Operation hydration station

Last week my hydration strategy (pictured above) reached it's breaking point in the Summer heat. By the time I was 1/2 way into my route I realized I was going to have to conserve the approx 50 or so oz's that the two bottles hold. By the time I was done I was sucking the residual foam left behind by the electrolyte mix out of the bottles like I was stranded in the Sahara. :(


Enter my new system....ta da!



Not only do I more than double my available oz's I can stash one of the bottles in the pocket of the hyro-pack so I only have to hold one bottle at a time. This is great because on my 9 mile loop my thumbs get tired after a while from holding the bottles around the grips. Being able to switch hands and just hold one bottle should be a welcome relief. But in this heat I would not have been able to do the 9 because the 2 bottles simply isn't enough fluid to make it....no longer a problem.

I'm doing the dry run testing now and this thing is threatening to be super cool. I can load 2 liters in the bladder and stick that in the freezer for an hour or so before heading out. I drop 6-7 ice cubes in the bottles but the liquid is always lukewarm within 20 min. :(

So tomorrow when I get up I'm going to take my new hydration system out for a spin. It's kind of crazy what makes me jazzed these days because carrying water on my back is not something I would have imagined a few years ago would be exciting to me.

Flippin sweet!!

Hitting Alice Cooper in the nuts.

A total ramble fest.

Two things have been on my mind lately.

Hitting Alice Cooper in the nuts and randomly looking at gold medal winner Tera Lipinski's panties in a Target paring lot.

In other words strange things I have done....

The fact that I have done these things (or the doing of them) isn't what's on my mind...what is on my mind is that some stories can never properly be told. First off the more interesting a story is the more unusual it is and the less likely people are to believe it. It's the plague of not being a bullshiter in a world that loves to bullshit. When I tell you I hit Alice Cooper in the nuts it's very literally because I was the cause of him doing that specific flinch that only happens when someone is hit in the package. And by the same line...when I say literally it's because I know the definition of the word and use it the way it was intended....because I am straightforward like that. ;)

Anyhow, I would have figured my eyes were playing tricks on me when we rounded the corner and I saw Tera Lipinski bending over and her skirt hiking ALL the way up AND over her hips to have her pretty much moon the paring lot her full back panties. I could easily have figured it was just somebody that looked like her but not actually her if she had not been standing next to a black corvette with personalized plates Nagano 98. Whatayagonnado?

So it's not my fault that it was Halloween (making the story even less believable) when I threw something "TO" and I'll stress again "TO" Alice, he didn't see it and that is why it accidentally hit him in the nuts. He was not hurt for what it's worth and he was also wearing a cup that provided him the extra protection he didn't even know he would need that evening. I know he was wearing a cup because it was on the outside of his pants...and it was bright orange/red.

No matter...he was pissed! He tried to brain me with the 3/4 length cane he was holding but I was just out of reach. Haha Mr. Cooper. :)

My reason for mentioning these things is that I think I'm going to retire these two stories. Even as I've probably only told the Alice story 6 times and the Tara story twice They really fall under the category of you had to be there plus I don't think anybody believes they happened so why waste the breath? So I think this blog is going to be the retirement home for stories I don't want to tell anymore. A story is like a secret...the mischief is in the telling so this way I can get the story out of my head and into the great information stream. If I ever need it I suppose it should be here but I've go to do some spring cleaning of my noggin. I had a trippy experience last week when I was working out and a flood of convoluted memory information tried to present itself from the old storage file cabinets to the inbox and there was a transfer glitch. :(

I've got an uneasy feeling about what's whirling around in my head trying to get out but I'm sure that Alice Coopers package and Tara Lipinski's panties have nothing whatsoever to do with it...... My brain is probably stalling. In fact I know it's stalling. Makes me nervous that something wicked this way comes.

With any luck it will just pass, fingers crossed.

The netti pot

Damn you somewhat effective piece of addictive witchcraft!!

The back story is that I got a very good yoga DVD and the instructor is very insistent that for his class you only breath through your nose. I didn't realize how bothersome my allergy/sinus problems were until I got upside down and tried to breath exclusively through my nose....I lasted about 5 seconds just like Christoper Hitchens when he had himself water boarded. :o

Because I hate to take medicine and I've known about the netti pot I did a little searching and found that people tout it as a fantastic miracle cure. Tons of stories about people coming off of medications they were taking for years and years...really impressive results. So I picked one up and started testing...

Initially it was frustrating and uncomfortable. Nothing like watching youtube vids of people from 7-70 making something that looks easy - look easy and then almost gagging yourself silly with eyes watering and salty mucus water going down your throat. It was pitiful. Eventually I figured it out but there are still some issues for me.

When I pour into my left nostril the first 3 seconds trigger a distinct sensory memory of drowning. I went under water twice as a kid and would not be typing today had somebody pulled me out both times. I think in that moment when your lungs finally have to breath and you take in water that is a very specific felling and it gets cataloged in your brain. The first 3 seconds of the netti and I tell you...my brain says "you are about to die". Luckily I can reason that out but it happens none the less. And it's embarrassing, cuz again kids form 7-70 are laughing it up.

Anyway the good news is that the netti does clear out the nasal passages and it is having a clearing effect of higher portions of the sinuses and there is all manner of popping in my ears caused by what I think is a venturi effect. So breathing by nose is notably improved.

Bad news: breathing is like drugs that make you feel good. If a little is good more is great! So here I am hitting the netti sometimes a couple few times a day trying to get maximum breathing so I can be superhuman... but no. It clears the lower portion of the sinuses but it's not exactly a miraculous amount and the section under my eyes over to my temples is laughing it's ass off..it is humored that I'd attempt to slay it with mildly salty water.

So it's mixed results. Mixed but I am addicted to this stupid process now even if it is less effective than I wanted, only a partial cure, and every day I have to poke a mental wound and feel a second or two of terror over it. It does help me breath better and it is clearing out portions of my sinus cavity so that it better than nothing.

I'm glad for what it does but I hate this thing. :-

Edit - 2 year olds laugh it's so easy.