Sand Art

Remember when you were a kid and you loved to draw and color?

I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days at the beach in Florida with my amazing cousin, Gayle. What a joy it was to sit back and relax. Or in my case, smooth the sand and draw! I have to say that this was the most relaxing trip I have taken in a long time. No work phone, no email, limited online time... bliss!

I can't help but think of all of my friends back home and I hope to bring a smile to their faces and a bit of relaxation to their day.

Enjoy the pics

Come Walk with Me

Come and walk with me

What we'll see and where we'll go is something only fate can know.
The path may be steep and the obstacles plenty.
But I'd rather walk with you than one of the many.

Let's climb a cliff of amazing height, close our eyes and leap into the night. 
Like a star traveling the midnight sky.
We'll soar, we'll sail, we'll fly.
My hand in yours, we'll let destiny pick the course.

(unfinished)

From Here

Where do I go from here?

View from Mt Jefferson, New Hampshire

So here I am, 2.5 weeks after "The Ride", 4.5 weeks after the BIG hike, and I'm wondering: Where do I go from here?

How does one pick the next goal - big or small - to head off on? Perhaps I've already done it. I'm riding in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer again in August 2104. But what about the hiking I want to do? Can I train to bike and still hike tall mountains?

I'm going hiking from here and I'll leave you with this: Anyone who dares to dream, manages to get out the front door and make it to the trail head of ANY mountain, is a real & serious hiker. It doesn't take fancy gear or require every weekend hikes. All it takes is a dream, a plan, proper preparation, and getting there. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that we are all the the same. We all dream, we all aspire, we all strive, we are all the same.

See you in the hills...

Mt. Jefferson

Trip report - Mt. Jefferson - Coos County, New Hampshire - Saturday July 27th
Elevation:  5,712 ft (1,741 m)
Trail: Castle Trail (from Route 2)
Distance: 10 Miles Round Trip
Time: 10 hours (8am - 6pm)
Hiking Partner: The Super Amazing Miss Julie Smith!

You know you are going to have a fantastic hiking day when you find something as cool as this on the way to the mountain...

The day started at 4:45am. I'd packed the night before: Camelbak (complete with nutrient sludge), poles, headlamp, compass, extra layers, rain gear, map, spare socks, snacks (energy bar, foil packed tuna, apple, orange, 2 Luna bars, dark chocolate!), and spare water bottle (full and frozen).  I grabbed my pack, hiking boots & poles, and my after hike clothing and hit the road. Dover, NH to the trail head is about a 2.5 hour drive. With an 8am meeting time, I was on my way by 5:30. Having posted my hiking intentions over a month ago, I was lucky enough to schedule the day with Julie Smith, a kayaking friend. If you've ever had the good fortune to paddle or hike with Julie, you'll understand when I say that she is the perfect trip leader. Julie knows her stuff, plans ahead, and has the patience of a saint. No kidding. You try leading 8 crazy kayakers down the Kennebec Gorge at high level during a dam release... Just saying.

Arriving just at 8, I met up with Julie, we geared up and headed off. I was not familiar with this mountain and had reached out to a friend for suggestions on trails. I took half of his suggestion and chose the Castle Trail. We decided to hike both up and down on this trail rather than looping off on several other possibilities.

The day was overcast and I was concerned that we might not make the summit as Julie & I had agreed that rain, fog, or extreme wind would cancel.  I mentally crossed my fingers that the day would clear.

The first part of the hike is through a field, under the high-voltage lines, and into the forest. Fairly quickly you reach a stream that you'll need to cross to continue on up the mountain. The water level was low but still covering most of the rocks so we took our time picking a crossing a bit upstream & the poles were a great help. After the crossing we were fully under tree cover and hiking a decently wide path, well cleared, and only a mild incline for the first mile or so in. And then....

Only 3.7 Miles to Go!

The trail became steeper and composed of rocks and roots which often formed steps in the hillside. Some natural, some man made. Now, I don't wear a watch and my cell phone was tucked away for the trek so I'm not sure how long we hiked up and up and up but it was at least an hour of fairly steep, breathing hard, heart pounding in my ears, hiking. And I was loving every second of it!!! All I could think of was how far I had come (figuratively) since November. I couldn't help but grin.

We stayed under tree cover as the trail flattened out for a good long stretch (Mt. Jefferson is a sneaky mountain, lulling you into a false sense that it will be an easy hike) and the sun began to peek through the clouds. All the while I could hear the stream babbling along on our left. Little did I know what the mountain still had in store as the trail took another upward turn and we headed for The Castles which give this trail its name.

As we hiked higher, the trees became shorter and shorter. Approaching The Castles, it looks as though you are nearing the peak of the mountain and have only a short distance to go. How wrong I was (but more on that later)! A few small scrambles over fairly large boulders and a steep, root grabbing, scrabbling climb later, we reached the first Castle.   See below.

Looking Up at The Castles

Stopping to take a couple of pictures, I couldn't believe where we had come from. Though the mountains to our left were still shrouded in clouds, the path we had traveled was clear behind us. The long flat section, of the trail that we had hiked, crossed the mound you see below. We had come from the far side of that mound!

Looking Back from the First Castle

The view to the left was not so promising as the clouds still menaced the tops of the mountains to the left. I'll admit that I was concerned about making it to the summit at this point.

After our picture break we began tackling The Castles. Up, over, through, over, scramble, crawl, is pretty much how it works through this section of trail. The Castles are comprised of HUGE boulders that push up out of the ridge of the mountain and the trail goes from Castle to Castle (and through them). Here are a couple of shots as we went:

Julie Picking the Route

 Here is where Mt. Jefferson really starts its trickery: once you complete the castles, you see that you are not, in fact, at the summit but are faced with the scene below. Okay, I wasn't ready for this hike to be over anyway! I remember pointing to what looks like the summit and asking Julie "Is THAT where we are going?". She confirmed that it was. What I should have asked is "Is that the summit". :) Feeling a theme here? Tricky mountain!

Looking Up Past The Castles Towards What Appears to be the Summit

The sky continued to clear as we ascended, affording us some amazing views of the valleys below. As we climbed, we discussed the challenge this hike afforded. There is something for everyone here: Steep inclines, scrambles, scrabbles (I differentiate scrambles as going over boulders with fairly easy hand/foot holds and scrabbles as steep, root grabbing climbs where you may very well slide back down to where you started and then some), and amazing views (see exhibits 1 & 2 directly below).

Exhibit 1: Oh the views!

Exhibit 2: Clearing clouds

 One of the interesting parts of this hike is that once you get past The Castles, you encounter a series of lawns and granite boulder fields. There is no going around the boulder fields, they spread out across the mountainside. So over we went. Fortunately there are cairns to guide you as you hop from rock to rock in the general direction of the summit. Each boulder field is an uphill climb that finishes with a small dip into a lawn of scrubby grass and alpine flora. And then onto the next boulder field. I was more than thankful to have my poles during these climbs. If memory serves, there were 3 sets of boulder fields and lawns to climb/cross before the final ascent to the summit.

The above is looking up towards the start of a boulder field. The path heads to the right of this picture and the boulder field is not the deceiving little strip of rocks that it looks like. You could easily spend 10 - 15 minutes traversing a field before you came to lawn again.

Finally reaching the summit, I found Julie and the sun waiting for me. Julie was kind enough to "save" the highest point for me and I climbed up with joy. I was standing on top of the world! This was a personal best. The tallest mountain I had ever climbed, the longest hike I had ever participated in. It was an amazing feeling that is nearly beyond words and the views went on forever! Gorgeous George was in full view in all his glory, Great Gulch and all! It looked as though you could just walk across in a few minutes (as I wish was the case!).

After a bite to eat and about half an hour of soaking up the sun & taking photos, we were ready to head down. What a completely fantastical and amazing day! Thank you to Julie for the wonderful company and to Mother Nature for bringing on the sunshine!

The rest of the photos are here. 

Quad Journeys

An update to the April 12th, May 15th, & June 13th entries:

This week marks my 36th week of nutritional changes, 27th week of fitness training, and 19th week of bike specific training.

As many of you know, Enbridge Ride to Conquor Cancer was postponed until August 10/11th due to heavy flooding in Calgary - water in the streets, mudslides, and washed out roads made a ride on June 22/23rd impossible. That gives us more biking to talk about! :) Lucky you! Stay tuned for pics from the trip in just over 4 weeks.

Now, let's look at the update:

36 weeks into my nutritional journey and I find myself revisiting my caloric intake needs as I'm far more active than I was at the start of this journey. I've also built up a fair amount of lean muscle mass (No, I don't look like Arnold) which requires more energy to maintain. I've gone from struggling to reach a 1200 calorie a day goal (meaning I often fell short of 1200 as I just wasn't hungry enough to keep eating at the end of the day) to having a major mental breakdown and needing to increase up to 1300 and then 1500 to now requiring close to 2000 calories a day to keep my body happy.

At the same time, I started my fitness training (27 weeks ago) with 2 - 60 minute TRX classes per week and found myself needing to add a 60 minute Butt & Gutt class as well as a 60 minute personal weight training session as I gained strength and stamina. Believe me, your body tells you when it needs more. Now starting my third session of fitness training, I have 2 - 60 minute TRX classes, 2 - 60 minute weight training sessions, and 1-2 days of endurance biking on my schedule each week.

You might be wondering how I did with my goals from a month ago. I can tell you that I do a pushup with every Burpie (And I still hate Burpies!), I do all of the suspended exercises in TRX and can even do side planks with a crunch (1 or 2, I didn't say I am a super star yet), I can do more reps and at a harder/steeper angle - pushing myself harder, and I can say that my mindset has changed from "can I do that?" to "I CAN do that!". Frequent reminders still needed (habits take practice) that "YES I CAN!!!" is healthier than "can I?" but I'm learning. :D

And the biking. To be honest, I had hoped to be done by now so that I could move on to to hiking and camping in the Rockies but all is not lost. More biking for me, more biking stories for you. Its a win-win! Stay tuned.

Micro Goals, Mini Goals, Macro Goals

This post was inspired by Lyz(y) and all of my friends who have asked: "How are you doing it?".

If you don't know what "it" is, you should read this first. And be warned, this is a loooooong post. But then again, setting goals and sticking to them is a big thing.

"It" all started with a very fuzzy thought:

 I'm going to take control of my life, health, nutrition, weight, and fitness. I'm going to get back into shape. I am going to eat better. I am going to lose weight.  

The above was a wish, a hope, a dream but it wasn't yet a goal. This is important because in order to create a goal, to achieve something, you need a specific, attainable, actionable, measurable item. That is when the thought becomes a goal and you are on your way!

As the title suggests, there are various sizes to goals. A Macro goal being the largest - the end result goal(s). Mini goals come next, they are smaller chunks  of the Macro goal. And then there are Micro goals. Think of them as baby steps. Baby stepping to the Mini and Macro goals (thanks, Bob and FMM)!

So let's turn my wishes, hopes, and dreams into goals:

1. I'm going to lose weight. Okay, big sit down with self, looking self in the eyes and asking self... how much weight? You've got to have a number to make this work. My self looked right back at me and said: 163 pounds (Give or take 5lb as I hadn't been on a scale since June and this was November. We'll address scale-phobia later...).  Great! Now I've got a Macro goal that needs a plan. HOW am I going to achieve this goal?

A. I am going to change my eating habits (another hope that needs to be turned into a goal - more on this later).
B. I am going to walk the dog for 1 hour a day, 2 days a week, every week - an actual actionable, achievable, measurable item!
C. Every time I go to the store, bank, etc., I'm going to park the car as far from the entrance as feasible and walk to the door - another measurable, item!
D. I am going to research exercise and understand how many calories are burned during different types of exercise. - an actionable item!
E. I am going to increase my exercise level as I become stronger, fitter, more capable - more of a hope than a goal unless you add an actual time frame so that you are increasing on a schedule.  It is actionable but you need to have a HOW to make it work (sometimes even plans need plans!).

Now for the Mini and Micro goals to this Macro goal. The reason I started looking at this in smaller terms is that the total was too overwhelming for me. I couldn't even think about it without being taken over by self-defeating, paralyzing trepidation. A healthy weight loss average is 1 to 2.5 lb per week. Even losing 2.5 (the max) every week, week after week after week after week (see where I am going with this?), I could see that it was going to take me at least 65 weeks to reach my goal. MORE THAN A YEAR! That thought in itself was deflating. Yes, the end result is worth the time and effort but there was no reason to defeat myself before I got started.

Okay, how to handle this? Another sit down with myself and I decided to look at my goal in pieces. My Mini goals would be to lose the weight in 10 pound increments. Even this can be pretty daunting as it can take 4-10 weeks to reach this goal IF I lose the safe average. I needed even smaller goals, that I could achieve and celebrate (NEVER with a food reward) to stay motivated, so I broke my Mini goals down into Micro goals. Starting at 278, my first Micro goal was to get to 275. A tiny little 3 lb goal that I could reach in a couple of weeks. After that, I'd work towards the round number: 270. This Micro goal is slightly more than the first at 5lbs - but still less scary than 10lbs. Then, the next Micro goal: lose the last 2 pounds needed to reach the Mini goal! So each Mini goal is comprised of 3 Micro goals. And by concentrating on the Micro goals, the Mini goals JUST HAPPENED BY THEMSELVES! *BIG GRINS*. Where do I go from here? Repeat the cycle of Micro goals, of course! Next up, 265! As of today, 19 Micro goals later, I'm at 215lbs and headed south to 210.

Now you didn't think I did this all with just walking the dog and parking further away from the door did you? Nope, there is way more to it than that. Remember that eating hope from above? Yup, time to address it! (And after that is addressed, next comes increased activity/exercise goals from the above list.) Throughout my life I've been a researcher of healthful eating practices. In the 90's it was through "health" magazines, through the 00's and 10's it has been through the internet. For over 25 years I've learned a lot about nutrition, fads, diets, etc and the one thing that has stood out the most is that healthful eating is not a short term change that you do just to lose the weight. This is a lifestyle change that must be committed to 100% and then stuck to for life. So let's look at how I made this commitment. Remember, achievable, measurable, and actionable items are key here.

2. I am going to change my eating habits. Time to decide HOW to change my eating habits so that this can become a real goal and not just a wish.

A. I am going to eliminate processed sugar from my diet (the white stuff, the brown stuff, the stuff hiding in many packaged products, the fake stuff, all of it).  - An actionable item!
B. I am going to eliminate empty calories from my diet.  - An actionable item!

I covered Empty Calories in the Journeys Too post but as a recap:
In my book empty calorie foods are foods that have nothing in them but calories from sugar/carbs, and/or fats and not much else. No nutrients, vitamins, minerals - nothing that is actually naturally occurring in the ingredients of the "food". This includes enriched foods. If you can't get the nutrients from the ingredients because they have been processed out, what on earth is being added to make up for that?

C. I am going to count my calories - every. single. one.  - An actionable item! (I recommend www.caloriecount.com or the iphone app Calorie Count - same program, different format. Or Livestrong's My Plate website or app).
D. I am going to learn just how many calories I need everyday and formulate an eating plan based on those calories.  - an actionable item!
E. I am going to plan and cook all of my own meals - not eat out and not buy meals or snacks on the run (this is actually way easier than you might think). - An actionable item!
F. I am going to eat 3 regular meals a day with a morning and afternoon snack. - An actionable item!

Making a major lifestyle change when it comes to eating habits is not easy. I was used to eating convenience foods. I'd always loved to cook but had gotten out of the habit of cooking. I'd become more of a "just throw a few things together and call it a meal" eater. Granted those things would usually be fairly nutritional foods (carrots, cheese sticks, nuts, dried fruits, yogurt, fruits and veggies, a sandwich, soup, etc) but I had no problem calling a bag of chips dinner either. Time to change that.

First off,  I needed to start eating breakfast. Breakfast and I had been enemies for many years. I never really felt like eating breakfast. I wasn't usually hungry when I woke up. Sometimes my stomach just didn't feel like it could handle breakfast (with a bag of chips for dinner, who could blame it!). I still didn't really feel like eating in the morning so I packed my breakfast and morning snack to take to work with me. Yogurt with cereal and a banana. I wasn't eating until at least 9am but it was better than skipping breakfast. This would change as I became more active. I now wake up by 6am and am pretty well "starving" for breakfast!

One way to manage the food you are consuming while making planning easy is to have the same breakfasts, snacks, and lunches for a week. I go a step further and have the same dinners for 7 days straight. I cook everything on the weekend, pack it up and I'm ready to go. This weeks menu:
Breakfast - 1 scrambled egg, 1/2 cup milk
Snack - a green apple, 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
Lunch - 1 can light tuna in water with 1 tbsp mayo, 1/2 cup milk
Snack - 1 small avocado or 1 cup red peppers and cauliflower, a smoothie (recipes here)
Dinner - 1.5-2 cups homemade kitchen sink chili
12+ cups of water throughout the day, 1 cup of coffee and 1+ cups of tea
I occasionally mix up the snacks but the format doesn't change. I don't have to think too hard about what to have. I have the snacks with me at work so when I am hungry, I eat. I'm never at the point where I feel like I am starving, and this is so less stressful than worrying about what to eat. I've checked out these foods. I know that if I eat the above, I'll consume ~1700 calories in a day. Adding in protein powder and electrolytes on workout days brings the total to ~1900, and bike days where I ride 45+ miles, I'll add in enough supplements to bring my intake to nearly 3000 as I am expending at least 1200 calories just in biking alone.

The second change was cutting out the sugars. Right after Christmas... I gave them up. Poof! Gone. No soda, no sugar in my coffee or tea, no foods with added sugars. After a couple of days I didn't miss it and now, if I do have a bite of something with sugar added, it tastes overly sweet and generally gives me an upset stomach. I than picked Lent to give up processed foods. I wasn't eating many by this time, down to whole grain breads, cereals, and some pasta. I cut them all out. I was eating only whole foods now. I replaced the processed grains with Quinoa, Brown Rice, Barley and am still searching for more whole grains (non-wheat because it upsets my system) to assure that I am getting a good balance of healthy carbs in my diet.

Okay, now that we know the basics of how I did/am doing it, remember: When making changes, start slowly. Pick a change that you KNOW 100% that you can make and then stick to. Once you have that change down for 2 weeks, make the next change. This is a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. YOU CAN DO IT!

As this is such a big topic, I'll write on it again soon and add some links, breaking down some of this stuff further. Good luck! 

Session 2 - Week 8

Week 8 of Session 2 is now completed! My schedule was as follows:

Sunday May 26th - I met up with the Bulls-Eye Bike Club for a FAST 75 km ride which can be read here: The Massive Hill of Death. I've never done 75 km in 3.5 hours before. At least now, I know I can. :D

Monday May 27th -  Saturday June 1st -This week turned out to be a week of rest. Between business travel to Vancouver (The Bridge to Yesterday) for 3 days, poor eating over the week, and lack of quality sleep, I found myself mentally and physically unprepared for the week. Saturday has been spent getting "back on the wagon" by preparing my menus for the week, catching up on sleep, & re-hydrating, in preparation for a bike ride tomorrow morning.

I've learned a very valuable lesson. My current eating and exercise habits are now part of a lifestyle that I don't want to live without. I feel absolutely rotten physically & emotionally when I neglect myself, my health, nutrition, and mental state. Bring on the health! :D

Sunday morning I meet up with Herb of Bulls-Eye Bike Shop to ride from 7am to 12pm. Hill of Death, here I come (again)!

I Almost Died Yesterday

I've never had a "life flashing before my eyes" experience before yesterday and I hope to never have one again. My immediate thoughts following the experience were:

"And just nearly killed on the highway in Vancouver... Thank goodness for excellent driver reflexes by our driver as the car on the right was 1/2 an inch from my door... Nothing like getting the heart going as your life flashes before your eyes. Puts life a whole lot more into perspective..."

In those few seconds (perhaps even milliseconds) I saw my life with a new clarity. I felt changed. The things that are important came to the forefront while those less important have begun to fall away:

1. Love like there is no tomorrow and let it be known that you love: 

I love you. Nothing will ever change that.

2. Live: explore, imagine, dream, and do.

3. Let go of what you cannot control or change. 

I know it won't always be easy, often taking daily (multiple times a day) reminders to embrace what is important and to let go of what is not but I am happier and on the way to the rest of my life, alive. 

NO Options!!!

Today was Butt & Gutt - NO OPTIONS style! It went like this:

10 minute warm up on the spin bikes using a variety of gears and intensities. Ashley selected the gears and this was only the beginning....

Today's B&G was a circuit based session. There were 7 stations to complete, nearly all of them weighted. What do I mean by "no options"? The weights were selected for us for each station. The format was 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest unless you were completing a single leg or single side circuit, then you got no rest at all. the stations were:

1. Back Extensions - 10lb weight - complete back extensions for 30 seconds, 30 seconds rest, repeat for 4 sets, holding the 10lb weight at your chest and bending over the machine until you were upside down and then returning to a straight angle with your body. Hello lower and mid back!

2. Squats - 20 - 30lb weight - I picked the 20. Hold the weight at your chest and squat until your butt hits the bench. Return to standing. 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x4.

3. Russian Twists - 15 - 20lb weight - 1 picked the 15. Sit in a V leaning back, knees bent, feet off the floor and twist first to the right and then to the left, bringing your elbows as far back around your side as you can in the twist. 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x4.

4. Donkey Kicks - no weight, no break - On your hands and knees, bring one knee in to your elbow and then kick it out and up behind you. Keep your back straight and move only your leg. 30 seconds on the right leg, 30 seconds on the left leg, repeat 4 times with NO BREAK in between. You will swear that your legs are about to fall off!

5. Alternating Lunges - 20lb weight - Stand with the weight on your shoulders and lunge forward. Stand back up, switch legs and repeat.  30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x4

6. Ball Passes - no weight, just a big rubber ball - Lay on your back, hold the ball between your lower legs and bring your legs up. At the same time crunch up and reach for the ball, pass the ball to your hands and lay back down, keeping your hands, feet, and the ball from touching the floor. Crunch up again and pass the ball back to your legs and repeat. 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest x4.

7. Side Plank with Hip Drop - no weight, no break - Get into side plank position but instead of holding it, drop your hip to the floor and then back up to plank position. 30 seconds on the left, 30 seconds on the right, repeat 4 times with NO BREAK in between.

5 minute cool down on the bike - a great stretch - and I still swear my legs are going to fall off. The great thing is that this is the first time in a while that I have been sore after a B&G class. The really great thing is that I completed the workouts. I look back over the past 20 weeks and am amazed at how far I have come.

Thank you out to Ashley, Trudy, and the girls who are so very encouraging!!! Let's rock it!

Perspective

Sometimes you just need to change your perspective...

Hope

hope [hohp]: noun, verb, hoped, hop·ing.

 

noun 1. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best



When the world says give up, Hope whispers 'try one more time'.  

And so I hope...