Back online!

It has been a minute since I had the chance to post anything and I sure missed this place. Long story short the cord to my laptop zapped out and I was not about to pay 100.00 for another one. I learned the nice service agreement that I took out from best buy expired a month ago, figures right, and then missed radio shacks sale if you can call 79 dollars a bargain by a week. A friend told me she snagged hers off eBay for ten bucks but I never have that kind of luck, so my pockets will become 90 plus tax lighter i guess.
Anyway the good news is I'm still active and have hit about ten state parks since I last posted. Spent labor day meeting some Brazilians and having a little BBQ. Well my moms did anyway I'm vegetarian and stuck to the game plan. This was hard because for years the first weekend in September meant I threw down with some ribs and watched the best of college and pro football games. Hey but I'm not going to say I didn't have fun,the day was gorgeous after rain forever and I did get to jog the beach. The next week I left the county parks and headed into the woods for some hiking nothing big just a few miles down a couple of trails getting the heck bitten out of me.
So for now I have concluded I can't go it alone. I'm bored and I need to pick up the pace when it comes to running. On another blog someone referred to running with a sweeper well I could use one of them and a few trekking friends to boots. I'm not sure how I will resolve this problem but hopefully it will happen soon. There is a 5k coming up I will be entering and while it may not be much for seasoned runners I'm excited because it's my first challenge ever.

Butterflys and Turtles

I didn't want to walk let alone run and it was hot,but there I was driving down A1A in the middle of the day knowing I needed to. So I made a u turn and headed back to the park entrance and began gathering myself for drudgery. Life in limbo as an unfit soul sucks on days like that but as a friend said those are the days when the run feels so worth the challenge.

I reached under the seat for my surf shoes, on a good day I love wearing them especially the feel of mesh and the cushioned soles keeping lots of sand away from my toes. I don't like grit and never wear saddles I can deal with the limited amount of sand that gets through these shoe. Still it was hot enough to fry fish without the grease and I have 3 feet worth of thick dreads to tug along with me.

Making my way to the beach which is a protected area for turtles in season, I thought about the long struggle of terrapins as they hatch, head out to sea for a few years and return to the same beach to lay eggs. Surly my twenty minute struggle could not compare yet I felt like kicking back and enjoying the ocean breeze instead of the jog. A tropical storm was brewing somewhere off the coast making the tide rough in fact I think it was yellow flagged, I know the ripe tide was a dog . Only the surfers were happy, so I ignored the usual white flight that black folk see when entering the beach or any other place they don't see a lot of us. I walked right pass the the couple who took one look at me and left the boardwalk and the lifeguard who kept looking until the sheriff mysteriously showed up . hey no crime in being on the beach. I smiled at an older brother who walked passed me with a work hard pray harder t shirt on, they stared at him too but we knew the deal and were getting our walk on anyway. It felt good to see another natural brown face too. Can someone explain to me the psychology of laying on the beach to turn brown like me but hating on the naturally tan person, just asking.

Anyway I started slow moving away from the surfs edge only walking on hard sand and then it happened. The water called me I ran closer to the the edge until I found myself fighting the tide and sinking in sand while trying to keep pace. I had to feel the salt water as my mind was on the day I would start practicing the open water swim. I kept imagining all the tri's I have watched, bodies hurling through the water a massive frenzied battle back to the beach. As I continued I noticed a butterfly, monarch I think, same coloring but maybe not it flew around me back and forth from the dunes to the ocean and I thought how awesome is God. What the heck is my mascot the butterfly doing here. On a day when I don't want to move this little winged package of freedom inspires me to keep on going. I loved it, I made it maybe a half mile up the beach and back not my normal two but for the heat of the day I felt good. You know that friend was right I felt great and so relaxed afterwards I was sorry I had not gone the extra mile. When I say next time I mean it, my journey would be so lonely but thank you Lordy I live in a state that has great beauty.

Sabastion Inlet State Park

The Holiday weekend approaches and I feel sluggish at best. I miss the outdoor jogs and bike rides that kept me inspired. Instead it's mall walks and trips to state and local parks on weekends. At this rate I'm not really cutting the mustard and frankly I'm rethinking the way I have been going about things.

Since falling off the bandwagon this month I've turned to a natural Florida resource state parks. After a crocodile was photographed off one of the beaches near my house I have not been in the water and only jog along the waters edge in the sand. Don't ask me why I have not felt that way about freshwater and gators but I am at least in a boat when in fresh water. So between squid, crocks, and deadly riptides my journey to fitness is turning into a farce. That's why I took a trip to Sebastian to rejuvenate and have a little motivational talk with myself. Yes you can camp here and that's what drew me in although I must say the place has seen better days so I choose long point right next door. I can't say that I was good but I have walked a little and cleared my head. So despite being a germ freak I am seriously considering a gym with boot camp. I have tried exercise partners and they did not work ,one stopped after only a day the other made to many excuses and demands. It really boils down to how bad I want this and how much commitment I'm willing to give. All I can say is here in the parks with boaters, swimmers and kayakers I'm reminded why I live in the sunshine state. The weather is great when everyone else is freezing and I want to stay active and participate in sports. It's time for this sister to get back to work!

St Augustine

I spent the day in St Aug and tried to convince myself that the walk from the parking lot to the beach was as good as a workout.I wanted to ran along the beach up north of it but it was hot and I forgot my beach shoes. Just to many broken shells ,ants and six inch long spiders lurking in the dunes for me, so I ended up at the state park. With whiter powdery sand instead of the chunky brown stuff I felt more inspired to do something. Actually I did nothing special and am in a bad exercise funk. Somehow I'm dropping pounds like crazy and it concerns me, slacking has taken on all new rewards I guess. I think it's just the heat and my intake of more fluids than solids. At any rate next week I'll start weight training maybe it will help with my lack of enthusiasm in these dog days of August.

Still in the struggle

I can honestly say I would rather run a 100 mile race than pack forty years worth of "stuff" in boxes and move again. I admit to not working out during the end of July due to lack of energy after sorting, throwing away, and sometimes selfishly holding on to material things. Oh how ashamed i felt about the latter but hey now that its over I resolve to live simpler and with less. The same applies to exercise i want to stop trying to see the big picture for now and focus on the little things one step at a time in order to accomplish the goal of completing that mini triathlon next year.
I have worked on some new menu plans to keep up my strength and satisfy my hunger enough to enjoy filling and fulfilling meals. I'm a firm believer in individual meal plans, it's ridiculous to think you should give up the flavors and spices your used to become some generic
triathlete. I have seen people post about foods they don't really like or never thought of trying just because they read on some site fill in the blank is what others eat while working out or before races.
I find this sad to start just take the things you like and prepare them healthier, then add a twist to the old by incorporating new flavors. While trying new things limit them at a gradual pace in this why your system does not go in to shock when learning to except new and healthy chow. By the time you gather a few recipes and tweet them you'll have your own list of must haves that will last a lifetime instead of a few months. Right now the hardest part of it all for me is being a pastry chef that is working on a fitness plan. Chew and spit doesn't work so well outside of a winery no !

Sister Circle

This may not be the most interesting blog out there but it's my way of staying accountable to a goal of becoming active again. I knew going into this I would need encouragement so I decided to create a sister circle of triblogs to keep focused and see what other folks of color are doing to in the sport and honestly other sports too. I just hope to reclaim the fitness and joy I once got from outdoor activities.
Today was a me day, I did not work out I needed to rest and plan a new set of exercise objectives. Oh so important when ones fitness level increases and the routine seems "easy". Tomorrow I will be up early to beat the heat on the road. I don't know anyone in my area that competes in triathlons but I do keep a close watch on other blogs to focus . We have all heard "yes I can" well maybe in a few months i will join the saying as well, right now I'm just going to keep moving and focus on feeling the freedom to walk without wheezing!

Checking in

I have managed to lose eight pounds thus far but weight loss is not one of my goals. I know a few pounds will fall off as i work out more so i figure why bother with numbers. It's hard enough work being a vegetarian without calorie counting.
Things have been hard this week becuase the tempeture is eighty by seven in the morning. I could work out on the treadmill but i find it way to boring. So I'm sweeting out my natural hair in a major way these days.One has not lived until they have to do maitenance on dreads twice a week. Still I have to pickup my pace I promised myself i would be in shape to start the crossfit program in August. I also have identified a 5k to enter that is close to home. I hope to find a few more before the end of the year.