Training Log Archive: Charlie

Thought we might go to crossfit, but Rhonda and Jessica were not in the mood and I wasn't either, so perhaps a rest day. Just not feeling too lively today.

Warmup with jump rope, then back squats and barbell rollouts. Back squats is not one of my better exercises, both because the knees are complaining and because I am just not very strong at it. So just 5x95, 3x110, 1x125. I was good at the barbell rollouts, though, rolling from a kneeling position out to full extension, sets of 5. After a while I got bored with it and put on a weight vest. Ended up with 8 or 9 sets.

out and back from Pleasant Valley, after subtracting off the 2:45 we stopped to chat with our friend Mary Ellen who was driving by. R calf bothersome enough to tell me all I need to know about whether I want to run at Forest Park on Saturday.

F part of L&F not nearly as bad as I feared, after all that Mexican eating and drinking and way too little exercise.

run 800 M for warmup, then deadlifts, which I was pretty happy to come back to. after a warmup with 135, I did 5x155, 5x175. 3x195 and 3x215. Felt reasonably easy and my form felt pretty good.

Then there was scheduled a workout with box jumps, which I dodged because of my dodgy knees and did situps instead. 1 the first minute, 2 the second minute, 3 the third minute, etc. Made 25 rounds, which means 315 total. So maybe I will be sore in a day or so.

A long travel day. Off to the airport in La Paz at 5, way too early for our 6:30 flight. I remembered it as not being a very big airport, but it is smaller than that. Only 7 flights a day, and nobody else showed up until about 5:30 or so, and no one was available to check us in until about 10 til 6. Everything was pretty smooth from there on, changing in Mexico City, arriving in JFK a bit early around 4, getting the limo home by around 6:45.

Another whale excursion. Followed a mother and baby around for an hour or so.

leaving the island to go back to La Paz, we ran into the most accommodating mother and baby of all and spent at least half an hour with them. As many pictures as were taken, all of us missed the best one of all, when they both appeared to stand on their tails and poke their heads way out of water, right next to our boat. A few got to pet the baby, an unusual experience, indeed.

C • Whale experience 3

Across the dunes to the Pacific side, then north along the beach for about 40 minutes and back. The dunes would not be suitable for orienteering because of the fragile vegetation, but otherwise struck me as a wonderfully difficult place to practice the sport.

Over on the Pacific side, lots of sand dollars, some beautiful large cowrie shells, and a few washed up turtles. One of them was over 4 ft from nose to tail, and we chased 5 vultures off it to take a look.

Some inviting surf, but kind of cold and we weren't tempted.

Folks were either going kayaking or hiking, so I went out by myself with the guide looking for whales. A washout from that perspective, but a beautiful day, and warm enough to be in the boat with only my windshirt and life jacket. Just saw one spout, but we went by Duck Island in the bay, a large island covered with cormorants and pelicans, and they left in thousands as we approached the shore, wings beating the water as cormorants do when they are starting out. It was pretty cool, and I certainly didn't mind not seeing whales today.

Rhonda was kayaking with Dick, and they both had a very enjoyable time.

More whale watching. Spent about three hours cruising near the opening, watching a lot of mating pairs and threesomes. Threesomes seem to involve one female pursued by two males.

Not all that strenuous, but a very nice paddle up an estuary on the island at low tide. A couple of places we had to get out and pull the boat over, but low tide is best for the birds, and they were wonderful! Little blue, green, tri-colored and yellow crowned night herons; many snowy and one great egret; many, many white ibis, both adult and immature; kingfishers, willet, lesser yellow-legs, whimbrel, least and spotted sandpipers, semi-palmated plovers, the very cute eared grebes, red headed ducks, and the most common of all, marbled godwits. Very enjoyable. Outside the estuary at the bay thousands of double crested cormorants and Heerman's gulls.

Strained my right arm a bit on the way back, so planning on not kayaking the next day.