New Boots at Tuesday Night Workout

Though still tired from this weekend's hike and carwash, I felt I was beginning to recover today and was looking forward to our track workout at which I could give my new boots a good try.

After helping out at our son's TBall game, we rushed up to Foothill College. Our son came with tonight, due to a conflict in our babysitter's schedule.

Tonight's workout consisted of walking fast around the track, interspersed with 18 sets of bleachers. After that, we did stretching exercises and core training. It was a good workout and I felt good about it. The hiking boots seem to be working out much better, though I may still need a metatarsal arch to keep the toes in my left foot from getting slightly numb.

Pooped

This was me today. Fortunately, I didn't have a lot to do except take our son to school and pick him up after his Taekwondo lesson.

The one thing that I did do was visit REI immediately after dropping my son off at school. New boots were the order of the day! This time, the sales lady was really helpful. I had brought in last month's pair of boots and she had me remove the insoles and then stand in them. Clearly, my toes were very near the end of the insole, which means that the boots were too small. I had no idea, since the boots are so stiff that it's impossible to depress the top of the toe area to find out where your toes are once inside the boot. So this was a neat trick. I went up a full size, this time trying them out with Superfeet replacing the included insole. These boots felt much better.

But would REI take the old boots back? I had a discussion with their customer service representative and was completely honest about having previously hiked in them several times. REI took the boots back, no questions asked. That was truly amazing! REI rocks! So I am now on my third pair of boots and hopefully this time, they will work!

I didn't do my incline walk today. I took a nap instead, after returning home from REI. I did have a meeting after dinner which I nearly slept through. Hoping to be recharged for tomorrow's workout at Foothill College.

Car Wash Fundraiser

After resting the balance of Saturday, I got up for early morning Mass, and then we all headed out to the Sports Basement to wash cars for a fundraiser! All of the money donated is split between our Leukemia & Lymphoma Society accounts. Duane and I both got our cars washed as well. And no, the elephants did not make an appearance.

We broke out the buckets, hoses, shammy cloths, towels, soap and hubcap degreaser and cleaned cars from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. It was quite a bit of work and by the time we finished, I was pretty beat, especially in conjunction with yesterday's hike. I wonder how many calories are burned washing cars?

Hikers who couldn't make it all day, brought their cars in for a wash. Some of my amateur radio friends also showed up, and my Team in Training friends had fun learning about the "antenna farm" on the back of one of my friend's pickup.

The day went smoothly and our son even helped out. Anything with squirting water is fun, right!? The only glitch was that Mentor Deb left her car radio on too long and drained the battery. CSAA to the rescue! That's what they are for! All in all, it was a good day and we took in a total of $225 for the cause: $45 towards our goal of raising $3,200 each.

Pole-less in Windy Hill

Packing your bags and making sure all is in ready is not fail safe. We left the house at 7:00 am this morning, only for me to discover, half way to the trail head, that I had forgotten my hiking poles. It was too late to return and retrieve them. Well, I've hiked before without poles, so I would hike this time without poles. More on that later... On the up side, at least I remembered toilet paper and, this time, I also brought Cottonelles.

We gathered at the trail head and got ready. Duane's birthday had passed, but he did not escape. He was given a plastic purple hardhat with a silver propeller to wear. I think it really works, don't you? The birthday boy today, however, was Reggie, who got to wear the same jester hat that I wore previously.

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning. Windy Hill got that name for a reason. It is often very windy and foggy and there is often a view similar to what we saw at El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve last week. But not today. We had gorgeous views of the ocean on one side of Skyline, but than as we began to hike the trail down the east side of the mountains, we had gorgeous views of Stanford, the bay and parts of Silicon Valley.

The trail went down, via a series of switchbacks, from Skyline to Alpine Road - a distance of 5.2 miles (via the red trail on the map). I was enjoyed the scenery, but about two thirds of the way down the mountain it fast became apparent that something was wrong with my boots.

I had put "Superfeet" in my boots. These are a replacement insole that offers more arch support. These insoles are, however, a little bit thicker at the toe than the insoles that come with the boot. That left very little extra room in the toe box and, after all the downhill, my feet were really hurting by the time we reached Alpine Road. I began to realize that my boots were marginal, but that inserting the Superfeet had put them over the edge.

At the same time, having forgotten my poles, I discovered that my lower back muscles and my knees were starting to get a little sore. In a way, that was a good thing, because it really confirmed for me how much better it is to hike with poles. It obviously saves a lot of wear and tear on the body.

Duane was a real gentlemen, of course. He wanted to give me his poles for a while. I just didn't want to think about it, and I didn't want Duane to pay the consequences for my mistake, so I politely declined.

The wildflowers were a pleasant distraction. Duane took lots of photos. (See the Picasa album in the right hand sidebar for all of the photos of our hikes.) In addition, as we hiked we played "Who Am I?" A hiker would think of a famous person, and the rest of us would have to ask yes/no questions until one of us guessed the answer. The winner then got to think of another person, and so on. Reggie, the birthday boy, thought of Val Kilmer, but then misdirected us when he told us that he'd never had a leading role in a movie. Huh? I guess he's never seen Top Gun, Willow, Batman Forever, Tombstone, or The Doors. What's up with that?? When it was my turn to think of a famous person, I switched to history and thought of Alexander Hamilton. I think Duane got that one.

Despite all of the distractions however, I was limping by the time I arrived at the second parking lot. I chose not to walk the last half mile to the first parking lot, so Duane got the car and came back for me. Fortunately, I had a pair of sandals in the car, which I put on and my feet began to feel much better. Clearly it was time to go back to REI and see if I could get a different, larger pair of boots.

After our hike, several of us drove the 1.8 miles back to La Honda for a refreshing lunch at Alice's Restaurant, a popular spot for motorcyclists who like to drive on Skyline.

Louise, Jennifer, Coach Steve & Sophie

Today is a rest day and... we rested!

Neither Duane nor I would be able to tackle such a large project if we weren't getting the support of many friends. While some of that support is financial, some of it is not. Juggling three different schedules has been challenging, but we "get by with a little help from our friends". Actually, a lot of help!

Today, I would like to thank all of those people who are giving us non-financial support and who are helping us to tackle Half Dome:

• Louise and Jennifer, both with children of their own, have pitched in like champions, taking our son for "sleepovers" and playdates so that Duane and I could attend the conditioning hikes. They've even taken our son to/picked him up from his TBall games when there was a scheduling conflict.


• Coach Steve (of my son's TBall team) and his wife Kim have allowed us to drop our son off at their house in the early morning hours just prior to our hike's and Daniel's games. When I was thinking of pulling our son out of TBall this season because trying to juggle that too was more than I thought I could manage, Coach Steve offered his support. He's an awesome coach too and our son is really enjoying baseball this year!


• Sophie is our babysitter extraordinaire for those Tuesday night workouts at Foothill College. The balloon ball game is our son's favorite!

Here's to all of you! We couldn't do it without you!

Stanford Dish Walk

Today we had an incline walk on our schedule. At 5:00 pm, I picked up our son and headed for Palo Alto where I met Duane and other Team in Training participants for a walk to the Stanford Dish.

Poles and backpacks weren't really needed for this hike, which is on a paved trail. I used a fanny pack to carry a bottle of electrolyte and a bottle of water. That was really all I needed.

This was a nice medium walk up and down the rolling hills and amidst oak trees and grassy meadows. The dish itself is a radio telescope used for astronomy. I'm fairly certain that we walked by the Stanford amateur radio club as several ham radio HF antennas were also in evidence, as well as some very odd arrangements of 4 ham sticks qua dipole connected in an array. I'd love to know more about that.

Walking Around Vasona Lake

Today I met a friend and we walked for 90 minutes in Vasona Park, a lovely local park complete with its own narrow guage railroad, lake, dam and creek. We walked all the way to the dam and back on both sides of the lake.

This is really a great place to go for a family picnic and now that summer is coming, I'm looking forward to it!

"A Habit Cannot Be Tossed Out the Window; It Must Be Coaxed Up the Stairs a Step at a Time.”

-- Mark Twain (except that he was coaxing "down" the stairs).

Tonight, since we didn't have our usual workout at Foothill College, we tackled the Communications Hill staircase once again. This time we went up and down three times, some of the steps done sideways.

Old habits do die hard, however, and I take Twain's point. I'd still rather be doing anything than walking up these stairs. But I like the effect that doing this is beginning to have on my body.

A Walk In the Park

I didn't have much time to exercise today. Most of my time was spent running errands and cleaning house. (I wonder how many calories are burned mopping the floor?) We did manage, however, to squeeze in a 30 minute walk to and around the local school playground and back!

Stairs, Stairs and More Stairs

Today was supposed to be our easy walk, but both of us felt like tackling the stairs again today. We only did two sets of 223 stairs, which at this point is definitely taking it easy for us!

A Hike in the Fog

Today we hiked for 4 hours in El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve, off of Skyline Drive just 4 miles north of La Honda. We met at the parking lot near Skeggs Point at our usual time of 7:45 am. The weather was a thick "pea soup" fog. The sun never did shine and it was more like hiking in the rain, as it was very cold, wet and muddy.

We hiked through redwood forests, the earth below thick with loam and the hills dotted with woodwardia ferns. The trail was very rocky, similar to the trails in Castle Rock State Park, but with lots of sandstone formations. We hiked the Tafoni trail to the Resolution trail, which is named for the DC-6 airplane that crashed into the mountain side in 1953. The Resolution trail passes right next to the wreckage, some of which is still visible from the trail. Hikers are now restricted to the trail, but photos of the crash site are available online.


The Resolution, a British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines DC-6, Flight No. 304-44, was approaching San Francisco airport on its way from Sydney, Australia via Honolulu, Hawaii. The plane was carrying 11 passengers and 8 crew. Shortly after crossing over the California coastline, while flying in fog much like today, the airplane crashed into the shoulder of King’s Mountain at an altitude of 1,950 feet and broke up, scattering burning wreckage over a half-mile area in Corte Madera Canyon. All 19 people on board died in the crash, including 31 year old American pianist William Kapell, and it remains the worst aviation disaster in San Mateo County's history. The accident was attributed to human error: The flight crew failed to follow the appropriate procedures for an instrument approach to the airport.


We hiked back on the Fir trail and, since we arrived at the end an hour early, chose to do another loop down the Fir Trail to the Methuselah trail and back up the Sierra Morena trail to Skeggs Point and the parking lot. The uphill hiking is definitely getting easier!

Rose Capurro

Rose Capurro is my sister-in-law and she is a cancer survivor.

Although Steve is my youngest brother by seven years, Duane and I married only six months ahead of Steve and Rose. I was definitely a late bloomer. As you might imagine, mom was up to her eyeballs in planning for our weddings. Mom did a fantastic job!

I first met her when she was engaged to my brother who was then living far away from home. I remember the first time she came home with my brother for a holiday. Unfortunately, there was no white zinfandel in the house so I drove to the store and bought her a bottle. Cool! I like white zinfandel too, however gauche the wine snobs may think our taste.

Sidebar: I think I remember something about Rose tripping down the stairs too. Whatever it was, it was something we all laughed about for years afterwards.

The photo above was taken when I visited Rose and Steve at their home near Syracuse, New York, in 2003. Among other things, Rose and I and our children drove up to Niagara Falls for the weekend. Rose knew exactly the right hotel to go to in order to get the most beautiful view of the Falls - something I would remember when my own family started a vacation in Niagara Falls five years later. Rose and I took the kids on the Maid of the Mist and to the Rainforest Cafe and we all had a blast! The best part was that we were able to get a hotel certified babysitter for a couple of hours and walk around the town by ourselves. It had been years since I had been to Niagara Falls (and it would be several more years before I was there again) and this was the first time I had really had a chance to explore the falls area part of the town.

I think the thing that is the most amazing about Rose is how she has managed being a wife and mother, especially during the times that my brother was so busy with, and travelling for his job. She has a real artistic flair and has made a great home for her family. She rolls with the punches of life, gets up, and keeps on ticking!

One of those "punches" showed up in the form of thyroid cancer last year. Rose met the challenge and dealt with it. Because of Rose, I have become very aware of the risks that soy foods can pose. Soy contains phyto-estrogens, which can disrupt the body's normal endocrine function. Soy is implicated in thyroid cancer and can also raise the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women. Soy is normally thought to be a very healthy product, but we don't eat soy the same way people of Asian descent do, which is to say that most of the soy produced and processed for the American diet is not fermented. It is unfermented soy that has higher amounts of phyto-estrogens and which can be a greater danger. Thanks to Rose, I am much more soy concious. I now use a different non-soy cooking oil. I shop for granola and protein bars that contain as little soy as possible. (Check out Trio bars.) I read the labels on everything now.

Rose is also a great motivator - and a fitness instructor to boot! Throughout the ten years that I have known her, she's always been a big cheering section for me to be healthy and get in shape. I get emails at least once a week with diet tips, motivational stories, and practical advice. Well, since I started. She wasn't bugging me about it when I wasn't ready to take action. Thank you!

Here's to you Rose, my sister from another mother. This hike's for you!

Antenna and More TBall

I wonder how many calories one burns putting up a high frequency (HF) antenna? Over the last couple of months, an amateur radio friend of mine helped me to put up my first HF antenna. We designed and built a multi-band fan dipole (pictured at left with the exception that my antenna does not have an 80 meter wire), which in my case is set up as an inverted-V (not like the picture at left).

First we put up the mast. That took an entire day, during which we pounded a stake into the ground, put a plumber's plastic "donut" over it, and then fitted a telescoping mast over the stake. We attached some metal L-bars (with pre-drilled holes) to the eaves, as well as an L-bar cross piece. We then attached the mast to the L-Bars via a U-bolt. Then it started raining and the entire project got put on hold for over a month.

Last week, we drilled a hole through the outside wall and ran approximately 50 feet of RG-8 coaxial cable, about 15 feet of it into the house. The cable was put into the room where my "ham shack" desk is located - the play room that I will be sharing with my son.

Today, at last, we started to build the antenna. First we measured out three sets of wires for different HF bands:

• 10 meters (approximately 17 feet long, cut in half);
• 20 meters (approximately 35 feet long, cut in half);
• 40 meters (approximately 70 feet long, cut in half);

Next, we attached the wires to a center insulator, added some separators to keep each wire from interacting the others, and raised it up the mast. We attached some "eyes" to the eaves of the house at either end, in order to tie down the tail ends of the antenna.

The next step involved "tuning" the antenna, which involves making the wires shorter or longer to put it in the right band (a set of frequencies). This involved lowering and raising the antenna multiple times, carrying a ladder from one end of the house to the other to do that, and then raising and lowering the center at the mast. I'm sure I burned up several calories and also gained some upper body strength carrying that ladder around!

We had enough time to tune the 40 meter wire today, but the rest will have to wait until tomorrow. I had to pick the little on up from taekwondo practice and take him to his TBall game. More calories spent here, as I helped the coach in the outfield.

So, I didn't get much walking in today, but I did exercise! And then after I came home and cooked dinner, I sat down at my radio and made my first HF QSO on 40 meters, lower side band, to a station in North Carolina. How cool is that!? All the way across the country on my wire!

A Grand View from Mt. Hamilton

We were back at the Mt. Hamilton Grandview for dinner tonight to celebrate Duane's birthday. Exercise didn't happen tonight, but the filet mignon, cheesecake and margarita were yummy. The view of the Santa Clara Valley, as always, was spectacular!

Bones, Muscles and Body Mechanics

We arrived at Foothill College, per usual, to do our Tuesday night workout. Tonight's workout consisted of:

going up and down the bleachers 14 times, 6 of those sideways;

stretching exercises;

core exercises (for strength training);

"funny" walks (on tiptoes, heels and with feet pointed inwards and then outwards;

one half mile around the track going slow; and

one half mile around the track going fast (although still walking);

Tonight's workout at Foothill College was shorter than usual due to a presentation given by a chiropractor on body mechanics and stretching. For the last 45 minutes, we learned about what is going on when certain muscle groups start to cramp. I learned that the lower back pain that I had for a short while during the Alum Rock hike last weekend was due to my gluteal muscles locking up. We learned some good stretching exercises to do. I also learned that calf stretches are good for keeping the Achilles tendon healthy. (I figured this one out on my own, but it was a useful confirmation of what I had already learned.)

The most interesting thing I learned tonight had to do with the mild pain and numbness that I've been having in the toe of one boot. I've been at my wit's end because my shoe is wide enough, yet if I go any wider my toes will hit the front of the boot on the downhill. It turns out that this symptom is caused by a fallen metatarsal arch. What to do? The chiropractor recommended metatarsal arch supports, so I will go down to the specialized shoe store and see if I can find some and where to place them in my boot. Superfeet are also recommended as a replacement insole for hiking boots, as they give more support in all of the right places.

All in all a very productive night for me, although I think Duane could have used the information a week earlier. He didn't do the workout tonight because his foot was still hurting, so we saved some money on a babysitter and Duane watched our son, who ran around the track as fast as he could. The little guy was thrilled when I told him that he was going to be running a foot race in two weeks. He started running around the track even faster in practice mode!

Injury

Unfortunately, Duane injured his foot last night while taking our long walk to Hollywood Video. He left the house with the wrong shoes and tied his laces too tight. The tendons that run from the toes up the top of the foot were making a nasty grinding noise by the time we got back. This does prove how important it is to wear the right shoes, laced correctly!

We took a break tonight from our walking to give Duane's foot a chance to heal.

Will Walk for Blazing Saddles

I spent most of my Sunday relaxing, cooking and cleaning. So it was 6:30 pm by the time I realized we hadn't yet done our easy walk. I've been wanting to watch Blazing Saddles again. I hadn't seen it in a very long time and I really wanted to make a more informed decision about which is the better movie.

We decided to walk to Hollywood Video to rent the movie. (Would I ever have been disappointed if we had walked all the way there, and the movie was out! Which fortunately was not the case...)

The video store is a distance of 3.7 miles, so we walked about 7.5 miles. It was dark by the time we got back, but we did it and we watched the movie later after putting our son to bed.

I had forgotten about the movie's racial component. The sexual innuendo is, of course, classic Mel Brooks. It was certainly good for several laughs, but I came away feeling that the movie is dated and that my child's generation wouldn't really understand why the racial theme was such a big deal. My own generation and the ones that follow me have grown up or are growing up in neighborhoods and classrooms that know no racial division.

As for the question at hand, my answer is: The Princess Bride. By a longshot. I haven't changed my mind.

Hot On Your Trail: Alum Rock Park

The marine layer is back. After several days of absolutely glorious weather, we awoke at 6:00 am to overcast skies and much cooler temperatures. We ate our breakfast and this time headed towards the eastern side of Silicon Valley and Alum Rock Park. Although we had written directions to the park, this time we thought we give "Roger", our GPS, a try. Roger took us to the back entrance of the park. Nix that. We went back to the written directions. We arrived before the park officially opened, which was great because we didn't have to pay the $6 parking fee!

Today after the hike, we had the Honoree pot luck Picnic. We brought sandwich fixings in a thermos cooler and left it at the picnic table. For this purpose, we were glad of cooler weather. Our team leader, Tifin, stayed behind to watch over the food items.

Alum Rock Park is located in a canyon in the East Hills of Silicon Valley. We left the picnic area and first hiked up the hill to Eagle Rock, which shares a hill with a large variety of antennas. As it happens, the W6UU repeater (owned by SCCARA) is located here, as well as microwave, cell phone and other antennas. The trail to Eagle Rock is negotiated via a series of switchbacks up a steep hill. This was steeper than the trail we hiked at Castle Rock State Park last week, but neither Duane nor I were physically exerted nearly as much as we were then. As usual, I needed my first "rest stop" about 15 minutes into the hike. I seem to need some physical exercise before my kidneys start kicking in.


We took a break at Eagle Rock to look at the panoramic view of the southern end of Silicon Valley. We did some stretching exercises and then continued on back down the hill, this time taking the fork to the North Rim Trail. The next part of the hike was the second steepest climb, also up a series of sharp switchbacks. After getting to the top and walking a short way, another set of switchbacks took us back down. The trail meandered around the canyon until we descended and crossed Upper Penintencia Creek.

We are currently in the second "fast" group and we needed to come up with a name. Our unforgettable "Nature Girl", came up with "Hot On Your Trail." Duane came up with "Second Nature," which was clever, but didn't exactly convey the meaning that we wanted. The consensus was for "Hot On Your Trail."

Next came the steepest part of the trail, during which we ascended a series of sharp switchbacks. This was the most difficult part of the hike, but even so, neither Duane nor I were as winded as we were last week at Castle Rock. We walked up the hill through a damp oak forest, full of poison oak, and dotted by wild flowers. We passed some beautiful blue lupine, red Indian paintbrush and other beautiful wildflowers.

Instead of walking back down the same way we came, we took a sharp left turn and descended down a long series of slow switchbacks that took us farther into the canyon as we descended. At last we got to the bottom, the final half hour of the hike following Upper Penitencia Creek. It took us about 3 hours, but I think I could have hiked for another hour, at least.

And I think I would have preferred that, because we ended up waiting almost an hour for all the rest of the hikers to arrive back at the picnic site. The marine layer never did burn off, with the result that we all cooled down and put back on every layer of clothing that we had. By the time everyone else arrived back at the picnic area, we were chilled to the bone.

Before eating, several of our honorees told their stories. (The only reason I have not mentioned their names here is out of concern for their privacy. Blogs are more public than they may desire.) There was one lady who told us her story about being a stem cell donor. That was very interesting as I was unaware of what donors of this kind experience.

Eventually we had our pot luck, but as we were so cold, we didn't stick around for a chat. Duane and I decided to get in our car, turn the heat up full blast and try to thaw out on the way to our son's Tball game! We got there just in time to see the last inning, before going home to a nice HOT shower!

Rest Day: Blazing Saddles or Princess Bride?

A few weeks ago, I posed the question which was the more classic cult comedy: Princess Bride or Blazing Saddles?

Time is running out! My favorite is Princess Bride which is currently ahead in the polling. Get your vote in now! See the poll in right hand sidebar to vote!

Coaching T-Ball

I didn't get my easy walk in today. I ran around all day. The phrase "stay at home mom" is an oxymoron if ever I've heard one. I rarely get to stay at home. My days usually consist of ferrying our son back and forth from school, soccer or T-Ball practice. In between those times, I'm doing the grocery shopping, and running all of the other errands that one does to keep things running smoothly. If I'm lucky, I get to stay home about once a week.

Today was a T-Ball day, and I wound up helping the coach with the children. Many years ago, I used to play in the San Francisco Bars Association softball league. That was an informal gathering of various law firms in the City who wanted to field softball teams. (The name was a parody of the local bar association and our league logo was a graphic of a martini glass.) Fortunately, I still had my Louisville Slugger mitt! The children had a lot of fun and I got some exercise walking around the field, pitching balls, and helping the children work out how to swing the bat.

Up, Up and Away

I spent most of the day in the car, driving a friend from the San Francisco airport to Stockton. After I got home, however, Duane and I still managed to get two sets of stairs and a small easy walk in before dinner. This was the first time that we have done the stairs at Communications Hill since we sprung forward at daylight savings time, so it was the first time we have done that walk in sunshine.

The view of the valley from the top is stunning. What a beautiful day! The weather was warm and we were down to shirt sleeves instead of rain coats and ponchos. Ahhhh!

Tuesday Night Track Workout

Tonight we met again at the Foothill College track and field for another fun filled hour and a half of laps, stairs, hills and stretching. We started with a couple of warm up laps (half mile) around the track, then did some stretching. After that, we did 6 sets of stairs, and another 6 sets of stairs walking sideways up and down. Apparently some trails are narrow or steep and it's easier to hike on the trail sideways. Since our legs don't normally get much sideways movement, this muscle group isn't used and isn't as strong as the muscle that control the normal back and forth. I notice that it's becoming easier to do this sideways walking, although I also notice that one side is usually easier than the other. So I wonder if the brain's left/right dominance is at work in this like it is in handwriting.

After the bleacher stairs we walked over to the hill in back of the track and field. We walked up and down the hill three times. We spied a coyote running across our trail. We had a beautiful clear night with a bright, full harvest moon. In fact, this was our first Tuesday night meeting that it hadn't been raining. Consequently, I forgot to bring my exercise mat.

After the hill, we walked back over to the track and out onto the football field to do our first core exercises. Since I had no mat, I did my exercises on the AstroTurf, which fortunately wasn't wet. These core exercises involved laying down and then trying to do what was essentially one push up, and then hold it up. We did this facing up, down and on both sides. This was not as easy at it looked!

After that, we did a couple more laps around the track (another half mile) and then it was time to go!

Running Around

Today was supposed to be an easy walk day. I ran errands around the neighborhood, cleaned up the house a bit, worked on the paper pile on my desk, and went to a meeting this evening. Unfortunately, I didn't make time for my workout today. Hopefully I burned enough calories running around. I must do better tomorrow!

Slacking: Ladies Night Out

I slacked off today. I was supposed to do an easy walk, but I was a little bit sore after yesterday's hike in Castle Rock State Park. It was also Ladies Night Out. So I and a friend went to see a movie: He's Just Not That Into You. It was cute, although I can't say that I really liked any of the characters, with the exception of the club owner.

Backpacking in Castle Rock State Park

This morning's hike took us to Castle Rock State Park in the hills above the City of Saratoga. Castle Rock is a favorite of rock climbers, who like to climb two of the rock formations in the park: Castle Rock and Goat's Rock.

We arrived at the park at our usual start time of 7:45 am. Following our training instructions, as ever, we had breakfast and drank liquids before the hike. The weather today, unlike the past several weeks, was beautiful with hardly a cloud in the sky. Perfect weather for hiking Castle Rock. Castle Rock sits next to the summit on the west side of the Santa Cruz Mountains, so often, the only view you have is of fog.

We did a circuit of about 5-6 miles, with full backpacks and, for the first time, poles. Many people took the opportunity to use the restroom at the trailhead, but I wasn't yet "ready". We hiked the first three quarters of a mile past Castle Rock and on to Castle Rock Falls. We were hiking past a creek for a good part of this time and Duane started to tell a story about the time we went hiking in New Zealand. By this time, I did need to use the restroom, which was sadly now half a mile behind me and, since I knew what story he was about to tell, I told him to "Shut up!"

Flashback: On our honeymoon, Duane and I went for a short hike in Te Wairoa, a village buried by volcanic ash. Part of that hike went past a stream to a waterfall and, like today, I had to go. Bad. Real. Bad. Since running water is a urination trigger, I was trying to focus on something else. Of course, Duane starts talking about the waterfall, and the beautiful sounds of running water, etc., knowing all the while that I was in discomfort. I was being teased!

Fast Forward: So when he started to tell this story again today, in the same situation as before, I thought, "Nooooo!" Hmmfph! At last, however, I found a quiet place to "pause" after which I felt much improved!

The waterfall is beautiful, but difficult to see from the vantage point at the overlook platform. We rested for a few minutes and took in the view before moving on. At about the 50% mark, the trail doubled back on itself, rising steeply for several hundred yards. This was the second most difficult part of the hike and was probably the most physical Duane and I have gotten since beginning our training.

At last, we reached Goat Rock, a favorite of climbers. I sat down and began to eat my last trail mix bar. Duane had already eaten both of his and was looking at my one remaining trail bar with longing in his eyes. I couldn't resist, so I gave him half of my bar.

After a few minutes of resting, some of our group decided to climb up to the top of Goat Rock to see the spectacular panoramic view of Saratoga Gap. I wasn't about to attempt this, but several of our fellow hikers were tempting me with tales of the wonderful view, so I decided to give it a try. Goat Rock has a near vertical face over 10 feet tall that you have to climb to get to the top. All you have are little fingerholds and a couple of tiny places to put the toe of your boot. This was not easy, but I got close enough to the top that someone was able to grab my hand and get me the rest of the way up. The view was indeed superb!

The remainder of our hike went over large rocks, in some places next to a cliff face with cables that you could hold on to (like a staircase bannister), and through woods, at times chaparral, at other times redwood forest. We (the fast group) arrived back at the parking lot at about 11:40 am. Since we were supposed to hike for nearly another hour, our mentors took us across Highway 9 to Sanborn Park where we continued to hike for another half an hour.

This was the most difficult part of the hike: the mental challenge of walking past our car in the parking lot knowing that we had just finished our hike. I just wasn't mentally ready to do another one. This resulted in a bad case of "I don't wanna!" But I went anyway, until it was time for us to turn back. We had to go pick up our son, who had his first T-Ball game today.

The Incredible Volunteers of To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation

Today was a rest day. So I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about an organization for which I have tremendous respect: To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation. TCLF is an all-volunteer organization which was formed out of a desire to increase awareness of the huge epidemic that breast cancer had become, to raise funds for those living with breast cancer and to offer a healing opportunity through the fashion show for women and men living with breast cancer.

Now I know that our Half Dome Challenge is all about supporting people with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers. But cancer is never an easy thing to deal with, no matter what kind of cancer it may be. What I have seen over the years is nothing short of a demonstration in courage, to which these brave men and women give a face. Because of what I have seen and because I have been given a place to put my talents to use in the organization - especially at the time when I was suffering from "Spot" - I will be walking in their honor.

All of the women and men who participate in the fashion show every year have suffered breast cancer and are in various stages of treatment and recovery. Unstoppable, even by loss of hair, mastectomy, chemotheraphy or radiation treatments, these men and women model everything from lingerie to leather bustiers to evening gowns. (Yes, men do get breast cancer.)

The fashion show is also about community. In one of the final scenes of the fashion show, these survivors are escorted down the runway by tuxedoed physicians who specialize in breast cancer, many of them their own doctors. It is always a moment that brings a tear to my eye.

Behind the scenes, hundreds of volunteers work to make it all happen, not just the annual fashion show which is now in its 14th year, but also the annual golf and tennis tournaments. Throughout the year, the dedicated volunteer staff sorts through hundreds of pieces of correspondence, donations, as well as grant applications. Since inception, To Celebrate Life has granted over $2.3 million to non-profit groups that provide support programs, early detection screening, and emotional and educational services for women and men with breast health issues. They have made a difference to thousands of patients and their families.

This is an incredible group of volunteers. I'm proud to be associated with them. This walk is for them!

50% and 12% of the Way

I've been dieting and exercising for about a month and a half. I'm thrilled to say that I'm halfway to my weight goal! As of this morning, I stepped on the scale and discovered that I had lost 16 pounds. That was certainly a big boost to my morale. It's nice to see progress on the scale.


Today was also our day to do our incline walk. We headed back to Communications Hill, this time with the resolve to push ourselves further than we had pushed before. We did four sets of stairs, or 892 total stairs and 600 feet elevation. Duane would calculate this as approximately 12% of the total elevation change of the Half Dome hike.


What was gratifying about this walk up and down the stairs is that both of us are much less winded than the first time we did this. It's also taking less time, as well as being easier to accomplish. All in all a good evening!


We also managed to put Duane's camera into night mode and I snapped this photo of the view from Communications Hill. Beautiful!

Put One Foot in Front of the Other

My neighbor and I have a Wednesday morning date to walk around our neighborhood, which coincides nicely with one of my "easy walks". We've been walking around the neighborhood and it's been interesting to see the different developments, different styles of house, and how different people improve their properties.

The weather remains in a typical spring weather pattern, alternating between sunshine and rain showers. About halfway through our walk today, it started to rain again and we hustled home. Neither of us had our rain gear on.

My weight is finally trending downwards again. This morning I reached a new low of 14 pounds weight loss. Yeah!

Rain and Shine

The weather doesn't seem to know what it wants to do. Today we had down pours and cloud bursts, punctuated by bits of blue sky and rainbows. And then, 10 minutes before we were supposed to be at the Foothill College track and field, there were flashes of lightning. I wondered whether we would still have our workout.

Undaunted, we arrived on time, parked the car and attempted to get our parking pass. None of the machines were taking any more $1 bills, so we saved $2 tonight. Yeah!

Despite the miserable weather, there was quite a group of hikers this evening. Our workout was not cancelled. I did the entire workout with my backpack, which had some water, G2, gloves, and other stuff in it to give it some weight. I didn't put the poles and matt in my backpack tonight because it was so wet.

Tonight we broke out our rain ponchos for the first time. We've been lucky so far at squeezing in hikes and workouts in the hours between showers, but tonight was not our night. Because I was cold, I also wore two pairs of pants, two shirts, and a rain jacket underneath. I was pleased that the poncho wasn't flapping all over the place. It was less cumbersome than I expected and I was pleasantly surprised.

Tonight's workout consisted of several laps around the track at varying speeds, stretching exercises, as well as going up and down the bleacher stairs 12 times. We still haven't had dry enough weather to do the core exercises on the mats. Going down the bleachers is more difficult for me than going up. I take smaller steps going down the stairs, which are quite wide, so I sometimes do two steps per stair. I am, however, getting better at some of the other exercises. There is one exercise that we do called a "funny walk". You place your feet on either side of a line and then walk, but putting each foot on the other side of the line. (Think of a really bad model going down a catwalk hips swinging wide). Everyone looks really silly doing this, but it strengthens muscles that aren't often used. This was difficult for me to do at first, but I noticed that tonight it was a lot easier. I could do the walk without feeling like I was going to fall down any moment.

At last it was 8:00 pm. Another workout completed. I was a little tired and very wet, but happy!

Slacking Off

The prospect of doing several runs of stairs in the cold, wet and wind tonight was thrilling neither to Duane nor I. We slacked off.

Leslie Sansone to the rescue! Again!

I'm ready for some sunshine, if only just for a day or two.

George Berry, KC6ULT, SK

As many of my Team in Training team mates already know, I am an amateur radio operator. What they don't know is how I became one.

Many years ago, my then boyfriend introduced me to two people who would remain my good friends, even after my boyfriend and I parted ways: George Berry and his wife, Donna. We would visit their home every New Year's Eve for a gathering of friends, treats and the obligatory midnight glass of champagne. Donna is a very talented artist, and George worked for CSAA as a disaster/emergency preparedness planner. George was also on Task Force 3, one of a few highly trained urban search and rescue teams in the United States. His job was the communications lead, much of which involved amateur radio communications. His call sign was KC6ULT. "SK", the two letters that note that an amateur radio operator has passed away, stands for "Silent Key" - a key being what hams use to transmit Morse code or the push-to-talk button on a mic.

George first got involved in emergency preparedness when he was working with the American Red Cross during the Oakland Hills firestorm of 1991. One thing led to another and he wound up joining Task Force 3, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District's Urban Search and Rescue Team. He had only just qualified for the team when they were deployed in the aftermath of the Northridge Earthquake. He continued to train and stayed ready. When the Alfred P. Murrah building was blown up in Oklahoma City, George was deployed again.

There were many challenges working this tragedy, for it was a crime scene as well as a disaster. Evidence had to be preserved as well as lives saved. The video that George's team took while on site was later used by the FBI in its investigation. George developed new techniques for cutting "widow makers": large pieces of concrete hanging only by a thin piece of rebar. These had to be carefully cut and lowered to the ground, for if the rebar snapped and the concrete fell, anyone underneath could be crushed to death.

All of this experience would stand George in good stead. When Islamic terrorists attacked the United States on September 11th, 2001, George was deployed again, this time to the World Trade Center. Communications was extremely difficult in the "pile" as large shards of mirrored glass caused radio signals to bounce erraticly. George set up mobile repeaters at various places in and around the pile so as to allow rescue workers to communicate with each other more effectively.

George had the best sense of humor of anyone I've ever known. His humor was down to earth yet at the same time intelligent. How many people do you know who give the gift of a coprolite (petrified dinosaur poop) for a Christmas present? Or a book on farting and 101 bean recipes? Or a book about some weird French guy named Le Petomane? Where did he find out about him?! At the same time, he could hold his own in more erudite conversations whether about the latest serious book he had been reading or electronics and Nicola Tesla. His humor always had a darker edge to it, however, probably because of the horrible things he had seen. George laughed in the dark when it wasn't possible to light a candle.

He didn't talk much about the details of his work at the World Trade Center. But New Year's Eve 2002, he did. George talked about how few people they were able to rescue. He told us how they weren't able to find many body parts because the force of the buildings coming down pulverized everything to dust. How difficult it was to communicate and what needed to be done in order to make communications work. I was impressed with his courage and his abilities. When he told me that I could become an amateur radio operator and that it wasn't difficult, I didn't believe him. When it turned out that two other people sitting in the room were also amateur radio operators, I began to think that if they could do it, maybe I could too. George gave me his Technician license exam study book that night, and two weeks later I had my Technician's license. Duane took the test with me, mostly for moral support, but he got his license too.

I started going to the local amateur radio association meetings in my city, and wound up becoming very involved in emergency communications, although not to the extent of George's participation. I'd call George every now and then to talk to him about something related to ham radio. One night when I called him and asked how he was, he told me he'd been diagnosed with Stage IV esophageal cancer. It had already metastasized to his liver, pancreas and lungs. George had gastro-esophageal reflux disease and it had turned into cancer. George passed away in January 2004, after a nine month battle, at the age of 46.

I miss George's friendship. I was always assured of a good laugh from something completely outrageous on New Year's Eve. He had great good sense, an enormous heart, the vulnerability of a little boy while at the same time a lion's courage. I hope George is looking down on me from "somewhere up there" and approves of what I've done with the "seed" that he planted. I'll always be grateful for the introduction to amateur radio and the opportunity to use my skills to help people when they most need it.