Bird Buddy updated their app with a new feature. On live streaming on my phone, I can now snap photos. That’s how I got the photo above. Before, the app took photos on its own and for some reason, the Cardinal wasn’t getting many photos. I mostly got Mourning Doves and a Curved Bill Thrasher. My Cardinal couple probably flit away too quickly to get their pics taken. Now, when I spot them at the feeder, I can take their pictures. FYI, that’s a sunflower seed stuck to the bird’s beak or he’s in the process of chomping it down.
Enough with birds. This post was meant to be about changing my schedule back to being an early bird. It hit 90 degrees last week, which meant after I woke up between 6 and 7 a.m., wrote my morning pages, Bible readings, shower, etc. it was too warm outside. Although I still walked, I needed to make a change. The answer was to flip the script, get out of bed earlier and straight to walking. The rest of my morning routine could wait until after our walk.
The temperatures dropped to a low of 50, high of 70 degrees, but I decided to stick with the new schedule. I found it hard enough to get out of bed an hour earlier for a few days until I got used to it. Now that I’m used to it, I’ll stick with it throughout the summer.
My husband decided to make our morning walk more challenging by rucking. What is rucking you ask?
Rucking is the action of walking with weight on your back. Walking with a weighted rucksack (aka backpack) is a low impact exercise based on military training workouts.
Hiking is rucking in the mountains and urban hiking is simply called rucking. You’ve probably even spent time rucking – traveling, bringing books to school, or on your commute to work. Carrying weight is a necessary part of life, and as it turns out, humans are naturally good at it, too.
ACTIVE RESISTANCE TRAINING™
Rucking builds muscle and strength while improving cardio and endurance. Bringing both types of exercises together provides a fuller range of benefits to improve your health. You can burn up to 3x more calories than walking.
I don’t know why, but he’s embarrassed about his new rucking hobby. I think it’s too cute. Rucking is a popular thing now, not quite like pickleball, but more and more people are doing it. But hubby is motivated to get out the door early to avoid any neighbors seeing him with a rucksack on his back. Today, we saw ran into someone when we were less than a block from home.
“Five minutes earlier and we would have made it,” he said.
How does your schedule change with the seasons?
Have you heard of rucking before and do you think you’ll try it?
I hadn’t heard about ‘rucking’ as conditioning technique…just as a necessity for military folks and adventurers. Your hubby’s comment, “five minutes earlier” made me chuckle. Cheers to switching up our routines just because, I say. 🥰
ohhh….I had a hard time clicking the “like” button just now…12:30 am and 4:30 am…oh dear…reminds me of our senior pup, Sadie. Somehow you shuffle along with them when the overnight urges come. Here’s to a well-deserved nap for you later! 🥰
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Waffles is six years old so he should be easier than this. Maybe it’s a new environment and not feeling settled yet. He’s been here since Saturday, so hopefully he’ll get adjusted. I’m looking forward to a nap!
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Oh, right! I assumed she was older. I bet you’re right – she’s adjusting. Sweet little Waffles. Where am I? Who am I? LOL. Enjoy that nap – I bet Waffles will snuggle with you! 🥰
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Waffles is getting gray whiskers which is an older look. I’m on the sofa now with a snuggle from Waffles.
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Love it! Enjoy and give sweet Waffles some extra snuggles from me. 🥰
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Will do! 😊
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If it would ever stop being winter here (temperature and precipitation wise) then I would be walking early. The sky lightens by 530 and I love to walk really early before it heats up but it’s staying cold and rainy still
and I’m not motivated to get out until after breakfast right now. I try to go closer to mid morning but many times I’m just trying to plan between showers!
Maybe your husband should carry a big slab of ribs on his back and give out samples to anyone you run into while walking…the Rib King should get some free advertising and he could help to sell some cookers at the same time- maybe get a cut of the profits from the company when sales go up 😉
We were going mid morning for walks because we had a super rainy, cold winter for the Phoenix area. You gave me a good laugh with the rib king carrying a slab of ribs on his back. I’ll definitely suggest that!
Right now he’s at 20 pounds to start. Our DIL’s sister visited last year with our son and DIL. My husband took her on a hike up a small mountain. She had 15 pound dumb bells and ran the whole thing! He was left behind and other hikers said to him, “Did you see that girl?” He answered, “Yeah. She’s with me.”
To your husband’s defense, everyone should do their own hike. When I hike with my daughter she is often sitting around waiting for me to catch up. Which is not fair as she is well rested. BTW, good job by your DIL’s sister
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Thanks! That’s the way skiing can be too. I remember as a child, I was the youngest and slowest. I never got to rest like everyone else did waiting for me!
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How fun that there’s a name for what I do when I walk back home from the store, lol! I walk almost everywhere, so I’ve done plenty of rucking on my return trips. I had never stopped to think about how much it was doing for me in the conditioning department. And that cardinal, so cute! Fun post! Thank you.
Good for you to do so much walking. My daughter sold her car and is trying life without an auto. She’s in Berkeley, so there’s plenty of public transit, but also she can walk to and from the grocery store.
I’m up early throughout the year, but I do avoid mid-day walks in the summer heat.
My brother took up rucking this year. And my boyfriend is prepared for anything, so our hiking packs have 10-15 pounds of medical supplies on top of the 3 liters of water and snacks, so I suppose that probably counts as rucking.
Also, I think Deb’s onto something with the traveling food samples LOL!
I would say your backpacks count as rucking. That’s a lot of weight for hiking in my humble opinion. Yes, Deb gave me a good laugh with the rib samples in the rucksack!
Tell me about it! They’re terribly heavy and I think it’s overkill, but I guess if I’ve ever in a pickle I’ll be grateful.
“What with the backpack, neighbor?” No one will ever tease him if he’s carrying snacks! 🤣
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It’s good to be prepared, especially out in the wilderness. What cracks me up is I don’t think our neighbors would even notice a backpack or care. I love the snack idea!
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My son has promoted the benefits of rucking as well. Now the pack he trained with was closer to 50 pounds or so, way too heavy for me, but he talked about what a great workout it is. Yikes.
Fifty pounds! That’s what youth can do. My husband started with 20 pounds and will go up by five pound increments. He’s not sure if rucking is going to help him or just hurt his back!
My son says it gives you a full body workout. Ugh. Good for your husband!!!
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I’m sure rucking does give a full body workout — or a broken back! 😆
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How does your schedule change with the seasons? My mornings are much mellower when it’s warmer and brighter outside. I tend to get up earlier and sip more coffee while sitting outside staring into nature.
Have you heard of rucking before and do you think you’ll try it? I’ve never heard of it. It sounds like something you’d read about a character doing in an Agatha Christie mystery.
That sounds lovely, to sit outside sipping coffee and watching nature. I may have to try that rather than putting on my tennis shoes and heading out the door! I’ve read a few articles about rucking in various newspapers. I was surprised when my hubby said he was going to try!
Oh, Dr. Peter Attia talks about rucking in his book about expanding our healthspan instead of just our lifespan. It’s a great conditioning exercise and one I used to do before every mountain climb. 90 degrees is warm – good for you for flipping the script!
Good for you for rucking before mountain climbing. That must have been so helpful. I’m tired today because Waffles got me up at 12:30 and 4:30 a.m. I think I’ll make my husband have Waffles duty tonight. With all our wildlife, we have to have him on a leash. In Palm Springs, I could send him out into the backyard on his own.
I hadn’t heard of rucking in particular. I have to be cautious about much weight on my back due to scoliosis – no backpacking for me!
I do tend to walk the dogs earlier in the morning as it gets warmer, and also do a short evening stroll when the sun is low so Hunter can run around without his goggles for a bit.
That’s a good plan! Yes, he does. After he gets his eyedrops and whenever we take the goggles off after the morning walk, he rubs his face everywhere: my leg, the carpet, his dog bed…😆
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Poor doggie!
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Love the cardinal. Ah, I would be PROUD that I was going the distance with my rucksack! Good for him.
Cute cardinal, and I would walk early too with those temps. I used to walk early all the time with our dog, but now he doesn’t walk as far, and with my stenosis, walking isn’t the best exercise. So I have an exercise bike in the house that is my new form of exercise. And when the weather is better, not so windy, we’ll go for bike rides. That was the big change with my diagnosis, taking walking away from me, or power walking, I should clarify. Anyway, I didn’t know what rucking was and now I do. My hubby and I have done a lot of backpacking, but this is another activity I’ll have to say good-bye to. Carrying weight on my back isn’t good for the spine. I can walk more now though after the epidural, so that’s a plus. Anyway, enjoy the cool temps and I love that your husband is rucking!
I’m so sorry about your diagnosis. I know you’ve been in pain. I’m thankful that you’ve found cycling. I bet swimming would too! When my youngest went to college on a swim scholarship, I missed the swim community and joined US Masters Swimming. I literally was terrified and thought I’d drown. Masters was with my kids’ swim coach and other parents. Masters is for anyone over 18. You may want to find a team by you and give it a try. Unfortunately where we moved to, the Masters are all former collegiate swimmers and the coach doesn’t cater to individuals like me who are new and slow! But I lap swim.
Thanks, but I’m doing much better! Sometimes we have to modify things when life challenges us, so that’s what I’ve done. Life is brighter than it was a couple of months ago. 🙂 And I’m a lap swimmer like you, but I should look into swimming options around here. My days are full though so I haven’t thought about it. Thanks for the nudge! And that’s awesome about your son!
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I’m glad you’re feeling better!
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Thank you! Have a great Wednesday!
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You too!
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I like to eat outdoors when the weather gets nicer, and read outdoors if possible
I hadn’t heard about ‘rucking’ as conditioning technique…just as a necessity for military folks and adventurers. Your hubby’s comment, “five minutes earlier” made me chuckle. Cheers to switching up our routines just because, I say. 🥰
Talk about switching up routines. Now I have Waffles for two weeks! He needed go out at 12:30 and 4:30 a.m. 😅
ohhh….I had a hard time clicking the “like” button just now…12:30 am and 4:30 am…oh dear…reminds me of our senior pup, Sadie. Somehow you shuffle along with them when the overnight urges come. Here’s to a well-deserved nap for you later! 🥰
Waffles is six years old so he should be easier than this. Maybe it’s a new environment and not feeling settled yet. He’s been here since Saturday, so hopefully he’ll get adjusted. I’m looking forward to a nap!
Oh, right! I assumed she was older. I bet you’re right – she’s adjusting. Sweet little Waffles. Where am I? Who am I? LOL. Enjoy that nap – I bet Waffles will snuggle with you! 🥰
Waffles is getting gray whiskers which is an older look. I’m on the sofa now with a snuggle from Waffles.
Love it! Enjoy and give sweet Waffles some extra snuggles from me. 🥰
Will do! 😊
If it would ever stop being winter here (temperature and precipitation wise) then I would be walking early. The sky lightens by 530 and I love to walk really early before it heats up but it’s staying cold and rainy still
and I’m not motivated to get out until after breakfast right now. I try to go closer to mid morning but many times I’m just trying to plan between showers!
Maybe your husband should carry a big slab of ribs on his back and give out samples to anyone you run into while walking…the Rib King should get some free advertising and he could help to sell some cookers at the same time- maybe get a cut of the profits from the company when sales go up 😉
We were going mid morning for walks because we had a super rainy, cold winter for the Phoenix area. You gave me a good laugh with the rib king carrying a slab of ribs on his back. I’ll definitely suggest that!
Tell your husband, he has to carry small hand-dumb bells if if gives up the rucksack. LOL
Right now he’s at 20 pounds to start. Our DIL’s sister visited last year with our son and DIL. My husband took her on a hike up a small mountain. She had 15 pound dumb bells and ran the whole thing! He was left behind and other hikers said to him, “Did you see that girl?” He answered, “Yeah. She’s with me.”
To your husband’s defense, everyone should do their own hike. When I hike with my daughter she is often sitting around waiting for me to catch up. Which is not fair as she is well rested. BTW, good job by your DIL’s sister
Thanks! That’s the way skiing can be too. I remember as a child, I was the youngest and slowest. I never got to rest like everyone else did waiting for me!
How fun that there’s a name for what I do when I walk back home from the store, lol! I walk almost everywhere, so I’ve done plenty of rucking on my return trips. I had never stopped to think about how much it was doing for me in the conditioning department. And that cardinal, so cute! Fun post! Thank you.
Good for you to do so much walking. My daughter sold her car and is trying life without an auto. She’s in Berkeley, so there’s plenty of public transit, but also she can walk to and from the grocery store.
I’m up early throughout the year, but I do avoid mid-day walks in the summer heat.
My brother took up rucking this year. And my boyfriend is prepared for anything, so our hiking packs have 10-15 pounds of medical supplies on top of the 3 liters of water and snacks, so I suppose that probably counts as rucking.
Also, I think Deb’s onto something with the traveling food samples LOL!
I would say your backpacks count as rucking. That’s a lot of weight for hiking in my humble opinion. Yes, Deb gave me a good laugh with the rib samples in the rucksack!
Tell me about it! They’re terribly heavy and I think it’s overkill, but I guess if I’ve ever in a pickle I’ll be grateful.
“What with the backpack, neighbor?” No one will ever tease him if he’s carrying snacks! 🤣
It’s good to be prepared, especially out in the wilderness. What cracks me up is I don’t think our neighbors would even notice a backpack or care. I love the snack idea!
My son has promoted the benefits of rucking as well. Now the pack he trained with was closer to 50 pounds or so, way too heavy for me, but he talked about what a great workout it is. Yikes.
Fifty pounds! That’s what youth can do. My husband started with 20 pounds and will go up by five pound increments. He’s not sure if rucking is going to help him or just hurt his back!
My son says it gives you a full body workout. Ugh. Good for your husband!!!
I’m sure rucking does give a full body workout — or a broken back! 😆
How does your schedule change with the seasons? My mornings are much mellower when it’s warmer and brighter outside. I tend to get up earlier and sip more coffee while sitting outside staring into nature.
Have you heard of rucking before and do you think you’ll try it? I’ve never heard of it. It sounds like something you’d read about a character doing in an Agatha Christie mystery.
That sounds lovely, to sit outside sipping coffee and watching nature. I may have to try that rather than putting on my tennis shoes and heading out the door! I’ve read a few articles about rucking in various newspapers. I was surprised when my hubby said he was going to try!
Oh, Dr. Peter Attia talks about rucking in his book about expanding our healthspan instead of just our lifespan. It’s a great conditioning exercise and one I used to do before every mountain climb. 90 degrees is warm – good for you for flipping the script!
Good for you for rucking before mountain climbing. That must have been so helpful. I’m tired today because Waffles got me up at 12:30 and 4:30 a.m. I think I’ll make my husband have Waffles duty tonight. With all our wildlife, we have to have him on a leash. In Palm Springs, I could send him out into the backyard on his own.
Oh no – that’s a lot of up and down!
Interrupted sleep is not a good look on me!
I hadn’t heard of rucking in particular. I have to be cautious about much weight on my back due to scoliosis – no backpacking for me!
I do tend to walk the dogs earlier in the morning as it gets warmer, and also do a short evening stroll when the sun is low so Hunter can run around without his goggles for a bit.
My husband wants to retain strength but us monitoring rucking to see if it hurts his back. I bet Hunter enjoys not wearing goggles for a bit!
That’s a good plan! Yes, he does. After he gets his eyedrops and whenever we take the goggles off after the morning walk, he rubs his face everywhere: my leg, the carpet, his dog bed…😆
Poor doggie!
Love the cardinal. Ah, I would be PROUD that I was going the distance with my rucksack! Good for him.
Thanks! Yes, he should be proud.
Cute cardinal, and I would walk early too with those temps. I used to walk early all the time with our dog, but now he doesn’t walk as far, and with my stenosis, walking isn’t the best exercise. So I have an exercise bike in the house that is my new form of exercise. And when the weather is better, not so windy, we’ll go for bike rides. That was the big change with my diagnosis, taking walking away from me, or power walking, I should clarify. Anyway, I didn’t know what rucking was and now I do. My hubby and I have done a lot of backpacking, but this is another activity I’ll have to say good-bye to. Carrying weight on my back isn’t good for the spine. I can walk more now though after the epidural, so that’s a plus. Anyway, enjoy the cool temps and I love that your husband is rucking!
I’m so sorry about your diagnosis. I know you’ve been in pain. I’m thankful that you’ve found cycling. I bet swimming would too! When my youngest went to college on a swim scholarship, I missed the swim community and joined US Masters Swimming. I literally was terrified and thought I’d drown. Masters was with my kids’ swim coach and other parents. Masters is for anyone over 18. You may want to find a team by you and give it a try. Unfortunately where we moved to, the Masters are all former collegiate swimmers and the coach doesn’t cater to individuals like me who are new and slow! But I lap swim.
Thanks, but I’m doing much better! Sometimes we have to modify things when life challenges us, so that’s what I’ve done. Life is brighter than it was a couple of months ago. 🙂 And I’m a lap swimmer like you, but I should look into swimming options around here. My days are full though so I haven’t thought about it. Thanks for the nudge! And that’s awesome about your son!
I’m glad you’re feeling better!
Thank you! Have a great Wednesday!
You too!
I like to eat outdoors when the weather gets nicer, and read outdoors if possible
I love reading outside. Also, we have a table with comfy chairs for outside dining.
How cute your husband is so embarrassed about rucking. Sounds like a great workout!
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