Questions

Here is my humble attempt to answer the email questions I got this week.
Remember this is supposed to be a place to discuss health, fitness and extreme sports issues - and I'm happy to debate this stuff.
I got a lot of shark questions. No, I've never seen a cookie cutter shark and as far as I know Mike Spalding is the first human to be bitten by one. Check out the Florida Museum of Natural History website for more on the nasty critters. If you didn't hear yet, Mike was swimming from the Big Island to Maui, it was dark and . . . Why are we not more concerned? Well, a casual attitude helps because once fear takes hold you just don't do things like this. Practice too. For those of us who spend large amounts of time in the ocean - it's just home. We're comfortable there. There are somewhere near 50 pedestrian deaths every year on Oahu from being hit by a car. Why aren't you afraid of walking on the sidewalk? Think about it. The answer is the same for us who spend time in the ocean.
I'll see if I can get Mike to post about his feelings on being bit.
Maybe I have the attitude I do because I've never been attacked by a shark. Came close a few times, but haven't even been bumped. Oh yeah, then there is the story of Bethany Hamilton who had her arm bitten off by a shark and went right on with her pro surfing career anyway. Still loves and spends lots of time in the ocean. Amazing story.
Is being a lifeguard in Hawaii anything like Baywatch? OK, I rolled my eyes when I read that one. Then I thought it might be a fun thing to do and I could explain the more serious side of my career to those who don't understand it. But . . .I've never, not even once, seen Baywatch. Sorry.
I heard you were down on gyms. Why? I'm not exactly down on gyms, you can get some good exercise there and fine tune whatever your game is. I just love being outside. Gyms are an option. Some people like them, some don't. They aren't in any way necessary to fitness and the last time I was in one was four years ago. If I lived in Kansas, maybe in the winter but here in Hawaii - no thanks.
It's just a preference, like a lot of things. My point is you can make your fitness routine meet your needs and not everyone has the same needs. This is really basic, but so often we're told how we should exercise and we sometimes get caught up in the workout craze of the moment. I wish everyone would just come to terms with the fact there is no one magic formula that works for all and as long as you do make exercise a priority, you're already ahead of most.