gwennefarrell

So recently I have been feeling like I am gaining weight. My clothes feel tighter, I feel flabbier, I am sure I am backsliding. This hasn’t been helped by going on the cruise nor the fact I am only doing ‘gentle’ walks and not my normal workout (albeit the minimum amount of walking is 1 1/2 hours a day). Today I decided to bite the bullet and get on the scale. I took a deep breath, stepped on the scale and looked down. Yes, the scale confirmed it, I am friggin’ crazy! Total weight gain? 1 lb. As I mentioned before this is really not out of the scope of my maintenance weight but obviously I need to do some work on believing I am doing all the right things.

I am now doing Sober October (or as my husband calls it, cranky wife month). Each year I try to complete both Dry February and Sober October by going for those months without alcohol. I admit, this month there are a couple of cheat days, today as we are celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving (normally it would be tomorrow but since Tom is only home until tomorrow morning we decided we will do our dinner tonight) and October 19th which will be the 5th anniversary of my Mom’s passing and a toast is required. However, there will be penance for these 2 days, I will continue to do no alcohol until November 5th which means those 2 cheat days are costing me 5 additional days (these are my own rules to discourage additional cheat days).

Those of you who know me know I like my wine so why would I put myself through this kind of torture? Simple, going without alcohol even for a month can have health benefits. Let’s start with it can help you get a better night’s sleep, ok probably not for me since nothing I do helps me sleep. It can lower both your cholesterol as well as your risk of cancer. It can help boost your immune system which of course is so important as we struggle through the 4th wave of the pandemic. Most importantly, leaving the alcohol alone can help reduce anxiety and depression.

I had a friend once suggest that instead of doing these sober months you should just limit the amount of alcohol you drink all year round. Ok, that is a logical suggestion but where is the challenge in that? I like doing these dry months, it really makes me feel like I have accomplished something. I should note, if I successfully complete this month alcohol free (with the exception of my planned cheat days) I will make a $50 donation to the Canadian Cancer Society. If I blow the sobriety then my donation will double each day I partake in alcohol. Yep, my rules but they just add to the fun of the challenge.

Oops, I completely forgot to post on Tuesday. In my defence I had electricians in wiring up our new hot tub. Since we had ordered the hot tub 14 months ago I was so excited that we would actually finally get it set up that everything else went out of my head.

My sore toe is slowly recovering but it is trying my patience. I have to keep reminding myself that letting it fully heal will get me back to training again but seriously, just a 5 km run would make me happy. However, I will wait so that I can get back to training safely.

One of the things I have been really watching is my walking asymmetry. This is a measure of how long you spend on each foot when walking. A higher number can indicate an injury as it will show that you are limping. Even with the sore toe my numbers have been pretty low. This week every walk on the treadmill my percentage asymmetry has been 0 (so perfect). It does go up a bit when I walk the dog but that is probably caused by all the sudden stops so that the dog can sniff every other blade of grass. Even then I’m talking asymmetry of 0.4-0.6 % so really, just off perfect. To me what this means is I am walking properly while I heal.

Bottom line is this is just another tool I use to help me listen to my body.

I have come to realize that patience is a diminishing quality. Yesterday as I was approaching an intersection the light turned yellow. As I was not at the stop line yet I could safely stop so I did. The man in the vehicle behind me honked at me. I couldn’t figure out why as I had done the right thing. Then the light turned green and I entered the intersection and the guy laid on his horn again. Apparently he really needed to gain those couple of seconds to turn right. Seriously, me driving dangerously is going to gain you a material amount of time to get where you are going? Some people really need to work on relaxing.

The other day I was listening to the results of an interesting research study on the impacts of exercise on depression and stress particularly during the pandemic. Not surprising to me the people who had taken up exercise during COVID found that there stress eased and they felt less depressed than they had previously. I must say this has been true for me. It apparently did not matter what type of exercise you did, just that you did so for a minimum of 30 minutes 5 times a week. It explains a lot as to why I feel so much better mentally now than I ever have before.

There were a few more interesting things that came out of this study. Most people that exercised regularly before the pandemic have continued to do so. Those that did little to no exercise pre-pandemic did not tend to take up anything. However, the ones that did found exercise very helpful and plan on continuing to do so post-pandemic. Many cited the how much better they felt when they did exercise and it reduced the anxiety they might be feeling.

This all makes sense to me. While I still haven’t found that ‘high’ people claim from working out, I do feel a sense of accomplishment. I know especially when things are tough I feel much better when I do a run (or right now a walk). It is all because of the impacts of the chemicals our bodies release when we exercise have on our brains. Apparently it puts you in a much happier place.

My take from this study, if you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious or a bit blue getting moving. Doesn’t matter if it is a walk, run, bike ride, weights or stretching it will likely have a positive effect on how you feel. I know it does for me.

I check my website daily just to see how many people are viewing it and where they are from. I was a bit shocked yesterday to see 3 views from China. I noted these views were all from a search engine and not from my FB page. Well I hope the search they did was weight loss and that my posts are helpful.

My workouts so far this week have been frustrating. First of all the rain has hit here on the west coast of BC. For those of you not familiar with this area we will now get months of rain. This has meant I am back to using the treadmill which I hate. Add to that I am following the doctor’s orders and only doing ”gentle” walking. It kills me when I look at my Fitbit app and see how little I have done. I have to remind myself that letting my toe heal will allow me to get back to my normal routine.

There are a few other things I am doing to help the healing process. I have booked an appointment with a podiatrist which will happen in 2 weeks. I am also using a foot bath with epsom salts everyday. Today I woke up and realized my toe hurt worse than it normally does so I opted to skip my walk. I know that I need to help myself heal and whatever backward slide this means for my fitness I can make up that ground when things are better.

I also want to recognize that today is Truth and Reconciliation Day here in Canada. Truth is for the past and learning and recognizing what colonialism did to our Indigenous people. Reconciliation is about the future and the changes we can make to support our Indigenous communities. As such, I am wearing my orange shirt to symbolize the importance of this day. I will also be drumming at 2:15 this afternoon to remember the 215 unmarked graves found in Kamloops this year at the site of a former residential school.

Well I returned home from my cruise Sunday evening. I have to say that I felt very safe on the ship despite all the problems we saw when the pandemic first started. Of course since we were leaving out of Seattle we had to fly there from Vancouver as the land crossings are still closed. To enter the USA you need to provide a negative COVID antigen taken within the previous 72 hours. However, the cruise line required you have the test within the previous 48 hours. I simply got the test at the Vancouver airport with the results available in less than 30 minutes. For both the entry into the USA and to board the ship I had to show proof of 2 vaccinations which of course I have. On the ship you had to wear a mask at all times (except when in your room and when you were eating or drinking). There were also hand sanitizing stations everywhere which I used frequently. Dining was restricted to being with your travel party so it was just my sister and I at all our meals. Finally to return back to Canada I had to show a negative COVID PCR test within 72 hours of entering the county. This too was easy as at disembarkation the cruise line arranged for me to have the test done for free.

So how did I do on the cruise? I admit I didn’t work out as much as I normally do but I certainly did a lot of walking each day. If you have ever been on a cruise you know the food is amazing and this cruise was no exception. But, I was still conscious of what I was eating. There were a few meals where I treated myself but they were in the minority. I still watched my carbs and had a significant amount of seafood, basically at every dinner when it was available. One thing the cruise line provided was sugar free desserts which were amazing. I think I did fairly well given what was available but I likely am going to avoid the scale for a few weeks as I am sure there was some damage done.

Now a problem did arise that caused some concern, one of my toes became quite painful and I noticed there was a sore on the inside of that toe. I avoided running but it didn’t really improve. My concern was I was developing a diabetic ulcer so yesterday I arranged to see a doctor (in person). The doctor felt it wasn’t an ulcer nor an infection. Instead he believes it is caused by all the running I have been doing. His recommendation was that I don’t run until the sore is healed which was extremely disappointing to me. He did say I could do some gentle walking or try some biking but that is it for the next few weeks. So, today it was an 1 1/2 hour walk but nowhere near the distance I normally can walk in that time. That will likely be what I am doing for at least the next week.

I am now also adding another medical professional to my team, a podiatrist. I am hoping he can help me get the sore healed and give me some recommendations as to how to prevent this from happening going forward.

Who would have thought I would ever be disappointed about not being able to go for a long run?

Well, today I started vacation. My sister and I have been planning an Alaskan cruise for nearly 2 years. The booked cruise has been canceled 3 times but tomorrow we sail round trip out of Seattle.

We are sailing with Princess Cruises and to say they have massive COVID protocols in place is an understatement. We have to be fully vaxed but they even limit what that means. You cannot have a mix of vector vaccinations with an MRNA. You can have a mix of 2 vectors or 2 MRNA’s but that is a moot point as I have just AstraZeneca and Marlet is pure Pfizer. Moreover we needed negative antigen tests both to get on the ship and to be able to travel to the US.

My sister and I left home obscenely early this morning to be at the airport by 5:00am to get our rapid tests. We couldn’t believe how easy this went with the only hitch being her birthday was wrong on the test results but they immediately fixed that. It was then on to checkin, customs and to the gate. Everything went smoothly.

We are now in a hotel in Seattle. We managed to get downtown for several hours to enjoy the city. Tomorrow we head to the ship and get 7 days of relaxation and pampering.

I’ve worked out my running schedule for the week, a 5 km and 3 8 km’s. I don’t want to lose a lot of ground in my running but I also want to enjoy myself without gaining too much weight. My goal is 5lbs will be ok but gone within a month.

Seriously, what the hell, I plan to have a good time.

Well, looks like fall has arrived. The past 2 mornings it has been pretty chilly while I was out training. Yesterday in particular as there was quite a wind down at the beach. It didn’t bother me on my walk as I was moving pretty quick but then when I took the dog out a bit later I realized I really should have worn gloves. Tomorrow we are expecting a big storm so I guess I will be wearing my new water resistant running jacket.

Yesterday I noticed I was maintaining a pretty good clip while I was doing an 8 km walk. What surprised me though was on the last leg on the way home when I started walking up the hill. The hill lasts for about 4 blocks but it is the 1st 2 blocks that are the most steep. I used to just plod up that hill and it was always tough. Now, it is long and strong strides up that hill without reducing my speed at all.

My coach suggested that I start working on my pace. I have been shaving off a few minutes each time I run so I know I am starting to move faster. Today I decided I wanted to push it further. I picked certain segments of my 8 km run and just picked up the pace for as long as I could. It actually was almost like interval training but instead of walking in between the intervals I would run slower. I got home and checked my Fitbit and I managed to shave 7 minutes off the run compared to my last 8 km. Wow, that is a big change in my pace. Tomorrow is a 10 km run and I am going to try to do the same. The problem is it has been quite a while since my coach had me do a 10 km so I am going to have to look pretty far back to see how much I have improved.

For the next week or so my posts may be a bit sporadic. I am heading off on vacation and while my coach has told me it is ok to take a week off and we will just rebuild, I am more concerned about eating a bit differently than I normally do. My goal is to get in at least 4 8 km runs which I think should keep my weight relatively in check. Not to worry, I will not beat myself up if I gain a few pounds, I will just work on shedding them when I get back.

Today my coach had me increase my running intervals. I moved up from doing 10 12 minute intervals to 12 12 minute intervals. i admit I hit number 10 and thought this session would never end. Then I reminded myself that Saturday I ran 15.5 km and knew I could do this. Funny I even thought about this would be my toughest training day this week, all I have left to do is an 8 km and a 10 km. Who knew I would eventually think running 10 km is not all that difficult.

When my husband and I did our getaway a couple weeks ago we met a friend for lunch. I ordered a burger and fries (I so seldom have fries) which I really enjoyed. On our way back to the trailer my husband told me he was shocked that I ate all of it. I asked him why and he said he thought I now ate very carefully. I realized we have spent so little time together during the pandemic that he just doesn’t know how I plan all of this.

I broke it all down for. I knew I would be having a big lunch so watched the carbs I had for breakfast. I also had planned on a salad with grilled chicken for dinner. On top of that I knew I would be doing a 14 km run the next day. I always try to balance what I eat with how much exercise I will be doing. For example because on Mondays I only do a 5 km run I am very careful about what I eat that day. On the other hand on Saturdays I usually do my big training so I allow myself some extra carbs.

To me this is all about balance. No, I don’t have a burger and fries on a regular basis but when I do I want to enjoy it. All that is required is a little planning.

My sister and i have decided to take the day off. Normally on a Saturday we do house cleaning, laundry, etc but yesterday we agreed, let’s give ourselves a break. Instead of doing our work we are going to go vote and then out for lunch. This afternoon I have arranged for us to watch a special movie. I’m keeping the title of the movie a surprise but I know we are going to enjoy it.

Today was my 2nd 14 km run. Fortunately the weather cooperated and it was the perfect temperature for a long run. The beach was quite busy for early morning with lots of walkers and runners. I really appreciated it when a young woman running behind me shouted out behind you on your left. I got to about the 7 km mark and thought this is getting pretty easy. Then I hit 9 km and it got tougher but by 10 km I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I tend to count the blocks in segments of how many more until my next turn. Counting down each segment keeps me from getting overwhelmed by how much more I have to do.

I got home and checked my Fitbit and thought that can’t be right. Now my Fitbit always seems to show I have run further than I actually have. i know exactly how far I run because I have clocked the distances with my car. I didn’t do that for today’s run but instead just estimated how many additional blocks I needed beyond my previous 12 km runs (note last week’s 14 km was done up at the trailer and I just estimated how long I should run to make 14 km). After getting back from the 1/2 hour walk with the dog I counted the total blocks I had run and calculated the km’s and it turns out I had run 15.5 km. What the hell? How did I go from interval training in January doing 30 seconds of running intervals to now being able to endure over 15 km?

I’ll admit today I am pretty proud of myself. Just proves that even a middle aged woman like me can do this.

Yesterday morning I got a text from a good friend at about 3:45am. I got up at 4:00 because that text made it obvious that she needed my help. I texted back and by 4:15am she called me. Now you may think this is a crazy thing to do but not to me and I am pretty sure that friend knew as soon as I had replied to her text that it was a sign that I was here to help. I don’t have a lot of close friends but the ones I have are very important to me. Yes, an early morning but it sure made me feel good that she trusted me to be there for her.

Monday when I was out running a 5 km I realized my foot hurt. The pain started in my lower big toe then spread along my foot. It wasn’t too bad and I finished the run and thought maybe I should apply some of my prescription anti-inflammatory cream. Tuesday I did my interval training and that is about 9 km. My foot was still sore but manageable. Yesterday was an 8 km walk and by time I got home I thought, ok time to replan the rest of the week.

I’ve been diligently applying my cream and today my foot felt a bit better but I decided let’s not push this. Today I should have done an 8 km run but I know if I want to do my 14 km run on Saturday I need to give myself a little time to heal. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t take the day off, I just changed the run into an 8 km walk.

I’m going to try my 14 km run Saturday but if my foot still doesn’t feel right I will simply turn it into a walk but still get the km’s in. I’ve learned to recognize the difference between normal aches and pains and my body telling me I am pushing it too hard. I can still accomplish what I need to do, just at a lower level.

So remember, listen to your body and understand what it is telling you. I got to 14 km injury free and I am determined to stay that way. Thanks go out to my coach for instilling this in me.