It was a glorious walk along the beachfront this morning. I left the house at 5am just as the sun was coming up. By time I got down to the beach it was fairly light out (note, I of course had on my hi-vis vest) and the tide was fully in. It was one of my favourite type of days in that the water was calm and the temperature was perfect for a well paced walk. Whenever we have days like this I just find walking to be so peaceful and today was no exception. It truly is a great way to start the day.
I once again am experiencing a period of being very busy. From working out every day, helping to manage a political campaign, doing extra work for a volunteer organization and in general managing family life, there is not a lot of time left. I saw all of this coming up and realized I needed to start working on my time management skills. I started by prioritizing what is most important. I decided it was getting in my walks and fitness classes and I set a goal (though with a pretty high bar) of how many hours at minimum I needed to get in each day. After that I worked in the time for when I would do everything. I even at one point asked that a meeting start slightly later on Thursday this week so that I could meet my goals.
So far I have been managing to pull it off. Ok, I get that it is only Tuesday but still I’m already up to walking 32km in 2 days. Now I did have to adjust things a bit. Somehow I seem to have ticked off muscles in my upper back, you know like I slept in a funny position or something. It’s not debilitating, just a bit sore. I decided pushing myself with weights may not be the best idea until the irritation stops so canceleI d my fitness classes yesterday and today. Not to worry, walking doesn’t hurt so I just add an extra hour of walking to make up for it.
Today is my busiest with 2.5 hours of volunteering and then a campaign meeting in the afternoon. In order to fit it all in by 9am this morning I had already done 3 hours (15km) of walking. I need to sneak in an hour walk after my volunteer gig and in a perfect world will be able to walk home after the meeting. Again, this takes a bit of strategizing as sometimes I need to bring along materials and I have to figure out the best way to carry them. Regardless, I’ll get it done.
And so, my time management just involves a bunch of planning and sticking to it. Ultimately I think by the end of the week I’ll feel good about getting it all done.
For the first time in quite a while today I went for a walk along our promenade. I wanted to get 10km in early morning so headed out at 5am. The temperature was a bit brisk for July but I had prepared for that and dressed accordingly. I was surprised that there have been many changes to businesses down at the beach but then I realized I have only walked there once since the beginning of April and that wasn’t even the full length of the promenade. I was thrilled though to see a couple bald eagles standing out on a sand bar. I had hoped to see the whale that has been breaching at the west end of the promenade but it wasn’t there this morning, maybe tomorrow.
I have goals set on my Apple Watch that are pretty high. They are broken down into 3 categories, move calories (burning them while working out), move minutes and stand time (the number of hours where you stand and move for at least 2 minutes). This past week I closed all three goal rings 6 days in a row. It would be pretty hard not to especially since I’ve been walking an average of 20km a day. Today I toned it down a bit by only doing 15km but since I had a few other days with 23+ km I’m sure it still averages to 20km per day. It’s been a lot of work but I admit I have really been enjoying the walks.
Now here is where I get into a bit of trouble. I know that I need a recovery day but my head is saying yes, but you still have to hit your goals. Seriously, this brain of mine obsesses over things like that. Somehow I will have failed the entire week if just one of those goal rings is not closed tomorrow. But I am pushing back on this. My legs need a break which means I need to convince myself that only walking a gentle 10km tomorrow is sufficient. And when I say gentle it means not beating myself up if my pace is lower than what I try to have it at. Trust me, every time my watch announces my pace if it is lower than the goal in my head I obsess over getting it faster. You’d think because of this I wouldn’t enjoy my walks but really I do.
And so tomorrow, I am going to sleep in a little. I am then going to enjoy a leisurely walk and take in the beauty of the waterfront. Instead of obsessing about those rings not being closed, I’m going to focus on the fact I might get to see that whale. Hopefully that will allow me to distract myself.
Yesterday at the gym it was one of our newer trainers. I really like her as she has some exercises that are unique as well as the fact that she brings her dog. Yesterday was a pretty brutal workout and she kept reminding people to listen to your body, it can be uncomfortable but shouldn’t be painful. I walked by her and told her my body is saying that I am too old for this shit. Truly, my legs are so tired from my crazy walks but hey, lets walk 20km/day on top of a 1 hour fitness class. Thankfully after my final walk today I am going to soak in the hot tub for a while.
Because I am back to doing a lot of walking I once again have to rant about being a pedestrian. Tuesday I walked to the gym and back. It is 5km each way and when I leave the house at 4:15am it is still dark out. When I leave the gym at around 6:30am the sun is up but it is not quite full on daylight. So, I wear a high visibility reflective vest every day so that there is no excuse for not seeing me.
Anyways, Tuesday I was walking home and got to a crosswalk where you push the button and lights flash on eith side of the street. As I walked up to the button a car sped up to beat the flashing lights. I hit the button and noted 2 cars far enough away to easily stop before the cross walk. 1 of them did, the other instead of stopping blew through the crosswalk despite me starting to cross. I yelled out and the kind driver gave me the finger.
People, this is so wrong. If you cannot pay attention and obey the traffic laws, don’t drive. I did everything correct on my part and yet this jerk still decided his 2,000lb vehicle was more important. The frustrating part is this was not a young person driving so that excuse (not that it really is one) isn’t available.
Let’s go over this again. I as a pedestrian must do everything I can to be visible. I need to wait to cross when it is safe to do so. I must obey pedestrian crossing signals such as only crossing when the walk signal is indicated, not start crossing when the hand starts flashing. Driver’s must check before entering crosswalks to ensure there are no pedestrians trying to cross. Oh, and to make it simple, pedestrians in this province have the right of way and drivers must stop for them even when they do stupid things like jaywalk or cross against the light (things I don’t do normally but admit I will jaywalk if there is a raccoon or skunk involved). This is not rocket science people.
Ok, end of this year’s rant. I want to finish by saying I never assume I am seen. I do my best to ensure I have reflective clothing when it is not full daylight. I try to cross at controlled crosswalks as much as possible. I’m doing my part, I suggest drivers do theirs.
Ok everyone, I realize I haven’t posted in a number of months but I needed to do my own mental health break as I deal with a large pile of other items. This won’t be a long post as I am just going to summarize what I have been up to.
- I was in Playa del Carmen for 10.5 weeks during which time I did my best to do workouts. This was made challenging by having a massive arthritis attack and then stepping off a curb and twisting my ankle. The arthritis eventually settled down and while the ankle is getting better it is still not 100%.
- My network of animals in Playa continued to grow and I had one day in which I fed 20 cats and 6 dogs. The part I like best is even the feral cats trust me more each trip.
- We booked our end of year trip back to the condo and the price was quite shocking. Still, it’s cheaper than staying at a resort.
- Upon arriving home I finished dealing with the replacement of all my credit/debit cards as well as my drivers license. I think I have sorted out the last pre-authorized payment that needed to be updated.
- Once home I was back to walking and doing fitness classes but did a full break last week to just relax at our trailer. Having said that, I am back to walking the 5kms to and from the gym with at least another hour walk during the day (I should note I started doing this walking the week before last so have done it several times now).
- I am back to recording my food and exercise and much say this is the area I really ned to keep on track with.
I think that covers about everything. I am trying to commit to going back and keeping my blog up to date and will do my best.
Stay tuned!
My favourite thing about being at the condo is my kitties. It is amazing how I can be away for months but the second they see me they come running. Again this is not just the feral cats but also the pets. They all know that I will give them treats and if they allow me they get some scritchies. Yesterday I actually fed 14 of them with only 2 of my usual group missing. So since I have been back I have fed the kities, seen monkies, thrown marshmallows at the agressive coatie but most importantly today, I saw my little friend Mia the chihuahua. When she saw me she refused to go with her owner and started dancing knowing what was coming. All of this (well, except the coatie) really make me happy.
For 4 days this week I have managed to get back to my routine. Here is what that includes, an early morning walk followed by a fitness class then another morning walk. I did have some technical problems the 1st few days regarding the fitness classes as for some reason the camera attached to the tv wouldn’t work nor would the microphone. I let the instructors know so they realized I was participating. This morning I did manage to get everything working which made for a much improved experience.
My goal while I am here is that weekdays I do walk/class/walk for a total of 3 hours of workouts. I do some other walking such as going to the recycle centre every few days as well. I have now kept my goal 4 days this week but I am realistic. For example, tomorrow my sister and I are going on a tour and are being picked fairly early in the morning. It doesn’t mean that I won’t do anything, I’ll still get in the 5:45am walk it’s just I won’t be doing the 2nd walk nor the fitness class. But that is ok, I can’t expect my sister to miss out on experiences just because I am a bit neurotic about working out. We have agreed to try and book what we can later in the morning but the ocasional miss is ok.
Yes, I am back at ‘er. The only thing I haven’t really done is go for a run. I’ll be honest, even 1st thing in the morning it is really warm and humid and I just can’t bring myself to run in that kind of weather. Instead, I am really trying to pick up my pace when walking to make up for it.
Ok, you may look at the title and think, what does this have to do with her health and fitness. Well, quite frankly, a lot. I volunteer every week when I am home to facilitate a caregivers’ support group. I started doing it when they asked for volunteers and not only am I a trained facilitator but I am a caregiver, initially for my 2 siblings. I realized it was a good fit and I must say the things that I have learned have been pretty amazing. As well, it sometimes gives me the opportunity to vent about some of the things that I have had to deal with. That in turn helps alleviate some stress and thus help with my own mental health. Hence, it does fit in with my journey.
I do want to start by acknowledging that the people in my group are nothing short of heroic. By that I mean I don’t know if I could do what they do in terms of looking after their loved ones. Trust me this goes way beyond advocacy, I’m talking things like providing nursing services, dealing with incontinence, having to answer the same questions over and over every day, putting aside their own needs regularly to put the caree first, battling with blended family members who often don’t assist but demand input into care and most of all watching their loved one deteriorate and not be able to do anything about it. They then are told by our system that the wait for long term care is 3 years and that our health authority requires the caregiver to continue their support work, whether they are qualified to do so or not. Ultimately it is almost like you need to bankrupt yourself before it become emergent for the caree to be placed in supportive care.
But let me say this, every week I hear how this support group is what keeps them going. They have become like a big family and get so concerned when someone from the group doesn’t attend. The group shares everything they have learned and we all work through someone’s challenges when they arise. And, if there is someone who needs the airspace to talk more than the rest in the group, it is always given without being asked. So maybe heroic is not the only word I should use, thoughtful, loving, caring and devoted are some others that are important.
The reason I wanted to do this post is because of what I saw on a local news station from home this morning. They were interviewing a psychotherapist to recognize National Caregivers Day and the topic was around caregiver burnout. I was astounded by what the therapist recommended, when things are overwhelming call a family member or friend to go out for coffee, go for a walk, find something to do for your own self-care. Now don’t get me wrong, these are all great suggestions but are somewhat out of touch. Many of the people in my group cannot leaved their caree for any length of time. Seriously, it is fulltime care in order to keep them safe. I’m sure these people would love to be able to do these things but without some sort of respite or paid home care it is not possible. You might ask then how do they attend these group sessions, it is because they have managed to get into an adult daycare which allows them a few hours away from their loved one. The lucky ones get a couple days a week, the others it is one day.
So if you know a caregiver reach out and see if there is anyway you can help them. Many will decline but maybe be a little adament about doing things like hey, why don’t we set up a phone date each week. Or, can I do some shopping for you? Even just drop off something nice for them. Just be supportive.
And mostly, today recognize the heroes that these people truly are.
Well, we made it down to the condo late Wednesday afternoon. We got everything all unpacked and put away which really doesn’t take much time. Thursday we went first to a nearby Chedraui to stock up on groceries (and tequila). We then went to a nearby mall to get my sister a sim card and I thought I’d just pop into the Walmart and pick up a couple things I wasn’t able to get at the last store. When I got to the cashier I realized my wallet was missing. Trust me when I say panic set in. I am convinced I lost it at the first store when I bent down to pick up the case of water from the bottom of the shopping caught. My cab driver is convinced that if that had happened he would have seen it but who knows.
We went back the Chedraui and they were awesome doing everything to help. Even the cashier and bagger got down on hands and knees to look everywhere at the checkout. They took my number and promised to WhatsApp me if it was turned in. My cab driver even went back there late in the afternoon to see if it had turned up but it hadn’t. I then posted on an Ex-Pats group on FaceBook and got great advice on doing a search across all the Playa FB groups. Someone told me to contact the Canadian Consulate as it might have been turned in there (of course Easter weekend so I doubt I will get a response before Tuesday). There was some money in the wallet but I am not concerned about that. I am concerned about all my cards so I have locked all of them (didn’t want to replace them until I hear from the consulate because there are a lot of preauthorized payments that need to be changed). All in all it was a really stressful day though I know at this point I have little optimism that I will get it back.
Thursday night my sister made a suggestion, take a few days off from your workouts and lets just have some fun. I was just going to take 1 day but thought, you know what, she’s right. I made the commitment in my head that I would give myself a break until Monday and then get back to at least 3 hours M-F and 2 hours S-S. When I made that decision I already felt a little better.
So yesterday we headed in to town so that we could have lunch at my favourite restaurant. Before going to the restaurant we wondered around the area as my sister had never been in this particular area before and when she suggested stopping for a drink I took her to a little gem my husband and I had found. We each enjoyed a martini and I promised her we would go back there. At lunch my favourite server was there and he was thrilled my sister had a British Columbia pin for him. The owner also happened to be there and loved the fact I was wearing one of the restaurant’s t-shirts. Then we stopped in to visit an awesome dog owned by friends. The poor dog had surgery and need treats from his ‘autie’. It was a really fun day.
Today we have decided to do a few things around the condo. We did a bit of a tidy this morning while I got in a short walk to the recycling center. I’m going to be making a batch of cranberry margaritas then we are filling up the floaties for the pool. The plan for this afternoon is to relax on the deck and play crib, scrabble and backgammon while listening to music. Tomorrow we are going back in to town with 8 others to go for Easter brunch. The weather is supposed to be nice so I hope for some pool time when we get back.
I really don’t see the harm in a few days of fun. It’s been 6 years since my sister has been down to the condo and back then we didn’t have much of a social network and certainly didn’t know anything other than the main street in Playa so everything is new to her. I’m pretty dedicated to staying on track as much as possible while I am here so have no qualms I’ll be back to hitting it hard on Monday.
I think after the stress of Thursday a few days of fun is exactly what I should be doing.
Yesterday I had one of those insanely busy days. I started with my early morning fitness class. Then I did a 2 hour walk (the weather was nice but a bit chilly). Did the usual Monday morning coffee with the walking group before we headed off. After walking another 1 1/2 hours it was home to do the community volunteer income tax clinic before heading to a meeting at the bank to set up some accounts. By time I was finished and home at 5:30pm I had been on the run for over 12 hours. I hate when that happens right before I head off to Mexico.
Because the day was so busy my husband and sister (strongly) suggested that I skip the fitness class and run this morning. Of course I argued saying I could get it all in but then they reminded me of the time crunch I would be in and the stress that would bring. I pondered this for a while and realized they were both right, I was setting myself up so that I would be starting my trip all stressed out and who needs that.
So instead I slept in a bit this morning after a good night’s sleep. I had some chai tea with breakfast (chai always makes me feel better) and slowly got through my to do list for the day. Now, I am just kicking back and relaxing. I even went through my Mexico check list and everything is packed. All I have left to do is pack my iPad and facilitate my caregivers’ support group. Nice and easy and stress free.
Normally the only thing that would impact my peaceful day is getting all worked up about not working out. Have no fear, I’ll get in a good hour walk later this morning. During that walk I plan to just apreciate my husband and sister who recognized what would be best for me today which helped take away the stress I would have felt.
I just got off the phone with an amazing support person helping me with my accounting software. I couple weeks ago they had set up my files so that instead of saving them to usb drives all the time (which causes them to be unstable and I often can’t get them to open or backup) they are saved to a cloud allowing me to have access on any device that has the accounting program. It worked well until I had to restore a file from backup and then it all went south or so I thought. A very helpful tech resolved the issue in about 1 minute. The good news is I now know what to do if the situation arises again.
Yesterday it was a strength class first thing in the morning. We did 2 different sets each with various exercises for which you had to do a certain number of reps for 4 rounds. The first set started with deadlifts and I selected a barbell with what I thought would be adequate weights, 85lbs. It was tough but I go through the required 6 reps on each round. I finished off all of the exercises but kept staring at a barbell only one participant had used for their deadlifts. I don’t know why but it flashed in my head that I needed to try and lift that barbell. I went over and told the instructor what I was going to do and that other participant shouted out to me Gwenne, keep your core tight. I got into the proper deadlift position and pushed through the soles of my feet and deadlifted 125lbs! I couldn’t believe it, I just lifted 40lbs lighter and had thought it was challenging but apparently not enough. Next 6 reps of deadlifts are going to be at least 95lbs.
I hadn’t done a run on Tuesday so decided I had enough time yesterday to get in a 5k. When I got to the end of the 1st kilometer my Apple Watch gave me my split pace and I thought hmm, that is a bit faster than normal but I doubt I can keep that up the rest of the way but I’ll give it a try. At the end of the 5k (which was done at the faster pace) I realized in the past few weeks I have shed about 1 /1/2 minutes per kilometer. Then today it was my usual Thursday 8k and I decided I was going to try and maintain yesterday’s pace which I did until I had done 5k. I was pretty proud of myself and for some reason decided to push even harder. I ran those last 3k’s at an even faster pace. The end result was my average pace over those 8k’s today was 20 seconds faster than yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, this has only moved me from being a really slow runner to being a slow runner but it is definitely progress.
My instructors at the gym are always telling us how we are stronger than we think and apparently they are correct. But for me I proved over the past couple days that I am actually fitter than I thought. I’m going to use that positive momentum to push myself even more. Maybe one of these days I’ll even master box jumps.
Left the fitness centre this morning and thought, so much for a run today. I had decided after last Monday’s debacle of getting cold and soaked I am just not putting myself through that again. The forecast for today is heavy rain and winds. I have come to the realization that missing 1 day has no overall impact on my training or fitness level. Torturing myself in inclimate weather does however have immense impact on my mental health. It is supposed to be better tomorrow so I will hopefully get a run in then.
Yesterday it was time for my annual physical. This is mandatory for me because of having been diagnosed with diabetes in 2018. As part of this process I get a battery of blood/urine testing done to make sure there are no issues. I was thrilled with almost all of the results. My glucose fast number was bang on target. My A1C (basically the average amount of glucose in my system over the past 3 months) perfectly normal. The best was my GFR which measures kidney health. Normal for a 60 year old is 85, mine is 96! Overall all but 1 indicator show that I am healthy.
The one area that I was concerned about was my cholesterol. It’s not that it is really high it is just my LDL level was slightly above the tartet range. That target range is lower than in people who don’t have diabetes and I was not out of range for non-diabetics.
Now my doctor is very used to me being the type of patient that wants to discuss these things. So she reviews my history so that we can have a discussion. She noted that in October 2018 my A1C was 8.1 which is why I was diaganosed as diabetic. But then she also saw that not one test since then has my A1C been out of range. As she pointed out that is nearly 8 years. I reminded her that for about 2 years I was on diabetic medication along with statins for cholesterol and had been on BP meds for years before that. However, as I lost weight and became more active she kept recommending the lowering or removal of the medications until I got to the point of only taking vitamins. I also advised here that my life changed drastically when I left work as back then I traveled so much there no healthy eating and certainly no exercise.
We got into a discussion about whether I should go back on to a statin for the cholesterol which led us to a discussion on the fact I am a bit of an anomaly when it comes to my health. Apparent people my age don’t normally completely reverse their health issues like I have. She also told me that normally just a diagnosis of diabetes means you should be on a statin but she just didn’t see the need given I have my glucose levels so controlled. Also, other indicators such as my triglycerides have never been out of range so there was no definitive reason for me to be on statins though she said if I wanted to take them just in case she was fine with it. I adivsed that I like being medication free and for as long as I can stay that way I will do everything it takes. We also agreed that if my LDL is still elevated with next year’s test we will reevaluate but she said at this point she is comfortable leaving things the way they are.
I liked being called an anomaly and the fact that it makes my doctor have to analyze everything. I also like the fact that I have a doctor who is willing to include me in decisions about my health rather than just handing out drugs which may not be needed.
Bottom line, my health is an anomaly as it shouldn’t get better as I age. However, with hard work and determination I plan to keep it that way.
gwennefarrell 