Wow! May already?!

Wow, Does time fly!
I can't believe we're practically in May already. Finally I am digging myself out of a hole of anxiety and busy-ness. One of my colleagues was fired a couple of weeks ago, and I have been picking up shifts to cover in addition to having taken a week off for a "staycation." I'll not bore you with the details of the work situation, but I will bore you with staycation pics.

The DH and I were determined to get some serious diving done while I was off, and not only did we get that done, we also did some scouting for future dives. Here are some pics of said missions. The hiking was at Camp Kalaqua near High Springs. We were trying to see what things looked like at Hornsby Springs, the spring they use for swimming on their property. It's supposed to be a fantastic cave, but access is uber-limited. We were also looking for the access to Treehouse Spring on the Santa Fe River. We think it might be in the body of water you see behind me in the picture taken in the woods. Not sure, though. The cave pics were taken at Ginnie Springs by Hollywood stills photographer Gene Page, who happens to be a friend of ours AND one cool dude.

One of my other projects for my time off was to do some climbing at Gainesville Rock Gym. I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go with me, so I went by myself and, therefore, didn't have a belay. So I had to spend my time there doing only bouldering (climbing without belay). I was initially very disappointed, but it turned out to be a good thing. The whole point behind doing some climbing was to get me out of my comfort zone a bit. Climbing without belay simply took things up a notch. I ended up climbing a nice, easy wall as far as about 10 feet high. Problem? Getting back down. I ended up climbing back down a foot or so then dropping the rest of the way. The other thing it pressed me to do was play on some walls that didn't go up very far but encouraged lateral movement. This took me out of a previously set thought process and led me to stretch my idea of my assignment some. All-in-all, it was a great experience, and I'll be going back...Oh yeah, and it smoked my forearms!

The workouts otherwise have been going well. My handstands are coming along, getting stronger and longer, and I am still enjoying that process as well. I continue to find new ways to challenge my concept of my being a "jump retard," and that is fun too. Nutrition is advancing, honing. I'm not dropping weight, but my measurements are starting to budge, and I'm definitely seeing more and more definition.

Jen the Photojournalist

Friday, March 13, 2008
work 7p-7a

The hubby has been taking a rebreather class of late. My skills aren't advanced enough to participate yet, so I just run around documenting it all. :) He's been diving almost every day since we got here, enjoying every minute of it. Wanting to be a better, more efficient diver has led to a remarkably better diet, and the two are contributing to a steady weight loss. Hopefully, with each dive and each decision to eat a little better I get another few minutes with him when we're old and gray. And, ultimately, that is a large part of what this move was all about.

Today I have been trying to focus on these things because today has been an emotionally difficult day for me. I've been quite homesick. Daddy had to go into the hospital yesterday for even more heart issues, and Mom is doing her best to tolerate the pain of the broken pelvis at home. My siblings in Tennessee are running around taking care of them, and here I am in the warm sunny weather doing my own thing. The guilt runneth over. I keep trying to tell myself that each of my siblings had their time away, their years of spreading their wings and doing their own things. Their turns just happened to come in a time in Mom and Dad's lives when they were healthy. My mom was 42 when I was born. I didn't have that chance. Can you tell I'm trying to convince myself? Grrr.

Checking the counterlungs.Packing the cylinder.
Checking the mix. Took me forever to get used to the babyface!
Gearing up and checking the computer.

First rebreather dive

WORKOUTS: More of the same progression I've been on. I don't remember all the details since I don't have my workout log with me. My big lesson today was doing 15 minutes even though I'd planned for 30. I got up late and instead of saying to hell with it because I couldn't follow the plan, I did what I could. This lesson is an important one.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Off--158.5#

Our internet is still down, so I decided to steal bandwidth from a neighbor. :) The double tank dive went okay last night. People had told me that doubles were a whole new ball of wax, but I didn't truly believe them until last night. Walking them to the water was the easy part. My buoyancy was crazy, and I just couldn't quite get the feel for them. The steel 104's were a bit large, too, and I kept wacking my head on the manifold between them. That, coupled with my difficulty maintaining my buoyancy was pissing me off, and I had multiple cussing tirades underwater. The hubby says that's what everyone does their first time with doubles. I wonder if that's him just trying to make me feel better. Regardless, I'm going to give it another run in a pair of 95's as soon as I get the chance.

Here are some pics from a more serene evening we shared recently. One of my favorite things in the world is sitting round that campfire with friends.

TODAY'S WORKOUT: Today was my exercise in moderation. I was feeling a little beat up, so I decided to take the day off. I almost got up and went out there anyway, but stuck to my guns for a rest day. I hope it pays off.

YESTERDAY'S WORKOUT: 5 2-rung assisted pistol ladders followed with 5 5-rung green band assisted pullup ladders. I didn't do the usual TGU's or Tabata because I knew I was going to be getting into the water with those doubles.

SUNDAY'S WORKOUT: As many Full-on Burpees (chest to the deck then jump up with arms in the air) as could get in 10 minutes--turned out to be 59 that day. Finished a full 75 in 14 min.
Then I ran 9 minutes. I have to figure out how far that ends up being one of these days.

SATURDAY'S WORKOUT: DOUBLE C&P / Row ladders 3 4-rung then 3 3-rung double squat ladders with the 16's
then 75 full-on burpees in 16'07"