Project Exercise

I got some cycling time in this week due to my bike commutes.  It has been a great way to get some extra cardio done.  I also got to go out on a couple of short 5k runs too.  Although it is still slow going, my knee held up well so I am going to call it a good week for running.  I was also able to get my P90X strength workouts done as well.

I am struggling with my nutrition and as a result I am gaining weight, or more importantly body fat.  I have to get my lifestyle back to wear it was last year.  I can still get decent workouts done, however, I am sure I could perform better carrying less body fat.  I don’t need to get down to 8.5% like I was last year, but  I would like to get down to 10-12%.  Ok, so the food log starts tomorrow.

Today, I took the family to the Pacific Aviation Museum.  It is located on Ford Island at Pearl Harbor.  The exhibits are located in a renovated hanger just a few hundred yards from the Arizona Memorial.  As some of you may know, the Arizona is a battleship that was destroyed by the Japanese Navy during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Many of the crew are still trapped within the ship which lies underwater.  Next to the Aviation Museum is a control tower that still has bullet holes from the raid.

Cycling to work has been a great boost for my training.  Normally, I like to get training rides on my road bike, however, I need a more sturdy bike for commuting.  My route to work sometimes take me to roads that are a little rough.  The mountain bike’s bigger and sturdier tires handle those roads well.  I also have to carry a bunch of stuff to work like my laptop, change of clothes, lunch and some other little items so I carry them in bags that mount on my bike.  Another reason I like to use my mountain bike is because I don’t like to use clipless pedals while in the hairy afternoon commutes.  I want to be able to get off my pedals unimpeded.

Bike with bags - Ala Moana Beach Park

The picture above  shows my bike loaded with my bags.  This was taken during today’s commute.

My mountain bike weighs a considerable amount more than my road bike.  When I add the gear I carry in the bags I would say that I am pedaling nearly 40 pounds more than when I ride my road bike.  I try to pedal a 90 rpm cadence so with all this weight I am getting a great workout.  I try to ride between 10 to 15 miles each way.  During the ride home I am usually pedaling against a pretty strong head wind (thanks to our tropical trade winds) and I get some hill training when dealing with the ride up Diamond Head crater.

I can definitely feel the benefits of my daily commutes.  Now, pedaling the road bike is a piece of cake.  The most dramatic improvement is pedaling my racing bike up Diamond Head.

View of the entrance to the Ala Wai Boat Harbor

You probably can’t see it very well, but there is an outrigger canoe just above the seat of my bike.  Outrigger canoe races are big here.  Folks from all over the world come here to compete.  It takes a lot of endurance and upper body strength to take these things out on the open ocean.  I used paddle about 20 years ago.  We used to paddle 20 miles on training days.

The picture above shows how I topped off my week by spending the day with my grandchildren.  We were at the football field where my son was playing football and my granddaughter and I were enjoying a treat before the game.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

The week did not start out that great, though, as some of you may know, I ended up crashing my bike avoiding a runner (don’t flame me, I happen to like runners) and getting a good dose of road rash.  However, the week got progressively better as the days went by.

I continued to commute to work on my bike.  I also did my P90X workouts.  I was supposed to do a cardio type workout today, but I decided to put the workout on the back burner because my grandchildren were in town (or more accurately, they were on the island).  They live on the island of Molokai so it is a great treat when to come to O’ahu.

Ok, grandpa has to go to bed now so I can be fresh for tomorrow.  My son, Brendan, is playing more football tomorrow.  We are in the playoffs and the kids get to play in the “Aloha Stadium”.  That is where the NFL Pro Bowl is played.  So more good times with football and grandchildren!!!  Oh, and my Dad is here too.  He is also from Molokai.  So I get to spend father’s day with my Dad!  Pinch me… I must have died and went to heaven.

This morning’s cycling commute was interesting.  I was riding along the Ala Wai Canal this morning.  It is a great place to ride because there is a nice bike lane and it is a long, straight stretch of road.  I can actually get moving pretty fast along that portion of my morning commute.  Along the canal there is a running path.  I have run this stretch more than a few times myself.  It was a typical morning.  There were a few people doing their early morning runs.  As I got passed a line of parked cars a runner jumped out into the street to cross.  She came towards me at an angle and I had to steer inward towards the curb to avoid hitting her.  My bike tires hit the side of the curb and down I went.  I was moving at a pretty good clip at the time so the crash was YouTube worthy.  Anyway, the woman was pretty shaken up and asked if I was alright.  Other than the road rash I was fine.  I kept apologizing and I told her that I was ok.  I think she was more shaken up than I was.  She said she was looking for cars and when it was clear she jumped off the curb.  I had just passed a bunch of parked cars and I saw with a woman running at me.  I am glad I did hit one of the cars.  I mean, I would have done some damage to the vehicle.  There were a couple of problems that led up to the incident.  First, she did not cross at a crosswalk or intersection.  Second, she said that she was only looking for cars, she was surprised when there was a cyclist bearing down on her.

When I got to work I had to scrap all the little rocks out of my road rash.  I used soap and water to clean up then I used hand sanitizer to disinfect.  That stung like crazy!

Yesterday was a state holiday, “Kamehameha Day”.  It celebrates a Hawaiian Monarch that is credited with unifying all the islands nearly 200 years ago.  Well, that is not exactly true, he wasn’t able to get the island of Kauai under his control.  However, he is revered by the people of Hawaii.  Ok, enough of the brief history lesson.

Since I had the day off and Teresa is out of school for the summer (she is a high school teacher), I thought we could take my son and go out for a family hike.  However, my son’s “Summer Fun” group was schedule to go to the ice skating rink so he wanted to go with them instead.  I was kind of bummed out, but I would have made the same decision at his age.  I mean, let’s see… hike with a couple of old people or have some rip roaring fun with his buddies.  No contest.

I was cool, though, because Teresa and I could go out on a date!  So we headed off to Makapu’u.  Here is some information about Makapu’u from Wikipedia…

“Makapuʻu is the extreme eastern end of the Island of Oʻahu in the Hawaiian Islands, comprising the remnant of a ridge that rises 647 feet (197 m) above the sea. The cliff at Makapuʻu Point forms the eastern tip and is the site of a prominent lighthouse. The place name of this area, meaning “bulging eye” in Hawaiian, is thought to derive from the name of an image said to have been located in a cave here called Keanaokeakuapōloli. The entire area is quite scenic and a panoramic view is presented at the lookout on Kalanianaole Highway (State Rte. 72) where the roadway surmounts the cliff just before turning south towards leeward Oʻahu and Honolulu.”

From Makapu’u one can see my home island of Molokai across the channel.  It was a beautiful day for a hike.

In this photo you can see a couple of tide pools at the bottom of the hill.  It is located in the center of the picture.  In the next photo you will see a close up of the tide pools and people swimming in them.

Swimmers enjoying themselves in the tide pool…

View from the lookout.  Sea Life Park is located in the center of the photo.

Another view from the lookout – Rabbit Island.  There are no rabbits on the island, but from a different angle it kind of looks like a rabbit.

The lighthouse.

To get some cycling time I have been commuting to work on my mountain bike.  I chose the mountain bike because I don’t have to clip into my pedals.  When driving in traffic, I just feel that I need to have my shoes free of the pedals in case of an emergency.  I also have bags that attach to my rack becauseI need to carry my laptop and a change of clothes.

It is still dark when I leave the house, however, I get to see the sun rise just about the time I am traveling on a road that goes along the beach.  It makes for a pleasant ride.  There aren’t many cars on the road when I leave the house.  I also try to select a route that takes me off the main arteries.  I don’t take direct routes not only for safety, but also so I can log training miles.

The afternoon ride is very different from the morning commute.  There are a lot more cars and folks drive with reckless abandon.  I really have to be focused.  I also have to climb up the backside of Diamond Head so I get some hill training done.  Unlike my light road bike, the mountain bike with all my gear is a lot tougher to pedal up hill.

Another benefit to riding my bike is that I can listen to my audio books.  Jeff turned me on to author Lee Child.  I am currently listening to “Bad Luck and Trouble”.

Cleaning up at work after the morning commute is a bit tricky.  I am able to freshen up in the restroom.  I have soap at work so I basically wash my face, head and neck.  I also have wet wipes to clean up.  If, for some reason, I get sloppy sweaty I can head over to the gym a block away and take a shower.  However, cleaning up in the restroom seems to do the trick.  After freshening up I change clothes.

With our tropical weather, it gets quite hot after 10am so I sweat like you read about on the ride home, especially after climbing the road up Diamond Head crater.  Its cool, though, because I can shower up when I get home.

Here are a couple of photos that I took this afternoon on my commute home.