Had my Physical yesterday, and…

[magic carpet]

I also thought of rowing:
Don't know how I'd pull it off but I would love to have a single or 2-person watercraft, something where I could run up a sail and tool around the lake. 'Course it'd have to have a lil' electric motor for trolling in and out :wink: But I think a couple of oars would do nicely too. Just have to figure out how to trailer it using my ebike

Now you're talking!
I have a 17' double ended rowing and sailing boat called a St Lawrence Skiff, designed in 1890. Five years ago I put a Torqeedo outboard on it and last week I took it out for the first time this year. The battery has not lost any capacity whatsoever!

The most amazing thing about an electric motor on a sail boat is that when you turn on the motor while sailing it just seems like you're sailing faster! Electric/Sail power is an ideal hybrid combination. You can sail closer to straight into the wind and maintain steerage way in spotty conditions. You can get away from the doldrums close to shore and find the wind out on the lake. Instead of sailing around in the immediate proximity of my sailing club, I can head further afield without worrying about being stranded and becalmed.

For exercise, nothing beats a good rowing boat and my St Lawrence Skiff has the sliding seat, foot stretchers and spoon bladed sweeps that optimize rowing capability.

Last week the Tall Ships were in Toronto so I cruised over to to the harbour to take a look. People were hailing me from shore to compliment me on a beautiful vessel.

Mike

 

[magic carpet]

Windsurfing is a dying sport because it's so freaking hard to do. Lessons are crucial to get up the learning curve. But it's great "fun" exercise if you live near a sailing spot.

I started Windsurfing in the 70's when booms were teak and have witnessed the rise and fall of the sport. I sold boards, ran a sailing school, hosted the Canadian and North American Championships and edited the "Beginners Guide to Sailboarding" for the Canadian Yachting Association.

Never have I heard your theory that "Windsurfing is a dying sport because it's so freaking hard to do"!!! It is being replaced in the Olympics by Kiteboarding, which is considerably more difficult.

There are reasons for Windsurfing's demise but they are more to do with the manufacturers pushing innovations on a market that didn't need changing. The only way the manufacturers could sell more boards was to make them shorter and more suited to Hawaiian conditions, which simply didn't occur frequently enough to maintain viability.

The novelty (and vogue) has worn off but a core group of Windsurfers is as solid as ever.

Mike

 

[Kingfish]

The saga continues...

Last week I went back to the Doc to get my scripts & shots for Typhoid and Hep-A. The nurse took my bp and weight: I've lost 6 lbs. since May (but I knew that cos I bought my own scale and have been monitoring the changes daily). The bp surprised me again being 137/82! That's 55 pp - and entering serious disparity. Again the Doc tells me not to worry about it - we're measuring the long term trends.

Monday I made an appointment to see my old friend - The Eye Doctor for a new script. Been thinking I was having problems seeing, but as it turned out - the backup pair of glasses are not progressives, and my vision has actually improved slightly. They also took my bp: It's about 6 PM, and they used a cuff monitor that rang in at 114/78! I spoke with my pal about this and he said he had the exact same experience with his physician -> high bp every time. So he told me to go get a cuff monitor and measure myself at home, not at the doctor's office where you are rushing in to make the appointment - at home where you are normally at peace - and presuming there's no wayward children to bother you

Now I feel better; it demonstrates that I have been doing the right things, that the diet is working, that the exercise is helping.

Sheesh, wot a world. So now I'm looking at Amazon for bp monitors. They seem inexpensive. Is there something in particular I should be looking for? Does anyone else monitor their bp? Cuff or Upper Arm-band?

Low-key, cool as a cucumber - KF 8)

 

[mark5]

So now I'm looking at Amazon for bp monitors. They seem inexpensive. Is there something in particular I should be looking for? Does anyone else monitor their bp? Cuff or Upper Arm-band?

I monitor my bp after finding out I had high bp in 2006 (found out after a blood vessel in my brain broke).

Best thing you can do after getting a blood pressure monitor is to take it to your doctor's office and test yours against theirs. To find a decent unit look at Consumer Reports to see what they recommend, then read Amazon reviews. Upper arm cuffs work best. A good unit is the Omron HEM-780 (discontinued, replaced by their newest model BP785). I started with that Omron but one that I like better now is LifeSource UA-704VL because it's manual inflate, doesn't waste battery power on a pump so batteries last a long time. Or you could get an aneroid sphygmomanometer and stethescope like an ADC Prosphyg 790 which might be most accurate and not need batteries at all.

 

[Kingfish]

Hi Mark5

That ADC Prosphyg 790 unit looks very intriguing. Is there a spec, a method published on how to take one's own bp then?

FWIW - all my AA batteries are rechargeable so that's not a large issue. Though the "manual" concept appeals to me.

Best, KF

 

[jkbrigman]

Hey KF: I use this blood pressure wrist cuff:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Omron-7-Series-Wrist-Blood-Pressure-Monitor/15702123
Works pretty well, cost about $60 US. There are cheaper versions with fewer features.

IF cost is a factor, there's this type:
http://www.harborfreight.com/blood-pressure-monitor-67212.html
That link is for "Harbor Freight" but you can probably find it on Amazon for cheap.

 

[mark5]

That ADC Prosphyg 790 unit looks very intriguing. Is there a spec, a method published on how to take one's own bp then?
FWIW - all my AA batteries are rechargeable so that's not a large issue. Though the "manual" concept appeals to me.

Lots of blood pressure taking videos on YouTube
The video should show how to take bp and play the Korotkoff sounds (good SWF sounds here) you'll be listening for.

Watch a couple of video links http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oioFVbsiwEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6saTO8_o2g
and you'll know how. Sorry that first video moves slow--can skip to 4:40 to get to the point.

An old school analog gauge like that ADC has its pluses. Get one with a D-ring cuff like that one has if putting it on yourself.

 

[Kingfish]

Just saw your post

. . .

On the way to work - I have this route that bypasses downtown Redmond by looping around Redmond Town Center (RTC). It saves me about 5-10 minutes and up to 5 stop lights. It's about 1 mile long of hard fast 35 mph riding. I think in my entire commute - this is the toughest section where I can go balls-to-the-walls flat out WOT and pedal like a mofo. At the end - I nearly always hit a light and have to wait. My heart is racing like a stallion. But after 90 seconds I have it managed again. There's one more rush to the bike trail but that doesn't wind me nearly as much. Then up the huge incline: I can never take this at full speed cos of other riders (and implied safety) though it's about 2.25 miles long. It's that first mile in downtown that winds me the most - and I've always wanted to measure my bp at the end of that heavy sprint - until I can catch my breath. You know - what am I really putting out in terms of heart rate and bp under load.

For that matter, can I measure myself when I'm "in the zone"? I think that information would be of value.

OT: Good cyclist movie where they are measuring health/stamina is American Flyer.

Good stuff, KF

 

[dogman dan]

I'd worry less about the BP if the heart rate returns to normal fairly quick. If you do a max effort and then the heart races for 5 min, then you need to worry.

A heart stress test is pretty expensive, but if you can get your doc to send you for one so insurance covers it, then you get to know what's really going on. When I was getting diagnosed with post viral fatigue, they wanted to firmly rule out any heart problem. So I got sent to the cardiologist. As it happened, I had good energy the day they sent me, and I was still chattering away to the nurses after 5 min of the max effort level. At that point, I had still been riding 150 miles a week until a month before. They start looking at me all puzzled, then the doc comes in and asks me what the hell I'm doing wasting his time.

It was good to know my home heart test had been correct. I figured that if my heart rate returned to normal quickly after carrying 10 5 gallon buckets of paint up a ladder to a roof, I was good. I was right.

You never know if any new medical news means anything. But recently I heard talk on the news about recent studies indicating that higher BP was not really that good of an indicator of chance of death from heart attack. Other factors were more important, like no exercise, smoking, stress on the job. So just higher BP alone was not such a thing to worry about.

Bet you can pass the paint bucket test easy.

 

[dogman dan]

Off topic, I missed the comment about windsurfing not being hard a few months back.

Windsurfing in New Mexico is hard. You have to jump right into 30 mph wind as a beginner, and you only get that when the water is very cold. Getting your water start or your jibe is not easy in 25 gusting to 50mph wind. In summer, you can't get moving at all, even with an 8 m sail. No wind unless there is lightning to go with it.

So it's dying here for sure. But I do hear that it's still very popular in places where that first day on a board is easy. I'm sure Bird island in TX, or the Hilton in San Diego are still packed every day.

I do have to agree, the manufacturers did make boards harder to learn on. I bought and chucked quite a few longboards that really sucked, and kept going back to this ancient one for my wife's use. We used to call that board the "user friendly".

I never tried the kite. Watching a guy try to learn to kite in NM was all I needed to see. The "beach" is all rocks the size of softballs, so getting dragged half a mile looked pretty fun.