Knee pain

My knees have been really creaky lately and I realize I have to do more strength training to help them. I found a workout from the nytimes that is specifically for this and I did it for the first time today. Most of the exercises were pretty hard for me - a sign that I needed them! So, I'm going to try to integrate these into my exercise program a couple times a week, at least to start. I can potentially go to once a week if I get better at it.

It took me 20 minutes to go through all of them, and then I added some planks - a minute on forearms and a minute of high plank, and then dead bug when I dropped opposite arm and leg between them. After I did some bench presses, and a couple other arm exercises. Probably should look for a nice arm workout like this to complement the routine. 

I know I should be doing 30 minutes of strength training 2x a week faithfully, I'm really going to try harder to do it. Once I get going it's not really that painful. 

Meader, Meader Ridge and Eagle Crag

It's been a while since I got in a good hike, so I decided to take today off and hit the trails. I've been wanting to do Meader and Eagle Crag, which are the mountains next to the Baldfaces, since I did the Baldfaces. So, that was the plan for the day! An added bonus was that I was able to make the hike a loop with just a short road walk, and park by the Baldface trailhead. Which allowed me to hit the Emerald Pool for a little dip.

Wednesday was the first day back at work in person after a whole summer working at home. Re-entry is so hard. I decided that I would drive up to NH after work, camp at the Co-Ho hostel (but this time with the indoor access) and then leave from there to hike. There was a lot of traffic after work, and I thought about just going home, but I'm so glad I stuck it out. I got there a little after 8, set up my tent, used the bathroom and the kitchen, and then headed out to sleep. For August it was cold out! Fortunately I had my smart wool long underware, jams, wool socks and a sweatshirt, plus my down sleeping bag. I had to go all the way in the sleeping bag and pull the part around my face tight so only my nose was sticking out. Once my body heat warmed up the bag it was OK, though still a little chilly.

I set my alarm for 6:15, only hit the snooze once, and was on the road before 7. It's funny how it's so hard to get up at that hour for work, but so easy when it's for hiking. Anyhow, with driving and organizing and such I hit the trail a little before 8. I could have done the same if I'd left home at 5 am, but I actually slept pretty well in my cocoon, and was more rested than usual at the start of the hike. 

Because I did a loop, I started with a .6 mile road walk that was very easy - it was a little downhill and so I was able to get it done fast. Then the trail started on what looked like an old dirt road, with two lanes for tires, and that part was fast too. In fact the first 2.5 miles were pretty chill, a slow uphill, but not that tiring. When I got to the real climb I was psyched because there were switchbacks, and so that was fine as well. I was starting to get hungry - it was about 10:30 ish, and I thought I would sit once I got to the top of Meader and have a snack. There was an amazing view of the area from close to the top, but the actual top was viewless. It was also really nice, with pine trees and moss - it smelled amazing. But I decided to head on to the ridgeline before snacking because I thought there would be a view, and there was. I sat on a nice little rock with an obstructed but still amazing view and ate some not very delicious rice cakes. But I still ate the whole bag, so I guess they weren't horrible.

I continued on the ridgeline, which was viewless but still really enjoyable. There were some amazing mossy parts, with several different types of moss. There was a bit of up and down, but not too intense, and then I hit the top of Eagle Crag, which has an amazing view! I admired the Baldfaces, feeling impressed with myself that I'd hiked them, and looked around for somewhere to eat. There was a big boulder that looked so tempting - I was pretty sure it was a bad idea to climb on it because I could fall, and it might be hard to get down from. But of course then I climbed it, and it was fine. It was pretty sticky rock, so there were all kinds of holds to grab and my boots stuck pretty well as I went up and down. I had two bagels with cheese, and I ate 1.5 of them while I sat and admired the view - from my spot I could see the Carters, Wildcats, and a tiny bit of Mt Washington. And in the other direction I could see a lot of Maine. It was such a perfect weather day - there were some small fluffy clouds that were so close to me at the top of the mountain - I could actually see the top of the clouds from my perch. I thought about how ephemeral hiking is - I worked so hard to get up to the alpine zone, and I was just going to eat a bagel and then go down. 

As I started down I realized there was a hole in the butt of my pants, which I thought about worrying about, but honestly I had only seen 3 people all day - 2 hiking together on the ridgeline and one trail runner coming through when I was eating, that I decided that no one would see it. And I was right. The trail down started with a huge amount of descent at the top - I did some butt scootching, thinking how I was going to make my pants worse. The trail soon became more manageable and I was able to move reasonably fast for me, sometimes doing some rock hopping but mostly the trail was just a little root-y and soil with pine needles. 

I was so excited to reach the Emerald Pool, it seemed like it was faster than expected, but also my feet were killing me and my legs were tired, so it seemed like it took forever. Anyhow, I was psyched that no one else was there and stripped down to my undies and hopped in. Even though there is a drought and the water in the streams was low, the pool was full. It was so nice swimming around there - water temp was 57 according to my watch, and my feet throbbed in the cold. Just as I was getting ready to get out a guy who looked like he was in his 20 arrived to take a swim. Figures, three people all day and as I'm swimming around in my underware someone comes. But then he was like "sorry, sorry!!" and practically ran away, even though I was like "It's OK, I've got clothes on!" I thought maybe he was waiting for me to get out to come down, but I think he just left. Since he was gone, I changed into clean underware, a top and shorts, and sat with my feet in the water to eat my last half a sandwich. It was so good!

I finished up and reluctantly packed up my things, put my boots and socks back on and headed off for the last .7 mile, which went really fast. The last time I finished the hike I used a tree to pee instead of the smelly outhouses and some guy came biking buy just as I was midway through my business. Having already kind of flashed someone, I decided to use the outhouse. I got settled in my car and drove a bit to this country store that I'd seen on my way there that turned out to have ice cream! It was the best ice cream - I had a raspberry chocolate chip in a waffle cone, and got an apple cider. I got in my car and drove home - even though labor day weekend is coming the drive back was totally fine, and I got home without any problems. 

Interestingly, the all trails map I planned from said the hike would be 8.93 miles with 2779 feet of elevation gain. I did follow a short path that claimed to have a view (but didn't) but I'm 100% sure that wasn't over 1.25 miles. Curious. Anyhow, really good hike, two thumbs up, would definitely do again.

  

Denmark and Sweden

This year for my big vacation I went to Sweden and Denmark - Sweden for a couple days and then this creative movement event in Denmark called the international gathering. It was my first time to Scandinavia, and there were a lot of highlights. 

I went with a friend from parkour, which I was a little nervous about because, although I have always liked her, we have never traveled together, but it worked out really well. Another friend was supposed to go, but tore a tendon and couldn't come.  I also met a lot of really great people at the gathering, though after 5 days it became to people-y and I had to spend some time alone introverting. But, that's normal.

My brother was in Lund, Sweden for a conference - weird coincidence, so we met for dinner the first night. The food was so good - I had this fish dish that was amazing, along with some delicious apps and a couple drinks. We walked around town and I resisted getting a ton of souvenirs. 

We stayed in Malmo, Sweden, mostly because it was less expensive, but it turned out that Malmo was amazing. My friend actually decided to stay there after her trip, rather than in Copenhagen. We stayed at this old hotel that had a free breakfast buffet, and didn't seem to care if you made sandwiches for lunch - everyone was doing it. So we only had to buy food for dinner.

For the first full day we went to Copenhagen and rented bikes to go to all the mandatory touristy stuff = little mermaid statue, saw the royal guards, went to Nyhavn and Christiania. The best part, though, was we went to this restaurant in the meat packing district for dinner. They were full, except two seats at the bar by the chefs, so we sat there and got to watch them preparing the food. It was so cool watching them cook - we especially saw the raw fish chef, who was from England. We started chatting and he noticed our interest and wound up giving us a tour of the kitchen, which was really interesting. He said that they get two fish deliveries a day, but they vary based on what's caught, so people in that kitchen had to be flexible. Also, they were so busy that everyone was always moving - the chef said it was a rush working there because you never stopped. I noticed that he was really kind to everyone - always saying thank you and correcting gently, and he said that was part of the culture of the restaurant and why he worked there.

We were going to go to Copenhagen again, but my friend wasn't feeling well and honestly I was happy to stay in Malmo. I walked around town to the ocean, dropped my credit card in the park by accident and someone gave it back to me, and went to a couple museums. After, my friend was feeling better and so we went to the Swedish baths (I feel like one should do that in Sweden) and that was another highlight. The baths had three saunas and were built on the sea. They were separated by gender, and everyone just went around naked. At first it was weird, but then it was pretty freeing, and I even went swimming on the non-enclosed side of the building. If I lived there I would absolutely have a membership and go all the time. The water in the sea was about 68, so not too cold, but in the winter it would be amazing. For dinner the second day we went to another amazing restaurant and had pizza.

Our last touristy day we went to the Museum of Disgusting food where I sampled all the things. First you walk around and read about foods from different cultures, then you get to the tasting bar and can sample. They give you a little taste of things, and if you taste all of them you get to spin the wheel for a prize. I wasn't going to try everything, but the woman behind the counter was persuasive. It started with bugs - crickets, ant and mealworms, which tasted like sesame seeds, sour patch kids and rice puffs. Then there was durian, a century egg, some drinks and cheeses. Then stink bugs, surstrumming, hakarl and sauerkraut juice. After eating all that, I was all in, which meant eating four different hot sauces, one that was so hot they made you sign a waiver. After, I got a tshirt that said I ate everything at a 10% discount - apparently you can only buy it if you do eat everything. Then I went back to the hotel and had some diarrhea, ew. The taste woman said that the surstrumming is so smelly that they take the cans outside and sit under a bridge to open them - I can't imagine what the factory must smell like.

After, it was off to Denmark and the Gathering, which is a creative movement workshop week. I did the dance track - there was also parkour, crossfit and beach volleyball. It was a lot of fun! I was kind of nervous because I hadn't really done dance since high school, but there were other beginners there as well and no one cared what I looked like, including me. 

The first night of the event we had a Danish Games session, that included rock-paper-scissors. I was losing all the time, but then I noticed that everyone was doing scissors first and decided I should do rock followed by paper if there was a tie. So, when the championship came along, that's what I did, and I won! The way it worked, if you beat someone they had to become a train after you and shout your name to support you. So, but the time we got to the end everyone was shouting my name. It was really fun - it's so rare that I win at "athletics" that it was a refreshing change.

The dance sessions were really good - the teachers were amazing and I was happy with my ability to keep up with the pace of the classes. In terms of my abilities, I for sure wasn't the best dancer in the room, but it didn't matter. No one cared, not even me. We did contemporary dance every morning, followed by street dancing in the afternoon - there was house dance, an African dance style, hip hop, groove... Some of them we choreographed a dance, but others were more free form. 

There were some elective sessions as well, and I did beach volleyball for an hour and a half, went to the North Sea and jumped off a 4 meter high pier, did partner yoga (including the dirty dancing move) and did a strength training thing that I actually didn't love. They fed us delicious bread three times a day. There were a lot of beans, though, so so many beans. By Thursday I had to eat chicken because my stomach couldn't take the beans anymore. Friday they had this super intense conditioning class that had people pushing cars around, sticking their heads in water and then doing somersaults, and all sorts of other weird things. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling that great - I had a migraine, so I went to a yoga class, and couldn't even finish that. By Saturday I was pretty much ready to leave - my stomach was sad and I was peopled out, but still I'm glad I went. 

Kayaking for a swimmer

The kingdom games not only have their winter swim, they also have a summer one. I went last year with a couple friends, and then we signed up again for this year - I didn't actually swim either time. I mean, who wants to swim in this kind of weather? :) Last year I kayaked for a friend, and then I was signed up to kayak for her again this year, but she wasn't feeling well and decided not to go. So, I asked if anyone else needed a kayaker, and there was a woman who was swimming 10 miles who did!  So, I signed up to do that. And it was pretty awesome.

This woman is training to swim across the english channel - she's planning for next summer and has a boat booked and everything. This was her longest swim so far. She wasn't the fastest swimmer and it was kind of funny because she initially reached out and apologized about that, and said she didn't want to ruin my day. Ha! She didn't know what kind of swimmer I am - but I was like "I love that you are doing this for the sport and not to win." We met the day before just to chat and she told me about all the "feeds" that we were to do. After one hour, and then every half hour, we stopped and she had some sports drink and a little snack - sometimes a goo packet, sometimes a bite of a sandwich or some applesauce, or fig newtons. She also took advil and some anti-nausea meds which I had to put in her mouth. I dropped one of the advil down her swimsuit. Oops. Other than that it was just leading her around the route in as straight a line as possible and staying next to her so she could sight off me. 

The race started at 8, with kayakers going out on the water at 7:45. You kind of hang out by the first bouy, and the swimmer finds the kayaker (the wand finds the wizard, the wizard does not find the wand). Once she reached me, we were off. Because I was going at her speed, it was pretty chill in the kayak, I just paddled every now an then, kept on the correct course, and organized her food. I had a lot of time to look at the scenery, watch the birds, look at her swim technique, say hello to folks who were passing me, and think about life. I got a new she-wee so that I could pee while out there, and I used it twice, quite successfully. By the time I needed to use it the sun was pretty hot and I had dipped a towel in the water and put it over my lap, which had the added benefit of being a privacy screen. I sort of scootched up in the kayak so I was sitting on my knees, figured out the right place to put the funnel, and went for it. I brought a bottle to pee into, and then dumped it into the lake (really large lake, so not a problem, I swear). Then I washed out the shewee and put it back in its case. Super simple, and I was pretty pleased with myself. 

At some point I got hungry, and I had packed a sandwich - cheese and avocado on a delicious bread, so I had a snack, with some pretzels I brought. Then I ate some gummies for the sugar because it was getting pretty warm out and I wanted to make sure I didn't get sick (not the fun gummies, these were from trader joes). I found a few different ways to sit so my legs and butt weren't killing me - at first I was sitting correctly with my feet on the pegs, but we were moving slow for a kayak, so I realized I could sit with my legs crossed and be just fine. For a while I had my legs up on top of the food bag and was lounging. When we got to the furthest point away and started on our way home there was this older couple sitting outside with cow bells cheering, which was so fun!

In the end it took her 7.5 hours to do the swim. All the time I was snacking and checking the timer on my phone and organizing feeds and looking at birds and admiring the lake and reapplying sunscreen and dipping my hat in the water and putting it on my head, etc, she was just swimming and swimming. It looked really hard. We were third to last to finish and there was a crowd at the beach because it was awards time, so everyone applauded her as she came in. I was a little stiff and scrunched up, but I thought I would be fine, and I was. All and all, a nice way to spend the day out on the water.

We camped out up in VT because it's summer and we could. The weather was really good for camping. We did a fire and smores one day and went to a swimmers gathering the next. I brought my hammock and hung it up and sat in it and read, which was my favorite part. Once again, something bit or stung me and my ankles swelled up and itched like crazy. This time I was prepared with benedryl, which worked amazingly well - no idea what the cause was, but it was so itchy!

We were having breakfast Sunday morning and it started to rain. I took down my tent so it wouldn't get wet and soon we headed home. I had been thinking about stopping for a short hike on the way home, but with the rain and benedryl I didn't really want to, so I just came straight back. Two thumbs up, would definitely do again.

First Regatta!

Today was the pineapple regatta at the rowing club, and I participated in women's 8 and mixed 8. Spoiler alert, both the boats I was in came in fourth. Out of four. So, we lost. But not badly, just by a bit. And we did much better than the boat that capsized, had to be rescued, and then finished. So, there's that.

I was completely unsure what to expect from the day. The email said to get there at 6:30 am to help set up and that the races would start at 8. I just couldn't bring myself to get up that early, and since I'm a newbie I figured no one would be at all upset if I didn't. So, I left home at about 7:40, picked up some blueberry muffins, and got there at 8. And quickly realized that there was no need for me to be there since I wasn't racing until 2:45. 

So, I went to parkour (which was very fun - we're at a new park with all sorts of new places to play). After I went for coffee with a friend and had a really delicious pastry. When I returned a little after noon all of the muffins were gone, and it was lunch time. After lunch I chatted with the two people I knew and watched some races. It was pretty hot out - like mid 80's, and I got tired of sitting in the sun baking, so I went and sat under a tree and watched for a little over an hour.

When my race was called I got up and joined my group (I could call them my crew, huh?) and we had a strategy session with the cox, who was really great. About half of the other rowers were folks I knew, and the other half must have been morning rowers. Everyone was high 5ing me because it was my first race - it was a pretty chill group. We got in our boat (I rowed 5 seat), and headed to the start line. It took a while to line up and hit the right position, but we finally got it. 

When the horn went off, we were off! When you start a race you row from knees half bent for two, then three quarters, then full, then you do like 10 fast rows, and then you row at your race pace. Which is something we had practiced before, fortunately, or I would have been totally lost. The first few rows were a little tricky, but fine, and then when we got going I tried my hardest to be in sync with the person in front of me. Most of the other technique stuff went out the window. 

My main goal was to not catch a crab and slow the boat down, which I didn't. There was a woman in the boat who didn't have enough fluids all day, and was on the edge of heat exhaustion. And, one of the other boats had two guys in it (which is a little off on a women's boat race). I didn't realize the woman behind me (in the 3 seat) wasn't ok until the cox asked her to row, and people were yelling for me to row - and I was like "huh?" After, I looked back and was like "ohhh." (I saw her later and she was better hydrated and looked fine.) So, I didn't feel bad about us being last in that heat. 

Our mixed boat race was the last race of the day. Again, I knew about half of our boat, and people were super chill about if we won. Which was good, because we didn't. We had this really funny high school student who was coxing, and she was so excited because she already had two wins and a second place and she wanted another (but then she was fine with our 4th place). This race was a lot closer - they blow a horn when you finish, and it was four honks in pretty quick succession. The wife of one of the rowers took a video of it, and we looked pretty good, actually! In the video, because of the angle, it looks like we overtake and pass other boats, and are ahead (which actually never happened.) Since we were the last race, we had to put the boat away. After they gave out the prizes - fresh pineapple for first place, canned for second and dried for third. Since I wasn't winning anything and had been outside in the heat all day I snuck out early, went home, and took a nice long cool bath.

I would definitely do this regatta again. Not sure that I'm ready for less chill races, but maybe in a future year... I'm enjoying rowing a lot, and will definitely continue - it's such great exercise and nice people. 

5 seat!

Today I actually got to be in the front of the boat! I was the 5 seat, which is the last of the front, but definitively in the engine room. And, the coach and cox kept telling the bow to change things - not me this time. It was a really nice row, and fun to be in the wider part of the boat. I'm sure I will return to my usual 3 seat on Wednesday.

This weekend I'm participating in my first race - it's super casual and everyone says it's really fun. It's on the Mystic, from where we row - Blessing of the Bay. It's called the Pineapple Regatta because pineapples used to be a symbol of friendship and welcome :) Today someone told me that she caught a crab in her first race, so that's my kind of race. Still a little nervous. But they have promised super cute t-shirts, so I decided to try it.  

Early Roll-ups

Rowing is such a technical sport - one of the things you are meant to do is unfeather your oar as you are recovering from the stroke so that you are ready to drop it in the water and row as soon as you get to the catch. But, I have a hard time doing that. I swear today both the coach and the cox told me at least 10 times to focus on my early roll up. And the thing was, I was. I swear!!  And then they would compound it by telling me my timing was off, or that I should recover slower. Which, I definitely can't try to do two things better, my brain just explodes. A few times, though, I did get it correct I think and it felt good.

The raised garden beds at the school across the street from me were empty for so long this summer that I decided to buy a few plants and put in a little bandit garden. I did 4 tomatoes, a cucumber, and some herbs - basil, sage and rosemary. Today I went out and someone had staked my tomatoes! It was kind of cool of them, but also I hope they don't think they get to eat everything I grow. It's a risk with the bandit garden. I really mostly wanted the herbs because it's so easy to just go pick something when it's right across the street, as opposed to having to go a mile an a half through city traffic.

I got a FB notification that I started in my new field of work 12 years ago - crazy how time flies! I remember how nervous I was when I first started, but it seems to be going well now....