gwennefarrell

Today was supposed to be my hill interval training but when I got up this morning it was pouring rain. Seriously, I hate getting soaking wet when I am running. I thought I need to switch things up and still get my hill training in. I realized I can do that training on Saturday (the weather is supposed to be nice) but then what to do today? You guessed it, on to the dreaded treadmill for a 5k. I really pushed it on that run as I kept reminding myself that I am now in serious training.

Yesterday I started my new volunteer gig and I already know I am going to like it. I had started the day with a 1 hour walk followed by a 1/2 hour walk with the dog so before 8am I had already done more than 10,000 steps. After coffee with the Wednesday morning gang I met up with a group of seniors to do our first weekly walk. All of these seniors have been prescreened to ensure they are physically capable of doing long walks outdoors and I had contacted them earlier in the week to make sure they were regular walkers and they all were.

I noted when my group showed up that all of them had great walking shoes which was really a good sign. I explained that our first walk was going to be shorter than what we would be doing going forward as I wanted a chance to assess them to make sure they were all kept safe. I also advised them that the pace we were going to walk at would be that of our slowest walker. They all agreed this was a good plan.

Off we went and we did a couple miles. When a few of the walkers got a little ahead of the rest I politely asked them to slow down. I made sure to take the opportunity to get to know a little about each of them and confirm their fitness level. I must say, even the oldest one is pretty fit.

At the end of the walk I did a check in with everyone and all felt they were set to increase the walk next week. The only feedback I received is that they would like me to find a quieter route to walk so that there would be more opportunity to talk to each other. That should be a pretty easy task as I know this area really well. To finish off the session a few of us went out for coffee to get to know each other better.

Now on Wednesdays I will be walking for about 3 hours but that is not the important part of what I will get out of this. As I have learned from my calls to isolated seniors each Friday, sometimes it is just having the chance to talk to someone that is the most significant part to the participants. For example, I learned yesterday that one of the group lost her spouse of 50+ years last July. Another told me she had to put her partner in a long term care home in October. Pretty much all of them acknowledged that they wanted to be part of this walking group so that they had the chance to meet some new people and get out to see our beautiful community.

The additional walking I get from this is just a bonus for me, giving these seniors what they need is what makes me feel great.

And the training has begun. Yesterday was a nice 5k run and the rain held off while I was running. Today was an 8k and it was drizzling a bit as I started out but nothing too bad. My game plan was down the hill to the beach, run the promenade to west beach and then double back. I have done this run many times before and know it works out to exactly 8k. However, today as I was just about at the pier I could hear the train coming up behind me. I sprinted but to no avail, the crossing lights started flashing which means I have lost the race. In order to not lose momentum I opted to run along the pier (I don’t like running on the pier when it is raining as the wooden deck tends to be slippery). I then decided to head back towards home and add a few blocks on and hopefully it would work out to 8k. I was pretty close as the total run was 7.9k and I will take that.

When the new year comes around I know it is time to start doing all my medical check ups. As a diabetic it is really important that I have my health fully checked each year (this is on top of quarterly A1C tests and a semi-annual check in with my doctor). All my appointments are starting this month.

Yesterday was a follow up with the podiatrist who said my feet are in excellent shape and that the corn I had previously is completely gone. I mentioned the training for the 1/2 marathon and he gave me some advice on footcare and my running shoes. At the end of the appointment he said he didn’t feel he needed to see me again unless I have an issues develop especially while I am in training.

Friday this week is the optometrist. It is extremely important that diabetics get their eyes tested annually. There are 2 eye issues associated with diabetes, glaucoma which is pressure on the eye that can lead to blindness and the more common retinopathy which is when the veins in the retina hemorrhage which can also lead to blindness. My Dad actually lost all of the sight in one eye due to a massive retinal hemorrhage and when that happens it is not repairable. Fortunately for me I have not shown any signs of retinopathy and having stable glucose levels helps significantly lower the risk but I am pretty adamant about having my eyes checked each year.

I am scheduled to have my annual physical next month. Again, this is so important for diabetics as you are checked for all the potential risks from diabetes. Now here is where I will rant a little. As part of my annual physical my doctor has pretty much every standard blood/urine test performed. This is important as it looks at things such as cholesterol levels and the ever important kidney functionality but also for signs of any other issues. Normally I have these tests run with my A1C at the beginning of February but to do so I need the lab requisition. In the past I have just called the doctor’s office and they email me the requisition. This time they insisted that I actually have an appointment with my doctor to request the requisition. While I have that appointment booked for next week I do find this to be a waste of time for my doctor. The bloodwork is pretty standard every year and nothing has changed since last year so I just don’t understand why this extra appointment is necessary.

My final check up of the year is a mammogram. I do a screening mammogram each year as I am considered high risk owing to the fact my Mom had breast cancer. Normally this would be done the beginning of February but last year due to COVID my appointment didn’t happen until June so it will be the same this year. Too bad as I really like getting all of this over with as early in the year as possible.

The bottom line is I make sure to have the professionals check on my health and not just wait until I think something is really wrong. Remember, it is so important to have all of your medical professionals a part of your weight loss/fitness journey.

Ok, the last weekend of my holidays. I’m not really sure how I did it but I still managed to meet my goal this week of exercising 5 days. Admittedly there really hasn’t been anywhere near as much as I usually do but still I did it. After tomorrow I am back on a better eating plan and will be starting to up my training to get to my 1/2 marathon goal by the end of June. I know within a few weeks I will be back to at least where I was before the holiday season started.

Yesterday I was at the prosthetist’s with my brother as he received his permanent prosthetic. I have to say while it was devasting for him to lose his leg this has been a great learning opportunity. It is not just about learning to live with an amputee but this amazing process that has brought my brother where he is today. I should note where he is at is really impressive. As my husband said to him today when my brother walks you really can’t tell which leg is the prosthetic because he is walking so well and unaided.

The process of physical rehab from an amputation is not for the impatient. There are many steps you must go through and each one needs to be completed before you can move on to the next one. It starts with things that fully able bodied people take for granted, being able to stand, transferring from a bed to a chair, transferring from a chair back to bed, etc. All of those have to be mastered before you can even begin to think of being released from hospital. Then it is on to physical therapy where you start strengthening muscles that will soon be asked to perform work they were never really meant to do. In the meantime you are waiting for your stump to shrink and be molded into the necessary shape. It is only after all of this happens that you get your 1st new limb.

I was quite surprised at how long a temporary leg would be necessary for my brother. However, it takes months for the customized ‘permanent’ leg to be made. But, once you have the temporary leg that is when you start learning how to walk and balance. It starts off with using a walker until your body understands how to walk on a prosthetic. Then, it is on to using 2 crutches, then 1 crutch and finally a cane. Normally in order to perfect your gait you need to use all of these mobility aids but my brother managed to skip using the cane, that is how hard he has worked at learning to walk.

When we met with the prosthetist yesterday she did many ‘tweaks’ on the permanent leg. I can honestly say I did not see the things she noted before she made the adjustments and some of them she told me were things most people wouldn’t even think about in their gait but it is important for a leg amputee to walk as if they still had that leg so the prosthetic needs to be as close to perfect as possible. Then she had me watch my brother walk and pointed out that he walks just with his legs meaning the rest of his body is as stiff as a board, no hip, shoulder or arm movements. She explained to us that this is absolutely normal and that my brother’s body had put itself in protective mode holding everything tight to avoid getting hurt. She gave us a simple solution to teach his whole body how to walk properly, my brother is to start taking walks using hiking poles. This, she explained, will force the rest of his body to move when he walks and she assured us it won’t be long before he is walking normally again.

All of this has been fascinating to learn (though I wish it was something that I didn’t have to learn). I think using this as a learning opportunity has actually helped me to adapt to all of this. Now I am no longer hopeful that my brother will be able to do pretty much everything he did before the amputation, I am absolutely certain that he will.

My apologies for not posting on Tuesday but that was back home travel day and it just wasn’t possible to write a blog. I will say I am so glad we decided to do our trip to the condo in Playa del Carmen as we came back relaxed and ready to take on the new year. We were extremely careful though, staying mainly at our condo, social distancing even when outdoors, keeping the group of people we were with really small. As well in Mexico you are required to wear a mask everywhere and most larger stores make you sanitize your hands as well as take your temperature before entering. We did PCR tests on Sunday before coming home and then again Tuesday night at the Vancouver airport. Everything has come back negative but we are going to be careful over the next little while just in case.

I admit during my vacation I may not have been as diligent as I should have been. There was more eating and drinking than usual. Moreover, there was less exercise though still I did get in at least 5 workouts each week that I was away. I opted not to let this bother me as I knew when I got home I could get back on track and I already did a good 5km this morning. Really, I am all set to go.

But Tuesday I got a message from my coach. In the message was a link and coach said that I should check it out and consider doing it. She also told me I was ready. Intrigued I clicked on the link to see it was for Canada Running Series West and on June 26th they are doing a 1/2 marathon in Vancouver. I was a bit taken aback, I know coach is trying to get me up to 20.3 km but to do it in a race? I am really not sure I am ready to do that.

On our long flight home I had some time to think about this. I have 5 months of training I can do before the event. I have on 2 occasions run 16 km which is nearly 80% of a 1/2 marathon already. I’ve started working on my speed and it wouldn’t matter if I was at the back of the pack. Of course then that annoying voice in my head started talking about what if I fail? What if I am dead last in doing this run? Guess what, I don’t really care.

I sent a message to coach yesterday telling her I am doing this, running a 1/2 marathon is my new goal for 2022. I also asked her if I can start training hard next week. Yes, I’ll need a couple weeks to get back to where I was before my vacation but that is ok. After that I want to be able to say I pushed myself every single week until I do that run on Jun 26th. I am confident after what I have achieved in the past year that I can meet and possibly exceed this goal as well.

Remember, you get to that goal just one step at a time.

We have had an interesting time at our condo in Playa del Carmen. While it has been 2 years since we have been here we did rent the condo out twice during that time. I have no idea which renter it was but some of our stuff is missing and I mean strange things. The sheets in our main bedroom were changed out to ones that were a different colour, things like bath sheets are no longer here, our electric griddle no longer has a drip tray and we also found out my rolling pin and mat are missing. I just hope the which ever renter took our stuff really need all of it for their new place.

This morning I did my usual 5k. Yes, it is still challenging but I am getting through it and quite frankly I am proud of how many workouts I have done while on vacation. For some reason my husband decided we also needed to do some biking today. Great for him but after my 5k and then 30 minutes of strength training I thought another 45 minutes of biking would be overkill but what the hell, I was game to try it.

Back in the summer of 2020 I tried some biking when I was suffering from a repetitive stress injury. My chiropractor thought it would be better to give my leg a rest and try some non-weight bearing exercise. Well I tried it at that time and I found it pretty tough. I was only doing about 20 minutes at a time because that was all my quads could handle, oh have things changed.

Out we went today and within a few minutes my husband was shouting out to me that this was a leisurely ride, not a race. I apologized because I didn’t think I was riding that fast. We did a good 45 minutes before stopping for lunch and then a 15 minute ride back home. What was so amazing to me was how easy this was. Admittedly we were on some pretty flat terrain but still I felt really comfortable doing this. As a matter of fact I really didn’t get into cardio zone on this ride which surprised me.

I’ve decided when the weather starts getting better at home I am going to continue doing some biking just to mix things up a bit. The only problem I had with today is that we needed to raise the seat on my bike. Unfortunately my bad knee doesn’t bend as much as it should and I just need a little extra room to feel comfortable riding a bike. We are going to go back at it tomorrow to see if the new set up now works for me.

This morning I slept in a little so my run started about 1/2 hour late. The problem with that is normally I start running here at about dawn and by time I finish I am in full sunlight. Today the sun had fully risen by time I was halfway into my run and I didn’t have sunglasses. Still, I pushed it running the fastest pace I have ever done. I am now running at about 7.5 kph with my current goal to get to 8 kph. I know if I keep training hard I will get there.

I’ve come to realize that after a little over a week at our condo in Mexico even my body is telling me that I am relaxed. One of the things I do everyday with my Fitbit is I track my sleep. I get a sleep score everyday and it normally ranges between poor and fair. Well I have now had several days where that score has actually moved up to good. I am not just enough hours of sleep but I am getting a good amount of light and deep sleep (as opposed to restless which is often what happens with me). It just reminds me that I need to work a bit more on my quality of sleep when I am home.

The other indication is my resting heart rate. Now don’t get me wrong, it normally is in the ‘good’ range for a woman of my age. But, relaxing and taking the stress out of my life seems to be having an impact on my heart rate because now my RHR is moved into the ‘excellent’ range. That has given me another goal for when I get home, keep my RHR at a better level.

By the way, one of the things I have been doing to de-stress has been listening to the weather reports from home. Seriously, it has been really fun hearing about wind, snow, freezing rain, etc when here it should reach 29C today. I think I hear the beach calling.

I have to admit it has been great being in Mexico while watching the cold weather happen in BC. I see another storm is about to roll through and bring with it some more snow (albeit the snow won’t last long). We are fortunate that we have awesome neighbours who ensure that my siblings can safely get in and out of our house. It is so nice to be able to go on vacation with peace of mind knowing that there is a village making sure my siblings are ok.

I decided that I have a pretty unique opportunity while I am at my condo in Mexico to do some cross training. Now my first thought was some swimming because we have a pretty impressive lazy river pool. The problem is that pool is absolutely freezing to the point where one of our neighbours has purchased a wet suit to be able to swim this time of year. I check the pool each day but to no avail, it is always really cold. I am hoping on Thursday to get to a beach club so tat I can at least take a swim in the ocean which tends to be a comfortable temperature.

Since swimming hasn’t worked out, Saturday I decided to try going for a bike ride with my husband. I tried riding a bike in the summer of 2020 but it was hard and I didn’t enjoy it. The difference between home and here is that at our complex in Mexico it is quite flat and moreover, I have developed pretty significant muscle mass in my legs. The bike ride was pretty easy though I will say because I don’t have a lot of padding on my butt, it became fairly sore. My husband bailed after a little over 1/2 an hour (he said he had a flat tire) but I kept going. The nice thing about doing this ride was really re-discovering our complex and seeing things you don’t notice when you are driving through it such as the monkey area (seriously, we have been here 4 years and this visit was the 1st time we have seen monkeys). I was really glad I did this though acknowledge my quads were a bit sore afterwards from the workout.

Today it was raining and yes, here in Mexico it is not like it is a cold rain but quite frankly I did not feel like running in the rain. However, I have some cardio training videos that I could stream to my TV and thought, what the hell, at least I can get a workout in. I started with a cardio interval training and then just moved on to a general workout. I still got 50 minutes of good training in and it felt like I brought in some new muscle groups.

Yes, I am on vacation but I have opted to put some time in so that when I am back home I don’t have to do the work to get caught up again. The cross training really seems to be working and I look forward to my run tomorrow.

My Journey With Weight Loss – Running In A Different Climate

Tuesday we arrived at our condo in Playa del Carmen quite a bit later than expected. When we got up yesterday we spent hours sorting out the condo as our closets had been removed due to a termite infestation. Moreover, because we rented out the condo a couple of times in 2020 our builder had come in and ”hidden” all of our electronics. After shopping yesterday afternoon to restock everything and then several hours today sorting out all of our clothes we leave down here (most of mine will be donated away and have been replaced by new stuff that I brought with me) we are finally able to relax and enjoy our 2nd home.

This morning I went for a run. This is the first time I have been to Mexico since I started running. I decided a nice easy 5k was in order and I would hit the road early to avoid the heat. The sun was just coming out when I hit the road so I was wearing my reflective running vest. I found a great walking/running path that would take me from the east gate where our condo is located to the west gate. I figured if I ran the path round trip twice I would easily hit 5k.

Off I went with belief that this would be an easy run, boy was I wrong. At 7am, when I started out, it was already 24 degrees. I hadn’t been running long when I realized that this run was going to be hard, I was already covered with sweat, I was breathing heavier than normal and my legs were protesting. At first I didn’t understand why, yeah I hadn’t done as much as usual over the past week because of the holidays but I had still been working out so 5k shouldn’t be that difficult. Then it hit me, it was the humidity that was attacking me!

So, what did I do? Well, I picked up the pace a little. I figured if the run was going to be tough then I might as well use it to help train. I ended up running 6k in 49 mins which works out to 7.3 kph, my fastest pace to date. Yes, I got a phenomenal cardio workout today and yes, I am going to do it again tomorrow. Hell, I am going to run as many days as I can while I am here just to make running when I get home so much easier. I plan on taking serious advantage of this training opportunity.

Just a heads up, my next post will likely not be until Jan 4th. Happy New Year everyone!

I decided to do my long run today because I am pretty sure I will be busy tomorrow (though I will still get in some sort of training tomorrow). My coach and I had agreed if I felt up to it I should try another 18k. I have to say it was easier last week but I think that is because I let the length of the run get into my head whereas last week I thought I was running 16k. Still, I kept at it and managed to finish my 2nd ever 18k run.

Yesterday we received a card from a neighbour saying you have all been through a tough year, here’s hoping 2022 is better. It made me stop and think exactly how tough it has been. My husband was not able to come home so we spent more than 8 months apart. The property where we keep our trailer flooded twice) but we were not able to check out the damage for weeks allowing us to believe all was lost. My brother spent 5 months in the hospital under going 3 surgeries (a 4th one happened before he was admitted to hospital) with the final surgery being the amputation of his lower leg. Ok, looking at this list it was not the best year.

I like what happens when I reflect on those tough things that have happened because it forces me to find the good stuff as well. I lost another 20lbs so that I am at the smallest size I have ever been in my adult life. I began the year with a goal of being able to run 10k and today I actually ran 18k. Our neighbours have once again proven they are the best in the world whether it be because of the gifts and support during the darkest time or the amazing welcome home signs when my brother was released from hospital. My sister found joy in donating 115+ sets of toques and scarves to those in need after this year’s flood. My husband and I are about to spend nearly 4 weeks together, more time together than in the past 21 months combined. Our trailer came out of the flooding unscathed. Most of all my brother is doing amazing with his rehab and is now able to walk around with just 1 crutch.

Yes, my family got hit hard this year but I am going to focus on all the good things that happened. We could reflect back and think what an awful year but I truly believe the positive things far outweigh the bad ones. Really, it is all about perspective.

I will not be doing a new blog for the next week. Between Christmas on Saturday then traveling on Tuesday I won’t have the time to blog. Not to worry though, a training plan is in place for while I am on vacation.

I hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday season.

Ok, I am a little late writing this today but for good reason. Christmas is only a few days away and so it was time to get some baking done. We will only be having a few guests on the 24th this year but then there are the treats I give out to the kids in the neighbourhood. So today I got down to it and baked an obscene amount of cookies. Seriously, I think my stand mixer was starting to rebel by time I was done. However, the Christmas baking is now complete which allows me time to get everything else completed before the big guy in the red suit arrives.

I write a lot about my running and walking but I realized I don’t talk much about what else I do. It is important if you are on this journey to put some effort into making sure you whole body is strong. Running/walking is great but to do so effectively you need to make sure your core is also where it needs to be. Hence, several times a week I do what I refer to as my strengthening exercises.

I like to kind of separate my body into thirds. First is upper body then core then legs. I run through a gamut of exercises that target all of these areas. I admit that for the first time in my life I have buff arms, can feel ab muscles, and have legs that feel like tree trunks.

I start with my upper body doing a series of weight exercises. As I am not trying to bulk up I just use 5 pounders. They have worked awesome at giving me defined, toned arm muscles. I then work on my core which starts with modified crunches, modified because both my chiropractor and physio told me that crunches are really hard on your spine so they came up with an exercise that will work the abs but not put pressure on my back. Finally I head into my legs where I do squats and bridges and trust me, this has made me develop significant quad muscles. I also have some hip exercises I do to strengthen my right hip which I learned seriously lagged in strength compared to my left hip. Bottom line, I work my entire body pretty much every day.

On a fun note, I have learned that doing these exercises, especially when I get down on the yoga mat, means my corgi needs to be locked in another room. The problem is when I am on the floor she thinks it must mean I need a lot of kissies. She also believes that when I do my squats that we are playing a fun game so every time I bend down she has to jump up on me. I look at this as extra encouragement to keep going.