A big question amongst Queen fans is which album is the best. There really isn't a general consensus on this issue as the band released 15 studio albums in a span of twenty years covering all different genres of music.The albums from the 1970s are the favorites of many fans because they were "albums" rather than just collections of possible singles as many of the 1980s releases were. Currently, I think I'd have to say that my favorite Queen album is their 1976 release "A Day at the Races". This album contains two of my favorite songs: Drowse and The Millionaire Waltz, but also includes perennial favorites Somebody to Love and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy. I've also recently begun to appreciate Long Away, You and I, and White Man much more than I previously had. And just this week I heard a Hollywood Record's remix of Tie Your Mother Down that tones down the guitar a bit and I found it rather less grating than I typically find the song! How exciting!
"A Day at the Races" has an alternative meaning today, however, since this morning I ran my first 10K of the season with two of my fellow princesses. I woke up at 5:30 a.m., did my prerace routine of Powerade Zero and a Fiber One poptart, dragged Husband out of bed (he was coming for cheering purposes and to supervise two mini-princesses who were in attendance), and drove 45 minutes to the race site. The weather was pretty awful. It was hot and humid before the race even began at 7:30 a.m. Then about 20 minutes into the race, the skies opened up and it poured for about ten minutes. However, it was so humid after the rain stopped that by the time I finished the race, I was completely dry! UGH!
I had joked that today would be a test of which was more miserable: running in high humidity weather or running a race when you've slagged off with your training. I can now report that the latter is much more miserable. As hot as it was today, it was my breathing that made me the most miserable so I'll definitely be getting myself out of bed for training runs to prepare for the DIVA Half Marathon this fall. I will say though that for as horrible as I felt during the race, my time was surprisingly quick so that is a sign of me potentially building up some speed this summer which would be lovely.
On the plus side today, I received my new running skirt (purchased before the shopping ban was imposed). It is just adorable and I can't wait to wear it. All the princesses have purchased one and they'll be our team uniforms in at the fall half. Adorable, right? The pattern is so pretty and flowery and there are little running girls hidden in it too. We saw a lady today at the race wearing the skirt version (no capris) and it was just darling. We also had quite a few runners ask us about our skirts mid-race. I must say, we were quite the fashion sensations today! (Buy your own running skirt
here.)
I'm debating whether I should buy
this shirt to wear with my snazzy new capri skirt as my DIVA running uniform. I mean, it has the crown on the front so right there it seems totally appropriate for the race, and then it also has Queen written on it so everyone who sees me will be reminded of the best band ever which will make them happy. I'm not sure about the red though which could clash with my hot pink capris. And it says, "We Are the Champions" on the back which seems a bit silly seeing as how my racing goal is typically to finish without dying, not actually to win. I mentioned it to my fellow princesses today and they thought it was worth purchasing. We'll have to see - luckily I have several months to decide.
I took a nice long nap when we got home (after having a yummy breakfast) and later I'm off for a birthday celebration for one of the princesses. What a royally themed weekend I'm having!
Happy Sunday everyone!
Kathleen, I have a question for you. I just started walking in my neighborhood and I was talking with my friend about what's better, walking a shorter distance faster or walking a longer distance slower. Do you know? I guess I could just google it, but when I read your post I thought you might know. Thanks. Fran
ReplyDeleteHi Fran!
ReplyDeleteIf you did google this question, you probably discovered that the answer is a bit...hazy. So here's my opinion based on the research I've done, bearing in mind that other runners may disagree with me...
Generally traveling one mile at any speed burns about the same number of calories. So if you run a mile in 7 minutes or walk a mile in 20 minutes, the difference in calories burned is pretty inconsequential.
So the easy answer to your question is that traveling more miles at a slower pace is better...
But, there is also evidence to suggest that the benefits of running (as opposed to walking) far exceed the time during which you are actually running. Meaning that you continue to burn calories at a higher rate if you've run faster so you can increase your BMR (the number of calories you burn just by living, breathing).
Personally I'd rather run more miles slower. When you run at a pace that's too fast, your recovery time is longer. So you can't run as far or as often. Running slower miles more frequently is going to allow you to build up endurance which you can then use to parlay into speed workouts once you've built up your running base.
Obviously then as you can build up your speed, you can get to the point where you can run farther distances faster (which in turn burns more calories). Intervals are generally thought to be the best type of running for weight loss (i.e. short run and cooldown lasting half that time, repeated as able).
So basically the detailed answer is: it depends.
Does that help? I'm sure you thought you were asking an easy question, but it's a lot more complicated than it seems!
Kathleen
Lol, ok, that was complex! But I see, that's what I was thinking, doing more slower just seemed better because I would build up endurance so....that's what I'm going with. I meant to comment how cute your skirt was earlier! I like those! Thanks for taking the time to answer.
ReplyDeleteThat would be my suggestion, but I just wanted to emphasize that it's my opinion (hence the information dump! LOL) Thanks re: the skirt - it's even more adorable in person and I can't wait for the weather to be less than 90 degrees so I can wear it!
ReplyDelete