Step Away From the Cake

I know it's not a very big, or should I say long, race, but it's the first race I've done in a year. My last race was the Na Wahine last September. It's been one year. Up until this point I've been fairly calm until tonight. Now I'm starting to get a little bit nervous. I've been getting my gear together. I've got: -swim cap -goggles -towels for T1 -water for T2 -socks -bike shoes -gloves -helmet -bike -running shoes -hat -belt with number -sunglasses -Garmin -water bottles for bike -snacks in bento box just in case :) -towel and clothes for after I think that's it. I can't think of anything else I need. I do believe that I'm ready. It's exciting to be getting ready to race again. I had thought I wouldn't race this year but realized it's what I need to take my workouts to the next level. After tomorrow I rest on Monday, then Tuesday I crank up the biking again for the Century Ride in 2 weeks. This is so exciting. Okay, wis...

I've heard this before and understood it, but I didn't really understand it. Due to my back issues, I haven't been doing all my training this week. I woke up this morning feeling pretty good so decided to go for a bike ride. I just chose my 6.5 mile route since I haven't been out in a couple of days and I have a race on Sunday. I felt really strong. I haven't had that good a ride in a long time. I felt strong and my cadence was up. It was great. I realized, strength really is gained during rest periods. I'm still waffling about tomorrow. I want to do something since I've slacked this week. I don't want to do something because I have a race on Sunday. I do have tons of other things to do tomorrow so I'll probably not train. We'll see.

Tonight ABC's 20/20 takes on Michael Moore's claims that health care in America is so bad. I think everyone who has watched Sicko should watch 20/20. Micheal Moore is even interviewed by John Stossel, so they go head to head. I have not watched Sicko. I have never watched anything Micheal Moore made. In my opinion he is a liar. He manipulates footage to make it look like he wants it to look He goes into a project with a very strong opinion and molds the facts to fit his opinion, the truth be damned. Like much of the left, he doesn't let the facts get in the way of what he thinks. I've completely disagreed with everything I heard about Sicko for a lot of reasons. First off, if health care is so fantastic in other places why do all the major medical innovations come from America?? No, not all, but a lot more than any place else. Second, I've always thought that the way heath insurance in this country is run is wrong. Health insurance should be run more like...

Is there any doubt why I've been in pain for the last few years?? Look at that spine. It's not straight. Some of the vertebrae are crooked. Some disc spaces are large and some are smaller. Wow!!! How exactly do I function with that thing?? This is my lower back. At the bottom you can see the top of my pelvic bones and near the top you can see a couple of my ribs. Wow!! There is a lot of work to do.

didn't start out so well. Yesterday the chiro did an adjustment on my back and I felt pretty good most of the day. I was excited since I hadn't felt that good in a while. Then last night the back and hip started to get achy again. That was to be expected, one adjustment is not going to cure everything. But this morning, oh this morning. I woke up and my hip was on fire. I was in agony!! I ended up not doing anything this morning because of the hip. I knew that working out wouldn't have hurt it but I was in such pain I didn't think I'd be able to do much. So I passed. It got better as the day progressed. I went this afternoon and got x-rays of my lower back. The chiro wanted to see x-rays before he did a lot of treatments because my back has been so bad for so long he wants to make sure it's not some deformity. I see him again tomorrow with my films. Can you scan x-rays?? I could show you my back :) I'm playing tomorrow by ear. If I feel okay in...

Some things I just never think about. I never consider how things get done they just do. Consider spas. Now who doesn't love spas?? Who doesn't think a spa day is the greatest thing on earth. Now I personally have never spent an entire day at the spa, but I can imagine how nice it would be. A new spa recently opened at Windward Mall near me. I actually watched the construction and installation of all the equipment since it is located right next to Ruby Tuesday's. I thought at the time, a spa takes a huge amount of coordination. Not only for construction but in the day to day operations. You have people doing this and that and that. You have to keep track of multiple appointments for one person so you maximize the use of your personnel. Wow, boggles the mind. So imagine my surprise when I discover a website that offers spa software that handles these things. Who knew?? Seriously, it has all. It helps you track your sales and does all your daily accounting work...

Day Scheduled Monday Bike Tuesday 10 mile @pace Wednesday 6.4 mile brisk Thursday 1.75 m run Friday Rest Day Saturday 13 mile @pace/1.5 mile run Sunday Rest Day Okay, this is last week's schedule. I want to save them to see how I do. The new one is in the sidebar. It's going to be a good week. Edit: for some reason the rest of my post didn't get published. Here it is. I'm very excited about the super sprint this weekend . I was hoping to get a swim in this week but it doesn't look like that's going to work out. At least the swim is only 250 m. I figure if I went for a swim it would be way more than 250 m so I should be okay. So, wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed.

I forgot to update my workout schedule yesterday. I'll do it tonight when I get home. I had a chiro appointment this morning at 11. I've really been having issues with my back, my hip, my plantar, blah, blah, blah. I finally decided to do something about it since they are not getting better on their own. It was interesting. The good news is that everything is fixable and really, it all boils down to a hip problem. My right hip has rotated backwards slightly. This has caused all number of maladjustment's up and down my spine. I do need to get orthotics as my arches are really falling. This chiro is a sports guy and also does ART (active release therapy). He's going to do the ART on my plantar and IT band because there is scar tissue built up there. Meanwhile, we will work on getting the old bod back into alignment so everything will work the way it should. The bad news is, my back is in bad shape. It's been heading this way for years and years. It's goi...

a couple of millimeters make. I had the tri shop adjust my bike seat so it tilted upward slightly. Wow, what a difference it makes. I'm constantly sitting on my sits bones (as they say in yoga) and not on more sensitive parts. It rounds my back just a tiny bit more and I think that actually helps. Also, my hands did not go numb this time. Only towards the very end. Way better!! It is starting to get darker in the mornings and that's no good. I won't be able to ride my bike much longer at this rate. Actually, it's only too dark from December to early Feb. So I should be okay for a while. When December comes maybe I'll get some quoizel lighting to light up the street so I can still ride. Won't the roosters love that :)

I really thought I had posted this stuff last night but looking at my blog it seems that I didn't. Yesterday morning I went out for my bike ride. About 10 miles into it the front derailleur (sp?) started rubbing against the chain. I don't know what happened but I couldn't make it stop. So I turned around and went home. My intended 30 miles ended up being 12, but it was good. I then did a 1.5 mile run off the bike. I have not done that in probably 8 months. It was hard but not undoable. The weight training I've been doing has really increased the strength of my legs. So even though they were a little shaky, they recovered pretty rapidly. I was pleased with how I felt when done. Then it was off to work. I had to run by the lab for a little bit and do some mystery shopping. Then I dropped my bike at the shop and went to have lunch. Oh no, I forgot. Between mystery shopping and dropping the bike off I signed up for the Na Wahine Triathlon. I'm very excited...

I swear we have the worst traffic here in Hawaii. It is horrendous in the morning and evening commute hours. I could go on and on about how the people don't know how to drive and blah, blah, blah. Instead I'll talk about a good thing. In some cities you can now get a traffic report right on your handheld or cell phone. This rocks. If I could know where the worst traffic was I could take a different route (I know all the backroads ) and avoid the stuff that makes you want to pull out a gun and start shooting :) It's not available here in Hawaii yet, but I've got my fingers crossed. TrafficGauge device offers real-time traffic anytime, anywhere with the TrafficGauge handheld, TrafficGauge for Cell, TrafficGauge for PC, TrafficGauge for Widget Suite and TrafficGauge for iPhone. Each product or service offers simple to use and easy to read traffic maps. These maps are the best in the industry. The device is an award winning, customer-loving favorite for navig...