Ok, it is Christmas Day so no workouts. Seriously, I cancelled the alarms for the rest of the week and this morning slept in until 6:30am which for me is pretty impressive. We got up following some family traditions and opened our presents and stockings. We all had a great time and appreciated what we received.
This Christmas was hard for us. The hole in our hearts that was left by my brother has not in any way shrunk. As a matter of fact, just the other night my sister and I sat on the couch and started crying because we miss him so much and didn’t know how we would get through the holidays without him. That was even more poignant this morning when normally our tradition would be my brother passing out all of the gifts. My husband took over that role and while he was an excellent fill in it was not my brother.
Now please, don’t think this is a sad post because it isn’t. You see last night we had our annual Christmas house. We had several close friends that came by and frankly when I look at the ‘children’ who have been coming to our place Dec 24th for many years and realized they are now adults I just can’t think of where the time went. I got to do the 1st (of many) toast and when I ended it with ‘to Drew’ there were a lot of tears. That led to some conversations including learning how many of our friends think of my brother often. Some of them even keep his picture or the program from his service on display because that is how much he impacted their lives. He lives on because of the amazing memories they shared with us last night.
And so today, I look at his picture and think of how much I miss him. But I also think of this wonderful man who touched the hearts of so many people. I so hope that when my life is celebrated at Christmas it is with the same adulation and love. Merry Christmas everyone oh and yeah, ‘To Drew!’
Ok, I think one of the instructors broke me. I told you about the 12 days of Christmas theme from Thursday’s fitness class. Yesterday that instructor substituted for the usual Circuit Friday instructor. While some of her exercises were similar to what I have done in the past there was a lot of new and challenging ones such as alternating one armed kettlebell thrusts. By the end I was coated in sweat but appreciated the workout. Then for today’s class it was our usual Saturday instructor and she let me know what we would be doing before I grabbed my weights. I picked up my usual pairs of 10lb, 12.5lb and 15lb knowing I might add something heavier at some point. WRONG. As I was carry those weights I thought holy crap are the muscles in my arms sore. Then when we did our 1st set of squats I realized my quads were feeling highly abused. I can’t remember the last time a fitness class made my muscles ache like that. Needless to say there was a lot of use of the 10lb weights today.
I don’t know if I mentioned this previously but during the summer on several occasions I saw parents running with their young children (I’d say ages 7-9). Now the parents wisely did it as interval running as obviously the kids were not going to run a few km’s at a time. When I saw this I thought good for the parents, I wish someone had started me on my fitness journey when I was young. Today at the fitness centre there were 3 children in attendance and while they did not participate I’ve been to other classes where the young ones do a mini workout with their moms.
I get that often times parents put their kids in organized sports or dance, etc to help keep them physically active and that is a good thing. However, research has shown that children will develop fitness as a lifelong habit if parents have them engaged in their own workouts. Like the parents I mention above who were engaging their children in their own fitness activity, it doesn’t have to be full on at the same level as the adult, it is just showing them how to get moving. And really, it doesn’t have to be a formal exercise session, it can be anything like hey, lets go throw some balls or play some hoops. The point is doing the activity together to imprint fitness on the kids.
So I applaud these parents for doing this with their children. I’d like to think in 20 years I am at the same fitness centre and seeing some of the young girls joining the classes as adults.
I’m not likely going to post on Tuesday simply because it will be Christmas Eve. Having said that, best of the holiday season to all of you and your families.
Tomorrow marks 4 weeks of having this cold. Now don’t get me wrong, compared to a week ago I am so much better. The only thing that still seems to be lingering is the congestion in my ears. It too is far better and I now refer to it as being in the snap/crackle/pop phase because that is what they sound like to me all the time. A little over a week until I fly to Mexico so I am really hoping they have cleared up by then.
I went to my normal 5:30am fitness class today and it was brutal. The instructor called it the ’12 Days of Christmas’. It went like this, there were 12 exercises. The first exercise you did 1 rep, the 2nd exercise you did 2 reps then 1 rep of the first exercise. You can see where this is going, 3rd exercise you did 3 reps, 2 of the 2nd and 1 of the 1st. You kept going until you got to the 12th exercise (you guessed it 12 reps) to work yourself back down through all of them. I thought at first it was pretty easy but trust me when I got to about the 9th exercise I was really feeling it. By time I got through it all I realized it was a great class (of course I realized it as I was thinking I’m too old for this shit).
But there was something I noticed today. In looking in the big wall mirror at the fitness centre I thought wait, where did that posture come from? I realized I was standing tall and straight. Moreover my weight was evenly balanced on both feet, something I haven’t done for years because of the cranky knee and back. And, it wasn’t uncomfortable to be standing like that which is a whole new phenomena for me. I was so used to compensating because of my knee, hip and back and yet somehow I’m not doing that anymore.
I actually do know where this comes from. Firstly, over the past 4 years I have really worked at standing as straight and tall as possible especially when I am walking. On top of that my core is super strong meaning it is much easier to properly balance my weight evenly. Even more important I have been working so hard for the last 4 months at getting better mobility in my knee and it has paid off meaning not just that I can bend it more but I can also straighten it more. That in particular allows me to make sure that my pelvis is properly aligned.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise that my posture has improved this much (but it is). All of this hard work didn’t just eliminate weight, it helped me become strong and taken has away so much pain it has also helped me ensure I can keep myself aligned enough to have that look of confidence I think I was lacking for a while.
Ok, I have so got this going forward.
Yesterday I had a great experience. I went to see an accountant to get some help with my brother’s estate. Because of things like interest, rrsp’s, etc it was getting (in my view) really complicated. I sat down with this gentleman and after about 7 minutes we were done. I had a very clear idea of how I finalize everything and am absolutely prepared to move forward. And, he did this as a free consultation for me even though I was fully prepared to pay.
Yesterday I started back at the fitness center with a fitness class. It was the 5:30am bootcamp class and was the perfect way for me to get back at it. Now the game plan was afterwards to get in a 1 hour walk as I start to build myself back up. It should have been an easy task since on Mondays I lead my seniors group on a walk. However, the weather was cold and rainy and those seniors had not intention on walking. They were quite up front about the fact that the only thing they intended to do was have some coffee. That sort of put a wrench in the works but I did manage to get in a good 1/2 hour walk coming home from the accountant.
Today I was determined to meet my workout goals. I went to my early class and got through it though it was a lot of leg work (tons of squats). Normally later in the morning I would walk to my caregivers’ support group but I checked the weather and it showed we would be getting some serious rain later in the morning. And so, right after the fitness class I headed off on a 5km walk. I got about 1/2 way through the walk and realized that my legs were definitely starting to complain. To put it in perspective, for the last couple weeks the most walking that I did was was 45 minutes and there was absolutely no fitness classes. I know it was only for 2 weeks but I am definitely can feel it today.
Bottom line is I was successful in upping the ante when it comes to my workouts. I should note that I think I am finally getting rid of this cold that has now dogged me for nearly 4 weeks. My hearing is close to being fully back and I have no other symptoms. And so, I am going to give it my all until I am back to where I was when the rhinovirus knocked me on my butt. I just need to stay focused and determined and I will get there.
So the past 2 days have thrown me completely off kilter. Yesterday I had to drive downtown to meet a client. Unfortunately the normal route I would take was closed due to a multi-vehicle accident so I took and alternate route. Apparently so did everyone else because what should have taken me under an hour took me 1 1/2 hours. Coming home it was even worse, huge accident on the bridge so 2 1/2 hours to get home. Then today while I was on the dreaded treadmill the power went out (note to self, no using the treadmill during a massive wind storm because when the power goes out the treadmill slams to a stop). We then went 8 hours without electricity so basically nothing I planned on got done today. Hoping to get fully caught up tomorrow.
For 2 weeks my sleep scores have sucked. They occasionally inched into the ‘fair’ zone but normally were sitting at ‘poor’. I get this is because I have been sick and in particular have been extremely congestion meaning I barely sleep. Fortunately this week my sinuses (note not my ears) have cleared up and since I have been skipping early morning fitness classes all of a sudden my sleep score has gone into the ‘good’ range. That makes me so happy because I know it is helping my body to heal.
They say there are 10 reasons why a good night’s sleep is important. Here is what I found on healthline
- May help or maintain weight loss (I like this one)
- Can improve concentration and productivity (ok, right now I still suffer brain fog so this one isn’t really working)
- Can maximize athletic performance (I’ll find out Monday when I am back at the fitness center)
- May strengthen your heart (have I mentioned my resting heart rate has dropped to 75?)
- Affect sugar metabolism and type 2 diabetes risk (as in more sleep lowers the risk)
- Poor sleep is linked to depression
- Supports a healthy immune system
- Poor sleep is linked to increased inflammation
- Affects emotions and social interactions (you know, makes you cranky if you don’t have enough sleep)
- It can be dangerous (such as inability to focus on tasks, decreases reflexes and reaction times)
I have to admit up until 10 or so years ago I always slept well even when traveling to Europe. Then one day I hit a wall and just stopped sleeping. Really, I was lucky to sleep 3 solid hours a night. This ultimately lead to me doing things like closing my eyes when stopped at red lights. My family doctor tried putting me on sleeping pills but they didn’t help much and quite frankly the dreams I had while taking them scared the crap out of me.
Still, even now I often struggle to get a good nights sleep. Even when I am at the condo which is where I tend to be most relaxed I often can only get a ‘fair’ sleep score. However, I think right now my body has recognized I need to be in full recovery mode and I am getting in far more deep and REM sleep than I normally do. I like to think it is working because the cold is slowly lifting.
So test yourself, see how much sleep you actually get when you are on a vacation and not tied to alarms and schedules. That might indicate to you how much sleep your body actually needs rather than how much you allow it to have.
So sleep, it’s a good thing,
I met with a locum doctor yesterday. He thinks I might have a small perforation in one eardrum. Moreover, it is obvious my inner ears are ‘angry’ as he put it (though the right one is the worst) which is likely caused by the viral infection. He decided as a precaution that a quick round of antibiotics would be a good idea so I started those this morning. I also expressed concerns about my heartrate and resting heartrate. I explained that Tuesday night I hit an all time high with my RHR with it at 83. He kindly explained that 83 is still in the normal range and that it is to be expected when you have a viral infection that your heartrate becomes accelerated. His advise was if it is still accelerated when I am healthy again is when we worry about it.
I have realistically decided that fitness classes are not going to happen the rest of the week so I have canceled all my classes. I am optimistic that I can get back at it next week but let’s be honest, I have not been able to work hard for 2 weeks so there is no way I am just going to start doing 3-4 hours of working out come Monday. Instead I have decided to map out a plan to get me back up to my pre illness state without risking any injuries.
Now I have tried as much as possible over the last 2 weeks to get in some walking most days. This morning, for example, I got in a 45 minute brisk walk which felt pretty good. But of course that is far from hours of brisk walking. I’ve decided to break things down over a 3 week period keeping in mind those pesky holidays are going to mess things up a bit. So, below is how things are going to look.
Week 1 – December 15th – 21st – While I have lots to do around the house for Christmas as well as some family events planned I am comfortable with the idea of a 1 hour fitness class and 1 hour walk each day. This should be easily doable but still provide a bit of a challenge. I am confident I will be successful in meeting this goal.
Week 2 – December 22nd – December 28th – Ok, this is where I have to figure things out a bit. I know there is unlikely to be anything done on December 25th because you know, Christmas. Also, I am traveling to Mexico on December 28th so that day is out (though with walking through the airports I will still likely get in 10k steps). The days I know will work are December 23rd and December 27th so both those days will be 1 hour fitness and 2 hours of walking. Classes aren’t done at 5:30am on the 24th and 26th which becomes problematic (especially the 24th because that is our annual open house). So, my plan on the 24th is up at 4:00am to get in a 2 hour walk before getting the house ready for the party. The 26th I’ll likely sleep in a bit but still target a 2 hour walk. I should note these will be full on walks with doing the hills up from the beach.
Week 3 – December 29th – January 6th – Again this week presents some challenges but I am determined to make it work. The 29th is our shopping day and a Sunday so I will be good with 1 hour walk at the condo. The 30th and 31st will be 1 hour fitness class and 2 hours of walking. I figure on January 1st if I can at least get in a 1 hour walk I will be doing well. The rest of the week has to be back to 1 hour fitness class with at least 2 hours walking. I’m adding an another goal for the rest of the trip, that I get my husband to do an additional 1/2 hour walk with me each day which I hope he agrees to.
So why bother detailing all of this here? Quite frankly it helps me to hold myself accountable to my goals. It means I have publicly stated what I plan to do and I know if I don’t follow through I will feel like crap.
So here’s to building back up in the best and safest way possible.
My apologies for missing posting on Saturday. It was quite the busy day for us. It was actually the 6 month anniversary of my brother’s passing so we went out for lunch to recognize it. We then had a meeting for our the riding of the political party we support. By time all of that was over I was done for the day.
I have been living with this cold for 2 1/2 weeks. It has gone from being reasonably mild to now getting to the point of debilitating. I knew a week and a half ago things were going south when I woke up feeling like I was swallowing razor blades. That moved on to horrible congestion that came with sinus headaches. Then by the end of last week my ears were so congested I could barely hear. I checked in with a pharmacist on the weekend and he strongly encouraged me to see a doctor because as he said, this is not normal.
So here are the things indicating something isn’t quite right. If I don’t take 2 extra strength ibuprofen at bedtime then guaranteed I’ll be waking up with a massive sinus headache. Again, the congestion in my ears has not dissipated at all since it first started. The length of a cold should be 10 to 14 days and yet here I am 17 days in and I still have a low grade fever. My heart rate is way out of range often at 100+ BPM even when I am just sitting on the couch and my resting heart rate has gone from 68 to 82. Yep, these are all concerning.
And so this morning I broke down and called the medical clinic. Unfortunately my doctor is off this week but they offered me a phone appointment with a locum today (umm, not sure how they would be able to do things like check my ears, etc so I declined). I was able to book an in person appointment 1st thing tomorrow and I jumped on it.
The funny thing about all of this is I have barely been working out for the last 10 days and I am ok with it. If I am feeling up to it I will do a short walk (didn’t happen today) but I am not going to fitness classes. I think I’m ok with it because I know my body is not going to be able to tolerate it and going to the fitness centre would mean I would likely infect everyone else.
So I’ll go to the doctor’s appointment tomorrow and commit to following all of their instructions because I really need to get over this. Oh, and if you happen to come down with this nasty cold, please don’t wait as long as I have if your symptoms get funky.
Ok, I still seem to have the plague. Tomorrow marks 2 weeks since this whole thing started and I am getting quite tired of it. I admit I am getting a bit better. For example, this morning I didn’t have to pry apart my eyelids when I woke up. But, I am still not going to the gym and likely won’t before next Monday. However, I got a bit of a walk in yesterday and intend to do so again today.
I’ve mentioned before that my family recognizes that this season is going to be a bit difficult for us as it is the first Christmas without my brother. We made a conscious decision that we would plan a bunch of fun things to do together throughout December and last night started it off, we took a ride on a local Christmas train. By train I mean a small open air train. It was hokey but a lot of fun. They had the park decorated with lights, the inside of the train station was made up as a gingerbread house and we were photo bombed by Mr. Grinch. It was not expensive and we had fun.
We have more planned in the coming weeks. Tonight we are going to a Christmas ‘luau’ which is a volunteer appreciation event for one of my organizations. Next week we have a Christmas ‘Jingle Mingle’ which brings together caregivers and their families for an evening of fun. After that we still have an adventure to a local farm that does an amazing drive through Christmas light display, a trip to a Christmas Village and an evening of driving around the area looking at Christmas lights in neighbourhoods around us.
So it will be a fun December and that is what we wanted. Of course it will all be more fun if I can just get rid of this cold!
Last year when we put up our Christmas tree our young Ragdoll cat was still a kitten. In fact he wasn’t even quite 9 months old. Yet somehow all the bright, shiny, flashy things did not interest him. Ok, he would stare at the tree but that is about it. Jump forward to this year and oh how things have changed. We are constantly chasing him away from the tree! Fortunately whenever we are going after the cat our Corgi goes into her natural herding mode and gets him away from the tree. It is going to be a long few weeks until after Christmas and we can take the tree down.
My alarm went off at the normal 4am time today and yesterday I had been excited about this morning’s class. It was to be ‘Wreck The Halls’, you know doing exercises meant to build you up for the Christmas season and having to deal with things like tossing presents, pushing the overloaded Costco cart, etc. I knew as soon as I woke up that I was in trouble (I actually realized in during the night but had hoped things would improved). First, my eyes were so caked with gunk from them weeping all night that I literally had to pry them open. Then I noticed my right ear was so congested it hurt inside but was numb outside when I tried to massage it. Finally, I had the worst sinus headache. I got up, had a glass of ice water to chase the 2 extra strength ibuprofen that I had swallowed and headed back to bed.
I am normally not the type of person who ‘sleeps in’ but I didn’t get up again for almost another 3 hours. At that point I decided it was full on couch day. By that I mean there would be no fitness class (note I did cancel the class when I got up at 4am so the instructor wasn’t waiting for me). It also means no walking or other workouts, no caregivers’ support group, just hanging out on the couch doing nothing other than writing this blog for the entire day. I have a very busy social schedule about to happen starting tomorrow and I have been really looking forward to it. As a matter of fact, I think while typing this that I have decided I should just cancel tomorrow’s fitness class now and not worry about it. I know I have a little walking to do as it is my volunteer shift with the senior’s dog but that is all I really need to do.
Right, back to the couch.
Sorry I didn’t post on Thursday, with the holiday season approaching we are just doing so much to get ready. I previously mentioned how we decided to start the season early so that we find happiness instead of thinking who is missing. Our house is probably 75% decorated, the Christmas lights are on outside every night and Christmas music is played all day. Yesterday I went out with my husband to the local Elks Lodge and I was in full Christmas attire including leggings, ugly Christmas sweater and reindeer earrings. Yes, it is already a merry season for my family.
Last week I caught my husbands cold. I wrote that blog about what I do to deal with having a cold. It was all working well and I made sure to take my multi-vitamins and zinc supplement every day. My symptoms (other than last Monday) have been pretty mild. Tues-Thurs I managed to keep up to my full workout routine. My husband was jealous because I had very little congestion and certainly not the hacking cough that he has.
But then yesterday hit. I woke up thinking that I must have been swallowing razors in my sleep, that’s how sore my throat was. Still, I got up, took some ibuprofen and went to the gym. While it was Circuit Friday (one of the more challenging classes) I got through it but when I finished I was pretty drained. I decided it might mot be in my best interest to do my usual 10 km walk so I did some work around the house instead. As the day progressed I got really congested, more so than I had all week. I don’t get how I could go from recovering to feeling even worse.
I started to realize part of the problem is I am not giving my body actual recovery time. I think I need time to let this cold runs its course without me constantly pushing it to the limit. I decided that instead of going for the 10 km walk at 5:00am this morning I would sleep in and give myself the rest I apparently need. Sounded like a good plan until about 2:30am today when I woke up with a throat even worse than yesterday. So up I got and took ibuprofen again. I really didn’t get back to sleep so finally got up at 5:00am. Of course I had an 8:00am class that I did go to and while I struggled at the end I did feel a bit better for having don it.
At this point I realize I need to throw in the towel and just acknowledge the cold has won. And so tomorrow I am not setting the alarm. The most workout I plan to do is a gentle walk up town. Monday I will decide what I plan to do based on how I feel when I get up but if need be I will only do my 1 hour walk with the seniors and I might hang back with the slower walkers. I am hoping a few days of letting myself recover and I can be back at it.
I know I said I am throwing in the towel but really I am not. I am just coming to terms that no matter how fit I am, I am not invincible.
gwennefarrell 