMEN’S TRIATHLON/DUATHLON & KID’S TRI (Blue Lake Park, Fairview, OR / August 2) Oregon and SW Washington’s only all women’s triathlon and duathlon. It includes a sprint triathlon, duathlon and Tri-It (shorter swim) and great Kid’s Splash Pedal’n Dash.TRIATHLON/DUATHLON EVENTS
MID-SUMMER TRIATHLON & DUATHLON (Blue Lake Park, Fairview, OR / August 3) Presented by State Farm Insurance. An event for everyone. An Olympic Triathlon, Sprint Triathlon & Duathlon and Sprint Tri-It (1/4 mile swim). Blue Lake is a flat and fast course for bike and run PR’s.
TROIKA HALF IRON TRIATHLON (Spokane, WA / August 3) This Half Iron Triathlon will take you through Spokane on a scenic mix of rural and city routes.
COEUR D’ALENE TRIATHLON & DUATHLON(City Park, Coeur d’Alene, ID / August 9) A challenging Olympic Triathlon and Duathlon in beautiful Coeur D’Alene, ID. Make a vacation out of it and we’ll see you there.
BEAVER LAKE TRIATHLON (Sammamish, WA / August 16) A fantastic sprint triathlon with a little more bike and run challenge.
SCOGGINS VALLEY TRIATHLON & DUATHLON (Forest Grove, OR / August 30) Hagg Lake, a well known lake for swimming, will host a challenging and scenic Olympic Triathlon & Duathlon, a Sprint Triathlon and Tri-It (1/4 mile swim) triathlon.
BLACK HILLS TRIATHLON (Olympia, WA / September 6) This Triathlon and Duathlon will take place in beautiful Thurston County with one central transition area at the Environmental Learning Center on the west end of Deep Lake.
ALUMINUM MAN TRIATHLON (The Dalles, OR / September 6) An Olympic and Sprint length triathlon. Swim is in the Columbia River; water temperature is 65-70 F. Wet suits are permitted. Bike course has gentle hills. Run course is level along the Columbia River.
BLACK DIAMOND TRIATHLON & DUATHLON (Enumclaw, WA / September 14) Black Diamond includes an Olympic Triathlon/Duathlon, a Sprint Triathlon and Tri-It 1/4 mile swim triathlon A scenic event at the base of Mt. Rainer.
KIRKLAND KID’S SPLASH PEDAL-N-DASH (Kirland, WA / September 20) This is a fun and entertaining Kids Triathlon with a 50yard swim, 1 mile bike and 1/4 mile run. Kids ages 4 and up are welcome.
KIRKLAND TRIATHLON & DUATHLON Presented by Pacific Medical Centers (Kirland, WA / September 21) Now a late summer favorite and a great way to begin the fall. This event includes a Sprint Triathlon, Duathlon and Tri-It Triathlon with 1/4 swim.RUNNING EVENTS
FEATURED EVENT
MT. HOOD JAZZ RUN (Gresham, OR / August 17) Portland Adventist Elementary School in partnership with the Mt Hood Jazz Festival is featuring a 5K Run/Walk - Jazz Music will be performed along the racecourse. A variety of events spanning 3 days on the Mt Hood Community College Campus - August 15-17, 2008. Don’t forget the Gresham Jazz Run on October 12.
SNOQUALMIE RAILROAD DAYS RUN (Snoqualmie, WA / August 02) Runners of this 10K, 5K and 1K Kids Run will cross the famous Snoqualmie River while enjoying stunning views of Mt. Si and the Meadowbrook Farm, home to hundreds of majestic elk.
PINTS TO PASTA (Portland, OR / September 7) Another great Run with Paula event. This is a great 10K Run/Walk with cold beverages and warm pasta to finish.
BLACK DIAMOND HALF MARATHON (Enumclaw, WA / September 14) Run or Walk this fantastic half marathon, while enjoying the backdrop of Mt. Rainier and the triathlon around you.
BELLINGHAM BAY MARATHON & MORE (Bellingham, WA / September 28) Come experience the natural beauty of Bellingham Bay, San Juan Islands and the Interurban trail in Bellingham, WA. Events include a Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K Fun Run.ADDITIONAL EVENTS
RED BULL FLUGTAG - THIS WEEKEND
Check it out August 2, 2008 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, downtown Portland, OR. Red Bull Flugtag is FREE and open to the public. Gates Open at 11a.m., First Flight is at 1p.m. You don’t want to miss this and get there early.
WETSUITS & TRAINING RUNS
Wetsuit Rentals Available
Stay warm and swim faster by renting a wet suit for a triathlon. Wetsuit rentals start at $35 for the weekend. Contact Athletes Lounge to reserve yours today at 503-922-0805.
Get Fit Live Fit
Get Fit Live Fit hosted by Fit Right NW is a new series of training sessions designed to help achieve your fitness goals in a smart, fun, and friendly way. Whether you are brand new to the sport of running or walking, or a seasoned verteran, we want you to enjoy our program while training with others and learning new tips.
We have been sending off brides every week. Jen Kulm is now a married woman, as is Mandy, Ashleigh, Jennifer, Katherine and Marianne. We miss them in class and can’t wait to see their photos.
Best wishes to all of you on your wedding day. I hope you all feel as fabulous as you look! Be sure to send photos.
The Tour de RAMROD was SOOO fun! We finished the trip in 13 hours 5 minutes and had no troubles at all - no flat tires, no falls, no tears, it was flawless. Today (the day after) I am not even sore, just a little fatigued.
We started in Enumclaw from the high school at a little before 6am. The morning was cloudy and misty, but the temperature was comfortable. The first leg of the trip is along hwy 162 which has a lot of truck traffic. I didn’t love that, but eventually we lost the logging trucks and dump trucks and traffic was fairly light.
We pedaled on the Oroville Road where we saw a bear (we think) cross the road just ahead of us. Sooner than I was expecting, we were in Eatonville. This was our first stop. Murray was laughing at himself for stopping for coffee and commented that his wife Lisa would never believe it!
Our stop was short and we were back on the road in about 10 minutes. Our next “milestone” was Ashford. Murray went shopping in Ashford for some Cliff Shots and then we were off - next “milestone” the park entrance.
The park let us in 2-fer. I had my park pass and since we were on bikes she (the ranger) said we were good to go. Bikes are charged $5 to enter Mt Rainier National Park. I was impressed with the gracious way bikes are treated in and around Mt. Rainier. There are signs (bikes on road) warning cars to watch for bikes. There were shoulders on almost all of the roads, and other than the big trucks early in the ride, traffic was never much of a worry for us.
Now that we were in the Park and the climb really began! We actually had been climbing gradually up to this point, but it was almost unnoticable. Because the scenery was so amazing, and the traffic so light, our ride to Longmire seemed super short!
My closest companion
We stopped in Longmire just long enough to re-fill our water and then quickly set off for Paradise!
refill
It is really fun to ride along a road you have only driven. The wildflowers along the side of the road were in full bloom, while at the same time, there was a lot of snow in the woods. The morning clouds were clearing from the lower peaks which made the area even more dramatic. We are so lucky to live in such an amazing part of the world.
.
Up to Paradise
Pinnacle Peak
Nisqually
We only had a short way to go from the bridge over the Nisqually River to Paradise. We were both wearing altimeters, so we knew exactly how far we had to go. This really helped with pacing ourselves over the passes. We called out the major elevations as we ascended.
As you get higher, the trees get shorter and more alpine and the flowers (Indian Paint Brush, Bear Grass, Lupines) get more and more colorful. Before we knew it, we could see the man-made structures appear out of the alpine landscape. Wow, here we are at Paradise (5400′) and it was before 1pm. I was so happy!
Paradise Lodge
The new lodge is beautiful and well done. The added copper gutters and updated the interior. We only stayed long enough to top off our water, eat a few bites and take a photo. We felt that this was our physical half way point. It was truly half way through our day (which at the time we didn’t know) and we had one small and one large pass to climb. But first we got to fly downhill for over 2500 feet and it was FUN!
the way down
Poor Murray. I made him stop a million (ok, so maybe only 20) times to take photos. The mountain was out, the skies were blue, it was a stellar day! I wanted lots of photos to document our adventure!Going down actually, surprisingly takes a lot of concentration, but is physically a nice rest. We flew. All I could hear was the wind in my hair…….
Descending
We continued down, down, down, to Box Canyon, climbed again for a few miles, and then descended even further. It takes a bit of fun out of the descent (but not too much) knowing that there is a climb after all of that down.
From Ohanapacosh, (2800 feet) it was another climb up to Cayuse Pass (4700 feet). This took us a long time. It was getting warm, the road was torn up, and we had to wait for some of the construction delays.
We ran into two guys who were training for next week’s official RAMROD and we chatted with them at the construction waiting point. They had done a south loop that started from Chinook Pass. We passed one of the guys on our way up to Cayuse. I never pass anyone, so I was a bit pumped about that! 
Cayuse Pass
final leg
Here are some details on where you can find me on Friday. The ride will start around 5am. I think daylight hours will be a requirement and we might need every one of them. I just read a report from 2003 and the guy was re-counting the number of crashes, bikes going over cliffs, bikes being run off the road by rude drivers. Wow, exciting….I am hoping for less excitement than that. Nick (client) reminded me to bring plenty of butt balm. I was not even thinking of that. I might even go buy some real bike shorts with padding. I don’t like them, but sometimes necessity calls.
RAMROD (Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day) is the Pacific Northwests premiere one-day ultra-marathon cycling event. It combines the incomparable scenery of Mount Rainier National Park with a challenging course featuring 10,000 feet of climbing over 154 miles. The course starts in Enumclaw, WA (elevation 720 feet) with a gradual downhill to its lowest elevation (300 feet) near Orting. This is followed by 40 miles of rolling hills through the towns of Eatonville, Elbe, and Ashford, with a gradual climb to the Nisqually entrance of Mount Rainier National Park. The climb stiffens at Longmire where riders begin the 12 mile ascent to Paradise (elevation 5,420 feet). A 12-mile descent through Stevens Canyon follows and then a quick 3-mile climb to Backbone Ridge. This leads to one of the most fun descents of the course: a swooping 5-mile run to the Grove of the Patriarchs and the intersection with Hwy 410. What follows is generally considered the most difficult section of the course: the 9-mile climb up Cayuse Pass (elevation 4,694) which starts at 100 miles into the ride. The rapid descent from the pass ends with about 30miles to go. These last miles are gradually descending or rolling except for one final, fast descent down Mud Mountain Dam just 5 miles from the finish in Enumclaw.
Murrays gear list: Water bladder, purification tablets, folding tire, two tubes, patch kit, tools, tape, 15 hours of food, bike lights, head lamp, small first aid kit, extra brake pads.
My list: butt cream, ibuprofen, ipod (loaded), sunscreen, sunglasses, credit card, National Park Pass, cell phone, camera.
I am really looking forward to the challenge. My body rarely lets me down, but I do admit I could have trained a lot harder for this. I will update on Sunday (after a full day of rest).
Now that we actually have some sun thought I’d share some info that I �
just saw today on effective sunscreens.
There was just a study showing that 2/3 of sunscreens are ineffective �
that you may wish to read.
Here is a listing of the few brands that actually contain effective �
sunscreens. http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008/brandranks.php
On that site, you can also learn more about the report, look up your �
own brand etc.
