Back in the Saddle Again? Maybe!!!

Well, a week of mostly no workouts, no training to speak of, and the back feels pretty ok today. Yay!

Swam a bit this morning, though didn't make it around Flat Island today. I was a wary with my back, and the current was strong today. My swimming buddy didn't want to work that hard...so we turned around and swam back, with some nice body surfing in the waves. LOVED that part!

The best news is that the back felt good afterwards. I'm stoked to ride just a bit tomorrow and see how it goes!

Deciding where to start back in with the TriPlan 4P program. I need to up the intensity on the bike a bit...it's sooo tempting to just can the pre-fab workout routine and go with what I know works for sure. But then again, this gives me a good routine and a solid structure to work within, which I really need. Darn, I wish Graeme had followed through with the video challenge. Not that I would have been chosen, but it would have provided the encouragement I need at this time. Guess it's time for the old 'boot strap' lift!

SideLined

The back has gotten steadily worse over the last days, so I've been off the bike, out of the running shoes, and out of the water...sitting on my arse, icing and resting, and hoping that it will quickly go away! Another appt with Dr Zen tomorrow to see if he can work any magic.

In the meantime, at least I feel motivation building to really be more careful and more intentional with each workout once I'm back on my feet and feeling better.

Blessings

Beautiful morning for a swim. The water was clear, the surf was a bit strong on the back side of the island today, I had some trouble navigating through it. But I don't know how much of that was due to my back...it was quite bothersome out there today, and slowed me down. (at least I hope that's what it was...I'd hate think I'm getting slower in the water!) Swam straight in today instead of heading over to the shark's reef. Tried to catch my swim buddies to let them know, but never quite got there. They keep a good eye on me, so I knew they would figure it out. You know, I'm blessed with two very faithful, and patient swim buddies. God is good. I am so grateful.

Spent the next block of time with my new Life Coach. She's a great lady, and I am her guinea pig in training for her certification. We talked about my goals, setting two for the next three months to work on, and what the roadblocks are to reaching those goals, plus some baby steps to start out. We talked about setting the first one with family...dinner at home, unrushed, 5 nights a week. That sounds pretty daunting right now. The second one is learning the "theory of guitar"...in other words, more detail musically, not just what the chord fingerings are, but why those are the fingerings for those chords. Learning where the individual notes are on the frets, etc. But that is actually a smaller part of the larger goal of getting comfortable enough with the guitar that it becomes second nature, and gets out of the way of worship leading. Again, I am blessed with wonderful people in my life, and Nita is one of those special blessings.

After that, it was off to Dr. Zen, who worked his magic of sorts on my back. The pain isn't gone, and it has returned, but he was able to alleviate it for a couple of hours. Again..blessed! I have to ice it regularly, and he gave me exercises to do to help build up the muscles that support that area. At least I can still ride a bit, and swim as much as I want to.

Went walking with Amy over by UH this afternoon. We had a very nice time...good to get her out and exercising, and good to spend un-agenda'd time with her. Is that a word? Well, it is now! So there!

I need to work on my homework for my Life Coaching now. I have an epic fail with it today, supposed to plan the meal and go shopping for tomorrow. Didn't get there, and now Loren has informed me that he is making dinner tomorrow night, since it's Valentine's day. Guess I 'll have to move it to Wednesday, so maybe it won't be so epic fail after all. Another blessing!

Much Needed Rest

Well, never used to look forward to these rest days like this. Maybe it's cuz I'm getting older, or maybe I am just learning to value down time. Either way, these are great days.

The drawback today is my lower back. Since that run on Wednesday, it just hasn't been the same. Not sure what's up with that, but I think a visit to Dr Zen is in order tomorrow. Tried the myofascial release roller of torture, but no relief. Not sure about the swim tomorrow. I swam yesterday and it didn't bother me at all. But sitting here it is really aggravated. Bummers.

Oh well, it's not going to get me down.

The Best Day in a Very Long Time!

What a great day....the family hiked Kahana Valley and got some terrific views. Started off in grumpy land with the girls being tired, not happy for having to wake up at 7:30am on a Saturday. Ha....after about 15 minutes of hiking, they were both chipper and laughing and enjoying the day. Yay! (Kahana Bay pictured above)

After hiking, we embarked on a journey to Waimanalo, for a demonstration on Poi Pounding, and other wonderful ways to prepare Kalo, or Taro. Mmmmm...Dean and Michelle, and their beautiful family demonstrated steaming the korn of the taro, sautéing in olive oil with salt, or garlic, and in a curry-coconut sauce... yum!!!! It was delicious. It's going to be my new food on the bike for those long rides. Sorry Powerbar, you lose out to real food! (Picture of Taro above)

When the demonstration was pau, we headed out to Kailua Beach so I could get my training in for the day...the upper body swim workout. The water was very choppy, but quite clear once I got away from the shore. Swam out to Flat Island and back for my warmup, then grabbed the pull buoy and hand-paddles. Swam the buoys with that set up, and it was quite tough due to the surf and current. Finished up by swimming back out to Flat Island and back. Maybe about 3/4 of the way, as I was getting quite cold by that time. Saw some cool fish. (Box fish pictured is one I encountered today).

Running Away from the Bugs

Well, another day with no car. Started off find enough, but when the bug guy came, and sprayed, I realized that what he was spraying (something extracted from chrysanthemums), was causing a pretty severe reaction...dizziness, headache, nausea. NOT good. So, I am stuck at home, but can't go inside my house! He stopped the treatment. And apologized...I think he felt pretty bad. Now I have to deal with the company to get at least a partial refund since they couldn't treat the whole property as promised.

Decided to go for a run to get away from the stuff. This was a key workout today, with a couple of intervals thrown in during a tempo run. It was good to speed up a bit, but I've got a long way to go to get some speed of any sort. Well, this is about base right now, so I'll try to be patient. 5.5 miles in just over an hour. Yup, that's pretty darn slow! But, better than sitting on the couch.

Riding for Fun

Went for the easy recovery bike ride today. Spent most of the day procrastinating cleaning the kitchen, and doing laundry. I guess every life has to have those humdrum moments.

The back is still quite sore today, but Graeme's Rejuvenator workout helped loosen everything up. Felt good on the easy ride, but it's tightening up again. May do the Rejuvenator again shortly to see if that can help.