16 June 2007

My Bike Ride

Today was one of those great days in Hawaii. It was a little overcast. Not too hot. Not too cool. Just perfect. A day that makes you want to be out in it. So I went. On a bike ride. I'm not really training for anything so just headed out for a ride to get out and get some exercise. I rode up the coast and stopped at a beach to drink some water and enjoy the day. Here is what is was like:

This is looking back towards where I live. That pier you see with the building in the middle is HURL: Hawaii Underwater Research Lab. It's the University's subs. They drop out of that big building into the water and take off. It's pretty cool. As you can see it's a little cloudy but still gorgeous.








This is looking straight out to the ocean from where I was sitting. That is Rabbit Island you see there. Now I don't know exactly why it's called Rabbit Island but I've heard a couple of explanations. First, that is used to be covered with rabbits. No. Second, that it looks like a lop eared rabbit laying down. Ehh, maybe. Who knows how these things come about? I do know that some sea birds nest there and a couple of Hawaiian monk seals call it home.




This is the road I took to get where I am. It follows the coast so I'm right next to the ocean the whole way.










This is the windsock that shows how bad the wind was on the coast. What you can not see is how the sock is spinning and whipping through the air. Yeah, the wind was no fun.










So there you have it. My bike ride in pictures. Oh yeah, check out my entry over at Flo's Place. Gives a whole new meaning to shop till you drop:)

Well, it's the weekend....

Yeah!!! It looks like a beautiful morning outside. In a little while I'm going to head out on my bike. I love mornings when I don't have to rush to workout. Mornings like this one where I can sit and have my coffee, read some blogs, and get ready in my time. I love it!!!! It does look like we may get a little rain. That's okay, riding in the rain builds character :)

Well, I don't have too much to say really. I'm going to make my protein smoothie and get ready to go. I'll check back later.

14 June 2007

The Fire Inside.....

It can not be denied........... The fire inside......... Burning you up........ Burning you up.......
That's how I'm feeling about swimming lately. I'm ready to get back to it. And I'm going to, starting Sunday.. Sunday I will get up early, go for a long run, and then go for an ocean swim. I'm excited about that. Can't wait.

What got me fired up was reading Fe-Lady and 21st's posts about SharkFest. I want to do that. I want to do that bad!!! I lived in the Bay Area for 20 something years and the thought of swimming SF Bay is just very exciting. Also, I have a real fear of swimming. I'm not sure why because I love the water, the ocean, all of it. Heck, I'm a marine biologist for christ sake. But when I get into water, any water, to 'swim' I have a basic fear and freak a little each time. Not sure why. Is it the act of swimming and not just playing around? Is the breathlessness that initially develops till you get you rhythm when swimming? I don't know, but every time I get in the water, I start swimming and after about 3 minutes I start to panic. In a pool it's easy to talk myself down. In the ocean it's not too hard either. During a race it's damn near impossible. But I think if I trained and worked mentally I could do SharkFest. I also think that would be a way to get over my fear. If I could swim SF Bay, I can swim anywhere!! Anyway, it's in my head.

Meanwhile my strength training is going amazingly well. I can feel muscles all over my body - cool!!! I've been doing it very consistently for 14 weeks now. I think I'm ready to add on. So this weekend I add in biking and running and swimming. Once I get through these last 2 weeks of the program, my workout days will go down to 3 a week. I may join the Y again and start swimming 2 mornings a week then 1 weekend ocean swim. Maybe, I'll think about it.

13 June 2007

Drugs

Oh, my neighbor is at it again. The murdering, drug dealer seems to be back at it, I'm just not sure exactly what. There doesn't seem to be much traffic so I don't think he's dealing, that's good it only took getting raided 2x for them to figure that out - smart. But they are doing something, they are still up all night. It's crazy.

Drugs are so prevalent here in Hawaii it boggles the mind. I'm not sure I understand the attraction I don't like to not feel like myself. Of course, that wasn't always the case. I did my share of drugs when I was much younger and much stupider. Fortunately, I was wise enough, even in my drug addled state, not to mess with anything addicting. And, if I found myself getting too fond of any drug I'd stop taking it. By my mid 20's I was completely over that. Now I don't even like to get drunk because I'm not myself. I like to be myself and be clearheaded and in control. I like to have fun but not to take drugs.

We have a friend who has a really bad back. He's had 3 surgeries on it. He's permanently disabled although he is mobile he really can't work. He has a Prescription Drug Addiction. He takes heavy doses of some very heavy drugs and they are not enough When it gets real bad he has to go to the emergency room and get morphine. I would not want to live like that. I know there are other ways to manage pain and I would try anything to avoid that.

Intervals

Today is my light workout day. I only do intervals and I generally take them outside and run. I did that. It was an absolute beautiful morning and I loved being outside.

I'm in a bit of a quandary with my training though. My legs are strong. My legs feel like they could run forever, no problem. My aerobic capacity however is not equal to my leg strength. Now long extended aerobic workouts do nothing for fat loss and that is my focus right now. But I'm thinking of adding aerobic workouts on the weekends. I was thinking of doing the bike on Saturdays and running through the botanical gardens on Sunday. I don't think this will mess with my fat loss program because a) both bike and running routes are kind of hilly so it will be more like intervals than long, slow aerobics and b) I read that you can add long, slow aerobic activity to just burn additional calories if you have the time. These are not a priority so should only be done if there is extra training time during the week There will be. Okay, I've talked myself right into it.

I also need to fit in some swimming too. Maybe I'll get up really early on Sundays, go for a run in the botanical garden, then head over to the beach and go for a swim. I could be home by 9 a.m. and all done. That would be nice. Hmmmmm, I need to think about that.

I have a tri in mind for September........

12 June 2007

I'm really itching

to do a tri. I'm really getting the bug bad. I was reading Vicki's report from her 2 weekend races and I was brimming with jealousy. I want to race. I'm still not sure how I could fit enough swimming into my schedule to be ready to race but I'm going to try. I'm going to give some serious thought to how to rearrange my workouts to accommodate some swimming and more biking. I want to do a race!!!

Okay, weight training is going so incredibly well I can't stand it. I'm pushing myself with my workouts but not so far it hurts. I've also been hitting the intervals hard, really hard. By the time my 1 minute is up I'm pouring sweat and almost ready to collapse. The good part is I'm recovering quicker. When the interval is done I feel ready to drop but within 30 seconds of slowing down I'm recovered and ready to go again. I was told a long time ago that's how you can tell your heart is getting stronger.

Well, things are getting better. I feel lighter, not so weighed down by things. Yeah. Anyway, I have to get some work done, that really is what they pay me for.

11 June 2007

Colloidal Silver

colloidal silver is very fine particles that are suspended in liquid, usually water. This apparently has antimicrobial properties and has been used externally to treat wounds and burns to prevent infection.

Working in the lab we get lots of nasty, nasty burns. You ain't been burned till you've been burned with hot sodium hydroxide - yow momma!!!! Anyway, we always kept a jar of colloidal silver around and used it on burns. It not only helped it heal it seemed to reduce the pain. I don't know how it just did.

Now, some folks think you should drink this. They say it has antibiotic properties and is fairly harmless to drink. I don't know if that's true but it sure would be nice if it was. I hate taking antibiotics for a number of reasons. It would be nice to be able to drink something and have the same thing happen.

colloidal silver has also been used to keep potable water drinkable for long periods. This sounds like some pretty amazing stuff.

Being the science geek I am I find it fascinating that as little as 5 parts per million have been found to kill many infectious bacteria. That's pretty cool. It's been used for over 100 years. It seems to have some staying power.

As I said, I know from personal experience ti works on burns. As long as it can't hurt you I wouldn't see the harm in taking it. You can develop a condition called argyria which causes a blue or grey skin condition. But it seems that at normal dosage levels this is pretty rare.

So, it seems to be pretty safe. Does some good stuff for the body. What have you got to lose?

I want to apologize

to the blogging world at large. I've been a really bad blogger lately. I've not been commenting much, in fact I haven't been reading blogs as much. I've been skimming them and then trying to come up with some meaningful comment and I can't, so I tell myself I'll come back later and comment and I don't and that's been going on for weeks, and I apologize.

The truth is I've had some major stuff going on in my life and I've just been distracted. My posts have been boring drivel, my reading has been fast and furious and my commenting has been lacking.

Things kind of came to a head this weekend and I'm hoping the worst is over. I plan on being a better blogger from here on out.

I have a huge apology to give to Lisa - Slow and Steady. She sent me some t-shirts to make a quilt about 100 years ago. Well, with all that was going on I could not conjure up the creativity necessary to get it the way I liked it. Trust me, I've been working on it and I'm not sure if it's me or what, but it would just not work. Anyway, I am meeting with a friend of mine tonight who is a much better quilter than I. She is going to help me get it set up so that it looks decent. I promise I will be in contact in the next day or so with photos. This has been weighing on my mind and with everything else that was going on I just couldn't face it.

So there you have it. I've been a lousy blogger but things will get better from here on out. I look forward to reading your posts, in detail, and leaving thoughtful, meaningful comments. Okay, let's not get crazy, I'm still me :)

10 June 2007

The pattern reveals itself.

I can see exactly what happened this week and it's not unexpected. After 4 solid weeks of working out I was a little bit of a slacker this week. I did exercise but my heart wasn't in it and I didn't do all the interval training I should have. But, looking back at my calendar, this was not unexpected or surprising. Every 4 weeks or so I have a slacker week. Gee, do you think that's where periodization comes from??? Hmmmm.......

So tomorrow morning it's back to it with a vengeance. Break time is over :)

I'm also starting back to logging everything I eat again. I'm eating really good but the few things I do eat that are higher in calories I think I'm going overboard with. Anyway, it's back to tracking every bite again. It's not my favorite thing to do but it really does help keep track of things.

It was a wild weekend, details are available over at Flo's Place.

Oh, one tidbit. I've been doing the blogging for dollars and have made close to $500 so far. This weekend I took my earnings and bought a new digital camera, 1 GB card, and rechargeable batteries. I'm really excited about it. It's small enough for me to carry around with me. So you can expect to see lots more pictures of stuff. All kinds of stuff. I love taking pictures and I've missed having a digital camera.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

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...