Out with a bang!

Just a couple of things to wrap up my stay here at FRidge. First of all, I had my test-out today, and I'm very pleased with the results: I lost a total of 8 lbs and almost 9 inches! I also lost almost 2% body fat and my BMI went down significantly (I can't remember the exact number, and I'm snuggled up in bed as I type this). In TWO WEEKS! That is amazing! I feel amazing. I am so pumped! I'm signing up for a run/walk-bike-run/walk in September, and the training schedule starts on Monday!

I went for my last hike in this beautiful part of the country this morning. I opted for West Canyon Road again. It was a little cool this morning, but not so cool that I would need a long-sleeved shirt. I still sweated plenty! Here are a few pictures from today:

Recognize this? West Canyon Road. A perfect Saturday morning hike!

Red rocks and white rocks. Simply beautiful

Some abandoned hawks' nests.

Swift little bunny (center).

This cactus cracked me up.

It's amazing how just turning around will provide a much different view.

My last (cheesy) self-portrain in Snow Canyon State Park. I've left a lot of

 burned calories &  melted  fat on these trails!

Last menu board

Mango smoothie. . . my favorite! (That's soy butter, and it was quite tasty!

What can I say? It was delicious!

Couldn't take the onions, today, but the rest of it was yummo!

1001 ways to eat ground turkey!

I could eat this on a regular basis! Mmmmm and only 31 calories!

Just for fun:

A couple of trainers I enjoyed. Marjorie and Robin

Can you spot 2 little yellow birds?

I just can't get tired of that amazing view!

Tonight we got to go watch the St George fireworks show. Here are Max and Tina.

Leigh, Carol and Jennifer.

Bonnie and Chelsea

Happy Independence Day!

FRidge sculpture at night. 

Thanks to everyone who has kept up with my frolicking at the FRidge! I aim to maintain this blog (although, probably not as frequently) as I train for the upcoming duathlon. I hope you keep reading, and keep posting comments! Stay tuned. . .

Love to you all!

Goodnight FRidge. I will miss you!

Final Friday

Today we were scheduled to go on the Saddle hike. When we gathered at the van, the guide said we had a choice to do Saddle, or Third Ravine. Yesterday we had voted as a group to go for Saddle, since the usual alternative to Saddle is Fern Gully (which is a mile of sand going in, and a mile of sand coming out). This Third Ravine choice threw us for a loop. I didn't want to feel as if I had wimped out on an incredible experience by not choosing Saddle. The truth is that I really didn't want to do Saddle again. (I woke up at 4:30 am worrying about it, actually.) I would gladly choose climbing up and over, instead of sand, sand, sand (or the "Death March of Sand" as Trista called White Rocks the other day), but now we could go to Third Ravine?! In the end, the van chose to do Third Ravine. (Yippee!)

Third Ravine is still a challenging hike, with almost no sand. With my experiences this week on Stop Sign and Camelback, I knew that I would do much better on this, the second go 'round. I was really looking forward to the hike now! And, sure enough, I just marched right on up that third ravine making it possible to climb a little extra rock near the end of the hike! (Plus I burned 1,060 calories!) Enjoy the pictures!

Here we go again!

Can you see the lizard (right in the center)?

Tina, Trista, and Gretchen (one of the guides) on the final ascent out of the ravine.

The whole gang at the top of the ravine. The tough hiking is done, now it's time to explore!

Attempting to show the panoramic view. Gorgeous!

Another lizard friend: A Horny Toad. Camouflaged very well, he is near the lower shadow, in the center.

Here is that extra rock I climbed!

Trista helped me out of a jam! Thanks Trista!

As always, welcomed back to the van with a cool cloth. This is our guide, Debbra.

My last challenging hike at the FRidge is done. Tomorrow I have one more hike to do, but there are no major inclines or declines. More like walking on a groomed trail.

This seemed fine when I took it. Sorry for the blurriness.

These pancakes were about as thick as a CD, but tasty. 

One word: DELISH!

Good. Some avocado would've been perfect on this.

Yum! I really like cooked sugar snap peas! MMM

Eh. . . not much flavor in this 155 calorie dessert. 

Fridays around here can be pretty relaxed. My pool class this afternoon was Liquid Moves. Today we did some pretty easy exercises/playing in the pool with noodles. It was fun, and I did burn about 200 calories!

The big fun of the day is Cardio Disco Jam with John. The name says it all. But, pictures are worth a thousand words:

John, transformed into the Dancing Queen! Good times!

I was supposed to "test out" this evening, and when I went to check-in they said that a spot had opened up for the morning at 6:15. So, no stats this evening. That will have to wait for tomorrow's blog entry, now. 

Goodnight!

Thursday Thoughts

Today I got to repeat another hike from last week—Camelback. I have to say that I was not exactly excited about doing Camelback again. I mean, who knows if/when I'll be back in this area? I was hoping to do as many different hikes as I could. Camelback was the hike I did on Tuesday of last week, and I just remember it being a lot of uphill, climbing up endless rocks. And then I remembered that I have had a week and a half of other training/exercise, so I might surprise myself. So, up we went!

Starting our Camelback hike

This is a little pool of water in the rock formations, and it is full of these tadpoles! 

We saw a few of these pools along the way.

The group stopping for a silly picture. You can see the two camel's humps at the top of the picture. We made it to this point in record time! I was very happy!

An "optional" part of the hike (you can see the shadows above). 

Climbing out 

Climbing up one of the humps. THIS was a "go for it" climb! 

(It's the hump on the right in the above picture.)

I made it! And it is barely 8:00 am!

Trista and Tina made it, too! Yippee!

We finished the camel's back so fast we had time to do this extra loop called Dragon's Back. 

If you look closely you can see the rocks jutting straight up resembling the back of a dragon. 

The best thing about this loop? The shade! OK, and the scenery wasn't too bad, either.

There were some spots where we really had to hoist ourselves up. 

These spots are where I feel my strongest. And I know I can mount a horse, now.*

 

The view from behind Dragon's Back. Stunning.

We made our way back to the trailhead, and this is a picture of the last climb out before we reach the van. See the dead tree just left of center? There are a few people making their way up the hill near that. 

Quite a big hill to climb at the END of a rigorous hike. Whew!

And we're back! 

Eggs never tasted so good! And there is turkey bacon in there, as well! 

Not your grandma's potato broccoli soup. Very tasty, though!

The strangest thing happened today. I was too full to finish my sandwich! It was delicious, but I was feeling very stuffed, so I left half of the sandwich on the plate. Very strange to think I did all that working out today

 and consumed less than 1200 calories! 

The chef used purple potatoes in this yummy potato salad! Overall a delicious meal!

This was very tasty. Needs a little work on the texture, though. (Some of the oats were dry.)

Today for Open Gym one of the instructors held a "Gym Class" like we used to have in elementary school. So, we walked over to the park and played a quick game of kickball. (Keep in mind it was 104 today.) It was actually very fun. Afterwards we went to the other end of the park where they have a "splash pad"—a little area where they have water spraying from some play equipment for kids. The looks on the kids faces when they saw 10 adults come through the splash pad were priceless! 

I had Ball Works today, and when it was done I had a hard time lifting my arms up to scratch my head! OY! In Treading I walked at the highest incline I've done to date, and I felt very strong! My last class today was a pool class, which is the best schedule to have! Right into the hot tub immediately after pool class. (I am going to miss that hot tub, for sure! I wonder what it would take to get a hot tub at Bear Creek?!) 

Since I am a "departing guest" this week, I get to go to a few lectures about just that: departing the resort. It is one of the aspects of this place which I find really helpful. Sure, they focus on exercise and eating healthy meals, but there is a strong emphasis on education. We have learned so much about nutrition, and calorie counting (calories in vs. calories out), and, best of all, planning for success. The entire program is really top notch! If you haven't gotten it from me yet, I highly recommend the FRidge!! I can't wait to see you all soon, and share many more stories with you! 

Our van learned that tomorrow we are going to Saddle again. And our whole van decided that we will ALL go up Saddle! I get to climb the mountain TWICE! Then tomorrow is my last full day. (And my friend Trista is leaving tomorrow night before dinner.)  :(  Saturday's schedule is only for 1/2 day. 

Sweet dreams, everyone. I will be up and on that mountain before most of you wake up!

Goodnight

*For Spring Break Patsy, Aidan and I visited my Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy in Mesa, AZ. Mike took us horseback-riding, and I had a very rough time getting myself into the saddle of the horse. I had no strength in my arms or legs (not to mention the extra weight I am carrying), and it took me three attempts, and finally some assistance from our trail guide to get me up into the saddle. Definitely a low point for me. Embarrassing! Today, and over the last couple of weeks, I have hoisted myself up several hills and rocks/rock formations. So, I am literally ready to get back in the saddle again! Yay, me!