Wahoo!! Finally had an appointment with the specialist regarding my ankle. Apparently I have been doing everything right and the ankle is healing. I showed the doctor my brace and orthotics, went through the exercises I do everyday and discussed my daily exercise routine. She says things are healing nicely and probably within the next 6 months I will be back to 100%. She told me as long as I use my brace when running and my ankle doesn’t hurt then I am good to keep doing it. So, ran this morning and I have to say I really enjoyed it.
I have been with my fitness center for nearly 2 1/2 years now. It’s funny but sometimes I think of how far along being there has brought me both physically and mentally. There are things that I never thought I could do that I have managed to accomplish. Every time I conquer one of them I just feel a little bit stronger. You have to remember, more than 30 years ago I fell through a ceiling destroying my knee and my back and therefore I have a lot of phobias of certain things such as platforms just because of the fear of falling. No, it’s not logical but then phobias rarely are.
As an example, the first time we were doing pullups I refused to do them. They are set up with a large band stretched between 2 posts. You step on to the bands from a bench, grab the bar over your head and do pullups. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? For me it was terrifying. But after it being an exercise in several classes I decided to suck it up and give it a try. Guess what? It was not that big a deal and now I do them all the time. It just took a bit to get my head wrapped around the fact that I was not going to fall and that the band wouldn’t collapse and I was fine.
Yesterday was Circuit Friday at the fitness center. It is one of my favourite classes as it is always challenging. The instructor sets up 10 stations of various exercises and you do 45 seconds in 4 rounds rotating through the stations. Yesterday one of the stations was a box jump. This is where you leap up onto a box or step (with several risers so it is quite elevated) and land in a squat. Now this is something I have refused to do. Again, the terrifying thought that I would miss the step and fall or worse that the risers would collapse is actually paralyzing. And so, the 1st 3 rounds I did air squats which was the modification the instructor had provided.
I was on round 4 when I said to the instructor, if you coach me through it I will try the box jump (she was so excited when I said this). I got to that station and she stood on the opposite side of the step holding her hands out for me to grab. Not only did I successfully do that first jump but continued on for the rest of the 45 seconds doing it multiple times. Do I feel confident about doing this again, no, but having said that I know I can do it so I will try it again next time.
I have to admit I cried a little after accomplishing that 1 little station. I had managed to once again conquer my fears and accomplish a task that I refused to do previously. But let me be clear, this was not just me doing this, it was the supportive community that I belong to at that fitness center. Did the rest of the participants know what I had done? No, but that instructor did and I am pretty sure she felt the same pride that I did.
So conquer those fears. I can attest to the fact that if you face them you can tear them down. Once you have done that there is no going back. Not sure what my next one will be but after yesterday I know I can do it.
Ok, I found out why there were so many birds in the bay on Tuesday. Turns out there is some sort of herring/sardine/anchovy/smelt run happening (there’s some debate on what type of fish they actually are). Now, we have the seals and sea lions in the bay getting their snacks. It’s great when the tide is in but I can assure you when the tide goes out many of those fish get left behind on the shore and that is when the rats come out to dine. I shall avoid being near the beach when that happens.
Today was once again a run day. I checked the weather before I headed out and it was raining lightly. Ok, I thought, we can get a little wet. So off I went on the initial walk then just before I got to the promenade I started to run. About 10 minutes in the rain changed and got heavier. By time I got to the pier it was just teeming down and I was soaked. Despite that I kept going because I was bound and determined to get a run in without having to use the dreaded treadmill (my husband even reached out to me offering to come pick me up but I ignored him). I finished that run absolutely soaking wet and extremely cold but I still did it. I haven’t yet decided if I am determined or completely friggin’ insane.
But here’s the problem, my Fitbit is refusing to record my runs. It hasn’t done one in over a week. I used to tell it I was doing a workout during the before and after walks (it doesn’t like acknowledge it when you walk then run then walk) then switch to run in between. Last Saturday I went to switch it from run and found it had turned itself off. I decided Tuesday, ok, I’ll just track the run but again when I went to end it on my Fitbit it had again turned itself off. Same thing happened today event though I synced it to the app before I started running.
I have reached out to Fitbit but they were little help as they fixated on my battery. There is nothing wrong with the battery, the app and the operating system are up to date, it just simply turns itself off. My frustration is the fact Fitbits aren’t cheap yet of the now 5 that I have been through none have lasted more than about 18 months. I have a spare which I am charging up but it will be my last ever Fitbit.
But here’s the problem, I am obsessed with my daily results especially now that I am back in training. I can barely function without knowing my steps, distance, calories burned, cardio load and zone minutes. Seriously, in my head, despite knowing that I walked/ran for 2 hours today it doesn’t count because it is not showing on the app. I know I will technically meet all of my goals today but again, it’s not showing so my brain tells me it doesn’t count. Trust me I become absolutely crazy obsessed with all of these numbers and freak when they aren’t right.
Ok, the rational part of my brain tells me that I have met all of my goals regardless of what my Fitbit says but the irrational part tells me the workouts don’t count because they are not showing. I know I will get in 20k + steps today but my Fitbit will likely only acknowledge 1/2 of them. I know I will burn more than 2,300 calories but again I won’t get acknowledgement for all of them. Arggggghhhh!
Right, deep breath and remind myself I am training and putting in the right amount of effort everyday. I know what an hour of bootcamp, walking and running equates to in terms of distance, step and calories. I know I am meeting all my goals. I know I am crushing all of it. Maybe what I really need to do is toss this Fitbit along with my obsession and just keep doing what I am doing.
Sadly, for me that is easier said than done.
It was an absolutely glorious day for a run this morning other than the fact that it was cold. I hit the promenade and it was nice and sunny (did I mention cold?) and the tide was in. What was odd was the fact there were tons of birds on the water. I’m talking mallards, sea ducks, geese and seagulls. I don’t mean there were a few dozen but rather a couple hundred! It was quite the sight to see. And I was thrilled as I was finishing the pier part of the run when a woman who was obviously a runner asked me if the pier was icy during my run. Hmm, getting back to that community again.
Yesterday I had to visit a couple who do to health reasons have to rehome their 2 dogs. These poor dogs have had a very tough life and I know it is going to be a struggle to find them a new home and that home needs to be willing to take both of them as there is no way they can be separated. Because of their past they have a lot of behavioural issues and it will take a patient, tolerant household to make their new home successful.
As I was completing all the questionnaires with one of the owners, we talked a lot about what I do for ElderDog Canada and some of the successes I have had placing dogs. The woman was really surprised at some of the dogs we have been successful with as many would think they were unadoptable. I also explained how I would not rehome her dogs to just anyone who came forward, rather I would seek the best home possible for these girls as I wanted them to enjoy the time they have left. She was so relieved to hear this.
While my trainees were out walking the dogs the woman asked me if I knew how amazing I was. I was a bit taken aback because this is what I do. I like helping people whether it be dog owners or the seniors that I deal with through the telephone tree, volunteer income tax clinic or my caregivers’ support group. I don’t look for accolades or thank yous, I volunteer because it makes me feel better.
Having said that, when you have someone that appreciates what you do, it makes it all worth it. For this woman knowing that I really do care about her as well as her dogs was really important to her. I handled her gently, she loved to chat and I let that just happen, I assured her when I knew she needed it but in the end she felt so less anxious and she thanked me for all the volunteer work I do.
That appreciation just reminds me why I volunteer like I do, I like helping others. No matter how busy I get with the rest of my life I will always find room for those that need me.
Halloween was a little disappointing this year. Because it was going to be on a Friday I ordered extra candy anticipating that we would likely get more than the 120 kids we usually see. Little did I know at the time that we would end up with an extremely rainy day and the Jays would be playing in the World Series for the first time in 32 years. We still got 70 kids but trust me when I say that we have a lot of left over candy to somehow dispose of. I have a meeting this afternoon so maybe I’ll take some treats to the attendees.
When I turned 55 nearly 5 years ago (yes I am only 2 months away from 60) I made this odd decision to take up running. I really have no idea why I did it but I somehow got in my mind that I wanted to be able to run 10km. I got a coach and 8 months later I was comfortably running 10km which morphed into 14km then 18km and finally 21.1km in a half marathon. I had no idea I had any of that in me but apparently I did.
I want to remind you what running was like for me. I absolutely hated it. The only way I could get through it was to either do mantras in my head to encourage me, think about how far I had gone then at the 1/2 way point how far I had left or just concentrating on how much I hated running. That runner’s high? I have no idea what that actually feels like. The only time I ever really wanted to run was just after my brother died because I knew that it would keep my mind seriously occupied so I wouldn’t think about what happened. Of course then the ankle was really bad so running was out of the question.
Over the past few weeks I have probably done about dozen full runs of at least 5km. This includes today though I will admit when I got up it was pouring so I knew I needed the treadmill. However, the TV in the garage was not working so there was no way I was using that treadmill. Fortunately my husband fixed the TV and I just finished doing a 6km run on the treadmill before writing this post. Anyways, I was doing a 6km run down at the beach on Thursday and all of a sudden I realized I wasn’t thinking about the run, I was just enjoying listening to an audio book. I reflected on the past few weeks and thought, wow, things have really changed because not once have I had to encourage myself or count distance, I just run. I have no idea how or why this happened but it has. I guess because I missed running so much somehow my brain has decided running is much better than it was before.
Now don’t get me wrong, I still don’t get that mythical runner’s high that I keep hearing about. What I do get instead is an enjoyable workout and pride when I am done. I will be so disappointed if the specialist on Friday tells me I have to give it up again but I am hoping that isn’t the case. Yep, I may at some point have to concede that I am a runner.
We are on day 4 and I am really doing well. I have done 4 fitness classes, walked every day and done 2 runs. I have not had any alcohol and while am happy that my resting heart rate is back where I like it, I am not happy that I am still not sleeping well. Remember, a benefit of not drinking is you sleep better, I do not.
I came home from fitness class early yesterday morning while it was still dark. I could see ahead at an intersection, where I would need to turn, a small flashing light. When I got there I realized it was on the back of a bike but that was all I could see. I realized that the man on the bike felt that was all that he needed to be seen. His clothing was black, his bike was black, his shoes were black and even his helmet was black. Seriously? That tiny little light is all he thought he needed for me to see him.
Now jump forward to this morning, the exact same corner and as I pulled up I realized there was a pedestrian standing at the corner. Now, it ended up he was going to cross right where I would be turning right. Again, he was all dressed in dark clothing and the only reason I saw him is because he had a tiny little flashlight and of course I am super diligent about watching for pedestrians at crossings.
I went for my walk/run at about 7am this morning when it was still dark. What was I wearing? My standard gear for when it is dark out and I will be a pedestrian, bright yellow jacket with reflective stripes as well as a very noticeable orange toque which also has a reflective stripe (I should note that I do have a toque that matches the jacket but I like to be colourful so I often wear my orange or pink toques). This is all about being easily seen. Even walking around the complex early morning in Mexico, I wear a vest that has flashing lights both on the front and back. I want people to notice me rather than run me over, end of story.
I realized when I got to the promenade (it was still dark) that of the 50 or so people I saw there was exactly 1 other person besides me had on any sort of reflective gear. I guess they figure they are safe because they are not on the road but quite frankly that is not an excuse not to be easily seen. Really, it is not that hard nor expensive to pick up reflective tape to put on your clothing (note, having reflective tape on your shoes is nowhere near sufficient). Hell, there was actually a dog being walked that had an awesome flashing collar but his owner was dressed wearing a long black jacket.
So, do what is right. If you are out walking/running/cycling when it is dark out, make sure you are very visible to not only vehicles but also to other walkers/runners/cyclists. Think of it as helping to keep everyone safe.
Ok, I know I haven’t posted in a while but once again I was at the condo and sometimes I get a little too wrapped up in doing things there rather what I would normally do at home. We returned home last Wednesday and I have been super busy ever since trying to get everything caught up. It didn’t help that once again while at the condo I was the financial agent for a local by-election at home and ensuring all of that information is up to date and accurate.
I made a commitment to myself that on this last trip it was time for me to get fully back on track. I know I have tried this several times over the past 17 months without a lot of success but this time I thought there is a really simple way to do this, get back to my old routine. Having said that, while at the condo between a strained back, a cold, and technical issues with my online fitness class system, there were more classes missed than what I would have liked but I tried. I also had a few mornings where there was not any walking because it was hurricane season and some mornings the rain was too intense for me to go for a walk.
So where to start? Actually it hasn’t been that hard, I just need to go back to what I did to make everything in my health improve. It has started with diligently recording absolutely everything I consume and make sure the calories in are less than the calories out. In order to help with this I also committed to reduce alcohol consumption. By that I mean nothing during the week and maybe a beer at lunch on Sundays. I’m actually trying to stretch that a bit and maybe not have anything until November 11th. Either way, that will absolutely help with the calories (though I will miss my beloved wine and tequila).
As for workouts, I’m going back to a rigid schedule. I have found especially in the last 6 months that I was letting myself come up with a few too many excuses not to workout as much and it shows. And so we are back to Monday to Friday 1 fitness class and at least 2 hours of walking then 2 hours of walking each day on the weekend.
But there is a big change I made while at the condo. I came to realize that my stupid ankle wasn’t really hurting that much anymore. Now I have been pretty good about doing my ankle exercises every day though admittedly I often do them at night when I can’t sleep but they still are done regularly. I thought, hmm, while here since the streets are really flat, let’s try doing some running. I hadn’t done a run in 18 months so I decided let’s take this slow and build up.
I want to note, I always wore my ankle brace when doing this but had actually gotten to the point where I didn’t need to wear it on that flat terrain when walking. And so I started doing 10 intervals, 1 minute run, 4 minutes of walking. I set up my initial goal of at least 3 times a week though all but 1 week I was able to get in 4 sessions. Each week I would increase the run component by a minute, dropping the walk portion by 1 minute. Then I did it, a week ago Sunday I did a full on 5km run! Last Tuesday I did another one and then on Saturday I boosted it up to 6km. I’m running slowly and gently but damn, I am back!
Going forward I am not going back to running every day, that is how I got myself into the ankle trouble. Instead I will do shorter runs Tuesday/Thursday and then on Saturday I will do a longer run, this week the goal is 8km. I have sworn to my husband that if my ankle starts to bother me I will back off but I am hoping that by being careful this will go well.
And so words I never thought I would say, I really missed running and have enjoyed these past several weeks of building up again. There is also some irony to this, now that the ankle is feeling better last Friday I got a letter advising after 14 months I finally have an appointment with the specialist. I am going to take advantage of the appointment so that going forward I can protect my ankle and hopefully not have another injury.
Oh yeah, I am back!
I am a bit bored today so decided instead of waiting for the usual Sunday big clean day at the condo that I would start today. I managed to get the kitchen all nice and shiny clean and even puttered with things like cleaning out cupboards and scrubbing the drying rack. At the end of it I was pretty happy but then realized I am not going to have much to do tomorrow. Hmm, may have to find some projects to work on.
I got up yesterday morning and it was raining. Not a little rain but pouring down rain. It then turned into a massive thunderstorm and I thought, ok kitties, I’m not going to make it out to feed you right now. I then looked at my weather app and saw it was going to be like this for most of the day. It was raining hard for hours so much so that the pool at the next building was actually overflowing. I should note at this point, with this much rain it means our pool is going to be really cold. Anyways, ultimately there was no walk that happened yesterday.
This morning I got up at the usual 5am, checked my weather app and it looked good for doing a walk. I was happy to find all of my kitties and gave them each some extra food. I also fed a very aggressive Coati that was chasing me and he seemed quite happy with the miniature marshmallows that I threw at him. I was glad to get out for a walk but there are issues when it rains that hard for so long.
Firstly, we do not have great drainage in our complex. Ok, really there is zero drainage. That means that in some areas the roads are covered in giant puddles. I know some of the birds are really happy with this but it really isn’t great for walking.
Secondly, the humidity. OMG, opening the door this morning it was like you ran into a huge wall because that is how thick the air felt. I was literally soaking wet within the first 5 minutes of my walk and trust me it didn’t get any better. Still, I kept on going as the water was just running off me.
Finally, mosquitoes. With all of the water laying around and the jungle being so wet, mosquitoes are everywhere. The vast majority of my walk entailed me constantly swatting at bugs and slapping myself to kill the ones that had landed. By time my walk was over I was absolutely covered in bug bites. Pretty sure it is not going to be any better tomorrow so I plan on coating myself in bug spray before going for my morning walk.
Regardless of the impacts from a day of heavy rain, I am glad I got out there this morning. I won’t say it was a nice walk but it felt good to do. Tomorrow I am going to lengthen my walking time and who knows, maybe within a few days I am back to doing fitness classes.
The weather hasn’t been great the past few days in Playa as thunderstorms keep passing through. However, my husband and I are ok with this as it gives us a chance to just spend some much needed relaxing time together. The past 2 days we have spent the afternoon playing Dominoes which is one of our favourite board games. The weather is supposed to be like this for the next few days so I think we will move on to Scrabble and then Battleship next. Yes, the condo is loaded with all sorts of fun games that we enjoy.
I got up at the usual 5am this morning. As soon as I went into the washroom I heard the torrential rain. Funny, it usually doesn’t rain early morning, it tends to be during the night and then again in the afternoon. Yesterday though could have been an indication of the weather because I was barely back from my walk when a thunderstorm hit. Anyways, I just simply went back to bed as I knew there was no way I was going for a walk in the pouring rain. Unlike home, there is no treadmill option so I thought, what the hell, let’s get a couple more hours sleep.
I realized when I climbed into bed that I didn’t feel at all guilty about this. I’m pretty proud of the fact that even with the back issues I have been trying my best to get in at least a gentle walk each day. Even when on the cruise most days I was the 1st person at the gym. I also realized that if I had to skip the day it was not going to be the end of the world as I will still get in at least 5 days this week doing some form of a workout. And so back to sleep I went feeling completely guilt free.
Now I say that but when I got up at 6:30am and realized the rain had stopped I went, oh no, the kitties, I’ve got to feed the kitties! Up I got, grabbed a quick bite and some water, got myself ready and out the door within 20 minutes. I am happy to report that I fed all but 2 of the kitties I normally see each morning (Midnight is never out much after dawn and my favourite Orange is still AWOL). I felt much better when I got back to the condo as I knew I had gotten in a walk and had been able to pet a bunch of my little friends.
I refuse to beat myself up because I can’t control the weather. Once the back is better, when it rains I can easily just throw in a recorded fitness class but until then if it rains I just may have to skip a walk. I won’t feel guilty about that though yes, I will feel bad about my kitties. I think that is the right thing to concern myself with.
Today is a stormy day here in Playa. My husband and I decided it would be a good day to clean out some of our shelf space in our closets as they were getting to be a bit cluttered. It really didn’t take that much time but I am glad we did it. We’ve decided to spend the afternoon playing some board games which I think is a good choice.
I am still suffering from my strained back issues though it gets a bit better each day. As a matter of fact, today I was able to bend down and pick something up off the floor for the first time in nearly a week. Yes, it takes some effort but I consider it to be a success. Because my back is still sore I recognize I have got to take things slowly because I need to fully recover. As such, the past 2 days I have only done one 45 minute walk each day. Yesterday I definitely felt it as I was walking though today it was a bit easier. The goal is to try for a full hour the next couple days with the commitment that if the pain worsens I back off.
The one thing I absolutely recognize is that there will be no fitness classes until the pain is gone. I know that if I try doing classes I will just push things too far and end up with a longer recovery. Even though the weights I have down here are pretty light, I still don’t want to jeopardize my recovery. Once I feel I am back to 100 % then I will book classes again.
Now funny story, I did my walk early morning yesterday and of course saw most of my kitties (my favourite one hasn’t been seen yet but I am confident I will see him soon). As I got close to being back to the condo I saw my trio of feral kitties whom I have been feeding 6 years and they came running towards me. I always drop 3 piles of food for them so there is no fighting over who gets how much. I was slow to bend down and drop the 1st pile because it was a bit painful. For that I got a whack on the leg from the group leader for being too slow to feed him. I laughed out loud when I went to drop the 3rd pile which is for the shiest of the 3 and she too gave me a whack because I wasn’t been quick enough. I was a bit faster today so they were happier.
Here’s hoping that by the end of the week things are back to normal but it isn’t then it is ok if I need to take a little more time. I know if I go slow and careful I will get there.
I got back late Wednesday night from my New England/Canada cruise with my sister. It was a wonderful time. She had never been to the east coast so everything was new to her. While we had a bumpy start getting there, everything went well once we arrived. We enjoyed all of the tours we took, got to learn an awful lot, were spoiled by all the crew and quite frankly got to just spend some sister time together. Unfortunately, I only had one full day at home before I flew off to Cancun to spend some time at the condo in Playa. We got here late yesterday afternoon then got all of the shopping done today.
I woke up yesterday morning thinking crap, I’m 4 months away from 60 and sometimes I forget that. I feel pretty great and am quite fit. However, I did some stuff that probably were not a good idea. In Quebec City they didn’t have a pusher form my sister’s wheelchair so they asked if I could get her to the gate. Even though she is a pretty big girl I thought it would be ok. You add to that I was lifting our very heavy suitcases onto scales and picking them up off of the arrival’s carousel along with often packing both of our heavy carryon bags and I was putting in a pretty good workout and I think I may have over done it.
I got up yesterday morning with a pretty significant to do list given I was leaving again for nearly 6 weeks. I got in the shower and realized my lower back kind of hurt. Ok, really it hurt but having gone through nerve issues in my back I knew it was muscular. It hit me that maybe, just maybe, at 4 months shy 60 lugging around 2 50lb suitcases, pushing a heavy wheelchair and lugging 2 large personal items wasn’t the best idea. The ironic part was my back hurts so much that traveling through the 2 airports yesterday I had to request a wheelchair!
The bottom line is right now, not being able to even bend down to put my shoes and socks on, I am definitely feeling my age. I’m not going to be doing any online classes at the fitness centre for possibly all of next week but am hoping to at least get out and do some gentle walking (you know, I have to see all my kitties). But, I’m not pushing it because I would rather safely recover than push myself to have the back pain exist for even longer.
gwennefarrell 