challenge

Final Challenge Dilemma

So my final challenge was supposed to involve cross country skiing. I was hoping to get some practice in before finding a race to participate in, but unlike last year at this time we have no snow. And this weekend a 10-mile cross country tour I was going to take got cancelled in Vermont because of lack of snow. In February I’m going to New Hampshire for a Chocolate Festival where you ski from inn to inn to pick up chocolate, but I’m not sure that is going to count as a challenge. (Although, I could consider the chocolate as energy to get me through the next leg of the trek like goo on a marathon.) So I’m still searching for one final challenge that I need to complete and prepare for before March 27th.

While I’m at the chocolate festival some of my running buddies […]

Final Challenge DilemmaMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:38-04:00

Challenge Update Food

I’m not sure that I dealt with food enough this year in my challenge to get in the best shape of my life. I planned all these challenges, but thought little about what I would eat. And to some degree, while I was in the midst of a challenge it really didn’t matter. Well, I was burning calories, which was good, but what I put in my body is still important.

My problem is, I LOVE TO EAT. And I’m not good at curbing that. Lately, even though my exercise output has been less my food output hasn’t changed. And all I seem to want is saltly and sweat stuff. Give me guacamole with chips or chocolate and I’m a happy girl. Those seem to be my three favorite foods of late.

I’ve been trying to eat well Monday through Friday afternoon. Eating well for me means no desserts or sweets (other than fruit), trying not to overeat, a salad for one meal a day, reasonably healthy foods (not Chinese food or super greasy pizza, although I do make […]

Challenge Update FoodMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:40-04:00

Grand Canyon Part II: The Challenge

Hiking the Grand Canyon was my 3rd challenge of my 30th year. I didn’t get to do as much hiking as I’d hoped for to prepare, and Irene washed out our regular backpacking trip in the White Mountains. I was nervous about so many things—my knees, having enough water, the temperature, the terrain, heights, falling off into the great abyss. Luckily, I didn’t have a problem with anything I anticipated. The trail was easier than the trails I am used to in the White Mountains, but it was covered for good portions in small rocks that I termed “ankle biters.” It would be so easy to roll or sprain an ankle in the Grand Canyon. We had no ankle sprains and perfect weather—about 80-degrees during the day and we were able to hike in the shade for good portions of our trip.

The hike was not as hard as I’d expected. Down […]

Grand Canyon Part II: The ChallengeMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:41-04:00

The Grand Canyon

The name is fitting. If nothing else the Grand Canyon is certainly grand. The size is enormous. There are rocks of every color. Red, oranges and yellows I expected, but the blues and greens in the landscape surprised me. When the moon sets in the morning, but before the sun comes up the stars are super bright and look like silver pinholes in the sky. But what impressed me the most was the silence. Once a mile down in the canyon, if you stop walking and just listen, you’ll find there is nothing to listen to. No helicopter tours; no raging Colorado River (unless you are within ear shot of the river because that is loud), no animal noises, no buzzing electrical wires, no people, no cars, no wind in the trees. I think it is the quietest place I have ever been. I would have thought that might be eerie, but I loved it. It was calming. For someone who can’t meditate and quiet the mind, it seemed great. It drew me in to appreciate the stillness […]

The Grand CanyonMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:41-04:00

Challenge Two Done–The Half Marathon

When I was 25 I ran a marathon. I’m proud of that, but I foolishly ran it without training, so training properly for a half marathon, while a much shorter distance, was a whole new experience for me. I didn’t know what to expect. I wanted to set a goal that was more than “just finish the race,” like I said when I ran the marathon, but I had no idea how to guess what my pace would be. I wished that I could run it in under 2 hours, but thought that was unrealistic. I hoped to do 10-minute miles, but thought that was highly unlikely. I wanted to at least to 10-minunte, 30 second miles. I thought that would be doable but hard.

I ran the race in 2 hours and 6 minutes (a 9-minute, 39-second mile). I was so proud. Luckily for most of the race I was running with people I had been training with all along—good conversation serves as a great distraction.

Challenge Two Done–The Half MarathonMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:46-04:00