Gear Review: Ironman Shock Watch

I was going through some boxes in my garage and found my Casio G-Shock watch that I bought in 1988. I wore it almost the entire time I was in the Army and beat the living hell out of it. The watch is twenty years old, been sitting in a box for over a decade and the battery is still running. I decided to go out and get another model.

I did a lot of research, all good shoppers do, and in the end I went with the new Timex Ironman Shock watch, their equivalent of the G-Shock. I am so happy Timex makes this watch. I like Timex over Casio because, well lets be honest it has about a half dozen M-Dots around the case. Because its a true dive watch (200m, thats down, not distance) the buttons and split button are a bright orange as well as the M-Dots.

However here are the reasons I think more of you should consider this watch for your next non-HR digital timepiece.

This watch has a very large face. I personally like large watches. The reason for the added size is that as a true dive watch it is pressured which means you can use it for diving down to 200m. Also the buttons are closed off so you can truly press splits/laps underwater which is a great asset in the pool.

Secondly, Timex has a great numbers font. If any of you have really looked at other digitals closely, there are some that have darker numbers but smaller, larger numbers but use a dot matrix. Timex numbers are decent size and clearly visible from literally an arms length.

Timex Ironmans are a vision of simplicity. When compared to similiar digital dive watches, like the Casio, there is all types of clutter on face. In fact this Timex Shock takes simplicity one step further in an awesome way. Using the mode function you can turn off options like multiple alarms, occasions and on this particular watch a Golf function. Of the many modes available I turned all of them off except Time, Stopwatch, Countdown and one Alarm.

If Timex did not invent the Indiglo it captured the market share. This new generation of watches does not light up the entire watch face with the blue backlighting but designed the watch so that only the numbers light up. It does take getting some used to but it give just as much light to see at night. Plus with the FLIX system you can flick your wrist towards you the Indiglo will automatically turn on for a few seconds.

For those of you looking for a new Timex Ironman I suggest looking at the Shock. It will take a beating, is completely waterproof and able to work buttons underwater. You can turn off modes you would not normally use. I got mine at Wal-Mart for about $60 which makes it cheaper than most normal Ironman models you would find at bike shops.

State business

Ten years ago when I moved to Arizona it was still the Wild West. The government was decidedly pro business and pro-consumer. Now its much more 'Californiafied' and become a national hot spot for illegal immigration. I thought I would include two completely separate Top News topics for today.

County sheriff Joe Arpaio, "The toughest sheriff in the country' backs down to no one. In the past he has blasted the mayor of Arizona and his sometime advocate the county prosecutor among others. Now its the governor, Janet Napalitano, who yesterday signed an executive order cutting a million dollars of the sheriffs budget tied directly to policing illegal immigration.

The sheriff has really focused on smugglers, drop houses and rounding up illegals at pro-immigration rallies. To deflect his effectiveness, protesters including the mayor are saying he is not doing his job bringing in felony warrants. He shot back that its not his sole responsibility to bring in fleeing felons and every other policing department gets funds for warrant captures. Plus Arpaio's department is the only police organization with unilateral training and support from federal agencies to capture illegals.

Needless to say there is a great deal of debate on this. The other point is that ASU, one of the largest universities in the country cut three mens sports programs; wrestling, swimming and tennis. The reason for this is to save over one million dollars but also be compliance with Title 9, a federal law barring discrimination in womens eduction which later incorporated high school and collegiate sports.

Title 9 has long had history of being a contentious program for college sports. In this case, all three sports are waning support in the West and dropped over 70 male athletes. However I think the other side is correct in saying these athletes had been involved in their sport competitively since before high school whereas ASU has been accused in the past of giving womans scholarships to co-eds pulled from intermural college squads simply to fill their quota in Title 9 spots. I think the decision to cut mens teams is incredibly difficult. Any sport would be difficult and when football takes the lions share of mens scholarships, with Title 9, a balance has to created.

What galls me is that a major university that has spiked it tuition exponentially and receives millions in federal funds can't balance its budget. Especially when ASU was giving providing almost $2 million to students who could not afford in-state tuition which is a fraction of the out of state fee. To receive this money the student only had to prove they could not prove their citizenship. Crazy.

But this state is in a budget crunch and I would rather see programs dropped over increased taxes. How about dropping light rail. How about eliminating redundant programs. Ack. This post is not a rant.

Ear to Ear

I have a pretty good disposition. I am a hopeful person. I am also pretty sarcastic and I know it doesn't translate very well through a keyboard. I would rather talk face to face than anything else. So for those that I don't correspond with very much, please read my posts with a little bit of incredulity, a sense of the wry and bit of a smirk. Even with the stuff that is not so pleasant.

I realize all my writings of being banned from exercise or exertion, my descriptions of odd pains and medical results showing failed organs is pretty grim. If I didn't believe that I could rise above, then I would probably have never risen above any of the life changing, or life threating, obstacles that I have faced in my past. Oh trust me, I have some serious issues with being to optimistic, Mistress knows that all to well, but overall HOPE is a powerful thing for me.

Last Friday I had another set of labs done and today I got my results. My liver and kidney functions looked normal. YEAH. I am still dealing with some personal issues from those complications a month ago but according to the labs, blood is clean and organs working.

After the episodes Saturday and Sunday with the pain, Mistress sent me to the doc's this morning. My doctor, rolled her eyes when I mentioned yard work and effort over the weekend and after another haranguing, she ordered up a set of labs to check my CPK and renal functions. The area I described is right around my liver and she wants to see if the Rhabdo came back. It could be a lot of things. Like lifting some damn heavy and awkward concrete pieces in a deconditioned state. (I know, I know, preaching to a choir with your admonishments)

So good news. Kidney, liver and blood work on Friday looked normal. If the results from today come back good, I'd like to think I have stabilized and after a another week or so my doctors will move to Phase Two of this life plan. I doubt Phase Two will include much exercise either.

I have no idea how many phases this may take or if they are even phases at all, but when I ran missions in the Army, phase lines were imaginary lines on a map between where you started and where your objective was along the avenue of advance. The unit would reach a pre-named phase line and call the Brass with their status, "Hey You, this is Me, at Tango (phase line), Charlie Mike (continuing mission), Out." If they needed you to slow down, hurry up, or do something else, then you would get at call back, otherwise...

...Charlie Mike.

Technically...

...I didn't work out and was supervised.

I had several months of tree/shrub overgrowth to deal with from my neighbor, plus assorted containers of house material that all needed to go to the dumps. In an effort to not tax myself, I worked all last week in the evening, for a about 45 minutes each time cutting back growth and bagging yard waste. On Saturday it would only be loading a truck and unloading at the dumps.

I decided that morning to first load up an unused water fall fountain that no longer fit in our backyard scheme. It stood only a few feet tall. I didn't realize it was made of painted concrete and each of the three main pieces weighed between eighty and one hundred pounds by estimate. I should have realized this as the first piece blew the tire on the wheelbarrow.

Mighty Mo in his infinite ability of word recall, yelled "Mush Daddy!" as I walked 75 yards, dragging each piece of the foundation on a tarp and using a climbing rope as a harness around my waist. Then I only had to lift each piece up onto the tailgate. That was not easy either.

Mistress made sure I took breaks and drank water and helped tie down and unload at the dumps. She even made me go lie down upstairs with movie to recover. Good woman.

While relaxing I realized I was rubbing my rib cage under my right chest. It hurt, similar to the cramping I experienced at Ironman in all the muscles around my lungs and rib cage, though this was nowhere near as extreme or prevasive. I told Mistress and it went away a few hours later.

Sunday night as I was laying in bed the pain came back in roughly the same spot. A bit wider area but same pain. I woke Mistress up and she asked if any other place hurt and it didn't. I stretched out, rolled over, massaged the area for a couple hours before the pain went away enough to doze off. In the morning the only discomfort was from my rubbing a bit too hard on the area.

I fired off a message to my consultant for his feedback. That plus my new blood work results should be in Tuesday and will know if my liver is finally back to normal.

I am trying to do right. I had no intention of over exerting and it was probably stupid to move a several hundred pound fountain in its five pieces. But I spent the next two days resting as much as I could indoors. I am sure I will be blasted in comments and by Dr. Chu but I deserve it I suppose.

Mush!

Is this thing on?

Websites kind of a mess this week. My host switched me to a different server and as most of us can relate to, there were 'technical difficulties'. All seem fine now, good job I.T.

Under supervision of Mistress the last four nights I have been in the backyard, cutting down some overhang and getting ready to go to the dumps Saturday morning. I suppose if I had been unconcerned for my exertion, it would have been knocked out in one day in half the time, but it kept me busy during the week when I'd have been training. I didn't want to be out on a hot Saturday really pushing myself.

The one positive of this recovery is that I am slowly knocking out the Need To Do list that I have neglected for far too long. It being another casualty of long training weekends. Funny to think but the last time I was at the dumps I was riding on the IMAZ bike course which run right past the entrance.

Harder than it looks

Okay, lets agree up front that training for Ironman is not the MOST conducive way to lose weight, though our Florida friend Adam may disagree; he lost 140.6 pounds in ten months before finishing a 140.6 mile race. However once us mortals tuck into our training plans, we hit a set point and maintain that weight up till the taper when we'll put a fiver back on.

I envy those people who lose weight when they don't workout. I am the body type that if I don't workout I gain. That extra 1,000 calorie burn off each day from training is crucial to any success I want on the scale. So I am somewhat happy to report that I have lost weight since getting out of the hospital.

The nature of this recovery is going to be gradual thus even more important for me to watch what I put in my body until I can do any activity over a Z1. The aspect of ONLY watching my nutrition to lose weight has been a challenge and admire those that do it while not simply following a 800 calorie per day intake that is unrealistic to maintain.

Part of putting this life back together is to drop down below 185 pounds from my normal homeostasis of just under 200. I have never done this without training. Oh goody a new challenge. Well if its the only one my body is up for, so be it.

Have Fun. Racing season is here, especially for those who live in snow and overcast areas.

Two sides

Part of what I do for a pay check is answer and mediate complaints between business and consumer. Working on the defense of the business, but I am fair in my process. If the business did wrong, I won't manipulate the system for an unfair decision. On this last one I have a bad taste in my mouth. The case was settled fine but when I reviewed the entire file, the description of events is so divergent that it makes me question the basis of my response for the business.

I believe the manager being accused of wrong doing made some mistakes in the follow through but did not cause the problem to begin with and the mistakes were bred from expediency and convenience not malice. The accuser is completely biased but the story also holds water. Of course I get excoriated by the accuser because I believed the business over the consumer.

In the end the accuser got what they wanted but part of my position is to find a solution that leaves each party 'whole'. There can be agreement or disagreement but what really matters to me is that the events are accurate from both perspectives. Occasionally that doesn't happen, like here.

Really the only thing I could do in the end, was forward the entire file to the managers supervisor with my final thoughts and hope that if I was lied to, it doesn't happen again.

It was a lousy win.

Days like these

There are times in the day when I am struck with incredulity. How can it be that a man who has defined his professional and personal life by fitness suddenly is unable to do it? Then I consider myself very lucky to have all my body parts, for the most part all my mental faculties and despite my currently failing liver a decent level of health. The trade off to potentially not being able to train like I did for so long is that I can still be a whole father and husband.

My future is still incredibly bright and regardless of any physical defections I may have I will not slide into sloth or obesity. I am not stunted in my outlook. Like I have preached many a time, "Ever Forward. Charlie Mike." For all the trouble those mantra's have caused they have been the foundation for me to do great things. And will continue to do so.