RIGHT TRIANGLE TRAIL

Lately I have been naming my pathways. I have dubbed yesterday's route, the Right Triangle Trail, in honor of the geometry that I have recently been diving into while helping (and attempting to help) my daughter with her homework. About 40 years ago I was a geometry 'genius.'  Forty years can make anyone rusty. I have found it challenging to try to assist my daughter in a subject matter that I was highly proficient in about a half century ago. Nevertheless, the definition of a right triangle is fairly straightforward. It is a triangle that has one right angle (90° angle, two perpendicular sides) and this was the basic shape of my hike on Saturday morning. The 'hypotenuse' of this 'triangle' was spent mostly traveling the paved trails through multiple adjacent forest preserves in the suburbs.  My responsibility yesterday was to pick up my daughter and her friend from cheerleading practice at 11:30AM.  They had been dropped off by the parent of the other child at 10:00AM.  I basically drove to the area where they were to be picked up at 8:30AM, so that I could take a long 2.5 hour hike. By the time I had finished, I had logged twelve miles.

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This photo attempted to capture the changing colors of the leaves on the trees in the forest preserve.

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The section of the trail that led to this area indicated that the trail was closed. Naturally I needed to check out why. In the background is the remnants of a bridge that used to cross the river.  The bridge is no longer there. Now I know why this part of the trail is closed.

Once I emerged from the forest preserves, I hiked along Touhy Avenue and passed the iconic YMCA known for its  'Leaning Tower of Pisa'  There was scaffolding at the bottom.  What are they trying to do, straighten out the building?

Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, November 5, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Instant Oatmeal Apples & Cinnamon	320	66	4	8	400	24
	320	66	4	8	400	24
L U N C H
Orecchiette pasta, 1 cup	200	41	10	7	0	1
Teriyaki - Salmon	300	3	9	52	0	0
Seafood Pasta Salad	300	10	1	10	175	0
General Tso Chicken	300	23	18	13	713	13
	1,100	77	38	82	888	14
D I N N E R
Read - 3 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Chocolate Birthday Cake	600	87	27	15	0	99
Special K - Vanilla Almond, 174 grams	660	150	9	12	1,020	54
	1,560	302	36	32	2,520	193
S N A C K S
Nestle - Dark Chocolate Bar	500	52	30	6	0	0
	500	52	30	6	0	0
Totals	3,480	497	108	128	3,808	231
Your Daily Goal	4,299	537	143	215	2,300	161
Remaining	819	40	35	87	-1,508	-70
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,369 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 202.9 lbs in 5 weeks.

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
TWELVE MILE HIKE	157	2,369
Daily Total / Goal	157 / 30	2,369 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	835 / 210	13,754 / 4,130

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LEANING TOWER OF PISA

Yesterday, I did something that I have never done in my life.  I rode my bicycle nearly 30 miles.   I took my bike to an interesting YMCA in Niles, Illinois. (Chicago Suburb)  I used the most direct route to get there which made it a 13 mile trip.  After my two-hour workout I used a more indirect route to get home and that trip was 15.6 miles.  My total bike ride was 28.6 miles.  Considering how far I travelled and how long I was on my bike - it definitely serves to remind me just how amazing marathon runners are.

The reason that I went to Niles, Illinois to go to a YMCA so far from home was to record some photos of me in front of the replica of the LEANING TOWER OF PISA.

I have passed by this roadside attraction many time over the years that I have been living in Chicago.

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 Monday MENU

breakfast    one apple                                                                       72 calories
lunch          baby spinach w/baby corn on the cob, asparagus       186 calories
dinner        Chabad Bar Mitzvah Meal 
                  brisket, string beans, rice, Challah, zucchini,
                  Whiskey L'Chaims, Fruit Plate, cookies                    1500 calories
SNACK    GINGER CRYSTALLIZED DARK CHOCOLATE   480 calories

total calories consumed 2398 calories

calories burned

LEANING TOWER YMCA elliptical, PRECOR, level 20, 125 minutes        2013 calories

CALORIES BURNED 2013 CALORIES

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Tuesday net calories 385 calories

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from wikipedia....

The Leaning Tower of Niles is a half-size replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Located in Niles, Illinois, it was completed in 1934 by industrialist Robert Ilg as part of a recreation park for employees of the Ilg Hot Air Electric Ventilating Company of Chicago. It is situated at 6300 W. Touhy Avenue. 

Some speculate that part of the motivation to construct the tower was to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. A more likely explanation is its original functional purpose, to store water for outdoor recreational swimming pools. In 1960, the descendants of Robert Ilg donated part of the park for the construction of the Leaning Tower YMCA.

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from RoadsideAmerica.com

Leaning Tower of Niles

Niles, Illinois

The Leaning Tower is a perennial stop for travelers in the Chicago area, only 15 minutes northeast of O'Hare International Airport and 10 minutes from the World's First Franchised McDonald's in Des Plaines. The Leaning Tower of Niles is, naturally, a replica of Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is roughly half-sized, 94 feet vs. the authentic's 177 feet, and leans about 7'4" off plum (vs. Pisa's 13 foot tilt). But that hardly matters when you're standing across the street taking a picture. And the savings in overseas airfare and reduced risk of injury is worth considering.

America's Leaning Tower was built in 1934 (600 years after the original) by businessman Bob Ilg, who anchored it in concrete so that its lean would stay consistent. Originally it was a utility tower, made from steel, concrete, and precast stone, designed to hide water filtration tanks. A plaque at its base says it was built to honor the outstanding scientist Galileo Galilei, who dropped various objects from the top of the Pisa tower to prove his theory of gravity.

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FITBIT 
DAY 4
30,179 STEPS
A two hour workout sandwiched in between a 28.6 mile bike ride set the steps at around 25,000.   The entire rest of the day was a mere 5000 steps more. And the last 1000 of those were simply 'stepping in place' to get me over 30,000 for the day.