I just finished the excellent book Choosing the StrongPath: Reversing the Downward Spiral of Aging, by by Fred Bartlit, Steven Droullard, and Dr. Marni Boppart. Fred is 85 years old, and vigorously pursues various athletic activities, including downhill skiing. His story alone is inspiration enough to make it worth reading the book. Stephen is closer … Continue reading Take the “Strongpath” for Successful Aging →

The air quality around here still gets to unhealthy by later in the afternoon, because of particulate matter from the fires. But in the mornings the last couple of days it's been "fair" so I've been able to exercise outdoors. I can wear an N95 mask if I have to, but that makes it unpleasant. … Continue reading Workout Out in Cleaner Air →

I just read the book TRIPOLAR: The Story of a Bipolar Triathlete, by Tim Davis. This is a very inspirational book, much more than the title indicates. Tim had a very difficult childhood and became addicted to alcohol and some serious drugs as an adult. His recovery is an amazing testament to the power of … Continue reading Tripolar- an Amazing and Inspirational Recovery Story →

This was taken by a firefighter who's my friend's brother, he's over on the Santa Cruz side of the mountains helping fight the fires over there caused by recent lightning strikes. These are part of the "CZU lightning complex" (https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/): In the foreground is the Santa Cruz boardwalk, with downtown behind it. On the other … Continue reading Wildfire Threatening Santa Cruz →

We have a "high pressure" ridge in our area that's been trapping the high temperature- multiple days of temperatures over 100 F, and, uncharacteristically for this area, not cooling as much at night. On Tuesday we had a thunderstorm with lightning that started a bunch of wildfires that CalFire calls the "scu lightning complex".: 157,000 … Continue reading Overdoing it in Bad Air →

One of my goals has been to improve my uphill hiking speed, because I have had difficulty in the past keeping up with faster hiking groups. From my recent training, it seems to be improving: there is one steep road I walk up nearby that was taking about 15:00 minutes and I've gotten it down … Continue reading Faster Uphill Hiking →

It's been really hot here lately, high of 107 F today. So I did strength training in my garage early then went for a walk with my hand weights locally, when it was still down in the 80s. The neighborhood behind us has a nice walking path with some oaks and eucalyptus trees shading it. … Continue reading Strength Training and a Local Walk →

There is a well known rule of thumb that an interference effect exists between strength and endurance training: If you are trying to get bigger muscles by strength training, adding endurance training into the mix will slow the process down. If you are trying to improve your endurance performance, throwing strength training can interfere with … Continue reading Strength Training Boosts Endurance Performance →

I intended to ride up to Henry Coe State park today on my e-bike but I'd forgotten to top off it's charge. So while it was plugged in, I rode my Sirrus to Coyote Valley Open Space to do the one and only trail there, which happens to be one of my favorites: the Arrowhead … Continue reading Double Adventure- Arrowhead Loop Plus Henry Coe →

I got this analogy from Eknath Easwaran's Words to Live By entry for July 27, in which he said "In these times, a common prescription for a day packed with troubles is to go jump in your hot tub. Relaxation starts immediately; for a time, at least, the body is at peace. Now imagine a … Continue reading Meditation- “Hot Tub For the Mind” →