We are continuing to do the deep clean of our home. Yesterday it was doing our living room area after having done the hallway and main bathroom on Monday. When I say deep clean I mean everything from washing walls, doors and baseboards to cleaning blinds. If we keep going at this rate we should have everything done by the end of next week. Then it is just general tidying every few days until we leave for Mexico.
I got up this morning and it was pouring. I had checked and the weather app said it might clear up after my fitness class but it didn’t. As it is Thursday it is my high intensity strength class and as always it was brutal. I realized part way through that my legs are killing me. This is likely because I have done several consecutive days of some pretty intense walking getting ready for my challenge which starts on Monday. I decided maybe I should be taking a recovery day.
Now don’t get me wrong, this has a lot to do with the rain and the fact that I should have done a run today. As you know, I despise running on the treadmill so just could not bring myself to do it. I worked out what this would look like. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day so I can just switch the run to doing it before the weekly Friday coffee group. Note after that I will go for a 1 1/2 hour walk which I timed out after the coffee group met yesterday. If I do a small run tomorrow then I should be good to do a 10km run on Saturday (which I honestly look forward to).
I’ve also decided that I am going to get in some sort of walk today, maybe just not as long nor as intense as I have been doing. I am well aware I need to recognize that my body does occasionally need that time to recover. I’ve been doing this for a while now and have learned the importance of listening to your body if you want to be successful at meeting your goals.
And so I shall give my body (especially my legs) a bit of a break today and hopefully they will be happy with me again tomorrow.
I have been doing some pretty good walking/running the past few weeks. Today I did a run despite the fact I kept trying to talk myself out of it but I pushed through it and got it done. Then I decided I wanted to get that last 5km in for the day and decided to walk to my caregivers’ support group. Bad decision! While I had on a rain jacket my legs were still getting wet and by time I got to the event they were pretty soaked and my feet in particular were freezing. Still, I got in a total of 16km today. So, when I got home it was time to get into the hot tub and finally warm up my still freezing feet.
2 weeks ago I transitioned from my beloved Fitbit to an Apple Watch. I had various models of Fitbit for 6 years but sadly they all seemed to die after 1 year while as my husband had the same Apple Watch that entire time. I realized I needed to get something far more stable that had a better lifespan hence I transitioned. It has been a bit of a learning curve but I am slowly getting there.
I have come to acknowledge there are benefits and flaws with both devices. Ok, I am far more used to the Fitbit technology and may have a bit of bias there. Having said that, I am slowly getting used to the Apple Watch and determining the functionality that fits my needs. I am also finding the things I miss from the Fitbit but pretty sure I will eventually get over it.
Where they are similar is that both provide me the information that I need from all of my workouts; time, calories, steps. Where I find them different is my calorie burn during exercise is quite a bit less with the Apple Watch. Strangely what offsets this is the non-active calorie burn which is higher than the Fitbit. Also, I am still working on getting used to having to charge the Apple Watch every day rather than every 4 or so days with the Fitbit.
So which do I prefer? Sorry but quite frankly I am still so new to this that I am not sure. I am still trying to sort out changing workouts with the Apple Watch when I do a walk/run/walk but I am getting there. The bottom line is I am at least tracking the information that I feel I need to have.
Bottom line is if you ask me which is best my response is I really don’t know at this point.
I saw something yesterday that really annoyed me. I was doing a short run and as I was coming up to a controlled crosswalk when I saw a man jaywalking. Here is what really bothered me about this, he was only about 15 feet from the controlled crosswalk! I rant a lot about pedestrian safety but a 60ish year old man couldn’t walk those few feet to keep himself and quite frankly the approaching drivers safe? This is shameful in my opinion and I ask that if you are a pedestrian you only cross streets at the appropriate locations.
I had checked the weather last night and it looked like if I went for an early morning run I could avoid most of the rain. So, I got up at the usual 4am and headed out the door at 5am. I will note, because it was really dark I was fully equipped with my flashing vest. I started with walking just over a kilometer before I embarked on a 7.5km run. It was a bit breezy but fairly mild. The only time it was a bit of a challenge was running along the pier because the wind was quite strong and heading directly at me but otherwise it was quite comfortable.
At about the 1/2 way point I thought, this is a good day for a run. It was early so not many people on the promenade but I was really comfortable. I was keeping my pace nice and steady but still getting a pretty good workout. I also decided since the west beach portion of our promenade is unlit that while I was heading back I ran through the parking lot which has lights. I know the weather is not necessarily going to be conducive to outdoor running the next 1 1/2 months before I head back to Mexico so I am really glad I got up early to get this run in.
But I realized something in the last kilometer of the 7.5km run, I was quite getting in to the book I was listening to (I wasn’t really enjoying it at first). Why is that important? Because I suddenly realized I wasn’t thinking about the fact I was running at all. Instead, I was focusing on the book rather than saying mantras in my head to stop myself from thinking about how much I hate running. Rather, I thought, I am liking this quiet morning listening to a book doing a good run. I don’t know why this has changed from when I was running a year and a half ago but it has and now I am looking forward to planning at least 3 runs next week. Planning because of course I have to figure out which days when the weather is cooperating.
I had another thought, I don’t want to give this up again. Even if I don’t get back to the endurance I had before, I’m comfortable with just getting back up to a nice easy 10km run. As a matter of fact, I think I will try a 10km next weekend, weather permitting of course.
Yesterday my husband tried to help me with deep cleaning of my ensuite bathroom. I had prepped the shower doors the previous day to get rid of the hard water marks. He had tried to rinse them down but unfortunately didn’t use the proper cleaner and while they looked better, they were not pristine. So, I sprayed the glass with diluted vinegar, used a squeegee to dry them then a quick wipe down with paper towel. They ended up crystal clear. Oh, and the prep? I coat them in Barkeeper’s Friend and let them sit over night. Works every time.
It is time to get back into training. I am happy with how my running is going and I am up to doing over 7km. However, I have a new challenge that I am working on and I start it in about 2 weeks so it is time to start ramping things up. I love doing fundraising challenges that involve exercising be it running or walking or just exercising in general. I always exceed the goals and help raise some money for organizations that are important to me. This next one is going to be a stretch but I know I can do it.
This time the challenge is for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. This one is really important to me because of my little brother. He had his first heart attack at 42 and his final one at 57. I decided I really want to raise funds to help find a prevention so that no one that young ever passes away from a heart attack. Yes, in his case it was caused by diabetes but I have raised money for them several times and I thought the Heart and Stroke Foundation in his name would be an awesome cause.
So, what’s the challenge? Simple, I need to walk 31km during the month of December. Ok, I get people reading this are probably laughing because you know I can get that done by December 3rd and so I have decided to up the ante. Instead of 31km, my goal is 300km during the month. I get that also doesn’t seem much of a stretch since I walk 10km pretty much every day but remember, December is the holiday season and I will be traveling the end of the month. And so, my daily goal is going to be at least 15km which is about 3 hours of walking a day. The end result is I am hoping to raise at least $300 in memory of my little brother and I am hoping my friends will help me do this.
Right now I am doing 2.5 hours of walking each day with at least 2 3 hour days. Next week I am going to try and double that to 4 3 hour days so that by December 1st I am able to do 3 hours of walking every day. Note, where possible I’ll throw in a few 4 hour days of walking. Now don’t worry, I walk at maximum 2 hours in one session with rests and hydration in between in order to avoid any repetitive motion injuries.
There’s one last thing I plan to do. In order to boost my fundraising I will blast out a challenge that if I raise X amount of money by a certain date then I will walk 31km in a single day. Yep, that will be a lot but the whole point of a challenge is to stretch yourself and that is exactly what I plan to do.
Oh, and if you would like to contribute, reach out and I’ll send you the link.
I got back on Sunday after several days in Victoria, BC with my sister. We were going over for a convention but decided to go a few days early to do some sightseeing. We went to Chinatown for an awesome Dim Sum lunch, visited the Royal BC Museum and went to Craigdarroch Castle. It is always great to be a tourist in your own backyard. We then spent 2 1/2 days at the convention and it was well worth attending.
I have suddenly realized we are already 1/2 way through November. How the hell did that happen? We are already only a little over a month and it will be Christmas. Moreover, our next trip to the condo is only 40 days away. Wow, I have so much to get done it the next little while it is daunting.
And so I am doing what I always do when time seems to be slipping away, I start making a list and prioritizing what I need to get done. I always do a deep clean of the house before the holiday season starts so am going to begin working on that tomorrow. I don’t do it all in a day or two, instead I pick rooms and areas to work on a few days a week. I do everything from cleaning the baseboards to taking a scrub brush to the tiled floors. Yes, it will ultimately take a few weeks (the goal is doing it 3 days a week to allow me to get my paid work and volunteer work done) but I always feel better when it is done.
Other things high on the list include getting the Christmas Letter written and sent out. This year will be easier than last year and there are a lot of positive things we can talk about including our trips to Mexico and the cruise with my sister (ok, her breaking her kneecap in multiple places may not be a positive thing). The goal for this one will be getting it out no later than December 5th.
As well as the usual Christmas shopping and wrapping this tends to be the start of my busy ‘work’ time. Before Mexico I need to have all of my clients’ books done up to the end of November so that I can start working on their year end adjustments. On top of that is prepping the reports, etc, that I will be doing for their year end. I get it all prepared before I go to Mexico the end of December so that I don’t have to spend too much time in January getting year ends completed.
Finally is the decorating of the house. I used to have a hard and fast rule that no decorations would go up before December 1st. I threw that rule out last year when, since it would be our first Christmas without our little brother, my sister and I decided to decorate right after November 11th to make our house feel a bit happier. It kind of worked but of course we stilled missed him. I’ve decided that this year we will again decorate early so we are starting that process this weekend (my husband actually put up our trees while we were away, we just have to add the decorations and make the house look like Christmas).
As I type this I think ok, time to kick into the work level that I did before I retired. Everything needs to be done by December 11th. Why? Because that gives me 2 full weeks to enjoy the season. I truly enjoy Christmas and want to make sure I have time to sit back and remember how much joy it can be spending time with friends and family.
I went out for a run this morning and saw the strangest thing. It was around 6am so it was still dark out but running along the promenade was a mallard drake. The fact he was on the promenade isn’t odd, it was the way he was walking. He was actually standing upright, almost like he was a human. When I was heading back home there was a group of people watching him because an hour after I first saw him there he was still walking around upright. It was truly a bizarre thing to see.
Yesterday I decided to completely break out of my comfort zone and try something new. I attended a session called Grief Through Creativity. They had already had one session but I was still in Mexico so had to miss that one. This one was making a mosaic which did concern me a bit because I am not artistic in any way but I have struggled the last year and a half to come to turns with the loss of my brother. While I am not great at sharing emotions with others, I thought this might be what I have been looking for and it turns out is was.
I want to start by talking about the interesting dynamic of the group that was there, 4 of us in total. At my table was an older woman who is in my walking group and has become a good friend. She lost her husband last year days before I lost my brother. At the other table was an older woman who lost her husband in July. The other woman was probably in her 40’s and she lost her sister, also in July. Why those dynamics mattered so much is 2 of us are well into the cycle of grief while the others are still new to it. On top of that you have the difference of losing a spouse and losing a sibling. I thought it was just the perfect group of people to get together.
For the mosaic, you selected a piece of colouful, patterned paper and a piece of plain paper. Next you mindfully tore the coloured paper in to whatever shapes and sizes that you liked. You then glued the pieces on the plain paper to start to tell a story. Finally you added layers of colour by using 2 different coloured felt pens, 1 a colour you liked 1 you didn’t. Then optionally you could add some coloured sparkle glue. Once everything was done you would explain what you created and relate it to the person you lost.
For the coloured paper I chose one that was light brown with a bright green stripe at the top. It drew me because it made me think of the beach in Playa, a place my brother loved. I ripped it into various shapes and sizes that I glued to the plain paper. I selected a blue felt pen and just added lines between all the shapes. I had chosen a really ugly yellow/green coloured felt pen that I used to mark some of the edges of the paper. Finally I used some black sparkle glue which I used to create dots in between the shapes.
It was odd but each step of the process I realized I was creating a piece that really represented my brother. The brown shapes, they represented stepping stones for the hard journey he had in life between learning disabilities, bullying and health issues. The blue was almost an identical match to his stunning cornflower blue eyes. The yellow/green colour represented the sargassum seaweed that we hated. Finally, those little black dots represented all the barriers that he struggled to overcome and I used sparkle glue because he overcame all of them.
I fully admit there were tears shed as I explained my mosaic but when I walked out I felt better than I had in a while. The sharing and support that happened in that room reminded me that I am not alone on this journey and that sharing those emotions with others who understand is a healthy release. Truly I look forward to the session next month.
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.
gwennefarrell 