YCGL - February 28, 2025 - Heck, I just lost two hours of writing....About "Self Contained, Underwater, Breathing Apparatus"

 And I can never reproduce the spontaneity of the first draft.....

My nephew Steve asked me in December if I wanted to go SCUBA diving.  I told him no, I really wasn't feeling it at the time.  But a couple of pieces came together, so I got back to him in January and said yes.  So, tonight, I'm at Steve's house in Denver and we are flying out tomorrow morning for a week of diving in Cozumel, both of our favorite dive site.  

So, what happened?  Why did I change my mind?

I've had real problems with motivation to exercise. When Sally was alive and before Covid, I was getting pretty regular at the local Planet Fitness gym.   After that, I've kept my membership, but I was really spotty about going, literally a couple of times a year.  I'd go for a week or two and then stop.

Then, last year, when I decided it was time to go scatter Sally's ashes at her family's farm in Norway and then I decided to do the Paul tour of Greece with Bishop Mike Reinhart, I knew I need to get ready for walking.  So I started walking four or five times a week starting in March.  I had four routes that I walked, from a half mile to two and a half miles, alternating daily.  And I did that pretty consistently until the trip started in June, and I did some after I got back in August.  And then I quit.  

By Thanksgiving, I really decided I needed to do something.  So I bought a rowing machine.  

It was a tough start.  I had only been on a rower a couple of times, but I knew it would be good for my back, which is still weak and sensitive from the automobile accident I was in in 2016.  I got a good model in the lower price range, but with a number of special features, especially that it could be controlled by a program on my phone.  The phone can control the tension on the "oar" belt, and it could read the stroke rate and hence determine the power being developed while rowing.  

Not surprising, I was really  bad when I started.  At the lowest belt tension (1 out of 16), I was rowing at 14 strokes per minute.  And I lasted 2-1/2 minutes before I stopped.  I rested for 2-1/2 minutes and then repeated that three more times.  I rowed for 10 minutes in 20 minutes total 14 spm with a tension of 1.  It was a really weak showing.  

I finally found a program called Kinomap.  It consists of thousands of videos that people have made while rowing outside in nature.  The video is projected onto a computer screen or a TV screen so it is like you are paddling on a lake, a river, a canal, the ocean, etc.  Then there are three screens that are shown sequentially on your phone.  The first is a map of the area where you are rowing and a path showing the route that you are taking.  There can also be other people of the route who represent people who are actually on the water (in the program) when you are.  The second screen shows a graph of distance versus the power that you are generating as you row.  The third screen is a listing of people currently rowing while you are and the ranking of the people rowing.  

The locations are wonderful.  I've been rowing in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Viet Nam, Hawaii, Boyd Lake in Longmont, CO.  I haven't seen Wyoming yet, but I would bet that there are some from Lake Yellowstone and other lakes and reservoirs around the state.  So now I'm rowing at 22-25 strokes per minute at level 6 (of 16) and doing it for 10-20 minutes.  

But I wanted more.  So after I got home from Liz's at Christmas, I bought a treadmill.  The same Kinomap program connects to it as well.  In addition to controlling the pace, it can increase the slope as well.  Again, I've been all over the world at a fast walking pace (2.6-3.2 mph).  I've hiked in Norway, France, Spain, Mexico, Maine, Colorado, Hawaii, Great Britain, Italy, Greece, all over.  

The two pieces of equipment and Kinomap have made my exercise really enjoyable.  I row in the morning and walk before I go to bed.  And I've lost 8 pounds in the process.  

So then, I was ready to go Scuba diving in Cozumel.  We fly out tomorrow at 9:42, so I need to stop and get some sleep.  Tomorrow and Water!   

YCGL - March 1, 2025 - Back Home Again in Cozumel

YCGL - January 2, 2024 - A Mouth Full of Miracles!!!