A Simple Life of Luxury

An earlier post all about keeping motivated with respect to keeping fit suggested the purchase of some gadgets. the idea being that spending money on them will mean you have to go out for a run to justify the expense, and the new gadget will encourage you out so that you can play with it. Well, I took my own advice the other day when Apple dropped the prices of their iPod shuffles and bought myself one. OK, OK I know, I already had a 30GB iPod video so why do I need a shuffle as well?

Apart from the fact that I couldn’t resist it especially at less than £30, the shuffle is my better for running and cycling with simply because of its size. I’m able to clip it on anywhere and get out there for a run without having to wear clothes with pockets in to fit my bigger iPod or even worrying about breaking it.

Unfortunately my back has been hurting a bit lately, so I haven’t had much chance to use the shuffle yet, but I will do soon.

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Morgan
Happy Birthday to you

It’s Morgan’s birthday today and we’ve all had a lovely weekend celebrating. He had a party with all his friends on Saturday, complete with bouncy castle and ‘Sportacus’ cake then on Sunday we let him open his presents a day early so that he had a chance to play with them and took him out to try out his new bike. Ninny and Grandad came to stay as well so he had plenty of people to boss around and play with.

I feel a bit mean today as he’s at Nursery celebrating with everyone there rather then at home with me. He’s also a bit sad that Ninny and Grandad have to go home but we took another cake in to nursery to share there and we are off to visit Granny at the weekend. Morgan’s first trip on a plane! He’s not happy about leaving Daddy behind but very exciting about seeing Granny.

I’m sure Al will add some photos from the weekend later.

Along with the rest of the country we have been enjoying some gorgeous spring weather recently. Clear blue skies all day long and some of the most amazing sunsets and sunrises with spectacular oranges, pinks and purples. It has been quite cold too, especially at night which leads to a local phenomenon of a katabatic wind, affectionately known as Ivor here in Ynyslas and Borth.

It works in a similar fashion to a sea-breeze in the summer, but in the opposite direction and with more force. At night the temperatures in the hills can drop significantly, often reaching minus numbers and maybe even down to minus 8-10ºC. The sea however remains at a fairly constant temperature and is currently around 9ºC. That is a huge temperature difference. The sea warms the air above it which then rises, and cooler air from inland moves in to take its place, creating an offshore wind. As the sun rises in the mornings, it rays reflect off the surface of the sea further raising the temperature of the air above it which drives the wind even faster. This is the exact opposite to the summer sea-breeze effect, but the larger temperature difference increases the effect making the winds stronger.

On top of this, Ivor, the katabatic wind has gravity on its side (unlike the sea-breezes in the summer). The cold air in the hills sinks into the valleys and flows along them just like a river would. Gravity, coupled with topographic funneling in association with winds driven by a temperature gradient can produce some pretty startling effects here, with winds in excess of 20 knots when everywhere else is calm. If this also occurs on a day when there is a general E-NE wind direction then we often gets winds in the 30-40 knot range. More than enough for most people and perfect for those of us who windsurf and Kitesurf.

Ever since starting geocaching I have wanted to dispense with the paper cache description and find a streamlined way of paperless geocaching. As yet there isn’t a GPSr that allows you to simply visit the geocaching.com website, do a search for parituclar caches and then upload all of their details to the GPS device. As far as I’m concerned it is about time that Garmin and Groundspeak teamed up to produce such a device as it would make things so much easier. Of course, I’m sure they will, but no doubt it will be too expensive for me and Mac support probably won’t be great.

However, now that I have a new GPSr things have improved a little. My previous experiences were time-consuming to say the least and not ideal. I had a Garmin eTrex, but no cable to connect it to my Mac so a typical geocaching expedition would mean first visiting geocaching.com to find caches in the area I was about to visit, printing out the cache descriptions for each of these and then manuakly entering the co-ordinates into the eTrex. Once out looking for them we would have pieces of paper everywhere and of course only a few of the caches loaded into the eTrex.

Now that I have a Forerunner 305 can at least connect my Mac to it so can upload co-ordinates without having to enter them manually. This is an improvement, and coupled with macCaching and an iPod I can now go paperless geocaching… It isn’t quite ideal. For a start the Forerunner isn’t really designed for use as a geocaching machine and can only store 100 waypoints. Secondly the cache descriptions are on my iPod not the GPSr which means taking both out into the hills with me. It is still btter than it was though and here is the procedure

1. Log onto gecoaching.com and create a pocket query for the area you are about to visit. I tell the query to return 100 results (as this is all the Forerunner will hold) closest to my destination, and select caches that aren’t mine and I haven’t already found. i also limit it to active caches and exclude events etc. Once this has been done I get email a gpx file containing the details of these caches.

2. Open the gpx file using MacCaching (A Cache management database for the Mac.)

3. Export this list of caches from MacCaching to both my Forerunner and my iPod. This gives me all 100 coordinates on the forerunner and all of the descriptions of the caches within the Notes setion of my iPod

Now, when I get to where I’m going I simply switch on my Forerunner, go to the navigate screen and lookfor the nearest caches. This gives me the caches GC number which I can look up on my iPod to find the description.

Much better than using my eTrex, but still fairly limiting by the fact that 100 caches doesn’t actually cover a huge area in some locations. I’ve just done a pocket query for an area of North Wales that I shall be visiting soon, but 100 caches doesn’t come close to covering the area. Still, 100 caches is more than enough to keep me busy!

I’ve never been too lucky when it comes to haircuts. As a child my Mum (who used to be hairdresser) always cut my hair. Nothing wrong with that although I never really had ‘cool’ hair, and you have to wonder what happened to make her an ex-haridresser rather than a real one!

Once I moved away from home I did go to the barbers once or twice, but one day I went to a get my hair cut in Aberystwyth and the guy doing it decided to give my hair a good comb. A normal procedure one would think, but this guy combed with just a little too much gusto and a little too much pressure. Well, actually he went way over the top so much so that he drew blood and I ended up with long striations across my scalp that were sore for weeks afterwards…. I haven’t returned since
Recently Anna has been cutting my hair for me with a set of clippers. This was fine to start with, then one day the clippers broke and all I heard was a ‘whooops’ and then some giggling and there I was with a big chuck of hair missing. We managed to cover it up a little and got some new clippers for the next time. We have persevered with the new clippers but they were never any good and a few times now they have stopped working halfway through a haircut leaving me with a nice short number 3 on two thrids of my head and long hair elsewhere… Not ideal. This happened again on Saturday, so I ended up not being able to leave the house (without wearing a hat or my cycle helmet) on Sunday until Anna had been into town and bought some new clippers.

Thankfully these seemed to work really well, although, I’ve just seen myself in the mirror and they may have worked just a little too well…. Anna, I think they need to be on a longer setting next time!

So, how are you all doing, no doubt many of you started a fitness regime in the New Year and now its crunch time. Have you kept to it? Are you still motivated? How can you keep it up?

It can be difficult, work and family commitments get in the way, the weather isn’t great, the days are still short and you have learned to live with the extra few pounds put on over Christmas, but don’t give up now. Staying motivated is difficult, but you’ve put in a month of work to develop a base to work from so stick with it. Hopefully this article will provide you with a few tips for staying motivated.

Record your Training
Athletes record their training so that they can track their progress and find out what works for them. Now, i’m no athlete and you might not be either so you may think that recording your exercise sessions isn’t necessary, but it all helps with the motivation. It is all too easy to miss a run because it is pouring with rain or not go for a swim because it is cold and dark outside and there is something on TV that looks interesting. Such things are fine, but before you know it you haven’t done any exercise this week, and then that becomes none for two weeks and that’s it, game over your new exercise regime has ended. Keeping a record of what you’ve done makes it easy to look back and see just how good you have been. Lazy weeks are fine, but knowing you have had a lazy week means you can make up for it the next week. Seeing lots of entries in your training diary is a boost and helps keep you motivated to do more.

It is up to you how far you take this, you can use sophisticated fitness training software to analyse your performance, track distances, times, heart rate, diet and much more, or you can just make a note of each session you do in a simple diary / notebook, but keeping some sort of record is a great way to stay motivated.

Spice things up
Fitting training into our busy schedules often means a quick run around the block or local park and doing the same route time and time again can get monotonous. Try to spice things up a bit, plan a run or bike ride somewhere you haven’t been before. Not only will it make you look forward to it, but the new sights will take your mind off the training and make you enjoy the experience.

Alternatively, do something different. if you always just run, then go for a bike ride or a swim. Go to the gym, play squash, anything really. It’ll break the monotony, motivate you and will also work different muscles and maybe teach you new skills. After all, if you can enjoy your exercise then you are going to stick to it.

Spend some Money
Always a good one for me. if I spend some money on a new toy; new running shoes, new bike, heart rate monitor, then I feel compelled to use it. I do of course love gadgets, so getting a new one motivates me to get out there and use it. Once again, it adds a new dimension to the monotony of training and helps me stick with it. It doesn’t have to be a new toy either paying for a gym membership can work just as well.

Train with friends
Training with friends can be a great way to keep you motivated. Once again, it doesn’t have to be full-on training, just taking a friend out for a nice bike ride is enough. First, if you make arrnagements to meet someone to go for a run, bike ride or for a game of squash etc. then it isn’t so easy to just not bother. They are relying on you to be there so whatever the weather and other excuses that may have persuaded you not to go on your own, you;ll still turn up. You’ll enjoy it more with company, and often the comnpetition element will spur you on to work just that little bit harder.

Training with people of varying abilities is good too. If they are a little better than you then you are motivated to try a little harder and being a bit better than someone ele is a great morale booster.

Learn to enjoy it.
It is all to easy to think of your exercise sessions as a chore. But why? No doubt once you are out there doing it you are actually enjoying yourself and the sense of acheivement afterwards makes you feel great. So, why is it a chore. More to the point, however reluctant you are to get out there, it has to be better than work or slobbing in front of the TV. Spice it up, do something you enjoy and excrcise becomes something to look forward to rather than dread.

Join a Club
There are clubs out there for all sorts of sports, joining one can provide you with motivation, new training partners and the ability to learn new skills. Almost all clubs cater for and welcome beginners, so don’t worry about being the slowest. In fact you’ll probably be surprised as there is almost always other beginners, some of whom may be less fit than you, which can be a great motivation boost in itself. And even if you are the slowest then you will be welcomed with open arms/

Think of the benefits
I’m not going to go into the health, weight, physical or physcologial benefits here. We all know them and we are all exercising for one reason or another. But remind yourself of these now and then to keep yourself motivated. It felt worthwhile doing it when you started, so it is still worthwhile now.

Think of the downsides
For some people thinking of the benefits is enough motivation in itself, but thinking of the downsides can be more motivating. Don’t just think of the health risks of not exercising but think of the work you have put in until now. Stopping now will undo all of that just as you are getting to a point where it is starting to do some good. Progress can be slow, especially to start with and building a suitable base takes time, but once you have done the exercise sessions become more enjoyable and the improvements really begin. Don’t stop now and undo what good you have already done.

Set yourself an aim
Your first aim was probably just to do some exercise. Now that you’ve started why not challenge yourself. maybe you could enter a race? Its not as mad as it sounds, most races have entrants with all levels of abilities and having something to aim for can keep you motivated and training hard. if racing isn’t your thing then just set yourself goals to run for a certain distance or time, to cycle a certain number of miles in a week. Having an aim can make it all seem more worthwhile and the feeling of acheivement when you fulfill your aims keeps you going for the next challenge.

So, there you go. No excuses now, get out there, get fit and ENJOY IT.

The weather yesterday was perfect for mountain-biking, gorgeous sunshine very little wind and cool, so Harvey and I headed off to Pendam for a ride and some exploring.

From Pendam car park we cycled out past Llyn Syfydrin and along the track towards Nant-y-Moch. We saw Dave on the way so said our hello’s and then headed out along the road besides Nant-y-Moch and all the way to the top of the mountain road. We then followed the forest track to Anglers Retreat with a small diversion down a rocky, muddy trail and through a little bog. We stopped at Angler’s Retreat to check on one of my geocaches and then continued on past Llyn Penrhaeadr.

I have another geocache hidden on the shores of Llyn Penrhaeder so we decided to stop and check on this one as well. There are no obvious landmarks near this one, so I wasn’t 100% sure where it was, but then I remembered that I had loaded the nearest 100 caches to home into my Forerunner 305 the other day, so a quick press of a few buttons and my GPS watch was telling me that the nearest gecoache was 150 feet from where we had stopped…. Needless to say we soon found it and all was in good order. I know everyone has been loading geocache details directly from their computer into their GPS devices for a while now, but I didn’t have a cable for my old eTrex GPS so this is new to me. I had always had to enter them by hand, so being able to automatically add 100 caches to the device is great. It saves so much time and means I have all the caches I need to hand.

From here we headed off to the forestry and made a little detour to Pistyll y Llyn. Harvey had never approached from this direction before or seen the view from the top, so he was suitably impressed. It is an amazing place and the location of yet another of my Watery Wales 2 geocaches. If you only do one of them, then this is the one to do just for the views.

After retrieving our bikes we climbed to the highest point of the route before an undulating descent through some eroded gulleys that were good fun. Unfortunately the bottom part of the track was a little wet so we had to dismount a few times to negotiate some big puddles but overall it was a good technical little trail. From here we headed back along forest tracks towards Nant-y-Moch and then finished off the route with a bit of the Continental Trail and then back to Pendam.

20 miles in total and a nice easy pace with stops for the geocaches made for a good afternoon out. The image to the left shows the stats of our ride and here is a kml file of the route that Google Earth should be able to open.

Anglers Retreat Cycle Route (.kml file for Google Earth)

So much for the forecast of 20cm of snow, we haven’t even had a flurry yet… Lets hope we get some tonight as Brad is coming to visit and is bringing his snowboard with him!

I didn’t sit around waiting for the snow though, I went for a little run around the block and then a nice windsurf despite the cold temperatures. Funnily enough no one else was out so I had the place to myself. I didn’t stay out long though, not because of the cold but because I had taken too big a sail over to the beach with me so was a little overpowered. It wasn’t as windy as yesterday when the Borth weather station recorded a maximum gut of 54.5 knots… Yes, I was out windsurfing yesterday as well!

Brad is bringing his mountain bike with him, so even if we don’t get any snow (I’m not expecting much) then we shall have a day in the hills whatever.