Looking for a place to swim

Today I went for my ride around the Universal Studios lot which has been my mode of exersize for the past few weeks. Still dealing with a little tenderness on my knee.

I thought I'd look for a place to swim but as you can see the beaches were closed.


I got in about 7 miles total riding today and it felt great. The So. Cal. weather is perfect: not a cloud in the sky, not too hot out. I have found a spot on the lot that is like a park, apparently some folks play softball there, but it's a good uphill ride for 1 1/2 miles to get there. Once there I usually drop the bike and do some push ups, sit ups and such, today I gave it a shot at running and did 3 laps around which I estimate to be about a mile. I've been wearing the floves (VFFs) while riding so it's an easy transition to run. Kinda nice running on the grass though some spots were a bit squishy from all of the rain over the last 2 weeks. Overall the run felt good, just don't want to over do it.

After riding around past the Desperate Housewives, Spartacus Square and the Old West I headed back to the office. When I got there I looked down and discovered that I had caught some grass between my toes while running.

I think I'll be adding in that run as a regular part of the routine.

I came across this article from a study on Barefoot or in minimal footwear.... and interesting read.

A new year

Well it's the new year. It's been a while since I've updated anything. My brother is responding well to his treatments, the numbers are going in the right direction, unfortunately loses his energy for a day or so and at the end of the third week of treatment is pretty wiped out. During the week off seems to feel pretty good as his body restores and gets ready for the next round. More info to come in a couple of weeks when he goes in for some tests.

I've been trying to keep going at exercise some weeks have been inconsistent. I got a couple runs and rides in during the holidays. I've had to lay of of the running for a while because my knee flared up. I've done some research have a pretty good idea that it's a case of IT Band Syndrome. I'm no medical expert but based on numerous sources it seems like I've got all the symptoms. The only real remedy seems to be rest.... but that's hard.

The ideal exercise would be swimming but even here in So. Cal. it's too cold to swim right now and there aren't any pools open at the right time for me to go any way so the next best thing is the bike. I'm still researching but have really gained some insight from a website I found. If you have some time check out Saveyourself.ca and let me know what you think. Paul there explains the source of ITBS and outlines some possible ways to treat it. We'll see how it goes, in the meantime lot's of bike riding.

I'm thinking about the race schedule for this year, my biggest concern is to make sure I give the knee time to heal. Maybe a few races out at Bonelli both on and off-road and I'm registered for the Pasadena 1/2 Marathon (I've never run that far in my life.) I'm not sure I'll be able to do the Malibu Nautica Tri because it again conflicts with Scout Camp and that seems like the more important thing to do. What I like about the Malibu race is using it to raise awareness and money for a cause, in that case Pediatric Cancer Research at Children's Hospital LA so something else I'm thinking about is if I don't do that event is there a way I can use all events as a way to raise awareness for a cause. Two significant things in my life right now are Pancreatic Cancer and a group called Lifewater International so I'm thinking through how to do that.

That's the update for now. Stay healthy.