First day of Physical Therapy

Yesterday was my first trip and first time ever to physical therapy. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting ("I was expecting to be forced though painful exercises"), but instead found myself forcing myself to do these simple but painful exercises! (Pretty clever, having me torture myself.) The range of motion of my knee is what were working on now. Still not allowed to stand on it or have any weight on it .. for another 5 wks.

The following exercises are what I'm to be doing:
- Hamstring Stretch: with my recovering leg out flat, lean forward until there is a gentle stretch in the back of my thigh and behind my knee: hold for 15 seconds, 6 reps, 2x / day
- Calf Stretch: with my leg flat and straight, put one hand on my thigh and the other using a strap, pull my toes toward me for a gentle stretch in my calf and behind my knee: hold for 15 seconds, 6 reps, 2x / day
- Heal Prop : (my most painful exercise right now) keeping my knee straight and my foot raised up on a foam roller, totally relax and let the weight of my leg pull my knee straight into extension. Keep leg propped up for 10 mins without interruption: 6x / day (can't make it the full 10 minutes yet due to pain in my knee.)
- Quad Set: tighten both quadriceps muscles for 5 seconds trying to get the back of my knee flat against the table during the muscle contraction: repeat 30x, several / day (I can't really do this one either. I seem to have little control over the flexing of my left thigh. Sometimes it does and sometimes it won't, I've never had a problem flexing or controlling muscles before.)
- Passive Knee Flexing Motion: Sit at the edge of a bed or high tale with recovering leg supported by the 'good' leg. Totally relax the recovery leg and use the other leg to bend the knee as much as possible . Repeat for 5 - 10 mins. 2 x / day. Preferable to bend knee up to 90 deg.
- Ice Therapy: elevate leg above heart and use ice machine for 20 mins every 2 hrs daily.

My bed is a little soft and the floor is to low (to hard to get down and up), so I'm still figuring out where and how to do these. But I am doing them as best as I can right now.  I will go back tomorrow as the Physical Therapist (PT) wanted me back soon for a check up. Hopefully there will be some progress over my first visit.

The photo captures my Grand daughter who was over this week, and developed a sympathetic pain in her right leg that required her to walk around the house with crutches! It was very sweet ...

The photo not here, is of me going to Costco with my wife, where I'm using one of the electric carts ... if you every want to be invisible, try using one of those. Wow, I'm still unwinding that experience...

Inner Knee Photo's

 These are photos from inside my knee taken yesterday during the repair of my Meniscus.

Post Surgery Report (large bucket handle tear of the medial meniscus)

Post Surgery Report
It's about 11 hours shy of being 2 weeks since that memorable experience of feeling like my left knee was going to explode! And it's about 20 hours since having the Meniscus tear repaired during surgery, rather than removed (something the Dr was not thinking would be the case, or at-least the percentages were telling him it wouldn't be).

Pre-Surgery work out: I haven't been able to do much these past 13 days aerobically, so I've done a few weight training work outs. This morning I did pullups, pull downs, neck/shoulder, biceps and forearms. What I could manage while keeping most of the weight on my right leg. As for the why, when I was told not to eat or drink anything starting at midnight the night before? The weight training is good for your bones, blood, ... I don't think I know all the benefits and maybe some of them are a placebo, but for me - they work. I felt like it was important for me to do to help the inside of my knee to be the best for healing it could be. I don't know when I'll get to work out next (I'm guessing the first 3 weeks will be no weight on my leg at all), then rehab will start...

Checking In: The time at the surgery center was excellent. My wife and I got there on time 10:00 AM, with maybe a dozen people in the large but nice waiting room. Before I was able to sit down with my clipboard, I was called up to the desk and sat in the chairs while the assistant helped me with the paper work - as the Dr was one his way and wanted to do the procedure as soon as I was ready. This process took maybe 10 minutes; and before I could get up they were calling my name from the door to go back in.

Behind the doors: Once in, the area looked similar to a hospital emergency, but with out all the noise, activity and people standing around. All the bays were curtained and once my wife was sat down, I was taken to the restroom and given instructions to 'change' into appropriate clothing: hair net, gown, underwear, grippy socks and a covering over my right knee that was used for pumping blood through my leg during the surgery.

Back in my bay, the nurse who checked me in was very nice and competent - as were all the people I came in contact with at this surgery center. Everybody I meet asked my my name and birth date, more questions from a second nurse, then she started shaving my knee which included about 3 inches of my thigh and the majority of my shin. While this was going on the first nurse put in the IV port with not to much pain - but it was the most I felt in the whole procedure, followed closely by the pain of pulling the hair out of my arm when it was removed before leaving.

I spoke with the Anesthesiologist: listening to him describe the process and then was able to ask him some questions, as well as letting him know I didn't want to take any narcotics for pain. The general Anesthesia was a narcotic which was fine. I was also given some type of gas during the surgery by a tube in my mouth (which only bothered me slightly last night).

[My reason for not wanting the narcotics is that when I was in my late teens, I broke the humerus in my left arm and was given a strong narcotic for pain and remember the feeling it gave me and the hallucinations ... not something I want to do again. It was almost like I had no control over my own thoughts and the hallucinations were dark and even frightening.]

One of my Pastors, and my friend, was there with my wife after I came out from changing and before they wheeled me off, he lead a prayer for all involved. I was then wheeled out and went into the surgery room. It was a larger room with lots of equipment on wheels so everything could be easily moved around. The anesthesiologist was the one talking to me in there: told me he was going to put a tube in my mouth and why, but I can't remember the details ...

Surgery....

Post Surgery: I woke up in a bay with a curtain around me (what turned out to be the North half of the initial area). I was told he repaired the Meniscus instead of the Menisectiamy (SP). My left leg was wrapped from high thigh to mid foot in ace bandage like material. Over that was a very stout knee brace that was locked in a slightly bent position. Just under my knee coming out from the ace bandage was a large blue tube that was hooked to a portable ice box. That is the modern replacement for an icepack. It works great as it circulates ice water from the cooler through some type of pad around my knee. It kind of reminds me of a bait tank aerator. The nurse removed my IV port and a few hairs from my arm. My wife helped me get dressed and then I was wheeled out to our vehicle by wheel chair.

My Leg: As for the incision and gauze and area immediately around the knee ... I don't know what's there or what it looks like. I suspect I'll see it today when I go in for a Post-Op meeting with the Surgeon this afternoon. I will also get to see pictures and maybe video of inside my knee.

The pain and discomfort has been not to bad, but my wife and Dr suggested I have the pain meds available just in case, which I do. At this point I would say in aches more than hurts.

I will update with photos if I get some today.

Bottom Line: All in all - I'm very thankful: for my family, for skilled professionals, for repair over removal, ... so much to be thankful for, especially to my God who is with me and promises to always be!

A "Bucket Handle" tear of the Medial Meniscus

It's been almost 5 days now since I injured my left knee. After the weekend I've now had an MRI (with a diagnosis of a bucket handle tear of the medial meniscus), seen an Orthopedic Surgeon and now have a surgery date set for 1 week from today.

The following entries will be an attempt to document the process of healing and rehabilitation with the hope and intent of getting back to 'a life of training'.

I have stepped back from weight lifting which I will start back up again today since I am no longer able to get any aerobic exercise in my regular forms (mountain biking, road cycling, running, golf, ...).  The weight lifting will focus on strengthening of my upper body.

The recovery is dependent on so many factors:

• what is done in the procedure (which won't be know for certain until during the surgery [removal or repair of the torn meniscus flap])
• blood flow to the area
• current damage to the meniscus
• rehabilitation program
• overall health
• ... lots of other variables, some known - some not

It's a new path - but God is still God.

What a golf ball can do...

I regularly hit golf balls in my back yard, into a practice net designed to contain them ... or so it's supposed to. A few months ago I was hitting with my driver and I wacked one and then heard the trees in the back by the fence making noise like a golf ball was flying through them ... I never saw that ball again, nor did I hear it land. I repaired the hole in the net, but it happened again a week later and I decided that I could no longer hit my driver into the net ..  having a golf ball leave the yard like that is tooo scary!

Forward to today: I have the practice net in front of the wooden fence to serve as a stop for any balls that go through the net. I have sense made several repairs to the net. The dent left by a golf ball hit from a 3 iron leaves dimples on the fence that you can feel. Today, I found out a ball hit by my driver will do to the fence after it goes through the net ... break it. (My swing speed said the driver was swung at 115 mph, which is my normal driver speed.) So, I'm now thinking that the fence is not a good back stop and will hit shorter irons until I figure out another solution to keep balls in the back yard. I also have "Birdy Balls", which I've broken, but not the professional line of them. And I'll hit foam balls too. They're fun to hit, but can go over the fence's too; but they're not breaking anything.

On the Trails Again...

I have been casually looking for a used mountain bike (MTB) for several years now, something with at a minimum front suspension. The Diamondback Accent that I've been riding is a 7 speed x3, no suspension with standard brakes. My thoughts have been for a Cannondale Lefty. Why? I have a Cannondale R5000 road bike that I bought used that has served me well for years and thousands of miles through multiple states and from what I've read, the Lefty is a solid suspension (and strange with just a single shock tube up front). As is a pattern in my life, after waiting and waiting, three weeks ago I bought a used Cannondale RZ120 Lefty ... nice!! Thank you God - you always provide!

Cannondale RZ 120 Lefty

I've ridden it twice on the trails now and WOW, what a difference! Spots on the trail that would beat me up and rattle my brain before; now are just ridden over ... so smooth - I kind of feel like a little boy on Christmas morning when I ride it. To describe what it's like: it's taller, it rolls better, the brakes work better, it's smooth, it's fast, ... it feels like I'm cheating when I ride it compared to what my previous bike was like! I am very thankful.

That being said, I still need to get used to it: the front end is a little light on steep climbs so I'm having to focus to try to keep it on the trail and pointed in the right direction. I expect to make some updates as I start spending more time on the trails and get used to this nice MTB. I will post "Numbers" as in the past in future updates.

It's nice to be on the trails again. My RZ may not be new, but it's about 5 steps up from my last MTB. Now I need to work on getting my skills and fitness up.

... and came down in two pieces...

To my surprise, I've started enjoying playing golf; and I'd say there is a 'acceleration' of the enjoyment as apposed to a 'velocity' of enjoyment - after just finishing helping my 9th grader with her Physics. I've played in the past maybe 20 yrs ago, but have never had lessons and honestly was bored before being finished. Now that my son-in-law plays and I participate in an annual fund raising tournament .. I'm starting to enjoy it.

Just a couple days ago I had watched an online video with the long ball hitters - so what do I do, I go out back and see what I can apply to my swing. So with out hitting a ball, I am just swining my 3 wood (Knight Billy Clug BC-2Ti) and it feels like I'm able to incorporate some changes to my swing. After about 5 minutes, I make a swing and the club flew out of my hands in my follow through. The instant I felt it gone from my hands I began to panic. I could imagine the club could go a very long ways and break something or hurt someone as it came down. The next sound I heard was crashing in the tree to my left. I looked up in time to see two pieces falling to the ground.

What a disappointment! My clubs are all garage sale and throw always. I only recently removed the piece of paper with $3 on it from the top of this club .. this was my favorite club: one that I wasn't affraid to hit of of a tee of from the fairway. On my last outing with my son-in-law, this club was my second hit on a long par 5 that put me on the green and gave me an opportunity to putt for my first Eagle (which I missed - barely) and settled for a Birdie.

I've looked for a replacement, but only one is available on ebay, and it's kind of pricey .. so I will consider a more current club to replace it.

I have ordered a new driver to me - a 2009 Taylormade R9 460. It should be coming this week and I'm really looking forward to hitting it. It will be my first driver. The last year I've been borrowing my son-in-laws old one since he got a new one for Christmas. And with it I've finally started to be able to hit it. In the past I would tee off with my 1 iron rather than face the slice of my driver, or topping it and having to hit it again just 20 yds from where I started.

I am looking for a 3 wood, and the review on the R9 are good, so I will try to replace my favorite club with what I hope will be a new favorite.

Golf can be an enjoyable game, or so I'm coming to believe. I'm finding myself out back practicing my chipping. I have a spot where I've scraped off the grass with my 10 iron as I try to chip the ball into a metal trashcan 30 yds away. I still haven't made it in, but have been soooo close and am putting a bunch within 6 ft of it - it's Fun!

Note to self:
- when you get pumped up watching others hit the ball over 300 yds and want to do the same: put your glove on and make sure you aren't so loosely holding the club that it fly's from your hands
- be patient with your swing: work on the short irons and the long ones will follow

Training in the Heat

My work requires me to be outside much of the time, so because of that I also train / exercise during the heat of the day too. There are several articles about training in the heat and since that is my regular practice, I'd throw in my 2 cents worth too.

Today's run was 6 miles in 98 degree weather. I left the house around noon with my shoes, socks, shorts, Camelbak with ice and water (around my waist), cell phone, knife, GPS, heart rate monitor, hat, glasses and sunscreen. No PR's or records today - well maybe a slowest pace record (avg 9:35/mi), rather today was about survival and forcing myself not to walk or cut short the route.

I noticed my heart rate was up compared to my pace and exercition level (often in the 170's), but many of the articles state that one of the benifits of training in the heat increases the volume of plasma. I've noticed this on other runs and rides where the temps are high, my heart rate will be higher than expected for the performance I'm getting: which isn't surprising due to the heat. The take-away for me is that heart rate is a complex result of many factors: nutrition, rest, temp, performance, stress, ...

Here's the quote from the runners world article:  (1) The biggest benefit of heat acclimation may be plasma volume expansion. Just as altitude stimulates your body to produce more red blood cells, heat stress stimulates your body to produce more plasma. The result is a greater cardiac output, and higher VO2 at a given effort level. In the New Zealand study, resting plasma volume increased by 4.5%, even though the the athletes had very high plasma volume to start; in the Oregon study, plasma volume increased by 6.5%

I will continue to run and cycle in the heat, but I am aware of the risks and think I'm doing it safely. I was recently told by a medic that I shouldn't be out exercising in the heat ...

I was almost done with my road ride, 26 mi, and noticed a person pointing up on the side of the road. There is a trail there that is part of the Mountain Bike trails, so I was familiar with them. I stopped and called out, but the person never responded. So I left my road bike on the side walk and climbed up the side of the incline to the person and trail above. The person was a female MTB rider. Her bike was a little further up the incline on the trail. She was laying there breathing with a pulse, but not responsive. The person on the road called 9-1-1 while I stayed up with her. I used the ice water that was left in my camelbak and sprinkled it on her head and down her spine - figuring she was over heated and unconscious as a result, or she could have crashed and ... not sure why she was like it, but I didn't see any harm in cooling her body while we waited for the professionals to arrive. Another passer by came up and took his shirt off to provide a little shade for her as she layed there, even convulsing at times. The paramedics put a neck brace on her and put her on a stretcher and then down the incline into the ambulance. She was by herself, so I asked them to take her bike to the station for her to pick up later - which they did. I don't know what happened to her or her current condition, but I'm assuming she's OK now. Hopefully she will not be riding the trails alone anymore. (Something that I do myself, but I tell myself that I'm careful and it's ok. I hope I'm right!)

... so as they loaded her onto the stretcher she started vomiting. It was at this point that the medic that "WE" shouldn't be out exercising in the heat of the day. I didn't say anything. I knew what he was trying to say ... that people that aren't prepared or used to the heat, shouldn't be out at a risk to them selves - as this lady was. As for me, I gave the last of my water in an attempt to cool her down and rode home the last few miles thankful that I was able to be of help to her, maybe even was a part of saving her life?!

So, if you are going to train in the heat, you might as well carry a little extra gear so you can help someone who may not be used to training in the heat. And if that never happens, carrying a few extra lbs of gear will just make you stronger physically and you'll have the saitfaction of knowing you were ready if there were a need.

Keep training .. even in the heat! Just know your limits and be prepared ...

Found out front yesterday?!

Can anyone tell me what is going on in these photos?

This caterpillar was discovered on the bottom side of a leaf. It appears to have all these egg sacks stuck to it's back .. are these some type of parasite?







Thanks Google: here's what I found:
"Frequently hornworms are found with a number of white cocoons attached to its. DO NOT KILL THIS TOMATO WORM! These white sacks are not the caterpillar's eggs--quite the opposite!--the white cocoons are the pupae of the Braconid Wasp. These wasps are parasitic insects that prey on hornworms. These wasps hunt down our garden pests, inject their eggs into their prey where the eggs hatch into larvae and begin eating the internal organs of the hornworm. After these "maggots" have matured they bore through the skin of the hornworm and proceed to spin a cocoon and attach themselves to the worm. From the cocoons emerge adult Braconid Wasp which will begin hunting for other Tomato Hornworms and Tobacco Hornworms to feast upon." - http://www.tammysrecipes.com/tomato_hornworms

Increased max pullups from 5 to 10 in 28 days

This is my new pullup routine. Basically you do a max set, do core exercise for a minute, and repeat until you've done 50 pullups total. Once you can do 6-10 pullups then do 75 total: 11-15 do 100 total: 16-20 do 150 total. When I first started it took 13 sets and I could do 5 on my first set. After twenty eight days of trying to be 3 times a week I was able to do 10 pullups on my first set and hit 50 total in 8 sets. (I didn't jump to 75 total yet as it's a killer workout and if it got harder I'm afraid I may not do it!!)

This past month I've not been as consistent and have been plateaued at 10 still. I've increased the total to 60 which is taking me 10 sets to accomplish and about 21 minutes. (My weight is still in the 197 - 200 range, something I'd like to see decrease by 5 - 10 lbs, but for me a stressful life often leads to eating for reasons other than for nutrition. I'm aware of this, but it's still a struggle at times.)

For the core exercises I will do situps, planks, kick backs, elevated planks and planks from side to side. I use a timer for all my strength training exercises to time my rest periods: usually 30 seconds, sometimes 1 min and for some heavy sets 2 minutes.

This is one of those tough routines that once the timer starts - it goes until it's done. That may be part of the reason I've been not so consistent this month - it's a beat down! But, if you want to increase you total number of pullups - it works! This coming week I hope to do all my exercises: strength training, running, MTB and road cycling. If I do, then the numbers will go up and the weight will go down.  :)

Old School MTB - rigid, Diamondback Accent

Another good ride done!!

Last June I was given a Diamondback Accent MTB. It's a solid 7-speed bike. My first changes were to move parts from my (now dead) 87 Schwinn Impact: Ergon grips, Crank Bros pedals and Body Geometry saddle, and to service all the wheel bearings. The bike rides good - the front washed out a couple times on me so I bought a 2.20" knobby up front, which grabs the trails and hasn't washed out yet. I also added a cassette with a 34T in the back (I don't remember what the front chain rings are) so I can pedal up some of those long and steep accents.

Fixing the first flat

Yesterday and today were the first times on the trails this year: it had been parked needing a replacement derailleur. There were 5 of us that went riding this morning. It was a lot of fun. One person crashed and one person flatted - twice: neither was me this time, which I'm always thankful for. This 20 year old MTB kept up and even blazed a trail to follow just fine! Trail riding is like sprints / intervals compared to distance when compared to road cycling.  I've been trying to alternate between running and road cycling lately, but will now have to add back in MTB riding too -it's just to good of a work out to not do regularly.

Numbers:
I didn't have my GPS on for part of the ride, but we did over 7 miles on the GPS and probably another 3 before it was started. It says the max speed was 25.2 and max HR was 172. The avg HR was 137.

Dirty legs, just above the sock line

Being chased by a dog ... AND it's Owner?!!

So, while I was running tonight, a dog came into the street to pursue and try to bit me. I saw it before it saw me, so I was already getting ready. There were two men in the yard. The dog was eating up by the front door with out a leash on. As I passed, it saw me me and ran out to me as I continued to jog/ (run slowly) past. After the dog took a pass at me, I told the guys in the yard that I'd kick it - all the while continuing on my run, with an eye on the dog and making a few tactical movements. One of the men started towards the street and the dog came in for a second pass and tried to bite my lower leg (it was a short bull dog type), so I pulled back and then forward and caught it with my foot. Not very hard, but hard enough to get a whimper out if it.

Then the man started yelling "Hay leave him alone! Don't do that!" (You would think he was talking to his misbehaved dog that wasn't on a leash, but no, he was talking to me!) So now I have a dog and his owner after me up the street. The dog never came too close as I chased him away when he got within 5 feet or so. The problem now was I have this guy running behind me yelling, "Kick me ##### &&#$@#!!!" over and over and over as he is about 10 yds behind me running at the same pace. I told the guy to "back off" and "get away from me" as I continued to run up the street backwards and forwards keeping an eye on where I was going and how far now both of my pursuers were. (As I reflect now, my heart rate was up, I was giving commands and I think 'fight' was engaged and ready in the background if it was needed.) But, thankfully, I don't feel the need to prove anything. I kept moving and both the dog and man stopped about 5 houses after this memorable event started at his.

Unfortunately this is on my normal end leg of all my routes. I guess I'll modify it for a few weeks - especially if I run in the evening. I kept waiting to hear a screeching sound of a vehicle stopping and the two or more guys jumping out. Had that happened, there probably would have been a criminal offense on their part and I would have done something about it. Thankfully that never happened. But it's nice to know that my subconscious was getting ready.

On days like this, I think some mace would be nice to have for any species that gives chase!



As for the details of the run: my avg pace was just under 9 min/mi. I just got my refurbished Garmin back, so I expect to be pushing a little more. I haven't been running regularly for a while, so I need to get back up to speed. I can see it in my heart rate - as it takes a little while to get to be able to train at higher heart rates. That's why it's so nice to train with a heart rate monitor: you get to know what numbers are normal under different circumstances.

Be safe .. from pet .. AND owner!

Training my Son

I spent time today 'training' my son: we serviced our little Honda 50 as it had been sitting for the winter with some fuel in the carb and a tiny bit in the tank. Things he was taught:
- the difference in color and smell of 'good' gas and 'bad' gas (varnished)
- how to drain the carburetor and tank
- check the oil
- check for spark
- clean the spark plug
- reminder of the proper technique for kick starting
- oil the chain

Taking a pause for a photo: got out the tripod, set it for 10 second delay, ... take 3 shots and use the best one!  :)

And after that, it was time to ride. We're thankful to have a 1/2 acre lot, so we can ride in the back yard and get up to a decent speed.  :)

So, while he was riding, I serviced the 100 and we rode together. We had a great time.

Then later in the evening I was able to go for a MTB ride. I did two loops on the trail that has become my staple MTB ride. My loop times were slower than before - not sure why, BUT ... I went down the rock surface on both loops this time. It was the first time I rode that part of the trail. So that was good. My MHR was 179. It's good training: having to hold on, those quick bursts of fear - then gone as quick as it came, ... even wondering where that Mountain Lion is as I pass by the section of the trail where I saw him/her in weeks past.

The more one is trained, the more one should be training another: passing on the experiences and knowledge of life for others to enjoy and/or benefit from.

Sakata bug

No training today ... :(  

But I did get to spend a few hrs golfing with my son-in-law this morning and then the rest of the day with my youngest son who found a Sakata bug in the yard. We both like taking pictures, and he asked me if I wanted to take any 'Macro' pictures of it. I like macro photography, so I did. The pictures are on a blog that I'm posting macro photos to that I've taken. Here's the link to the bug shots.

First MTB tip: how not to spin your back tire going up a climb

On my last ride on the trails - I continued to have a problem with loosing traction going up a couple of the climbs. When it was steep, I would be up over my front handle bars and the back tire would spin and loose traction. What I was doing subconsciously was pulling back or up on the handlebars and pedaling slower.


The bike that I was given, just like my old bike, has no suspension; so when I pull back/up on the handle bars the front end gets light and even can loose contact with the trail: not desirable, but neither is loosing all traction and having to dismount part way up a climb. I was on my second loop and towards the end when I finally started to be intentional about this technique to get up the climbs with out spinning my back tire.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get to ride again and see how it works when I'm doing it intentionally.

Attached are two shots of the same portion of the loop that I still have to walk ... sigh. The rocks look to unforgiving and the pictures don't give justice to the downhill turn. For now, I walk that section. Maybe when I get a buddy to ride with, or get more confidence in my skills and bike - then I'll try ig.

Yesterday - Road, Today - MTB Trails, Tomorrow - Run

Taking a photo at speed ... a little scary

This is a steep, 1st gear, out of the saddle climb

I've attached some photos from my road ride on Monday, which has kind-of become my staple road route at around 33 miles. It takes about 2 hrs these days and includes some hills and 30+ mph sections on down hills and even a flat sprint section.




Nothing much to report other than I'm starting to pay my dues again now, so that in the future I'll have something to write about. This ride was hot, windy and once I got back home I laid in the grass in my front yard for a few minutes relaxing and being glad to be home.

One less rattle snake to have to contend with

Today was a quick trip to the trails before the thunder and grey produced water ... as it turned out as I was loading my bike there were some very small sprinkles that started to accumulate on my windshield. Not a lot to report here either: did one of the loops twice. It still has a down hill, switch back on rocks that I walk down - not ready to attempt it on my bike yet. There's another downhill switchback on bricks that still makes me nervous. Confidence is coming, but I'm trying to keep my brakes on it so I don't accumulate to many cuts and scratches too quickly.

We also went bowling yesterday and today. It was fun. There's a program over the summer where you can pay a one time fee and get two free games everyday. Since my family all has their own bowling shoes, all we have to do is get there and then we can bowl without any additional cost. It's fun and inexpensive. Today my 19 yr old won the first game and my 11 yr old bowled a 130. Yesterday I had a 193 game, today 170.

The wind, as usual, flying a full flag

Tomorrow will be a full day - so I may only have time for a short run. That's not a complaint, but rather preparing myself for what's realistic.

Mtn Biking ... after 4 plus years of not!

Today was the second time I made it out to ride the trails at Big Cedar Wilderness Trails in the last 7 days. Before this week .. it's been about 4 years since I've been on a trail on a Mtn Bike. The last 4 years have been exclusively road bike riding.

The first time out on a rigid frame and fork (as I'm used to riding) I saw the redish-brown tail and back end of a Mountian Lion as it ran around a corner up ahead of me as I came around a switch-back. That caused me to pause, catch my breath ... and once I started riding again - crash two times before getting off the trail. [Something about trying to look up the side of the hill and having my front tire get off the trail .. that big cat got in my head!]  No sightings today - other than 4 other cyclists: one I couldn't keep up with and three others I could.

Intervals are to the Treadmill as Mtn Biking is to Road biking

Having been so long, I had forgoten what it was like: the fear, excitement, fun, hard work .. and overall Great exercise that mountain bike riding can be. Even with the down hills and recovering on the flats, my avg heart rate was 160 bpm, with a Max Heart Rate (MHR) of 187. Now that I have another Mtn Bike, I plan on riding weekly.

What I like most about it over road cycling are the sudden changes of terrain, having to constantly be moving around [out of the saddle, to the left, right, getting behind the saddle], having spikes of fear [about hitting a tree, going off the trail, falling down, not being able to stop, hitting my helmet on a branch I didn't see], and how nice it is to ride in the woods.

I will try to ride my road bike tomorrow as I've not been on it for over a week now. There is a 33 mi loop that I like to ride.

Anyways .. I'm excited to be Mtn Biking again and think I'll keep track of some of my experiences here. It's been a difficult season of life and exercising has been bumped down further than I like: I've gained wait, lost strength, increased my resting heart rate and am slower running and cycling. I'm hoping to bump it up a few spots for the next few months and see what happens.

 Photos are coming with future posts ...

 I will start taking my camera once I stop crashing every time I go riding! I like photography and think they capture and tell their own stories.

If it's been 4 or more years for you, and you're starting to ride the mountain trails again, build your confidence slowly. I've got cut's and bruises from this evenings ride to remind me to do the same ... time to start training again!

Gecko Eye

Somehow or another my wife 'picked up' a Gecko the other day.
So, being the compassionate person that she is .. she 'hosted' the little fellow for a while until disappeared somewhere .. inside .. outside .. doesn't really matter; because these little fellows can walk through doors and walls.

So while he was 'hosted' I took some shots with my handy-dandy macro that continues to impress me with the clarity. For amateur macro-photography, this Canon PowerShot A710 IS has proven to be an exceptional lense.

The attached photos are of the Gecko. His head was no more than a half inch long, and his eyes maybe 3/32 nds of an inch - very small.

The eye's are just amazing!!!

A Place from my Macro Photographs

I've decided to create a blog where I will put my Macro Photography .. and other photographs that I think are neat. It is "alifeofmacrophotography.blogspot.com" - in keeping with the "A Life Of" theme. :) It's still in the makes .. so I will be trying to gather some of my old photos and get it started.

As for training .. I don't have a goal or intense training plans right now. I'm more trying to stay healthy .. and fighting fit: like Caleb at 80 was ready to take the land by force... I'm not 80 yet, but I'd like to be fighting fit at 80 too!

Amazing Storm

A couple nights ago, we had an amazing Storm blow over! I took about 230 photos with my handy Canon PowerShot A710 IS. I used the continuous shooting setting so it would take 10 photos at a time, put it on my tripod and pushed the button while I stood inside! It was that intense!

It sounded like explosions rolling through the sky - just above the tree tops. I don't usually get scared in electrical storms, but I stayed mostly inside. Here are some of the photos that I captured. Enjoy :-)

Intervals Again

Not much time today, so I did what I've been wanting to do for a while now .. throw in session of intervals on my road bike. Out on the dam it's 4 miles with out vehicles - just other cyclists, walkers, runner, skaters and etc.

So today it was 7 intervals across and 8 on the way back. The routine for today was 30 seconds hard and 60 seconds recovery. My Garmin works good for that and it was the interval session I used last so I just push the button to start and it keeps track of everything including a 5 second beeping as each state changes from one to the next. So it was out of the saddle at the start and then at the end of the 30 for a couple seconds too. After 15 of them .. it was very nice to be done. I then had a few miles to ride home.

Most people who 'train' know and appreciate the value of intervals - just not the difficulty or the pain of those workouts. Today was a workout that it was especially nice to 'have finished.'

Before the intervals I was able to bike with my wife - that was good. Not hard for me, but that's not it's purpose - the purpose right now is to be an encouragement and help. :-)

One yr PR's

I've not been able to do much 'pro-active' training for the last year - as life has been challenging and the time needed for such training just isn't available.

I've tried to reduce my weight training from two days to a single workout - hoping to do at least two workouts rather than the regular four of the past. This past week I got 2 1/2 in: two regular ones and the 1/2 was just bench; doing my regular wo and then adding weight. I stopped at 250 lbs which I've not done for over this last year of reduced training. I probably could have done more, but working out alone in the garage ... it just seemed like I'd done enough.

I also had a time on my bike over the bridge (Time Trial) section that I enjoy so much in the past couple weeks. [It's a flat section just over a half mile long.] One time I saw a max speed of just over 44 mph. Another time I saw a max heart rate of 189. Both of these are good and encouraging numbers as my overall fitness seems to be down, but my bodies capacity for exercise still seems to be present - I just am not able to tap into it very often.

The important lesson: life isn't about exercise and PR's; life is about relationships! Period: family, friends and still having some margin to handle the unexpected and unplanned. I enjoy training very much and it has value in helping me interact with others, but when the days are too full - it has to give. And that's where I'm at. Enjoying life, just not enjoying as much training as I'd like ... :-)