After a lot of Spring and early Summer wind, the fog bank has settled in these days. Almost feels tropical of late. Went paddling last night, the lagoon was warm, over 60°. I’m back to 85% shoulder strength. After 6 months of no upper body activity, I can feel the strength coming back — such a rush.

    Funny, it puts me in mind of the epic film (1949), Samson and Delilah, where Delilah learns that the secret to Samson’s strength is his hair. She gets him drunk, cuts off his hair, and he is blinded. (Samson is played by he of the agonized grimaces, Victor Mature.)

   A few years later, he is in the temple, being tormented by his captors. They don’t notice that his hair has grown back. He is standing between the two main pillars of the temple and he starts pushing, the crowd jeering at him. Suddenly there is a crack –great sound effects — and the crowd falls silent. More cracking and the temple collapses.

   A bit dramatic, I know, but I’m elated to have some strength back…

For about 20 years (between 1980 and 2,000), I published a series of fitness books, the three main ones being Stretching by Bob Anderson, Galloways Book on Running by Jeff Galloway, and Getting Stronger: Weight Training For Men and Women by Bill Pearl. During those years I hung out with these athletes and learned a lot. I stretched with Bob, ran with Jeff, and lifted weights with Bill while working on their respective books.

I was thinking the other day about the glut of information surrounding all of us, and wondered if I could offer some simple concepts for each of these disciplines: stretching, running, and weightlifting. A few things you can remember and that hopefully will help you in your quest for fitness.

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It’s been almost 4 months since my shoulder surgery, and a few days ago, I realized the tendon was finally reconnected to the bone and strengthening. Yahoo! Yesterday I was talking to Elmer Collett, former 49er guard and neighbor, about how when you’ve got an injury, it seems like it’ll never heal and then, one day, voila! You’re on the plus side of the situation. He knew exactly what I meant.

I had a bit of a setback, let it rest, then started doing rehab exercises, and in the last few days have started using my Vasa Trainer, a pulley type device for swimmers and surfers, which approximates paddling, and it felt OK. I’m gonna be able to surf again, not just sit on the beach or cliff and wistfully watch the action.

It was a dramatic change, in both function and mood.

The recoverability of the human body is awesome. Dr. Henry Bieler, in his great book “Food Is Your Best Medicine,” has a chapter titled “The Magnificent Human Body.” And so it is.

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I’m two weeks past my shoulder operation, and practically stylin. A little better every day. I don’t get to start therapy for another 3 weeks. Right arm better but still weak. Walked 5 miles yesterday, along beach with mixmaster ocean, water tussled and murky, 20+mph cold winds from north. Walking along thinking how gnarly it was, then realized how great it was to be moving. Every single time in my life I’ve forced myself to get out there and move (run, walk, bike, paddle, skate) I’ve felt immeasurably better. Get out there, stupid!

Around the homestead:

-Olives I’ve had about 15 gallons of small green olives in water, salt and vinegar for about 3 months, and they’re practically ready. Still a hint of bitterness, but plump and flavorful.

 -Sauerkraut Another thing you just set up and nature’s microorganisms do it all. You only add salt to shredded cabbage, maybe a little water. Used our own cabbage, and it’s fermenting away in the 2-gallon Polish crock in the pantry.

 -Chickens W’re getting 12-14 eggs a day from our little beauties. I favor the Golden Seabright eggs because the birds are so beautiful; maybe the beauty may come through a bit in the eggs, who knows?

 -Green smoothies I use the Blendtec blender a lot, make a green smoothie for lunch when I’m busy. Fresh greens from garden, fruit, protein powder…

 -Nightly vegetables Lesley has provided our vegetables from her garden practically every night for months. Broccoli cooked within minutes of picking is so different — sweet.

 -Crabs It’s a lousy crab season. However, son Evan has been catching them with one of those little snare traps off a fishing rod from shore.

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It was vivid scarlet about a minute before this. (iPhone 5 panorama)

Good advice in NYTimes this morning for us keyboard users, article by Tara Parker-Pope: “…Jack Dennerlein, a professor at Northeastern’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences in Boston who specializes in ergonomics and safety, suggests a variation on the 20-20-20 rule used to reduce eyestrain. In the case of the eyes, the rule is to take 20 seconds to look at something 20 feet away (instead of your computer), and repeat this every 20 minutes. But Dr. Dennerlein notes that this eye rule can be applied to movement as well. Every 20 minutes, walk 20 feet away for 20 seconds or more. Stop by a co-worker’s desk. Get a cup of coffee. Pace. Just don’t sit.…”
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