Mango!

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How can I make an entry a little more interesting when I tend to visit the same ideas or touch on the same issues? I had a bunch of hits yesterday and I hadn’t written an entry in about a week. So here ya go. Mahalo to those of you eager for something interesting and visit lavagal.net.

Lately I’ve been training with the Try Fitness Hawaii Tinman group. Try Fitness is for women, but lately someone’s husband has been training with us. I kinda wish he’d go away. It’s like guys who enter the Hawaii Pacific Health Women’s 10k. Geeze. I don’t care if you are her coach, does a coach swim in the next lane in the Olympics? Give your gal a chance to shine on her own. And if she can’t, don’t set the alarm.

The finishers medal is very sturdy and doubles as a bottle opener! Runners are so dang practical!

Yesterday while I was running 15k in the Hibiscus Half Marathon, my Try Fitness team mates cheered me on as I climbed Kahala Avenue near Triangle Park. They also cheered me along Diamond Head Road, and when I was approaching the finish along Kapiolani Park. It is such an amazing mental lift to get that kind of encouragement. I really appreciated their looking out for me. My first and last miles were faster than the rest of my run. The rest of my run was just as consistent. I’m learning how to settle down and keep moving. My stats. I always forget to turn off my Garmin at the right time, so this one is three seconds longer than the official race results.

So here’s a funny thing. A lot of mango trees in East Oahu are heavy with fruit. When I am out running or riding my bicycle, I want to stop so bad and pick them up off the ground, but I don’t have a bag, and I also get the most horrific mango rash of anyone I know. Despite the joy I get from eating them, I need someone else to prepare them for me. Sometimes I do what I shouldn’t. When I suck the seed my face goes on fire. It happens while I’m eating the mango, sucking the seed, and I know I shouldn’t but I do it anyway. Resisting the urge to stop and pick up a couple of bruised mangoes means I’m not setting myself up for a bad rash. But if anyone has them and looking to unload them, think of me! Once peeled and seeded, I like to make salsa, eat them with sticky rice and sweetened condensed milk, sliced over ice cream, and made into mango bread, with coconut!

When we ride these days along East Oahu, we always encounter mangoes. This is what you might hear when the Try Fitness gals are riding by:

“Car back!”
“Bus back!”
“Runner!”

“MANGO! MMMmmmmmmmangoooooooo!”

Mango is a bitch to clean off a bicycle.

Today John and I went for a little ride to Diamond Head and back. The wind is howling. We took turns pulling each other back to Hawaii Kai on Kalanianaole Highway. I couln’t wait to get home.

Relaxing. Happy Memorial Day from this veteran lucky enough to serve her country from a computer room during her entire military career.

Training is Humility

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Pineapple Run, before.

Kim and me before the run.

One of the bigger hills between stands of eucalyptus. Smelled so good.

This is a busy

John and our twin pineapples.

weekend in Honolulu. I wasn’t in today’s Honolulu Triathlon, but many of my Try Fitness Hawaii friends were. Yesterday I was in the Wahiawa Pineapple 10k Run. John and I each scored a fresh pineapple. How fun is that?

This morning I joined our Tinman training team, a handful of us, for a bicycle ride out to Hawaii Kai and back to Kahala. Normally, I launch from my Hawaii Kai home to Diamond Head or some other summit like Kamiloiki or Makapu’u, and then back. Today was a ride where I was told to spin in a very low gear and match my pedaling with the leader. Spinning in the wild is frustrating for me. I want to pour it on and get power out of every stroke. But I guess this is the art of motion, the calorie burn, the cardio expenditure, the practice that will help me when

Me, after. Next week? Hibiscus 13.1.

I’m in a real race. I’m learning to be part of a team, how to conserve my energy, how to share an experience.

The climb up to the back of Lunalilo Home Road took a lot of effort. I think I’m getting better at hills. Here are today’s stats. I’m not real impressed with the speed, but I’ll get over it. My heart rate monitor needs a new battery, so there’s no reading for heart rate expenditure today.

Here are yesterday’s stats from the Pineapple Run. Out of 42 women in my age group, I came in 24th. There are a lot of hills in Wahiawa. I did alright. Results.

These disciplines spill over into my family and professional lives. I believe the effort I make while working out results in my being realistic about my goals, how I relate to others, and how well I can make this body.

No One Has to Worry About Me.

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You might think I’m some hard-bodied babe or a bad-a$$ bully girl, and that would be wrong. I’m too soft, I’m very cuddly, I am insecure, and I have a hard time sitting down on the ground. Lately, I have a hard time sitting in a chair or sleeping in bed. Most of the time something hurts. A lot of the time I feel inadequate and klutzy. I always wonder what I’ll be when I grow up, when I’ll peak professionally or personally, or if I missed my chance altogether.

I am no one’s competition.

chili pepper bandanna

I’ve had chili pepper bandannas for a long time to dab my sweat and tears.

There are some of you who know me and will say to yourself:

  • I’m a better writer than her.
  • How did she get him to marry her?
  • What kind of mother is she?
  • I can swim, run, and bike better than she can.
  • She’s fat.
  • She’s got the worst hair.
  • She tells stupid jokes and she’s so not funny.

I am embarrassed by my mistakes, I’m forgetful, and I let my family and friends down a lot.

I wish I didn’t. I wish I were better. And I guess that’s why I’m not ready to give it all  up and say I don’t give a sh^t. Because I do. The swimming, running, and biking are ways I deal with my body and my body image. This blog is how I deal with the demons in my head, and the occasional personal victory and attagirl I want to give myself. At work I try, try, try.

Last night I rode my bicycle up Kilauea Avenue three times. It wasn’t that hard. It wasn’t that easy. And although I was with a group, I had to break away, I had to do it at my own pace and not on someone else’s wheel. At the top I circled a few times before descending, heart still racing, double-vision from my tears that seem to fall when the wind blows at my face.

At the bottom I reach for my bandanna and dab my eyes, down shift, and head back up.

Seems I’m always dabbing my eyes and heading back up.

Tri Like a Mother

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A Photosynth edited with Superimpose to bring two photos together. Baby Portlocks. VFFs. Daughters with surfboard. Chillin’.

On Mother’s Day I got myself to Hunakai Park by 7 a.m. for the third day of the first week of my Honolulu Tinman triathlon training with Try Fitness Hawaii. The company’s focus is training for women. I considered joining other groups, but since I knew a few of the women already involved, I felt less intimidated.

I like to work out alone. I run alone, I swim alone, I ride my bike alone. When I see other groups on their bikes, I kinda feel a little smug about having already done Kamiloiki and Makapu’u hills when they come huffing and puffing up while I’m tucked in and screaming back down. I’m not even lonely. I’m pretty comfortable hanging out with just me. When you ride with someone, you can’t really talk to them unless you get to a traffic light or a safety emergency occurs.

Hippy Chick jersey.

At Starbucks after my workout with John. My Hippy Chick jersey. I saw a biker chick and told her I was one, too. She didn’t get it. LOL.

It took the Lanikai Triathlon in April, my first, to get me to reconsider my strategies. I can do all these things, but I can only do them so well by myself. And I learned doing them together is a real bite in the a$$. Form. Processes. Self-talk. Competition. Zen.

My husband can tell me not to slouch when I’m running, but it was KC Carlberg, the woman who owns Try Fitness, who told me that it looked like my foot placement wasn’t quite right, which might explain the perpetual knee pain of my right leg. So on the first day I got some advice on running and swimming, on the second day I got some advice on riding and running, and on the third day, I had to reign in my impulse to break away from the wahine on bikes and kick my own butt. I feel like a filly with potential, reluctant to admit she could learn a few things. But I signed on and paid the fee. Now teach me!

Mother’s Day at my house isn’t what you’d expect. The evening before I prepped all kinds of veggies and steak to marinate and grill. Why? Because I didn’t want to be doing that on Mother’s Day. I wanted to clear the decks for fun. We went to a nearby beach, set up our chairs, brought the SUP and surfboard, and enjoyed the day. There were waves where there are usually none, so it was really challenging for me to SUP, since I do it so infrequently. The girls hung out on the surfboard while I paddled out on my knees, got up for a little bit on my feet, and then paddled back in on my knees. This really kills my right knee. It was just too bumpy for me to feel good about staying up on my feet the whole time. But the day was really pretty.

I went in, gave the SUP to the girls and they hung out in the water with John while I shot pics and gifs with my iPhone. Since it was Mother’s Day, like clockwork, there was a swell. From my chair I watched the baby waves roll in. When I got too hot, I called for the SUP and decided to surf on it. The SUP is 9’2″, 28″ by 4″ and is a heavy mofo of a new board. It’s got padding on it, too. I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers, and the toes would drag when I was trying to get up, but eventually I did. I rode a couple of waves on that monster board. It was sooo hard to maneuver, but the fun of surfing all came back to me.

I realized it had been about three years since I had last paddled out. When I got up on my feet, I didn’t even think about pain or injuries, I didn’t even feel my Achilles tendon that had burst a few years ago. I didn’t even realize that until later that evening. How cool is it that on Mother’s Day I decided it was time for me to start going surfing again?

You know my schedule. OMG. When am I going to do all the things I wanna do when there’s so much I gotta do? LOL. The Hubs just signed me up for the 2013 Hapalua! Yeah, BABY!

I know what I’ll do. I’ll try like a mother to tri like a mother.

Time to Build

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Koko Head Elementary’s Speech Festival Participants; Kid2 is on the left, standing next to the advisor.

On Saturday I didn’t get to do my usual bike ride or run or swim at the butt-crack of dawn because Kid2 was in a speech festival at McKinley High School held by the Hawaii state Department of Education. I was braced for hours of boredom. For the record, I had to go to a meeting, then return, but it was far from boring. Hawaii children who make an effort to stand out really are to be commended! I try really hard to be a good mom, but I’m not built for hours of coddling children, even if it’s my own. So a big thanks to the supportive teachers, parents, and administrators at Koko Head Elementary for helping my daughter and seven other youngsters for weeks of meeting and practicing and training for their big day. I got Kid2 reciting her poem, Shel Silverstein’s “Needles and Pins,”but she’d be mortified if I were to publish it. Way to go, MiniMe! Her talents are amazing! We are so blessed to have such great kids.

Frilled Lizard?

A recent work in progress by Kid2. I think she said it is a frilled lizard.

They’ve been very supportive of me, as has my husband, especially now. For the last two years I’ve taken myself from broken to better, and I’ve taken advantage of every opportunity I could to figure out how to improve. Although it’s a physical journey, the progress I’ve made has built in me a better heart, a better mind, and a better soul.

At the Lanikai Triathlon, I had an o-sh^t moment during the ocean swim, and I felt like I wanted to let go, to slip down, to give up. When you’re in an ocean swim, there isn’t anyone pulling or pushing you along to succeed. There are swimmers clawing at you and swimming over  you, and trying to get by, but it’s every woman for herself. I learned there that I had to have the mental fortitude to survive, to pull myself together, to calm down my racing heart, and to finish the swim. I did. Here I am, writing about it again.

jersey for sale

John and me. I have another jersey like the one I am wearing for sale, cheap! Msg me!

As I jumped on my bicycle for the ride, I couldn’t get my Speedplay  and my right shoe to connect because of the gunk, dirt, and tiny pine cones that clogged the connection. I did the ride with one foot engaged. I didn’t want to tell anyone because I didn’t want to get thrown out. If I had known it was messed up before I started, I would have stayed in bed. But, instead, I did it.

Then I did the run, or to the untrained observer, a jog around Lanikai. My heart raced again, my legs hurt and weren’t going to move any faster than they wanted. Fortunately, I had run the route twice before, so I was prepared for every hill and puddle. I completed it about 10 minutes slower than I usually do.

Dreaming of being a unicorn.

Dreaming of being a unicorn. Will I be one in 12 weeks?

All together, the triathlon taught me about those areas within my mind that need strengthening, and those areas within my training that lacked. Today I start training with Try Fitness Hawaii, for a 12-week Honolulu Tinman program for women that is my Mother’s Day present from my husband. Pretty cool, huh? He is very creative when it comes to birthday or Mother’s Day gifts. Any husband out there who wants to be supportive of his wife, who wants to show he wants to keep her around for a long time, who wants her to be happy with herself, should consider a similar gift for Mother’s Day. I like fancy brunch and restaurant meals as much as anyone else. But that feeling after a workout is a million times better than that feeling after a monstrous meal. And that other part about slipping into jeans or work pants and not having to struggle with the zipper? My favorite part.

I wonder what I’ll look like or what I’ll feel like after 12 weeks? I’ve been a before all my life. It’s time to be an after!

Why Pinterest?

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Pinterest rhymes with interest. So you say it like this: Pin-trist. Like In-trist.

Pinterest is not just for women. In fact, there are guys on there who get it. What an awesome place to show what you’re about, what you like, what your dreams are, what your accomplishments are, what your wacked cat is up to.

I, too, was reluctant about yet another social media platform to sign onto and forget. I had just gotten over my disenchantment and disengagement with Path, and wasn’t ready to hop on to something else that would require virtual nurturing.

 

Pinterest/lavagal

Pinterest on my iPhone today.

So I took it slow. At first I had four boards: Lavagal’s Flow, Cool Stuff, Culinary Adventures, Handsome. Amazing. I started pinning things to my boards and linked my account to Facebook and Twitter. I have the iPhone app that makes it handy for me to upload pictures that I’ve taken. I’ve since expanded to 22 boards. I expect there will be more.

I’ll tell you what Pinterest does for me. I love reading magazines. I subscribe to Oprah, Real Simple, and Bon Appetit. I will save magazines for articles, recipes, or organizational ideas. But the house gets full of magazines and scraps of paper, and moisturizer samples and coupons, and blow cards. It gets a little nuts. Now, instead of tearing things out of these magazines, or keeping months of magazines around, I either find the articles or objects of my affection online and pin them on my Pinterest boards. Or I take a photo of the page or item with my iPhone and pin it up that way. Slowly the avalanche of paper is being mined away. Eventually, every thing I admire, desire, or require will be on my Pinterest boards. Gosh sakes. I hope THAT platform doesn’t implode!

How many facets do our personalities have? I’m more than a corporate cube dweller, so Pinterest lets me share more than a LinkedIn account might. I like to write. I like to blog. I am trying to be a triathlete this year, so I have a board for that. There is a board for each of those sports, swimming, running, and riding bike. There’s a board for wishes, obsessions, local events, being a mom, 2012 goals, music, photos, and one I dubbed “For the World’s A$$holes.” It only has one thing on it. I’m picky. I’m no pin ho.

If I pin something and someone else likes it, they can repin or or like it. I cannot tell  you how many times the lemon chicken recipe had been repinned, but it is very popular. I credited WebMD with the recipe, and they republished it on their site again this week. Dudes! They should have just repinned my pin!

When you first join Pinterest, they automatically set you up with accounts that seem to be professional pinners who are really relentless spinners. I unfollowed all of them. Once I read a Mashable article about guys to follow on Pinterest, so I followed a couple of them. If someone overwhelms me with their incessant voo-doos, then I unfollow.

Sometimes when I get tired of looking at FB, Twitter, NYTimes and other media outlets, I check out Pinterest and click on everybody. It is fascinating what people are pinning. Each pin is like a little window on the disco ball of life. Click on it and you get to see something about the pinner, and maybe decide to follow them. Click on it again, and it usually takes you straight to the link of the item or article pinned. I love peaking into someone’s pin. You never know what you will find.

Businesses can use Pinterest to promote their products, philosophies, events, their employees, principals, and customers. Customers who are loyal to certain brands can repin products. Businesses can create incentives for repins. The health, beauty, fashion, and fitness genres are going great guns with Pinterest. I’m not a total fan girl, but when it comes to a product I like, I might repin it. I will admit that my Handsome. Amazing. board is rather fangirlish. My hubs just rolls his eyes. I should probably put him on it. Problem solved.

There are things about Pinterest I have yet to figure out. I know that you can have a Pinterest account and then hide it from the world. If that’s your style, you could keep it to yourself or share it with a select few. You can choose to link it to your other social media accounts. I know that your friends on social media accounts can follow you, one, or all of your boards. If you look at one of your boards and you can see how many followers it has, you cannot click on that number to see who they are. So that’s kinda weird.

Have fun with Pinterest, but maintain a level of professionalism if you are still looking at years of mortgage payments, or will be sending kids to college soon. Think about what you’re doing. Keep your boards positive, bright, honest, fun, and feel free to add an element of goofy. If part of you is goofy, own it!

Letting go of Personal Artifacts

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Yesterday I began a journey through boxes of personal artifacts that I have kept with me because I am fond of them. There are also a lot of things that I’ve kept “just in case.” Today I brought a small bit to work to leave by the mailboxes for people to scoop. I will probably bring in a few things each day, but most things, I’m sure, will end up in a landfill.

How much baggage do you have? How much do you carry? I have consciously tried to lug less with me to work each day. I don’t want to be confused with a bag lady, and I tore up a shoulder one day falling in the dark while carrying two bags on my way to catch theBus one early morning a few years ago.

I have come to the conclusion that those people who cannot let go of their items lock themselves into a prison in their mind and in their past. They hoard their belongings, they enslave themselves.

Beads from a broken necklace wait in a seashell, with a stone, for what?

You see them on the street with shopping carts and crates loaded with stuff. You hear about them when they die and their bodies are found beneath piles of crap; that a tower of old newspapers or magazines fell on them.

Since I am a journalist, I have quite a few newspaper and magazine clips that I have accumulated over the years. There are multiple copies of some, leftover from past resume kits. I am having a hard time parting with them. I even found a folder of data from when I flew with the Hurricane Hunters into Iniki. Keep? Discard? Scatter into the wind?Fortunately there is the Internet and a lot of my stories can be found with a quick search. And, when you think about it, older stories too often betray how green a writer I actually was. Hmmmm. See how this eases their disposal?

So today I parted with a shiny new sake set in a gift box, a Sponge Bob hat, an oil and vinegar cruet set,  yoga and Pilates DVDs, and a bag of Crayola unopened packages of washable markers, sparkly glue, crayons and stickers. Within 20 minutes all that was left were the DVDs. See that? One woman’s artifacts quickly adopted, soon to be put to use, no longer left to idle in a box, on a shelf, in a room where nobody goes.

P.S. I truly miss blogging daily. I am compelled. I must start again.

Play Back: Triathlon Swimming

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Swimming, revisited. Last night I went to my masters swim session with Coach Joe Lileikis, and I had a chance to tell him about the anxiety attack I had out in the ocean during the first leg of the ANA … Continue reading →