Sassea Sails

There are four phases of the moon. Like a lot of learning figuring out and remembering how to tell at a glance which phase the moon is in has taken some time. A full moon is more obvious; it is big and round and bright and even has a man in it. A new moon is pretty invisible as it reflects zero sunlight. The waxing and waning moon phases only reflect light on either the right or left side of the moon as the phase progresses from waxing to full to waning to new.

Waning implies going away. When the moon is waning it is getting smaller, having already been full. A waning moon means light is being taken away. Waxing on the other hand reminds me of waxing the car, or waxing the hair off your legs (gross, I know). Either way think of waxing as adding something. In reference to the moon phase, then, a waxing moon means you are adding more light.

When looking at a partially lit moon how can you instantly know if it is waning or waxing. If the dark side is to your left and the light side is to your right it is waxing. The light moves from right to left, like reading a book in Hebrew. When the left side of the moon is lit the moon is said to be waning.

For an instant picture of the waxing, waning, full and new moon go to http://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/

The question still to be answered is the new moon phase called ‘new moon?’

           Hm, there is always something to learn. Use  multiple sources

          such as text, diagrams, and videos. Be in a relaxed frame of mind.

How do you keep up the momentum to learn? Here is my current list of ‘go to’ reminders.

a) Jillian Michaels for fitness. Her daily posts remind me to get moving and eat healthy. Just seeing her face in my inbox imbeds the motivation to do at least one of her recommended exercises each day.

b) Tony Robbins for goal setting. At one of his infamous week-end workshops about 15 years ago he retorted about the need to take action. Goal setting, he professed, meant little. It is the action one takes that results in reaching a goal.

c) Skip Weisman, communication expert, reminds us to clearly and concisely let others know what we expect. If spending an hour a day to exercise is important, let your mate know that you are not to be disturbed during that time.

d) Friend’s daughter gives me training guides. For example, her belief of increasing my running time/distance by 20% each week simplifies my training program. From 10 minutes every other day this week I will increase to 12 minutes every other day next week. (only running every other day is the recommendation of most running coaches so that regardless of how far/fast you go your body needs 48 hours to recoup.

e) Poster image I found on internet (regretfully, I forgot the source). This particular image reminds me to hold the plank position for ‘x’ amount of seconds once a day. Then, increase the seconds by 30 every three days. I tried to copy and paste the image here to no avail. As you can see it shows the code but not the image. Soooo—I guess it is time to learn something new —how to copy and paste images………..

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  a half hour after this blog post I figured out how to insert the pix.

Always learn,  make it  a lifelong event…

f) Self talk. Make a mantra, write it where you will see it; on the bathroom mirror, on your computer desktop, in your car, on the door you frequently enter and exit. Remind yourself, “I need it the most when I feel like it the least.”

g) A publisher/editor of an online magazine, Outrig.com, who encourages me to write about my passion for sailing, literally or metaphorically.

h) Oprah Winfrey and Bob Greene. I can’t believe their book Make the Connection written twenty years ago has become my daily read. Sometimes I read a chapter, other times a page, and still most days I only read a few lines. It is the habit of keeping the momentum going that counts.

What do you do to keep the momentum going?

How can I help you? Let us work together.

With the decision to find a new owner for my beloved SPRAY, I grasped at something I could do that would not take me from home more than a few days.  More directly, I needed something that could easily include my mate. Living in the swampland provides a lot of opportunity for fishing, power boating, or rowing (kayaking). For leisure I have chosen rowing.

But just musing about in my little boat doesn’t give me the needed fitness. Muffin tops belong on muffins, not my waist. The serenity of rowing in silence within inches of the mangrove forest is only interrupted by the splashing of a pelican diving for its dinner. Some mornings a gator will cross my path. Out closer to the gulf on Indian Key, in the middle of winter, white pelicans seek refuge on the sandbar. Rowing alone is not enough to get me in the shape I want to be in.

With a bit of prodding by my mate and an internal dialogue screaming for motivation I succumbed to an oldy but goodie. Yipe, it is back to running. Or is it jogging? Or perhaps hobbling in my case. My mate encouraged me to join the YMCA for swimming, aerobic classes, and weight room gymnastics. Then, I whined about my need for a training buddy to my long time friend, Nancy. She immediately sent me just the motivation I needed.

Her daughter is an active triathlete. Via texting and e-mails Sarah agreed to be my coach. In fact, within ten minutes of our messaging I found myself agreeing to enter an event on my 68th birthday. So, here I sit with, thankfully, 8 months to prepare.

I have already started swimming lessons. I can swim. But, I want to feel really ready to compete. I don’t want to be last. I want to swim faster than ever before. I want to break down the arm movements, breathing, and kicking into their basic form. With a swim instructor I have the one to one attention I always enjoy. With two lessons already taken the improvement is noticeable.

Bicycling is another dimension. I know how to ride a two wheeler. I want to excel. I want to make myself and my bicycle go as fast as possible. I know I need to learn to corner and make efficient u-turns. So, for training I need to get in touch with a local group. Fortunately, a local gal who has thousands and thousands of bicycling experience is willing to have me join her on some closer to home excursions. Biking, like swimming is underway.

Now comes the running. Back in the 70s I ran BAREFOOT through the woods. That’s what us hippy chicks did. Actually, I was the only girl. Me, and a group of frisbee throwing long haired quasi students at the University of Central Florida and I would run miles through the woods between home and the school. On Saturday and Sunday we played ultimate frisbee for hours running up and down the makeshift soccer field (waaaaaayyyyyy before UCF had a football team). All that running was done barefoot. Who needed shoes? We were students of Carlos Castenado, a supposed guru who professed the need to run barefoot through the desert. The point is I was in my twenties. Now I am in my sixties; my late sixties some may say. So, it is with gratitude for my current healthy status that I embark on this tri-athletic endeavor with safety being first. Just as I put safety first on my beloved SPRAY each and every time I set sail, I shall treat my feet and knees as they deserve to be treated. To show them my appreciation I already ordered a brand new pair of Brooks’ Adrenaline running shoes. A good supportive bra for those heavy headlights I carry is also essential. While any t-short and shorts would do just fine I did splurg on 3 new pairs of capris and matching tops.

Like everything else learned, running efficiently without injury will take time. A little bit each day. Five out of seven days of intense workouts began yesterday. Two days of rest – one of which will include mild stretching, maybe a walk in the swamp, or a casual row. I will study proper body position. This will include how I move my leg – more forward than upward; where do I keep my arms? Should my hands be open or closed? How straight up or leaned forward should my torso be? How wide should my stride by? These and other questions need to be studied and practiced. Just as I am learning to play the piano, have learned to sail, and am learning to be a good mate, learning to run, is now on the agenda.

What does all this have to do with sailing? It keeps me from going insane til I sail again. I will sail again. . .