17 November 2007

16 November 2007

It's finally Friday!!!

We are down 1 person at work and that sure makes a lot more work for those of us remaining. We've also had all the strange ones come in this week too. Figures.

Today was strength day. I got up this morning and did my routine. I was totally uninspired by it. I have to find a strength routine that really pushes me and that I like. I try to go hard but I find myself just going through the motions the last few sets. I need to be inspired to work hard. Hopefully I can find something this weekend.

I'm actually starting my 10k training tomorrow. I thought it was a 6 week program and there is 6 weeks from now until New Year's Day. I was wrong. It's an 8 week program. DOH!!! That's okay. The first couple of weeks are similar to what I've been doing so no worries. It's a fairly easy program since I do not want to injure myself. After this race I will take it up a little.

Tonight, it being payday and all, I have to do the finances. I hate that stuff, I really do. But I will. I have to balance all of the checking accounts and get all the bills set up for payment. I do have to say, since the Internet paying bills is much, much easier.

That's all for tonight. I'm off to be a good citizen.

15 November 2007

Up with the sun, gone with the wind....

They always said I was lazy......

Not this morning. Just before the alarm went off the rain started. Since I've missed 2 days of working out, and since my 10k training starts on Monday, and since I can not run 2 days back to back, and since I was committed to 3 runs this week, I had to run today. As I lay in bed listening to the rain thoughts of rolling over danced in my head. Thankfully, my inner athlete woke up and started swearing. I had to get up just to shut her up.

When I headed out the door the sun wasn't even peaking over the horizon yet and there were lots of big, dark clouds hanging over head. I was pretty positive I'd get wet on this run. Oh, well. I put my flashing red light on my hat since it was so dark and would most likely rain. Off I went.

Jeez I felt good. Everything was working right, I felt like I could run forever. Then my right heel started bothering me. I evaluated my form and didn't seem to be heel striking. What was going on? I just kept going. It really was nice. The rain had made everything wet and shiny. It smelled really crisp and clean. It was nice and cool. It was a wonderful morning for running.

Then I hit the Waimanalo Polo Fields. Yuck. For some reason those horses really stunk this morning. So my heel is bothering me and it stinks. This is fun. Then the sun started peaking over the horizon. Oh, how I love sunrise. The beginning of a new day, new opportunities, new possibilities, it's awesome. As soon as the sun started up I could feel the temperature increase. That's not uncommon. Before I knew it though I was having trouble breathing. Everything was wet and now the sun was heating it up. The humidity probably jumped 10% in less than a minute. I don't learn very quickly do I??

So I slowed down and tried to get control of my breathing. Since humidity is really a fact of life here, I'm going to have to work on this. The good part is I did finish my 5k in 39 minutes. I really want to get faster but I think I should focus on my breathing in humidity right now.

So there you have it, another run in the books and I didn't get rained on. I have to get a 10k program together before Monday. Maybe I'll go look right now.

I also need to start looking for hubby's Christmas gift. I'm seriously considering getting him a plasma TV. I would then have to get him a plasma mount and I don't know where he would put that. Oh well, things to think about.

14 November 2007

Another down day

I wasn't still sore, I was just tired. I slept right through the alarm. I haven't done that in a really long time. I guess I just needed some more sleep. I must say that I felt really good today, so maybe a little extra sleep was just what I needed.

I seem to be having problems with one of my computer cables. Someone told me I should get a Cat6. Okay, I don't even know what that means. I hate computer stuff.

That's all I have to say today. No workout so nothing to really talk about. Tomorrow is running so there will be lots more to say.

13 November 2007

DOMS

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.... That is what I have today. I woke up at 3 am and attempted to roll over. My quads screamed out in agony and have pretty much been like that all day. Any plans of strength training or intervals were immediately shelved and a day of rest was declared. They are much better now and tomorrow I will be back to working out. That trail down was a real killer.

In other news, look at this:
All the birds were in the bird room together for the first time. They all love to hang out in that tree. It's really cute to have all of them there together.

So that's it for today. I didn't do much because of screaming quads. Hopefully tomorrow will be more interesting :)

12 November 2007

Koko Crater

Yesterday I climbed to the top of Koko Crater. The crater is a 1,200' tall cinder cone from the volcanoes that made up Oahu. It is the tallest cinder cone on Oahu. The top of Koko Crater is dotted with bunkers that date back to WWII. To access these remote bunkers, a tram system was installed to take soldiers and equipment to the top. The tram is long gone but the tracks remain and that's how you get to the top, climb the tracks.







We begin. We had only gone a little ways up and it was already tough. I stopped and used taking a picture as an excuse :) In this picture you can see Linda (she has swam all but 1 channel in the islands) and Wendy (26 Ironman).










At the top. Would you look at that view! It was amazing.











This is the view looking toward the north, or windward side. Cheryl, that mountain in the distance is Makapuu that we climbed that day. Next time we do this one :)














This is the view looking back towards Honolulu.
That area is known as Hawaii Kai and that is the marina you see.








These are the ladies I hiked with. Linda (channel swimmer), Wendy (Ironman), and Joy (marathoner). It was great fun and these are great ladies.

After some rest at the top it was time to head back down. That would prove harder than the uphill part.










Oh, but first we must visit the bunkers. Here is one of them.









And here is the machinery that brought the tram to the top of the mountain.






















Here we are heading down. That straight brown line all the way down is the trail. It's the rail tracks the entire way. Some parts are incredibly steep and it was tough going. Needless to say, my quads are screaming today. I've been sitting in this chair writing this post. I fully expect my legs to not work when I stand up :)


Anyway, it was a great hike and pretty darn hard. I will definitely do it again. It was great fun.

11 November 2007

Sunday morning

I'm leaving in a little while to go climb to the top of Koko Crater with some friends. I have never hiked to the top. It's 1,200' up. This should be interesting. I'm going with a woman who has done 25 Ironman. One woman does ultrarunning, her last race being Western States. Oh yeah, she was pacer for Badwater. And the final woman has swum all but 1 of the channels here in Hawaii. She swims for 4 hours at a time just for fun. All these women are over 50. I'll be the youngest and weakest there. This should be real fun. No, actually it will be. All three of these women are awesome and I want to be just like them when I grow up.

It will be a busy day. After the hike I have a bird club meeting. Then I have to do the grocery shopping. Then get the laundry all done. I'll try to get back later with some pictures of the hike. It's looks like a pretty nice day so there should be some good pictures.

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...