gwennefarrell

So Tuesday in the middle of the night I went to check the time on my Fitbit and I got crickets. I had charged it 2 days beforehand so I didn’t think it would be the battery. I got up and put it on its charger but realized it wasn’t showing anything on the screen. I went back to bed having set the alarm on my phone then didn’t really sleep the rest of the night for fear that alarm wouldn’t go off. When I got up in the morning I realized my Fitbit was dead. The frustrating part is when we were here in May my previous Fitbit died after 17 months but this one was only 4 months in use. Fortunately I had brought a spare but seriously 4 months? I am currently working with Fitbit to resolve the fact that their products don’t seem to last and this Fitbit should be covered under warranty.

My husband somehow managed to catch a cold last week. Not sure how as we haven’t been in contact with anyone who appeared to have a cold and quite frankly we still stay away from people we don’t know as we are always cognizant of COVID. He ended up with a runny nose and a cough but as I told him, having a cold in Playa will always be better than having one at home because sun and tequila seriously make you feel better.

Yesterday I woke up to a sore throat. This is a typical cold for me because ever since I had strep throat about 20 years ago colds always go to my throat. I didn’t feel too bad and managed to have my usual workout day. This morning I woke up very early and my throat was even worse (though not at the level of feeling like I am swallowing a combination of razors and glass shards so I know it isn’t strep) but I held on to my no excuses mantra and after breakfast did my Zumba class. I admit, that class was hard as I just felt drained the entire time. While today was supposed to be a running day I realized my body was telling me it just couldn’t do it so I did a walk instead. I then opted to skip strength training and instead settle in for a nice long hot shower which made me feel much better.

I refuse to beat myself up for stepping back a bit today. First of all, obviously my body is asking me for a bit of recovery time and that is fine. Secondly, I still have tomorrow and Saturday to get my 3rd run in this week to meet my goal and as long as I can get strength training in both of those days I am still at 5 days doing that workout. But you know what, I’m ok if those don’t happen because pushing myself when I a sick will likely make things linger even longer.

I’m heading out soon to spend the rest of the day with friends and I am pretty sure given that there are pharmacies on every block I’ll be able to find something for my throat to get me through the next few days. Between that and getting in some vitamin D, I don’t expect to be under the weather very long.

I got up early this morning (my explanation as to why will be in my next post) and did my Zumba class. The problem was I couldn’t get the remote for the a/c working and trust me the fan in the living room did not cool me down. By time I was done the sweat was pouring off me. After a rest and some rehydration I hit the road for a run in which I have bumped my intervals to 3.5 minutes normal running and 1.5 minutes of hard running. When I got back to the condo every piece of my clothing was completely drenched. Yes, laundry is now being done.

I work hard at being kind to others. I do it through my volunteering mainly but I do try to reach out to friends and acquaintances whenever I can. I do it because I know what it feels like when someone goes out of their way to be kind to me and I want to share that feeling. I have written many times about our awesome neighbours and I’ll be honest, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for any of them. Recently one of them came up to my husband apologizing it had taken him so long but thanked him for clearing the snow off the neighbour’s driveway when we had that bad winter storm in December. The neighbour is elderly so of course we will make sure that continues to happen.

While we are here in Mexico we have to rely on the kindness of our neighbours and friends. We don’t have a vehicle and it is not exactly walking distance to grocery stores. Several of our neighbours always contact us when they are going shopping to see if we want to join them. It saves us a lot of money on taxis and it is really appreciated.

Last Friday we went out to dinner with several of the couples we have met down here. Some of them we know well, others we have just met a few times. One of the couples who we know from various social events but we are not necessarily close to contacted me afterwards. They had heard us say we wanted to go to a beach club and offered to take us with them when they go to one. They also invited us out with them for dinner before we leave. Knowing we don’t have a vehicle they offered to drive.

I know these may seem like small gestures but the impact is they really make you feel part of the community. People just putting forward kindness really does make a difference. I recommend everyone try and do it all the time.

Today in Canada it is the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. This day honours the children that never returned home and the survivors of residential schools as well as their families and communities. It is a day that we recognize the tragedy and ongoing impact of residential schools. Over the past several years gravesites have been found at many former residential schools and in those graves are thousands of First Nation children that never returned home. As such, a grassroots campaign was launched 10 years ago and people were encouraged to wear orange on September 30th to commit to the enduring truth that EVERY CHILD MATTERS. I was extremely proud when my husband appeared out of our bedroom today wearing an orange shirt because he believes as I do that small steps like this will hopefully lead us fully down the path of truth and reconciliation.

After I did my Zumba class this morning I checked the weather and couldn’t believe that at 7am this morning it was already 29 degrees and with the humidity 36 degrees (for my American friends let’s just say it was hot). I had planned to get in a 4th run for the week (my goal is 3) but decided it was not going to happen. In that kind of heat I know I wouldn’t get the full training in that I wanted and it would be better to do a brisk walk for an hour and plan on the run for tomorrow (I checked and it will be a few degrees cooler). Given the fact that by time my walk was over I was again drenched in sweat I believe that was a good call.

We are at the end of week 3 and I continue to meet my workout goals. That means 5 days a week I spend 2 1/2 hours working out, Saturdays I get in 2 hours of cardio and I slack off to only 1 hour of cardio on Sundays. So, I get soaked with sweat every single day. It is a little easier doing the Zumba classes as I can turn the a/c on but trust me I put in a lot of effort in those classes and sweat profusely. When I am walking/running the best I can do is to make sure I have cold water and drink as much of it as possible. I also always wear a hat when out walking/running to keep some of the seat off my face. I don’t let the heat stop me but there are repercussions.

Within a few days of getting here I started developing heat rashes. The first one appeared under my arm. Next it was in the crook of both elbows. Finally I got it on my upper legs. On top of that, I tend to use a cloth to wipe the sweat off my face when working out and I end up with a painful rash around the inner corners of my eyes. This is the reality of spending several hours soaking wet in this heat. I could use it as an excuse but I refuse to, instead I came prepared.

So what to do? First of all, I keep calamine lotion in the fridge which works great to ease the itching (also used for the massive number of insect bites I get down here). I also brought down some cream that helps dry out the heat rash and prevent it from becoming a fungal rash (read ring worm). Finally, I keep skin cream at the condo that really helps with the rash around my eyes which is caused mainly from wiping them so much. While the rashes aren’t pretty, I make sure to alleviate any discomfort so that I can keep going and I have been successful.

My husband has also developed a heat rash on his chest. While he doesn’t exactly work out, it is simply because it is hot and humid. He noted to me this morning, he has been covered with a sheen of sweat since we got here. I guess that is the price we pay for having a beautiful getaway in Playa del Carmen but remember my mantra when it comes to exercise, no excuses.

I checked the weather before I headed out for my run this morning and saw there was a good chance it might rain. I actually was ok with this as I figured I already get soaked with sweat when running so the rain might actually be refreshing. Unfortunately it held off until a little later when my husband was out on a bike ride and just as he was almost back at the condo a thunderstorm started bringing pouring rain with it. The thing about being down here is you usually get brief thunderstorms and then a few minutes later the sun is shining. The problem with that is it also makes it extremely humid afterwards and trust me it is definitely humid now.

I decided I needed to give a few confessions about me and this journey I am on. The first one is I am inherently lazy when it comes to physical activity. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not lazy when it comes to work or volunteering but when it comes to any sort of workout my brain is always looking for excuses. That is how I got to being obese for so many years and is how I gained back weight in the year after my husband retired. Once he was home it became so much easier to say, not going to run today or only need to do 10k steps as well as returning to some other bad habits. I eventually realized I didn’t like going back down that road hence joining the fitness centre but even now a lot of days I have to mute those voices in my head coming up with all sorts of reasons not to workout.

The 2nd big confession is that I hate running. Seriously, I hate it. It is really hard work and while it technically has gotten easier lately I keep upping the ante to make it harder. Trust me, my muscles usually hate me when I make them run, my lungs are really not fond of the sprinting I am doing and I cannot stand being covered in sweat which in this humidity is even worse. I still don’t get in the ‘zone’ nor do I feel that runner’s high I keep hearing about and I doubt I ever will. The only thing that helps me get through this torture is listening to a good book while running which keeps me distracted.

So, if I don’t like working out or running, why then do I do it? Well, that is kind of the last confession, I love the feeling of accomplishment when I am done. That to me is the high I need to torture myself some more. You add to that the fact that I am looking and feeling really fit and it helps me push through the laziness to get the job done. I admit I have impressed myself on this trip because I haven’t once tried to talk myself out of a workout or run which has always been easy while I am here, I just think of the goal of not gaining weight while I am here and it gives me the motivation I need.

Bottom line, I am lazy but somehow extremely physically active. Who knew that is where I would end up.

I was surprised when I got up yesterday that the temperature was only in the mid twenties which was way lower that it has been any other day while we have been here. I contemplated taking advantage of this and doing a run but decided I need to keep to my planned every other day schedule to avoid any strain injuries. It ended up being the wrong decision because today was a run day and it was really warm again this morning.

I have been so determined not to lose any momentum in my fitness while I am here. If you have followed my blog over the past year you know that when it comes to Mexico I tend to get lazy after a week or so and the exercising starts to become more sporadic. Not this time, the thought of skipping workouts hasn’t even entered my mind and I plan to keep it that way. Yes, I do have to get up early to get the workouts done by a reasonable time in the mornings but I am willing to continue to do that. Besides, getting up at 5am is sleeping in compared to when I am at home.

But, I have decided I can push myself while I am here. Firstly, I hate running in the heat and humidity. The humidity in particular makes it challenging for me to breath the same way. On top of that, by time I am done a 5 km run I am soaked in sweat and trust me when I say some days my clothes are completely saturated. Yet I am having one of my most successful trips in terms of how much running I am doing.

In order to test my limits I have also decided since I am doing shorter runs than normal that now would be a good time to work on my speed. Yes, I know I have been talking about this for the past 2 years but I am just feeling so invigorated because of all the work I have done that I feel I am in the right head space to really work on speed and take myself out of my workout comfort level. I know how I can do this and the goal is to see a real difference by time I get back home.

I have now set up my Fitbit for interval mode, 4 minutes at my usual pace then 1 minute of running hard. I know 1 minute seems like a short period of time but already the change is starting to happen. My first run down here I did 5 km in 53 minutes, today I did 6 km in 50 minutes. It is amazing how much faster my pace had become over just a few runs. After my next run on Thursday I am going to change up the intervals to 3.5 minutes regular pace and 1.5 minutes of running hard. I can’t wait to see the changes this will bring.

Why do I think I am going to have success this time? Simple, running here is already hard for me to do so adding on to it doesn’t make it that much harder. I figure if I can push those limits here I can do it at home. And really, all the work over the past 3 1/2 months have actually made my fitness level better than it has ever been and it is almost like I crave doing better.

Damn, apparently I am back to a mental state where I am thinking of my self as athletic.

Well, plans today have certainly changed. We were going to go into town to do some shopping and have lunch but we are still dealing with a leak in our utility closet. We know it is coming from one of the units above us but we had no idea what we could do to fix it. Fortunately we contacted our builder and he immediately sent a worker over who seems to have located the problem because the leak has stopped. So now I am getting everything done that I had planned to do tomorrow so I will have the day open and can then go into town.

Today is the end of week 2 at the condo and I am pretty proud of what I have been able to do. My goal is 6 days a week to do a 1 hour Zumba online course and then a 1 hour walk. Along with that, 5 days a week I want to do strength training. So far I have managed, with the exception of 1 day, to accomplish all of that (and even that day when I had tummy troubles I still got in the Zumba class). This week I even managed to go even further with 3 days replacing the walk with a 5k run. I should note that I don’t actually take a day off it’s just Sundays I give myself a bit of a break by skipping Zumba and just doing a run.

So what is motivating me to keep this up while I am in Playa? Well to start with I have met my goal of being comfortable in a 2 piece bathing suit. I worked hard over the last several months to lose weight and once again improve my fitness so I refuse to allow myself to backslide and have to work hard at it again. Don’t get me wrong, when I get back home in 3 weeks I’ll be going back to working out 5 hours a day until I reach my goal weight which I am confident will be before the holiday season starts. Secondly, all my clothes here at the condo now fit again which is always a good feeling. I could get away with wearing them when we were here in May but really only the ones that had a lot of play in them Now, everything fits comfortably.

I do admit that I am eating more than I had been but I hope I have been successful each day to burn at least the calories I have taken in. I know on some days that I have burned more than I ate and drank. My overall goal is to not put on any weight during this 5 week trip but if that does happen I know with more diligence (which is easier at home) that I will be successful in working the weight off.

Sadly only 3 weeks left on this trip but I am determined to keep going and not slack off.

I’m not going to start with a gentle story of what is going on today, instead I am getting right into this post. My husband was concerned about me doing this because he is worried the trolls will be after me. I explained that if I didn’t stand up to hatred, those being attacked could be persecuted so I am just going to have to deal with whatever happens after I hit publish.

Yesterday I told my husband about the first time I met a transgender person. I was in my early 20’s working at a financial institution and this woman comes up to the side counter to talk with me. She had a cheque drawn on our branch to cash but the only id she had was her driver’s license and it was in her dead name (and of course her birth gender). I was young and hadn’t ever dealt with anything like this before but I immediately recognized that she was extremely uncomfortable having to explain her situation so I did my best to be sympathetic. Ultimately I consulted with my manager as to what to do and we found a way to cash the cheque without violating our own policy and rules. Funny, until yesterday I had completely forgotten that encounter.

I want to be clear, in order to simplify this post for readers who may not have the knowledge I do, I shall refer to the community I am discussing as queer and trans. This in no way is an attempt to exclude the broader community that I am covering, I think it just makes it a bit easier. I hope this does not offend anyone.

So yesterday in Canada a group of protesters tried to attack the queer and trans community. They did so under the auspice of saying that SOGI123 (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) in classrooms did all sorts of evil things or that parents should be involved in their child’s choice of SO or GI. Now to be clear, the point of SOGI is to educate students on what sexual orientation and gender identity mean to help build an inclusive society. It is not ‘grooming’ kids, it simply tries to help them understand that other kids might be different. This includes teaching them the importance of pronouns to someone who has a different gender identity than what they appear. It does not encourage kids to be queer or trans and I struggle to understand how anyone could think that learning about such things could cause a kid to all of a sudden change but that seems to be the argument.

The inclusive community across the country came out in counter protest. I saw so many cities where the number of counter protesters was far larger than the number of protesters and that made me feel a little better. I saw signs from the protesters talking about parental rights (um, there is no such thing under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms), about how children belong to parents (they so do not) and then of course the religious discourse. It was disconcerting to see the hate that was being hurled against the queer and trans community and I was somewhat ashamed at how my country has allowed this to happen and will proudly stand to stop it from going forward.

I think some of this started because two of our provinces have enacted legislation saying that anyone under 16 cannot change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent. Basically what they are saying is the school is allowed to ‘out’ students. Wow, let’s keep causing psychological damage to the young queer and trans community because you know, that is what a progressive society does. I wish every single person had to read the scientific studies about the damage this kind of crap does to the people in the queer and trans community.

I’m sorry but from what I saw yesterday this was all about homophobia and transphobia. There is absolutely no justification for what these protesters were saying. I ask you all to embrace the queer and trans community and agree that in your space there is no place for hate, period. I truly believe that if we all can’t find the strength to do this now the damage done to young people in the community will be irreparable.

I told my husband this morning that I was going to wait a bit before going out for a run because my stomach was bothering me. Turns out that was a really good decision because 20 minutes later the skies opened up and it started pouring rain. What will now happen is it will clear up and then it will be super humid. Since I already did a Zumba class this morning I think I’ll skip the run and try and do it tomorrow.

I’ve talked before about what awesome friends we have made in our neighbourhood. The last time we were away at the condo they made sure to take care of my sister. Since my brother was also with us on that trip and my sister doesn’t drive they made sure to check to see if she needed to go anywhere including taking driving her to a Celebration of Life. This trip they are helping with things like walking our dog which is greatly appreciated but really, that is what friends do for each other.

We are finding the same here with our neighbours at the condo. We rely on cabs to get around while we are here including for grocery shopping. However, our neighbours are now checking in with us if they are going anywhere to see if we want to come with them. One in particular told us he would take us to stores that are a bit of a drive away if we needed to pick up certain things. We gave him some push back on that offer and advised we don’t want him to go out of his way. Like our other friends here he said he would be glad to do that for us.

We are cognizant of never taking advantage of our friends especially here. We never assume they will offer to take us places or to drive us to and from the airport. However, they come through for us every time. This to them is just friends being friends and that sort of kindness makes me happy to return the favour whenever it is needed.

Another day and we have more fun planned. We are heading to one of our favourite areas downtown for lunch at a great little restaurant. Then tonight we will be off a Mexican Independence Day neighbourhood party. After giving myself a bit of a break diet wise this week, my goal is to be a bit stricter next week. Having said that, I haven’t strayed too far off the path but I want to get firmly back on it.

I have stuck to my workout goals all week. That has meant getting up early and doing a Zumba class. So far I have tried 4 different ones but I am just not sure that I am really enjoying it. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m burning a good number of calories in each class which makes me happy. And, I make sure before I start that I turn on the air conditioning so that I am in a comfortable environment. I do like the fact that I am able to switch up the classes so that I don’t get bored but that also comes with challenges.

My biggest problem seems to be learning the steps. In one session called ‘concert’ it had a bunch of people on a stage leading the audience through a Zumba class. The problem is they didn’t teach you the steps, they just assumed if you were watching the video you already knew them. There is a class where they do teach you some basic steps but I found that one didn’t give me a good enough workout. The other classes seemed to quickly show you the steps but I think my body and brain are too old and I just can’t keep up. The bottom line is I feel like an uncoordinated buffoon the entire time I am working out.

Ok, time to reflect on the fact that I said the exact same thing when I started bootcamp back in June. Those first few weeks I felt the same way. It was just as challenging since each instructor did different moves that had to be learned. It took me a few weeks but eventually I caught on and now I don’t have any problems doing bootcamp. Likely it will be the same with Zumba and in a few weeks I will have mastered it.

Well, I just talked myself into sticking with Zumba.

Once again I was up early this morning to get in a Zumba workout before heading out for my walk. I admit, I did not like today’s session and have mentally noted not to do that version again. After a quick rest and rehydrating I started out on my walk. Now you need to picture, it was only 7:30am and I wasn’t 10 minutes into the walk before I was soaked with sweat. Oh yeah, it is going to be a hot day so I think pool time is required for the rest of the day.

I committed to myself on this trip I am not going to lose any gains I have made in my fitness. In order to do this it means I need to make sure that each day I am doing work focusing on strength. However, there was problem that I noted in past trips to the condo, finding weights. Now I did manage on a previous trip to find some 6.5lb weights but quite frankly in a lot of my strength training exercises I have surpassed those lighter weights. So, we started searching for 10lb weights but were not having a lot of luck. Then yesterday while out shopping my husband found some weights for me. The only problem is they cost about double what we would pay at home but I bought them anyways. And so today I did a full upper body strength training session and it felt good.

But it is not just upper body strength I need to keep going, it is also my core. I decided that every day I need to do a series of core strengthening exercises so that I am just as strong when I return home in October. Over the last 3 months I have learned a number of great exercises that I can do and it gives me a good variety to mix it up each day. However, I realized just how far I have come since I started this new journey. Two of the exercises I have been working on are dead bugs (lay on your back with feet and hands in the air then drop a leg and opposite arm to the floor) and leg drops (lay on your back with your feet in the air and drop both feet down to the floor). The trick to these exercises is only dropping your feet as far as you can until your lower back starts lifting off the mat. Much to my surprise when doing dead bugs I can let my heels hit the floor without my lower back coming up at all. Even with leg drops I am getting pretty close to the same. That means my abs have really come a long way.

Despite being in Mexico and giving myself a bit of a break food wise (this week only then I have to stay on track) I am determined I am going to keep working hard. I actually want to return home and feel not that I have lost any strength but rather gained it. If I can do that then my trip here will have been a complete success.