Treasure Island

This past Monday my kids were out of school, so I decided that a beach trip was needed. Hey, a beach trip is always needed!

Since my goal is to hit as many different beaches as I can this year, I wanted to try a new beach on Monday. Getting to Clearwater Beach and St. Pete Beach is pretty easy if you just follow the signs from the interstate. I figured that getting to the other beaches would be just as easy, so I set out without directions to get to Madeira Beach. Well, I got off the interstate where I saw the Madeira Beach sign and that was the last sign I saw. I drove and drove and drove, but never got to a beach. Frustrated and lost, I made up my mind to just head west because I knew I would eventually run into the gulf somehow. And that is how I mysteriously ended up at Treasure Island.

It was a cute little community of older hotels and gorgeous homes. It looked nothing like the more touristy areas of the suncoast. I have to say that I really liked it. We finally found a parking lot, and I was really disappointed that the parking kiosk only accepted cash. I never carry cash, but I was able to dig up enough coins to make enough money to park for the day.

The next obstacle was to find food for the kids and me. There were not many choices near the parking lot or beach. My only options were Waffle House or the gas station. Let's just say we settled on lunchables and a bag of chips from the gas station. There was a snack bar in the public restroom area, but that did not smell appetizing, and I don't think they served actual lunch food.

After parking and getting food it was time to go to the beach, yay! Once past the public restroom building I got my first view of Treasure Island Beach, and it was absolutely breathtaking. The water was blue, the sand was white, and the number of beach goers was small. There were a lot of the natural beach plants and palm trees.

The sand was not soft or powdery, though. It was a lot of broken shells. They were not uncomfortable to walk on, just not soft and relaxing like powdery sand is. My five year old said that there were so many shells on the beach so the treasure could stay hidden. The rough sand did not stop my kids from building sand castles and digging giant holes.

The water was really calm on Monday. Gulf tide is usually small, but it was non-existant on Monday. The water barely rolled onto the beach and seemed more like the bay than the Gulf. It made boogie boarding impossible, but that did not stop my 7 year old from trying. The water in March is still chilly, but it is gradually warming up every week. I call it "tourist water" because the northerners have no problem getting in up to their necks. I made it to mid-thigh on Monday...not too shabby.

The biggest complaint I have about the beach is that the restrooms are so far from the water. This is a problem when you have kids with little bladders. I had to pack up all three kids for the huge trek up to the restroom several times on Monday. It was about a 10 min walk up to the restroom (going 5 year old speed).

Still, it was a gorgeous beach, and I am glad I stumbled on it.

Why Cross-Train?

Whenever I start an activity, I always want to push myself to be the best I can be. For me, this usually means daily practice so I can get better fast. However, I am learning that any constant use of a joint or repetitive impact on an area of the body is going to cause pain and injury. It's why runners have runners knee and tennis players have tennis elbow. By taking away the constant and repetitive impact and motion, I am hoping to prevent further injury to my body. My solution to this is cross-training.

The main reason I believe cross-training is the answer is cross training helps to balance out muscle groups. For instance, having really strong quads from running but weak hamstrings can cause knee and back problems. Same is true for any part of the body. I want to prevent injury by keeping all my push and pull muscles balanced. In addition, I think it looks better if I have a balanced body. It just looks odd when a person has big ole legs but an iddy biddy upperbody. Or lets not forget tennis players that have huge forearms but skinny upper arms. They look like popeye!  I understand that not many of us are going go have perfectly proportionate bodies, but cross-training helps to balance it all out. 

In addition to balancing out my muscle groups, I also find cross-training useful because my body adapts quickly to any workout. I don't know if it's because I am awesome at finding ways to make a workouts easy or if it's because I've been a competitive athlete for 23 years. Either way, no matter the workout, my body quickly adapts. I've done some amazing classes and types of exercises that I thought I was going to die the first couple times I did it. But after a week or two it is no longer a challenge. Cross-training at least keeps my body somewhat surprised while doing different activities, but at the same time it allows me to at least get better at the handful of different activities I use for cross-training. It's hard for me because I am not patient, and want to be the best right away. I am still struggling with this one.

Finally, cross-training helps me because I am easily bored. It is difficult because my attention span does not match my endurance level. My brain tends to quit before my body. Cross-training allows me to mix up my workouts so I don't get bored. If I were to run everyday during the week, by the third day I am dreading the workout. But if I only have to run twice during the week, then maybe it will feel fresh to me every time I do it.

These are my reasons for cross-training, now here's to hoping that I can actually make it work! I'll keep you updated.

Swimming for Martial-Arts

As I was swimming laps yesterday I was trying to think of all the ways that swimming is beneficial for martial-artists. I have heard of people doing "Aquando" and practicing kickboxing in the pool. I have even done forms a time or two in the pool. But I'm talking about real swimming...laps.

First, the whole breathing thing while trying to swim freestyle/front crawl is a challenge. Unless you have really poor form, timing is a huge issue for breathing. Yesterday I was trying to swim fast enough to get my heartrate up, this meant that I was breathing hard. Unlike running or other cardiovascular activities where you can just breathe every time you need more O2, swimming requires you to breathe in and out at steady pace. Breath control is great for any sport. You learn to control your breathing so that you can fully utilize your oxygen intake. If an athlete breathes to shallow and quickly pushes that air back out, then they will not be getting enough oxygen into their lungs. An athlete should learn to control breathing so that they can take full breaths in and slowly let it back out. In swimming you have to do just that. You breathe in, put your face back in the water and slowly let the air out until the next time you turn your face for air (every 3 strokes is normal).

Second, martial-arts is a high impact activity. We jump, fall, kick and strike people/bags with force, or we get kicked or struck with force. It's fun, but sometimes our body needs a break from all that impact. Running, plyometrics, and jump rope are all typical tools for a martial artist to condition with, but they also add more impact into our routine. All of the impact causes us to be in pain so that we can not train or we just don't want to train. The older I get, the easier it is for my joints to yell and scream at me after a workout. In addition, the more time you spend doing high impact activities, the more chances you have of developing over use injuries and even arthritis and tendonitis. I have been doing martial-arts for 19 years...that is a lot of flying side kicks on heavy bags! Swimming is a non-impact way for a martial-artist to add cardiovascular conditioning. Plus, the water acts as therapy as you push your body through it.

Third, swimming is both a cardiovascular activity and a strength building activity. Building muscle is a great way to protect your body from injury during the high impact activities of martial-arts. Plus, building muscle helps to build power and posture for amazing kicks, strikes, and stances. Swimming utilizes back, shoulder, chest, arm, glute, and leg muscles. Plus, it helps build the core muscles martial-artists need for balance and power. Thats almost the entire body! In addition, I use mostly legs in Taekwondo, so adding more upper body strength is always a smart thing to do to balance out my body.

I am going to try to swim at least 2 or 3 times a week. I am hoping to gain strength and endurance while I try to heal my body.

St. Pete Beach

It was such a beautiful day in Tampa and I really needed to get out in the sun and enjoy some sand between my toes. Being new to Tampa, I decided to go to one of the three beaches that I actually know how to get to so that I didn't waste any precious beach time trying to figure out where to go. I picked St. Pete because it is usually busy enough so that my kids have other kids to play with and I can people watch. The other active beach that I know how to get to is Clearwater, and Clearwater is just a pain to get to when coming from Tampa.

St. Pete is a beautiful beach, even in March. There is not a lot of sea weed on the beach and the sand is the famous white sand of the "sun coast." There are a lot of shells on the beach, so whenever I go to St. Pete I make sure to step with caution so I don't end up with cuts like my pore hubby did today. My daughter, however, enjoys the shells because it allows for some great shell collecting. The shells usually look great in bowls, arts and crafts projects, and even the fish bowl.

St. Pete beach was pretty active today. I think it is spring break for a lot of the northerners who did not seem to mind that the water is actually freezing! I was amazed that they could completely submerge in that frigid water...brrrrrrr. The spring breakers also meant that there were plenty of kids for my children to build sand castles with and play catch with. I envy my 7 year olds ability to make friends quickly with every kid he meets. He had a great time getting to know a 7 year old Canadian. My 5 year old had a blast digging in the sand with his shovels and plastic trucks.

I enjoyed a day of playing catch, chilling on a blanket, shell hunting, and people watching. I missed the t-shirt shops of Clearwater and some other Florida beaches. I love to walk through the bigger t-shirt shops and explore the fun beachy stuff. However, the t-shirt shops at St. Pete beach are few and far from the beach. They are not a convenient to the beach and neither are concession stands. It was really disappointing today because I really wanted a volleyball and a drink.

Still, I while I will continue to explore the beaches of Tampa this year, I will definitely be returning to St. Pete beach.

MOSI

Today I took two of my children back to the Museum of Science and Industry here in Tampa. The first time we went through the museum last October the whole family had a blast. Today was my third trip and I have to say that I am really disappointed in the museum.

The museum has a lot to offer. Three floors in the main building are full of exhibits that are interactive and interesting. Then there is the other building that has the planetarium and the "Kids in Charge" area. In addition there are a couple of IMAX theaters.

Like I said, the exhibits are interactive, hands on, and fun...the first time. Here is the disappointing part, except for a small exhibit on the bottom floor, none of the exhibits have changed since October. There are rooms where you can experience a tornado in a basement and a room where you can experience and earthquake.  Then there are lots of other exhibits that are hands on and educational for natural disasters. The problem is, once you've done it once, its not worth doing again. The earthquake is nothing like the earthquake ride at Universal Studios, so you really don't even want to do it again. Even my five year old was bored with it the second time around.

The third floor is still a really cool exhibit about the human life cycle. Very cool the first time. I have no desire to walk through it again, and my kids REALLY did not want to see it again. This exhibit should not have lasted more than 3 months. MOSI really needs to rotate its exhibits more to keep their members excited about coming back. I would not have paid for a membership if I knew this would be the only exhibit.

The small room on the bottom is the only thing besides the IMAX movies that has changed since October. Today was a very small and boring bug exhibit. I thought it was gross, but the kids thought it was cool...for 5 minutes. As far as the IMAX goes, the IMAX movies seem to change often, but never to anything worth taking the family to see.

The planetarium would be cool, maybe. I don't know because every time I am there, there are never any shows. I do not think 1 or 2 shows a day is enough, but what do I know?

The kids in charge area, though, is amazing. Lots of interactive things for the kids to do. They can learn about physics, music, home economics, and airplanes in a very playful, hands on area. I love it. This area is totally worth the membership. For a couple bucks there are bounce houses and giant slides for the kids to play on as well.

In the end, I say if you are visiting Tampa you MUST check out the Museum of Science and Industry. If you have kids and live near Temple Terrace, you should get the membership. If you don't have kids, don't waste your money because you will be bored after the first visit.

Enjoy!

Cloudy Fish Tank

I just inherited 4 fish and I am learning this fish thing as I go. One of the first lessons I learned was today. I started up my 10 gallon tank yesterday to house my 3 goldfish that we won at the Strawberry Festival.
Yesterday I:
1) conditioned the water, added it to the tank
2) added gravel to the tank as an afterthought because I forgot I had it
3) started the filter and let it run for awhile
4) added the fish. I know you are supposed to wait longer to add the fish to the water, but I was really concerned about getting them out of the bags they were in from the festival.

After all that work, I freaked out when the water in the tank turned cloudy today. After some research, I learned that cloudy water during the first couple days is completely normal. Whew!!!!

Apparently during the first couple of days, the filter is running its cycle, the gravel is settling, and the "good" bacteria is doing its job. It is supposed to clear up in a day to a week.

Running Is Evil

Running seems to be one of the most effective and popular ways to lose weight and stay in shape. For me, it is one of the few ways that I can get my heart rate up so that I can get a good cardiovascular workout. However good running may be for my heart and my waist, I know that running destroyed my body! I ran competitively for 7 years and now, 15 years after my last race, I am still suffering from the effects it had on my body.

FEET
I have horrible foot pain just about everyday. It does not surprise me that after spending 7 years running on roads, asphalt tracks, sidewalks, and just about any other hard surface provided at indoor track meets, that my feet took a beating. I had to have surgery on my left foot to correct the damage caused by running, and I also have constant bursitis on the balls of both feet. Not to mention, the damage done, even though it is fixed in one foot, still bothers me if I wear heals too long, jog too much, or just wear any shoes for too long. I have had fractured and chipped bones in my feet from all the running I have done and I still feel the pain.

ANKLES
My ankles are weak from the multiple times I sprained them on the cross-country course. My ankles have been sprained so many times that now I sometimes twist my ankles while just standing in one place. I have even sprained my ankle sitting in criss-cross position. While running tends to strengthen the muscles in the ankle, the holes and rocks in off-road running tend to be a hazard. Not only is it painful and annoying when I sprain my ankle at random times now that they are so weakened, but all the twisting has caused problems with the nerves in my ankles. I have been told by doctors that my ankles do not protect themselves from sprains because I have lost the reflex that most people have. I have lost most proprioception in both ankles so my body does not react to the twisting until it is too late to protect myself from the sprain.

KNEES
My knees are even worse than my feet and my ankles. During the 7 years I spent running hardcore, my knee caps continuously dislocated. Kneecaps can dislocate in runners because running develops the hamstrings more than it develops the quadriceps. This imbalance can cause the kneecap to get off track. All the times that my knees caps dislocated I developed scar tissue and weak knee tendons. I had to have surgery on both knees to repair the tendons and scrape out the scar tissue. This was just as painful as it sounds. Now my knees are still weakened and I have the tendency to dislocate them while kicking, twisting, or sometimes just standing up. This is painful and usually means I am not moving to well for a week or so. Also, there are days when my knees will just throb if I walk too much on hard surfaces or even if its just a cold, wet day.


I am not anti-running. I still run when I am not in too much pain, and I think running is a natural human activity. I AM anti-treadmill because there is nothing healthy or natural about running on a treadmill. Running is a great workout, and a great conditioning tool. I just think that people should know that running is not always a good thing and that anybody should proceed with caution before beginning a running regiment.

Strawberry Festival

I haven't been to a festival, fair, or carnival in quite awhile. I grew up in small towns, and I remember looking forward to our annual fairs. Growing up in a town of about 14,000 people, the summer fair was about the most exciting thing that happened. The summer fair in Danville, KY was a highlight for my friends and me who would go at least 2 or 3 times during the week long fair. I remember it only being about $7 to get into the fair, and another $7 or so for the bracelet that got you on all the rides. The fair had shows, vendors, rides, games, and truck pulls. I think we had about 5 rides and the most exciting ride for my friends and me was the Graviton.

In Mendota, IL (about 7,000 people) the most exciting thing in that town was the Sweet Corn Festival. It was free! My friends and I would ride our rollerblades to and around the festival. I know that riding the ferris wheel was the only thing worth doing, and I know that was not more than a buck to ride.

So when I heard that Plant City, FL, a town of 30,000 people and about that many strawberry fields, was having a festival, I was not sure what to expect. But hey, I loved the idea of celebrating my favorite fruit! I was completely shocked when we ended up spending over $200 for a family of five. Adult tickets for the fair were $10 a piece, and the kid price was $7 a piece. I thought that price was worth it, but the ride tickets were ridiculously high. The ferris wheel was $5 a person to ride, and most of the other rides were about $3-$4. We ended up buying the $25 bracelet that allowed the wearer to ride limitless rides.

Still, I was impressed by the size of the festival for a small town fair. Countless rides that included small roller coasters, tons of shows, and a crazy amount of vendors. We spent 8 hours at the festival walking, riding, walking, looking around, walking, watching shows, walking, playing games, walking, and even watching Trace Atkins. Oh, and we walked A LOT!

The Strawberry Festival was fun. The pig races made me laugh, the acrobatic pirates were cool, and just being outside and watching the kids have fun was a blast. We ended up with 3 fish, stuffed animals, and a flat of fresh strawberries...YUM! The crazy thing, though, is that my kids' favorite part was the Graviton!

Christian martial-artist can meditate

Many of the practices of martial-artists seem contrary to Christian beliefs to outsiders or to those who have been taught by non-Christians. One of the most confusing practices for Christian martial-artists is meditation.


Martial-artist usually spend time on meditation and concentration. Some people confuse this meditation with the Buddhist philosophy of meditating in order to sharpen and awaken the mind to find the "True Self." As a Christian martial-artist I know that meditation should not have this root or purpose. 


Instead of emptying the mind, as in eastern religions, a Christian martial-artist should fill the mind. Luke 11:24-25 warns that if we empty our minds we are in danger of evil spirits entering. Instead, a Christian martial-artist can focus on martial-arts performance. I can use "meditation" to strategize and focus on a fight or form. In this sense, I "meditate" by picturing what I will be doing or how I will be doing it. Before a fight, for example, I try to picture some of the ways I will counter my opponent's attacks. Or sometimes it helps me to relax before a fight if I imagine myself winning or scoring points. Before doing forms I try to "meditate" on the moves and how the should be executed.


Another way to "meditate" is to focus on God, and by this I mean prayer or studying the Word. Philippians 4:8 tells us to meditate on things that are "true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. If I am at a school where we are given meditation time, I will use that time to thank God for allowing me to practice or ask Him to keep me safe. I may pray that He helps me to win or perform at my best. A lot of times I pray for healing. Outside of the DoJang, I will pray and study the Bible during my quiet times.


Eastern meditation is a dangerous ground for Christians because it means you are practicing another religion. In Deuteronomy 12:29-32, we are warned that we should not take up any practices of pagan religions. "...God hates it all with a passion..." Deuteronomy 12:31. Instead of meditating like Buddhists or Taoists, martial-artist should learn how to meditate like Christians.


Meditation is not a requirement in the type of the Taekwondo I practice. I know of schools that have meditation time. If a Christian is careful to fill his or her mind with Godly things instead of emptying the mind or meditating as part of an eastern religion, a Christian martial-artist is safe to meditate.