Life Update And Beyond

Its been quite awhile and alot has happened in my life in the past few years. I fell in love, became an uncle, adopted a cat, bought a home, brewed a good beer, tasted many a good beers, traveled to Canada, created some unforgettable memores, suffered a broken heart, gave my mind some therapy, reconnected with people I have missed and cared for, enjoyed time with my family and I'm sure many things I am missing. I wanted to start writing again with hopes to help keep myself on point in terms of keep track of my health in terms of physical health and mental health. I have been working on some steps to get back on track and I realize when I keep track of what I am doing in physical form it helps tremendously. I have put on a good amount of weight, most likely from beer and comfort foods. Eating your anxiety and sadness is a way is a very temporary thing but stick siwth you, especially on the belly section, if you dont address it. So here is to addressing it :) I also need to find a better outlet for doing creative things. I love building and crafting things from wood to fermentable and even baked goods. So I hope to keep track of my goals and let you enjoy it as well along the way. Maybe I will even become a better writer.

Climbing Up A Hill

Starting at the bottom, step by step.

I decided that I wanted to take advantage of the a beautiful Saturday during memorial day weekend and try my luck at hiking. I always wanted to visit state parks and find amazing views so I thought I would start off local. I have heard of Pine Grove Furnace State Park before from people I have worked with several times so I decided this would be a good start. This park is known for having a part of Appalachian Trail run through it as well a specific scenic route know as the Pole Steeple Lookout. So I set off in the morning and headed to the park to go on an adventure!

At the bottom of the hill I looked up the path and thought to myself this will be a piece of cake. I quickly discovered that the hike was on a little bit of an incline...that turned into a much greater incline. As I was sweating like a beast and realizing I left my water in the car at the bottom of the hill I thought I would be a tough guy and keep going. I mean it was that much farther up the hill right? I was quickly met with the first of what I would later realize as a glorious sight.

 

Sweet sweet glorious benchs! 

Being the tough guy as I am I walked right past the first bench before the first bend and kept going along thinking to myself  "I am almost there. Why stop now?" By the second much steeper incline when I saw this bench I sat my butt down an literally waited for my heart to calm the heck down. I was sweating it much more than earlier and no wooden bench felt more comfortable. Looking at it now maybe my butt cheeks were numb haha.

After continuing on and getting past by several families whose kids were clearly jacked up on sugar smacks or whatever sugar driven cereal they had earlier in the day I made it to the bottom of a smaller hill of which I could see the top is where the scenic view was. Excitement building I went up to the top and was met with a truly marvelous view.

A view at the top.

Stepping over the final rocks at the top of the hill I was met with a very amazing view on a much more beautiful day. Even though I was exhausted, without water and snack I honestly could care less. I sat up on top of the mountain and just took in the fresh air. No annoying neighbors. No crowds. Just me and a little slice of heaven.

What I took away from this experience.

Once again I really did not prepare enough in advance for this adventure. I took a backpack with me that worked out well but left the essentials of snack and water in the car. Besides that however I learned that even in your own back yard you can find amazing little slices of beauty. An hours drive from my apartment and a little work and you can too sit on top of a mountain on a beautiful day. This is definitely something that I really enjoyed doing overall and hope to continue.

Post Vacation 5k a Bark In The Park

Acting on me impulse and signing up.

As I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight going about to go on vacation I got that idea to take this time to sign up for a 5k that a friend of mine kept asking me if I was going to run in. I really wanted to get started working on improving my fitness once again and this is something I felt I had to do. I won't lie I know I was out of shape and this was probably going to be something I regret when I got back the following weekend. But before I could talk myself out of it I whipped out my phone, found the 5k and signed up.

One Week Later...

I got back from vacation on Friday evening and before I went to bed that night I prepared for battle in the morning. I put the clothes I was planning on running in next to my bed so when the alarm sounded the next morning I could jump right in and make a break for my car. I drove to my friends house out near where the race was going to be so we could head over together.

The Shirt Alone Was Worth it!

5th Annual Bark In The Park 5k.

The 5k race is called the Bark In The Park and what makes this race unique is that runners have the option to run along side there 4 legged friends. There actually was a fair amount of runner that ran with their dogs. Sadly I don't have a dog but even if I did I am pretty sure I was about to have enough fun all by myself. The morning was very rainy so people were all huddled together to await the start of the race. I had some jitters. There was people stretching and doing little warming up exercises. Even the dogs were stretching their legs. Not being prepared I was about to have a bad day.

On Your Mark, Set, BANG!

For the first mile of the race I was actually surprising myself. I was pretty stiff but my legs fell into a nice rhythm. As I passed the 1 mile marker, the pain began to say "Howdy! You didn't think it would be that easy did you! Mwuhahaha!"  Pain is stupid but then again so am I for running a race without preparing more aggressively or as it felt at all.

I slowed to a walk even though it felt like a crawl. It wasn't until I looked to my right and saw a runner with a Basset Hound whose legs were moving at Mach 10 that I was sucking hard core. After my double take I just said to myself "Oh hell no" and bursted into a sprint. I knew if I wanted to finish with any respectable time I would have to fall back to some interval training. I broke into a pace of sprints of 40 seconds and jogging every 20 seconds. I used this method until I finally got across the finish line. 

What I took away from this experience.

I was not prepared nearly enough and for that reason I sucked it up. But I am not discouraged. I actually did take a few deeper things away. Firstly was the thrill of competition. There was one point that I kept going back and for with a few of the runners. I didn't want to be left in the dust and it made me push myself. Second was actually acting and signing up for the race. I had a feeling if I came back from vacation and hadn't signed up yet that I would talk myself out of doing it. Having a set date to look forward toward and do what is necessary to be happy of your performance on that day pushes you to do what you know needs to be done. 

In the spirit of setting a date.  

Next Race:      1st Annual Delone Dash 5k Trail Run
Date of Race:  Saturday, June 30th

Acting On Desire And Diving In

May 14, 2018 Cancun, MX - 9am Poolside

The day before I was asked if I was interesting in going Scuba diving in the ocean along the coral reefs of Cancun. My first thought was "Hell Yes" followed quickly by feelings of fear and excuses. Its amazing how quickly our brains turn against us. Our dreams of adventure can quickly be shadowed by a cloud of doubt. But on that day, before I changed my mind I said "Count me in."

The next morning I found myself by the side of the pool about to take a quick summary class on how not to die in the ocean and how to use the scuba equipment properly amongst a few other necessary skills while under water in the ocean. I passed all the tests with flying colors.

Several hours later...

A little scared but still very excited I headed out with a group to the ocean via boat to be dropped in above the reef. All suited up I dropped in and very quickly realized I was going to have some issues. I had a very hard time breathing. Sadly I couldn't figure out my situation so while the rest of the group went exploring I sat several meters under the ocean surface trying to learn how to brief properly. After several minutes it was no use, I couldn't do it. I felt defeated.

I promised myself years ago that I wanted to be in good enough shape that if I ever wanted to try and do something I could without my health being a factor. Here I am in the ocean trying to scuba and I can't. Life gave me lemons so I decided to make the best lemonade I could. I ended up snorkeling for 2 hours above the reef while following the boat that brought us around. This kinda of frustrated me more. I can't handle the breathing but I can swim on the surface of the ocean for 2 hours without a life jacket...seriously.

What I took away from this experience.

Even though I had issues and wasn't able to scuba properly I did take some positive things away from my experience. Firstly, I am definitely going to try it again. I am determined in fact to make sure the next time I will be able to do it. I am even considering taking a scuba certification class to become a certified diver. The hardest part for me was actually deciding to give scuba diving a try. For years instead to acting on my feelings to do new things, I listened to the little voice inside my head who made up excuses to talk myself out of it. Over the past few weeks I have been acting on my impulses and its made a world of difference in my life. Be prepared to see more little stories such as this.