06 January 2007

Makapuu Lookout


I've decided to entertain you with a post about my walk this afternoon. Rocco and I decided to hike to the top of Makapuu because it was a beautiful and hubby was watching the playoffs.

Here in Hawaii there are lots of sites from WWII. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor the military basically took over Oahu and built stuff all over the place. When they left they left behind lots of cool stuff. This is one of them.










In order to defend the east coast of Oahu they built a lookout at the top of Makapuu. This is the trail to access it. Originally it was used to drive up, now you can only walk. The really nice part of this is that the entire trail is around the edge of a mountain and during whale season (now) you can see the humpbacks out there, very cool.



On the side of this mountain they built these concrete pillboxes. Soldiers would sit in here and keep watch out for enemy planes and ships. I'm guessing they were armed with heavy artillery too but there's no evidence of that left.
















I'm standing next to the first pillbox and here's the back of another. I have no idea why they were built so close together.

















Here I'm standing next to the first pillbox looking out towards the ocean. As you can see they had great views from where they were.















Here I'm standing at the lookout looking back towards the mountain. Although you can't see in this picture, the hillside is dotted with those pillboxes.

A famous author was stationed in these pillboxes during WWII and I can't locate his name. He wrote his first book here. I don't read war books so I can't recall his name or the name of the book. But trust me when I say it's a fairly famous author.








So that's what Rocco and I did today. I love that hike, it's hard enough to really make you work at it but it's not so hard the dog can't do it. Perfect.

Hope you all had as good a day as I did.

A fantastic week

That's what I've had. I can not get over how good I'm feeling. I've stuck to my eating plan religiously for 6 days and I just feel incredible. I've also dropped 3 lbs since 12/23 - not too shabby. I'm averaging a calorie deficit of 600-800 calories a day. Since a deficit of 750 will result in a 1.5 lb weight loss per week it seems like I'm right on track.

Tomorrow I have a 5k. I'm looking forward to it because my running is coming along nicely. I'm shooting for a time of around 35 minutes. I don't want to push it but I want to see how I can do. Keep your fingers crossed.

After a small scolding by Linae over the last post there will be no more negativity here. At least directed at myself. Rereading that post I realize I did get a little carried away. I really was feeling bad about how far my swimming has deteriorated. But I have a new attitude. What I did yesterday was about 2:48/100m. At my best I was doing 100m around 2:15. So that's my goal, knock 30 seconds off my 100m. I'll be swimming 3x per week all this month so I will do this by 2/16/07. That gives me about 6 weeks. I can do that. Thank you TriFiest!!!!

It's going to be a quiet weekend. Just the race tomorrow. Other than that I'll be doing some housework and cleaning. Exciting life I lead.

05 January 2007

E=mc2

Energy = mass x speed of light(in a vacuum). Unfortunately, we don't live in a vacuum, or at least I don't. Otherwise my mass would have a huge amount of energy associated with it. But, in the earth's gravity, no so much. Trust me, I do have a point here.

I jumped out of bed this morning raring to go. Don't know why exactly. For the past few weeks I've been in bed by 9 p.m. and asleep by 9:10 :) I've done this on purpose because getting up in the morning is so tough for me (I'm sure I'm the only one it's hard for :). So by going to bed earlier I make getting up early that much easier. And it's worked.

So last night was a new episode of ER and I wasn't too tired so I stayed up and watched it. I went to bed at 10p.m. a little nervous that I wouldn't get up in the morning. But I actually woke up 1/2 an hour before my alarm was to go off. Cool.

So I got up, made coffee, protein shake, got ready and was out the door 10 mins early. Cool.

Sidenote: I am such an idiot sometimes. I've been going to the Y to do my run before swimming. But sometimes the treadmills aren't available and it would tick me off. Or sometimes the people are late and it isn't opened as early as I'd like. This morning I realized that I could run outside, I didn't need a treadmill when I had the great outdoors. DOH!!!!!!

I got to the Y early and they were open already so I jumped on a treadmill and did my run.

After that I headed off to the pool. This week was just swimming, nothing fancy, just swimming. I decided to do 1000m to kind of get a base as to where I am now. Okay, I suck!!! 1000 m = 28:07. I suck!!! But at least there's nothing to do but get better :) I ended up doing some drills and sprints and stuff because I realized I have a lot of work to do may as well start now. I ended up swimming a total of 1500 m in 42 minutes. Yeah, I got it, I suck.

I ended up getting out of the pool because I was getting tired (right, I suck) and it was time I needed to get going. So I head to the showers and as I'm showering I'm thinking to myself , wow, I just have a ton of energy. I can't believe it. So I started thinking about it.

I don't know if I've lost weight as I have not stepped on a scale since Christmas, but I feel thinner and lighter. I'm eating healthy, whole food and it's really starting to show. I have not had sugar since Christmas, wait that's not true. I haven't had any sugar in 6 days and I'm starting to lose the addiction. I had all fruit jelly for breakfast and I'm waiting to see how it hits me. I just feel like I have tons and tons of energy. I feel like I can run, swim, bike and not even blink an eye. I love this feeling.

So, since I don't live in a vacuum, in order to increase energy I must reduce my mass. It seems to be working.

04 January 2007

100 Days.....

I was over visiting Commodore when I noticed his countdown to IMAZ was at 100 days. Well, the significance of that to me is that it falls on my birthday. I thought, 100 days to my birthday, I should do something. Make some kind of goal or something, but what???....... After thinking about it all day, I've decided to exercise 1 hour everyday for 100 days. Since I have a training plan this won't be hard on most days. On the days that are scheduled rest days I figure I'll take the dogs for a walk or something, they'll love it. So that's it, 1 hour for 100 days.

On another note, I found a tri on my birthday, aside from IMAZ that is. There is a sprint tri here, so I'm in!!

Okay, that's all I have to say. I'm a little tired. I'm swimming in the morning so I'll have to get to bed early tonight.

03 January 2007

Oh, one more thing.

Ladyrunner totally rocks!!! She gave me the code that made my video fit nicely and now it looks just awesome. THANK YOU!! Or as we say in Hawaii, MAHALO!!!!!

Two posts in one day, get a life.

I've been reading a lot of blogs these last few days and I just have to comment.

So many people say they don't make resolutions. I say bull. Maybe you don't make them on Jan 1 but most of us, most of the time, are making plans and goals. Particularly those of us who participate in sports. I am constantly reading that someone has a goal of this pace and will be training in X way to meet that goal. Wanting to meet a goal and laying down a plan is a resolution and Jan 1 is as good a time as any to do it.

I've also read people saying that by resolving to do better this year must mean you're beating yourself up for last year. I don't agree. I did okay last year. This year I want to do better. That's not beating myself, that's trying to improve myself and I think that's a good thing to do anytime, why not on Jan 1???

I've also read a lot how resolutions are doomed to failure. Now that I can agree with if it's a resolution that was made at 11:59 on 12/31. If you've actually taken the time to reflect on the previous year and figure out what you want to work on and lay out a plan, resolutions definitely have a chance for success.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I love new beginnings. When I set a new start I don't look back, I only look forward. I love this time of year. I absolutely love Jan 1 and the newness of it all. It's like a canvas with nothing on it. I have an entire year to paint the picture I want.

I think people have given Jan 1 a bad name. It's a great time to start something new. A perfect time to implement changes in your life. How often has you said, Oh, I'll do that when things settle down. You know they will never settle down so why not pick a start date of Jan 1??? Makes perfect sense to me.

Anyway, I've just read so much of people slamming Jan 1 and resolutions and I really needed to say something. The truth of the matter is that it's all in how you view things. I can't change what you say or how you say, but I can change how I react to it.

Into the great wide open......

So today was the first swim in about...... in a long time. While I love being in the water, I can be a little panicky, especially if I haven't been in awhile. So I decided this mornings swim would be just a swim. No drills, no intervals, nothing fancy, just a swim. And it was, just a swim. I ended up doing 1000m and calling it a day. Oh yeah, since I hadn't been to the pool in a while there was lots of talking and catching up . I was there 40 mins but only swam 1000m, so that's it.

I've been weight training for about 3 weeks now and man, did I feel it when I was swimming. My lats and chest were killing me. But I can feel my catch and pull is stronger. I can actually feel myself being propelled through the water. I can feel the differences in speed when I pull and when I don't. I don't think I've ever felt that before. Cool.

As I was swimming I was thinking about last year. It was 1 year ago I started swimming at the Y pool. Before that I swam in the ocean where we lived. But last January I decided I needed the structure and discipline of a track (pool) to work on my swimming. So I joined the Y and started. It was a rocky start. I could hardly make a lap without panicking a little. In the ocean I could always touch the bottom, I couldn't do that in the pool.
So, like a true geek, I went online and got a plan. I found a swimming plan that built you up to swimming 1 mile continuously in 6 weeks I think. It was very simple and basic. Swim 1 lap, take 8 breaths, swim 1 lap, take 8 breaths, etc. The next week; swim 2 laps, take 6 breaths, swim 2 laps, take 6 breaths.....It was hard at first but I did it religiously and in 6 weeks I could swim 1 mile continuously.

So as I'm slowly swimming along this morning I was thinking about this. I had a goal (swim 1 mile), I had a plan, and I succeeded. So this week it's just time to get used to swimming again. But I need a goal and I need a plan. I know I reach whatever goal I decide on.

Okay, that's it. It's really late here, I'm moving slow and I've got to get some work done. Everyone seemed to think they needed to bring all their samples in on Dec 29, so I have a huge pile of chemistry to get done.

01 January 2007

Help!!

I've found a song that really says what I'm feeling this year, Stand up and be strong. I do these computer things against my will, I hate it. But, I managed to find the video (YouTube, who knew??) and even get it on my blog (I'm a star) but it only shows like half of it. It plays the entire song so I'm not too stressed, but if anyone knows how to fix it the help would be greatly appreciated.

2007

Well, here we are. I feel like I've spent the last few weeks very self-involved. I've spent a lot of posts blabbing about me and what I want, how I feel. I realize this is my blog and the whole purpose it to write those things. But I don't want to come across as a whiner, cuz I'm really not. Anyway, it has helped solidify in my mind exactly what I want so it was worth it. I realized I was looking at doing a couple of things because I felt it was the next logical step. But some of those steps I'm just not ready to take yet so, as usual, I'll make my own path thank you very much.

As expected last night was like a war zone here. The fireworks started around noon and did not end until after 2 a.m. I started drugging the dogs too late so they were pretty hyped up most of the night. Finally, around 7 p.m. we got them to settle down some and the drugs had a chance to work. After that it was all about lying on the couch. One problem I had not anticipated was my cockatiel. She was totally freaking out. I had to take her out to the laundry area which was the furthest away from the noise. Hubby and I went to bed around 10 p.m. (yeah, I know we're old fuddy duddies :) but there really was no sleeping with all the noise. At midnight things really went crazy and that kept up for almost 40 minutes. Finally, around 1 a.m. things started to slow down and around 2:15 a.m. I actually woke up because it was so quiet. The good part is we made it through with all the animals unharmed and that's really all I care about. There was absolutely nothing on TV last night and we wanted to keep the TV on for the noise, so we ended up watching like 6 hours of Seinfeld episodes. It's my absolute favorite show so it was okay, but how weird is that????

As a result of last nights sporadic sleep and late hours, I did not get up this morning to do the 10k. I've actually been on the fence about this for a week or so. A couple of weeks back I hurt my back lifting a piece of lab equipment and while it's generally okay, if I push it it hurts for 2 days. I can safely run about 3 miles without pain, anything over that and the back starts to act up. It's not bad, I just didn't want to injure myself on Jan 1. So I'm going to run here at home all by myself.

You may have noticed the change in the blog. Yes, I've gone to the dark side. Face it, we're all going to have to sooner or later so I went when I wanted to. I'm looking around for a new picture, that ones getting old.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy new years. 2007 really is going to be awesome, I can feel it. It's a new year, and a new week, it's going to be incredible!!!

31 December 2006

2007: The year to get it done.

This is definitely going to be my year. I've spent the last couple of weeks really inwardly focused determining what exactly I want. What things are the most important to me? How hard am I willing to work for them? Am I willing to be uncomfortable doing them? What am I willing to give up to achieve them? I've got my answers.

The absolute, uppermost, most important thing to me is losing this weight. That is what I want to do more than anything else. In order to do that I'm willing to sacrifice my time, energy, and many things I like (beer). But that's what it boils down to, the number 1 priority is losing this weight.

So that is where the vast majority of my focus is going to be. I have a training plan set in stone (or in this case colored markers) on a large calendar on my wall. I will stick to this plan or die trying. I have a food plan that is not hard or weird or drastic, but very livable. I will stick to this plan regardless of what comes along. I have 1 day a week that is "free" within reason so that should hold me.

Coming in a distant 3rd in importance is Honu. I've really given this a lot of thought and consideration and decided, while I want to do this, it's definitely not my biggest concern this year.

So here's the plan, my main focus is on weight loss with a secondary focus on triathlon. I will be swimming, biking, and running every week. In a month or so I will be getting a new bike. I will be doing sprints and the Oly in May. Honu will remain in the background for now. We'll see how things are going in Feb/March. If they are going really well, I'll kick it up and plan for Honu, if not....... well, we'll see.

The item in 2nd importance to me is some personal stuff. Let's just say I have some impulse control issues and need to get them in hand. My astrology sign is Aries - the child of the zodiac. And in some ways I can be very, very childish. I've got to get that under control to do what I want to do in my personal life.

So there it is. I've been reading about motivation and steps to following through on your "resolutions" and I've learned a lot these past few weeks. I'm not setting any resolutions this year, I'm setting goals. I have some great goals too; I want to run the Honolulu Marathon this year in 4 1/2 hours. While that's not record breaking it will be for me :) I have goals for my tris this year, sprint and oly, I'll post them as the races come up.

I will be switching to "new" blogger this afternoon. I will be posting a race schedule on my sidebar as well as a weekly workout list.

Okay, it's off to exercise. I get to use my new workout room :)

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...