where you at, euclid?

dear people at the gym who run/walk/fail to control the flopping of your foot on the treadmill,

i am writing this letter to express concern for your fitness routine. although i commend your efforts to actually go to the gym and be physically active {the rest of america should really follow suit} i just wanted to let you know that...

you're doing it wrong.

and because i can't stand to watch you exercise incorrectly i just want to help you become the best you there is, i've taken the time to illustrate a few drawings on proper treadmill use. and just so you know, it's about angles, people. geometry and stuff like that.

so here you are walking/running on level ground. a great place to start. notice the angle between your body and the surface on which you are walking/running. hint: it's 90 degrees.

and just for comparison purposes, here you are climbing a mountain. look at you go! all this working out is really paying off. again, notice the angle between your body and the mountainside. hint: i didn't measure it but it's less than 90 degrees.

{note: image not drawn to scale}

and here you are again training for climbing up said mountainside by increasing the angle of your treadmill at the gym. you are dedicated. and i like it. yet again, you've got less than a 90 degree angle between your body and the walking/running surface. that's what makes it hard.

this is good. this is hard work. go, you.

however, i find that most of you don't actually utilize the incline on your treadmills as pictured above. rather you tend to use the incline like this:

holding on = cheating.

you see the angle you've created between your body and the treadmill there by hanging on? 90 degrees! we've already discussed that 90 degrees is the easy angle. so while you might feel like you look really impressive by using that incline setting and cranking it waaaay up, i'm not impressed. no one is.

image

didn't geometry teach you anything?

hope this helps you step up your gym game. and keep up the good work. and for the love of pete, let go of the treadmill.

sincerely,
rikki

p.s.- we'll discuss your inability to control the flopping down of your foot on the treadmill/lack of anterior tibialis strength at a later date. baby steps.

birthday week extravaganza part 1

in case you missed it, my birthday was wednesday. and in case you don't know me my birthday is kind of a big deal. so for the past week or so we've been celebrating my birthday with lots of fun activities.

{also, if you did miss the fact that it was my birthday we might not be friends anymore. just kidding. sort of.}

for starters, austin, ben and i went camping on the hiwassee at gee creek campground. i've been begging austin to take me camping for literally years and since i was on fall break from school combined with it being my birthday week austin had no choice but to take me.

so we borrowed the cr-v and packed it to the top. i don't really understand how three people and one dog need so much junk for one night of camping.

camping fashion. love it? please note my failure to pack a hair brush...

the park rangers had some animals for us to check out! this little owl had so much personality to him. he was so cute!

the ranger told us about the falls at the top of this trail and how people like to swim up there in the summer. and when we got to the top o.m.g. austin and ben jumped in! do you know how cold i was outside the water and in dry clothes? those crazy kids were freezing.

after lots of fishing, campfires and hiking our camping trip was over. and i needed a shower. but on the way out of town we decided to stop by the little winery we had seen signs and advertisements for, thinking we would try a few wines, see if we like it, and maybe add to our wine glass collection. however, when we arrived at the winery there was no.one. to be found. cars were in the lot, the "open" sign was lit up, doors were wide open,  but we saw not a single person. it was creepy. we waited a bit for someone to show up to the tasting room but no one ever came. i then came to the conclusion that someone had perhaps kidnapped/murdered everyone and we needed to get the heck out of there a.s.a.p.

i have a vivid imagination.

and since i'm sure you all noticed this post was titled "birthday week extravaganza part 1" you probably assume there is a "birthday week extravaganza part 2" coming soon. and you would be correct. so. yeah. sit right there on the edge of your seat for part 2. i know the suspense is killing you.

another wedding weekend.

oh hey there, october. who's excited for the best month of the whole entire year? this girl.

anyway. this past weekend was another busy one, complete with birthday parties, the hive, a wedding and some brunch. lindsy and rj came in town and stayed with us for the weekend and we all got to celebrate another fraternity brother's wedding.

the wedding was up on the mountain at sewanee out in a pretty little wooded area and was beautiful, short and sweet. and the reception was probably the most fun i've had in a very long time.

you guys, two days later and my calves are still sore from so. much. dancing.

we had a blast. really.

and since it's october, you know what austin let me do? put up halloween decorations! since we're in a bigger house this year than halloween last year i've got to get a few more decorations to make the whole place spooky, but it's a pretty good start for now! yay!