Stabby! Stabby!

I'm supposed to post tonight as part of a food exchange thing I did (which was awesome and I'll definitely do it again) but my computer is being a little be-yotch and making me stabby. I'll return home, write the post offline (that's the 2nd part... the person I was 'borrowing' internet from moved out. My apartment is internetless. *sigh*) and post it tomorrow morning instead.

Hopefully, while it's shut down and sitting in the corner, my computer will think about what it's done today and will behave itself tomorrow.

Crushing Travel Plans

I had grand plans to break it to you that I wasn't going to be running the 10K in Taber and how disappointed I was about it, but that I was going to console myself with a trip to Trinidad and Tobago for my friend's wedding at the end of July.

That's an awesome consoluation prize!

Except that's not how it played out.

While I was looking at possible flights and dreaming of beautiful beaches, work was reviewing the projects coming down the pipe and how far along we were on the current ones. I came into work yesterday all ready to put my tickets on hold... and instead I got notification that a couple of project completion dates had been moved up and July is now a no-holiday month for me.

*sigh*

Looking on the bright side, I can still run the 10K in Taber!

And I'll get to enjoy some Taber corn. I would stab someone in a bar fight for an ear of Taber corn. To be fair, though, I'd probably stab someone in a bar fight for tickets to Trinidad so...

I decided I needed to subliment the running with some weight training so I've joined a gym. I'm trying to go before work so I can avoid the after work craziness. It's not so bad if I take the time to sort myself out the night before and get myself to bed at a decent hour. Who knows, I might even start to like it!

How to Get a Nerd to Run

I knew that I had to start running on Thursday but by lunch time, I had excuses out my wazoo. Well, one excuse, really. I wasn't over my cold so how could I go running? I spent my afternoon arguing with myself between going and not going. I was on the losing end of the battle when a friend texted me.

So, one of the newly painted poles in Fernwood has a TARDIS on it.

A week ago, our community of Fernwood held its annual pole painting day. One of the new poles had a TARDIS? My day was made! The only problem was that when I asked where it was, the response was "It's the one in front of the cool old house with a porch." That's as helpful as someone in Martha's Vineyard describing it as 'the house on the water'.

Obviously I had to go for a run to see if I could find the TARDIS pole.

Once I got out, I was so happy I had made the effort to get out the door. The evening was cool but dry, the running portions felt great, and although my cardio is not what it was I didn't feel like I was going to die. I even challenged myself with a couple of short but steep hills.

More importantly, I found the TARDIS pole. Wouldn't you know it, it was in front of a cool old house with a porch.

Tonight's run, sadly, didn't feel as great as Thursday's. That has less to do with running and more to do with two 2am nights in a row! I'm sure tomorrow's run will feel more like Thursday.

Stumbling Out of the Starting Blocks

I was supposed to go for a run tonight.

Actually, I was supposed to go for a run Monday night but then 106 - I should probably figure out a less confusing nickname for him, something using letters instead of numbers - heard about a board game night in town so plans got shifted around. In case you didn't get the memo: board game night > running.

Back to today, I was supposed to go for a run. I was also supposed to be over this stupid cold.

I took the stairs just one flight at work today and when I found myself only halfway up, stooped over from coughing, and hoping my lungs weren't suddenly going to dislodge themselves and tumble down to the bottom of stairwell, I cancelled my evening running plans.

No point starting the training plan with a call to the paramedics.

I still made a point to get out for a walk for a good 45 minutes. While it wasn't running, it was something.

I also haven't coughed in the last two hours so hopefully tomorrow (or Thursday at the latest) will see me back out on the running paths.

In the mean time, The Wire isn't going to watch itself!

Making Wise Decisions

I debated long and hard about starting my 10K training this week. Following the plan, this would have allowed for a week 'off' prior to the 10K when I'll be in Alberta visiting family. I told myself I would use that week doing more casual jogs than worrying about the training plan, allowing me to tailor the length of the runs around my family's schedule.

In the end, I decided that I know me too well and my week 'off' would just end up being a week off. "10K? What 10K? Pass me another Molson's while I reload the rifle!" (Full disclosure: neither of these are things I've done in Alberta, they just sound like things other Canadians would expect an Albertan to say. I can, however, tell from the cloud formations when a chinook is coming - thanks Grandpa - so I've got some Southern Alberta cred.) While I felt like I was taking the lazy way out by not jumping on the workout wagon right away, I need that training plan to keep me running during that week in Alberta. I assured myself that I was making the right choice.

Am I ever glad I reasoned that out.

Tonight is the first night I haven't had something planned all week (so I've decided to spend it making my first ever fondant cake). It's also my last week at my old job so there's the added work stress of training my replacement and cleaning out my cubicle. Add to that my cats and their 4am games of tag they've been having every night this week. If I had tried to add running there, well, this post would look like my cats had typed it.

Sometimes the lazy decision turns out to be the right decision.

 Not normally but sometimes.

A Recommit and FMM

Now that I'm pretty sure the reading list of this blog has been reduced to no one, it seems like a great time to start blogging again. That's how this whole thing works, right? Blog. Stop blogging. Start again when no one cares? No? Well, I've been going about this all wrong then.

I haven't been blogging because there's been nothing to tell. After injuring myself in November, I fell off the wagon (and the bump from the fall really didn't help with the whole back injury thing - *snort* I love bad puns) and while I kept telling myself to get back on it, it was so hard. The wagon was so tall. I had to, like, climb up on to it and shit. (If you read that in a really whiny voice... yeah, that's what I sound like about this whole thing.)

Then I returned to full time work. And then I had a couple of other time commitments. And then my dance class moved to a location I couldn't get to. And. And. And. And I rock at coming up with excuses. Seriously, school kids should hire me to create their "I wasn't in class today because..." notes. Instead of excuses, I needed a goal. Something simple. Something I know I can do. Something fun.

Like a 10K.

I missed the TC 10K in Victoria because [insert any previous excuse here]. Also, I don't really like doing the 10K: it's insanely crowded and I find myself wanting to punch people in the back of the head because slow moving people crowd into corrals well above their projected finish time. I needed a new 10K to do.

I have tentative plans to visit my family in Alberta this summer so I searched my preferred travel dates and found a 10K in Taber, AB. It's apparently part of the Taber Cornfest. While the Taber Cornfest website still shows 2011 information, a 2012 race is posted on a couple of Canadian running websites. so hopefully it's a go for this year.

If it's not a go, I'll plan my own 10K route through the cornfields of Southern Alberta and make my family stand on the side of the road and cheer me in at the end. Preferably while they wave homemade signs of encouragement. Right now they're reading this and thinking "Andrea's such a clown". We'll see who's laughing when I hand you my home made ticker tape I want to run through!

Training officially begins next Monday.

EEK!

What better way to jump back into blogging than with a Friend Makin' Monday?

Simplified guidelines: Answer questions, post and link up here, sit back and watch the accolades pour in. Or something like that.

FMM: Three Things

1. Three of your favorite movies:
-Casablanca
-Beauty and the Beast
-Monty Python's Life of Brian (super excited because the Victoria Film Festival is having a MPLOB Quote-Along in two weeks *squee*)

2. Three of your favorite things to drink:
-Tea
-Coffee
-Beer (really can't get much more specific than that, I just like beer)
(I know, I know, water should be on this list and I do actually enjoy drinking straight water but it's not a 'favourite')

3. Three of your favorite songs:
Just three? Ugh, this pains me.
-Who Knows How to Make Love Stay - Doug and the Slugs (oh, 80's Canadian pop, how I love you!)
-Rolling in the Deep - Adele (I will listen to anything this girl puts out)
-Maple Leaf Rag  - Scott Joplin
A friend once described my taste in music as 'a menagerie of sounds'. Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

4. Three people who have recently been a positive influence on your life (outside of your family):
-K from work: really pushed me to go after a new job opportunity and then helped guide me through the process. It worked. I've got a new (and awesome) job.
-T and 106 (friends): convinced me that regular board game nights are cool (and they totally are!)
-Walter Lewin: read For the Love of Physics and it really opened my eyes to the beauty of physics of the every day world. I find myself trying to recall the equation for wind velocity when I see breeze through the trees nowadays. My goodness, I sound like a giant nerd.

5. Three things you to do keep yourself entertained:
-Read
-Sing and dance in the privacy of my apartment/listen to music in general
-Watch TV/movies

6. Three things you’re attracted to in the opposite sex:
-Eyes and smile (I'm lumping these together because one of my favourite things about eyes are laugh lines and you only get those if you smile a lot. The frequency of the smiling is more important than the actual smile.)
-Someone who is kind
-Nice ass (Hey, I'm just being honest)

7. Three things you love about yourself:
-My sense of humour
-My smile
-My nerdy personality (it took me a while to own up to my true level of nerd and now that I have, I like who I am better as a person)

8. The last three people who text messaged you:
-106
-THR
-Trish

9. Three things you’re looking forward to this week:
-Baby shower for THR
-Drinks with the alumni band crew
-Talk on human rights I've helped organise

10. Three wishes specifically for yourself…What are they? (Be selfish, and be honest.)
-I wish I could snap my fingers and be the active, fit person I once was
-I wish I was independently wealthy so I could set off on a round-the-world trip tomorrow (in the active, fit body I used to have)
-I wish I had a maid

11. Three of your favorite quotes:
"Humuor is not a mood but a way of looking at the world." ~Ludwig Wittgenstein
"Who, being loved, is poor?" ~Oscar Wilde
"Oh, don't pay life the compliment to take it seriously." ~Robert Service (from his poem, Laughter)

12. Three of your biggest fears:
-Falling and breaking a bone (I've never done it and the thought of it terrifies me)
-Sharp items like axes, chainsaws or swords make me nervous. Surprising for most people as I own two swords and have used axes and chainsaws many times in my life.
-Moving scarecrows on TV
 
13. Three of your favorite TV shows:
At this moment:
-The Wire
-Game of Thrones
-New Tricks

14. Three of your favorite things to purchase when you’re shopping.
-Books.
-Books.
-Books (I don't actually like shopping. It's simply a necessary activity so the only time I really enjoy it is when I'm turned loose in a bookstore.)

15. Three things that you enjoyed last week:
-Board game and Pub night with T and 106
-Tea and a game of rummy with C
-It becoming official that I got the new job

16. Three things that you always have in your bag or close to you if you’re not a purse kind of person.
-Lipgloss
-Wallet
-Pen and notebook

17. Three types of food that you wouldn’t want to give up.
-Pretty much anything my mom cooks (save her occasional decision to cook liver and onions when I was growing up. She can keep that to herself)
-Pad Thai
-Cheese Fondue

18. Three things you do to enjoy burning calories:
-Walking/Hiking
-Running (when I was doing it regularly)
-West African Dance

19. Three things you dislike about blogging:
-I love my family but sometimes I wish I hadn't told them I blog because I censor myself more knowing that my mom will read any curse words I put on here.
-Glaring grammatical errors or spelling mistakes that I notice after I hit publish.
-It's not blogging specific, but my current laptop is a pain in the ass. It's old and slowing down which means that a simple post takes way too long to write. Trying to include photos is almost painful. I've found myself saying "fuck it" and just tossing half-finished posts because my laptop is making me want to punch it.

20. Three ways blogging has changed your life:
-I've met some really awesome people
-I always wanted to keep a diary but was kind of crap at it unless I was travelling (I am the travel diary queen!) but blogging fills that need
-I plan more because I need to for the blog

Working Out the Paper Work

I'd be updating this blog if I had done anything even remotely active in the last week. But I haven't. Well, I've gone for lots of walks. While there has been rain this winter, there has also been a lot of dry periods and it's even been, dare I say it, down right sunny!!

When I do get to step away from documents and website re-designs (not for here, sorry), I've been more concerned about seeing friends than being active. I have a couple of friends visiting from Switzerland so they get priority over running.

I hope all four of you are having a great 2012!

Pete and Repeat Went Into A Store...*

I sat down last year and set some very do-able goals. Then I had a knee problem so the TC 10K was not do-able. Then I decided to Ireland so I cut out the hiking one and the second running one. Then I was lazy so I cut out the weight-loss one.

In short, despite making sure that my goals were realistic, I failed to account for the fact that I like to use excuses as a reason to not do things. Well, I'm back to being able to run (I was actually back to that before Christmas but the holiday season is not a good time to try and set up good habits. It's a time-of-year-too-busy-thing, not a grandma-molasses-cookies-thing, I swear) and looking at my 2011 goals. Easy-peasy, they're going to be my 2012 goals.

Easiest yearly goals I've ever set. And in case you don't feel like actually going back to the old post:

1. Run the TC 10K in 1:15:00 - I'm going to change this to 'run a 10K'. I like the TC but it's stupid crowded and I don't know if I really want to be pushing myself through throngs of people for a time goal. Over the next few days, I'll research other 10Ks in the area and make a decision.

2. Run the Gunner Shaw 10K next November - The ultimate trail race in Victoria. Don't believe me? Read this. Doesn't that sound like ridiculously crazy fun times!

3. Hike the Juan de Fuca Trail - From last year's post: This one was put on hold last year due to other events. It won't be put on hold again. Hey, last year me, yes it will. But Ireland was worth it. Let's try this again, shall we?

4. End the year within 15 lbs of my weight goal - Totally do-able if I'm not a complete twat about it... again.

Now, who wants to start a pool to guess when I'll give up the first one?

*Anyone else remember that joke from yesteryear?
Pete and Repeat went into a shore. Pete came out. Who was left?
Repeat.
Pete and Repeat went into a store... and so it goes until  the recess bell goes or your friend walks away (or punches you).

I was intending to get another post up before today but the season got away from me. Plus, I've been putting most of my energy into recalling 25 things I love about the holidays which seems like a much better use of my time than discussing whether or not I've made strides in my goal.

I'm in Nanaimo waiting for the youngest member of the family to get out of bed before we begin the festivities. In a matter of hours, I will be back in Victoria for dinner with my mom. If you celebrate, a very Merry Christmas to you. If you don't celebrate, happy Sunday!

Back is Back To Good! And FMM

Just checking in for Friend Makin' Monday and to pass on that I have been pain-free in my back for about three days. I haven't even had the occasional soreness-in-that-area which makes me super excited! Dance is back on the agenda for 2012!! With Christmas going ons and what-not, I don't have too much to share. I've been pretty good this holiday season save for Saturday night when my free pouring host kept refilling my glass while I was too busy chatting to notice. I swear I wasn't sticking my wine glass out in front of him on purpose.

If you're new to Friend Makin' Monday, you can find the guidelines here.

FMM: Have you ever?

1. …traveled outside of your home country? If so, where? USA, Mexico, Ireland (lived there), UK (all four countries), France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany (lived there), Switzerland (lived there), Austria, Italy, Cuba, Tanzania (lived there)

2. …performed on stage in front of at least 1,000 people? If so, share some details! Not for over than many people, no. But I do love being on stage.

3. …watched an episode of Jersey Shore? Yes

4. …baked a cake from scratch? If so, what’s your specialty? I prefer baking cakes from scratch, but my specialty is actually pies, not cakes. I've never not had pie crust turn out perfectly, even when I was 14 and didn't have everything so I improvised with whole wheat flour and a metal baking tin. It wasn't until I was older and tasted some less-than-stellar homemade pie crusts that I realised how lucky I am that that was the baking super power I inherited from my mom.

5. …worked in a grocery store? No.

6. …dated someone who was your best friend first? Best friend no, but a few of them were friends first. 7. …made a difference in someone’s life during Christmas? I volunteered at the Food Bank a few times growing up and I adopted a family with two co-workers one year.

8. …been on TV? Yes. It's an episode of COPS my mom won't ever forget ;) Kidding! But I have been on TV.

9. …had cosmetic surgery? No.

10. …learned a second language? If so, what else do you speak? I used to have decent travel French and Spanish and I'm working on getting them back. I achieved fairly high levels of fluency in German and Swahili when I lived in Germany and Tanzania respectively. When I put my mind to it, I can pick up languages fairly quickly. It's the keeping them up so I maintain that level that causes me problems.

Getting Antsy

I've hit that point with my back where I'm pretty much back to normal but every once and a while, I move a certain way and the spot twinges a little. Nothing serious, nothing last, but just enough to remind me that I recently injured it enough to require the heating pad. It's that annoying part of injury recovery: I feel like I should be able to do everything I did before the injury, but I'm terrified I'm going to aggravate it like I did last Sunday.

What's a girl to do?

Well, if you're me, you debate about making a low impact workout plan for this week and then decide 'to heck with it; I'll plan next week because I've got coffee dates with friends from Switzerland this week!' So, instead, you take the longest route possible from Fernwood to Cook St Village and back again. Granted, I broke the walk up with a two hour coffee stop, but that's not the point!

I've been really good about making sure I get out for a walk every day even when my back is sore. I can only think of five days since I hurt it where I didn't get at least 20 minutes in so I'm pretty happy with myself about that. It would have been so easy just to say 'injured, sitting on the couch, thanks' but I didn't. (I may have treated myself to some 'injured, need chocolate, thanks' on one or two occasions, but that's also not the point!)

While I'm still not really to jump back into high impact exercise at the moment, I'm definitely ready to ramp up the intensity of some low to medium impact exercises.

But next week, when I don't have coffee plans with friends from Switzerland.

Time to Celebrate... with Raw Food?

After all my complaining about my back on Monday, it's pretty much recovered. It's still sore but it's sore on the level of where it was before I picked up the bag of garbage so I'm back to being able to shave my legs and feed my cats. I had a fear when I aggravated it that I'd be back to the start in healing but it appears that was not the case. So while I'm not about to go out and dance the samba, I'm very happy that the return to the heating pad was just a blip in the radar!

Still, I'm not going ice skating at lunch today with Lisa and the crew because of my back so it's still boo-urns over all.

In case it hasn't been obviously clear when reading this blog (and if it isn't, you're probably just skimming), I'm a geek. That is part of the reason why I read the Discover magazine blogs. Every once and awhile, the blogs cover topics which clearly have implications for this blog (and any healthy living/weight loss/running/non-science blog out there) such as with today's post, Why Calorie Counts Are Wrong.

Okay, okay. So I 'Fox News'd' the title a bit, but I thought it was an interesting article about how cooking foods often releases nutrients in them that would otherwise be indigestible thereby increasing the calorie count of that food. I'm filing it under "food for thought".

And just to emphasis that I'm a geek: I read that article, wrote down the book title, and then checked to see if my local library had it. ::pushes up nerd glasses:: Because that's the sort of thing one reads over the holiday season.

FML and FMM

We're going to start with a pity party. I went to pick up a rather full garbage bag yesterday, aggravated the injury in my back and woke up in pain every time I moved in bed last night. I scared my cat, Tosio, twice because I involuntarily yelled out from the pain. She was less than impressed! Back injuries really suck. SUCK!

(This would be the part where you throw the ticker tape.)

Much of today's plan includes the couch, the heat pad, pain killers, a couple of crappy movies, and an oh-woe-is-me attitude. Because oh, woe is me. I have cat food all over my kitchen floor because I couldn't bend over to put in in the dish. Oh the upside, I also feel absolutely no obligation to clean it up. I can't bend over and my cats will find it all eventually. It's kind of liberating.

Actually, maybe this whole back thing isn't so bad after all!

On the upside, I've put all my posts about Ireland on a handy dandy travel page over here. There will be a travel guide type post coming shortly but for now, it's all about me.

I haven't taken part in Friend Makin' Monday in a while. If you've done this before, you know the guidelines. If you haven't, you can find them here.

FMM: I am...

1. I am good at… crafting, dancing, cooking, and finding the positive.

2. I am happy when… I'm doing any of the above, or I'm hanging out with my friends, or I'm enjoying a cup of tea. I'm generally a positive, happy person.

3. I am working on… finding a job and a couple of cross-stitch patterns (it's my first time creating a pattern; here's hoping it works).

4. I am interested in… learning as much as I can about a variety of topics from history to science to sports to politics. I crave knowledge.

5. I am always… up for a laugh.

6. I am enjoying… a cup of tea... and getting ready for Christmas.

7. I am in… pain. I'm also in Victoria, BC.

8. I am reading… Ship of Fools by Fintan O'Toole and History of Ireland  by Malachy McCourt (Frank's younger [and funnier]) brother.

9. I am concerned about… a lot, but right now, mostly about my inability to bend over.

10. I am looking forward to… being pain free and Christmas with my family.

Please Place Your Seats In the Upright Position...

...because the crazy is taking off.

Remember when I said "let's run a marathon in Donegal in 2013"? Yeah, I don't either but apparently I did. I think I was too busy listening to Ciaran McMenamin's sexy, sexy voice to pay attention to what I was typing. (That man needs to start doing books on tape STAT! It's probably the only way I'd ever make it past the first four chapters of Twilight.) I also mentioned it to a few people in real life, partially in jest and partially in "wouldn't that be fun" until three of them (serious runner types) challenged me back to make it happen. And could I plan a tour of Ireland while I'm at it?

With three actual runners interested in attending the race and two friends who just want to come along to cheer* (and drink in the pubs tour the island), I've started looking into what it would take to make this a possibility. While I know that September 2013 is a looooong way off, getting people thinking about it now (and possibly saving) will hopefully make it easier to get people to commit to it when the time comes. (If the time comes, there are still no guarantees at this time.)

For the reason why I picked Donegal of all the places in Ireland to do a marathon, it's all about the beautiful pub countryside and people. Plus the run looks like a fun, low-key event with hilarious race rules. Also, the eyes of the cow medal light up. They had me at "[a]nyone consistently getting in the way of cows behind them will be be beaten!" and now they've got a light up participation medal? My heart just skipped a beat!

If this does go ahead, please understand that non-runners will also be welcome. My hope is that we can find a nice balance between a small-ish group but making it large enough to be able to work out some travel deals so I'll probably aim for 12 people. Again, this is just to get you guys thinking about it.


As for my current state: back is getting better but it's still slow going. Legs are still very smooth considering what they were like after three weeks of no shaving. I have decided to rewatch all the extended Lord of the Rings** movies because I'm a giant dork and the nights are getting dark so early. This is after I finished watching the entire Underworld trilogy (even the crappy 2nd one which I only watch because Scott Speedman - who can't act, let's be honest - runs around shirtless for most of it). Sadly, that pretty much has you up to date on my life right now!

*and this isn't counting people who've expressed interest but not an actual commitment to coming.

**that's right, extended. I'm a hard-core nerd, yo!

It's a Miracle

I was supposed to have a big blogging day today (mostly over here) but then plans got in the way and now I have to go be social. I know! How dare my friends expect me to actually want to see them?!? This is why I prefer my imaginary friends: they are always on my schedule.

Okay, okay. So it's nice to see people and be social and productive and, and, and... but I did have to pop on to pass on some very important information: after three weeks of not being able to bend over, I CAN FINALLY SHAVE MY LEGS!!!!

Perhaps that's an overshare but I'm just so happy to have smooth legs again that I don't really care. This is obviously a sign that things in the back department are improving. This week: smooth legs. Next week: back flips! That's how it goes, right?

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend with your own WOO-HOO!! moment.

Injury Update

Having never had a back injury which has taken this long to heal, I started getting nervous that I had done some serious damage. I mean, it's over two weeks since and I still get out of bed looking something like my grandpa did when he was in his 90's. The most recent person I know with a back injury had to have surgery she did so much damage and 16 months later she still doesn't have full motion back. That thought kept circling in the back of my mind every time I felt pain back there.

The one positive is that the period of sustained back pain (as opposed to the 'only when I move the wrong way' pain) is now limited to the first two hours after I get up. Surely, that's a step in the right direction. I sent an email to a friend of a friend who's a physiotherapist about expected recovery time. Subsequent emails throughout the course of this morning have made me feel much better that I haven't actually done anything serious, and now I have a few handy-dandy exercises to do along with some light-stretching/yoga poses.

The downside is that week three of my goals looks exactly like week two... and week one... and probably like week four, if I'm being honest. Injuries suck. Instead of bore you with "hey, I'm aiming to walk... again!" for the next two weeks, I'm going to hold off on officially posting goals until they're of something more exciting... like 'bending over without groaning'! Because right now, that would be really exciting for me. [See previous comment about injuries sucking.]

In the mean time, expecting posting to be sporadic and/or a pity party. Feel free to bring the ticker tape.

Holding Steady

Other than two days when I decided not to walk (once due to my back being sore again, once due to driving up island to visit family), I rocked last week's goal. Sadly, my back is still a bit of an issue. While I'm still noticing improvement, my injury is in an annoying location that I tweak anytime I sit down or bend over. Full recovery is going to take longer than I originally hoped.

Boo-urns.

It does, however, make writing this week's goals very simple: walk 20 minutes every day... again. I'm going to up the ante a wee bit and add two easy sessions of yoga. I'm hoping it will help with the back issues.

The downside is that I'm lacking in blogging mojo because you can only talk about not being able to do things for so long before you feel it's better to just shut up. Curse you, back pain! CURSE YOU!

Goal: Heal Quicker!

Last week I set two simple goals: don't skip dance class, and go for a long walk. I went to dance class... and then failed to do anything else for the rest of the week. Even my at-home goals suffered because it's hard to crochet when you're lying on your back or clean out your fridge when you can't bend over.

I have a very quiet weekend, what with the laying on a heating pad and all. While my mobility has vastly improved, bending over is still pretty much a no-go area at the moment (so is sitting up without back support). I tried a bit of a walk on Sunday to meet up with my mom and by the end of the 20 minutes, I knew that I had reached my limit for physical activity for the day. Boo-urns! I had thought I was getting better but that was a wake up call.

I had to revamp my list of fitness goals for this week as one of the goals was weight training. It's really hard to work around back pain. I can't just work upper body because of a knee problem or lower body because of a shoulder issue. Also, not being able to walk for extended periods of time... also difficult to work around.

Sigh. So much for my 'off to a good start' gumption.

Still, the pain won't last forever and I can still do small things so I'm committing to walking for 20 minutes every day. It's not much but it's something and I'll adjust as the back improves. It's just something to make sure I don't spend the whole week sitting on the couch!

If my back feels better sooner rather than later, I'll throw 2 yoga sessions onto that list but I don't want to push myself too quickly.

"Back" At It

I almost didn't go to dance last night. I hadn't slept well, I was cranky, and it was pouring. It was an argument with myself but I dragged my wet, sorry ass up the stairs to the dance studio still not entirely convinced that I had made the right decision. There is something almost addictive about the sound of djembes and doundouns.

We started by going over the sofa dance (it's the name of the rhythm of the hunter's dance. Get your minds out of the gutter, you sickos!) before breaking into two groups and and performing for each other. When it was my turn to perform, I gave it my all. The other dancers noticed, the drummers noticed, and I fed off that energy. Even when we reached the end and I just wanted the dance to end but Pete (the lead djembe) decided it would be more awesome to just keep playing but faster, I kept myself going.*

When the song ended, I wandered over to the seated dancers and jokingly collapsed on the floor. As I 'fell', I felt something shift in my back. When I went to get up, I felt it shift further and my back cried out a little. I figured I work the pain out over the next 30 minutes.

No such luck. I couldn't twist in either direction without pain. I excused myself from the dance floor to sit down and stretch. I couldn't sit without pain, I couldn't bend over without pain. In short, I could stand incredibly still and that was about it.

We had a business meeting for Matoto after the dance class and I tried to fix the back pain with the consumption of beer. Dull the pain, all that jazz. Either that's only a myth or I didn't drink enough ;) I would have had a bath with Epsom salts when I got home (how did injured people function before Epsom salts? Seriously, how?) but I haven't cleaned my bath since before Ireland (I'm a shower girl) and there was no way I was bending over to clean it.

I popped a few pain killers, laid down on the heating pad and promptly got "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" stuck in my head. Because that's what everyone wants running through their head when they're in too much pain to get up and put on music: Smashing Pumpkins. Although it did kind of fit with my whole 'I'm pissy and in pain' mood.

While my back is feeling better (and I was finally able to bend over and clean up the hairball in the hall this morning), my level of mobility is still limited. Walking is fine for short distances, but I look like I'm 87 when I try and turn, bend, or sit. Damn, squats are out? Shucks!

Now, I think it's time for another back pain beer!

*In set West African Dance (as opposed to the traditional circle dance), you do the one move (or collection of moves) until the djembe plays the break and you move to the next move. Be nice to your drummers, people. If they hate you, they can keep you stuck in one move for-ev-ah! I was about two moves away from yelling "play the f*cking break" at Pete last night... and we get along!

Goal Slacking

I have finally set my fitness goals for this week: have my fitness goals ready to go for next Monday!

Obviously, I'm as awesome at this whole 'goal setting' thing as I am at this 'staying on track' thing.

I actually did set a few fitness goals this week but they were small because I set a lot of non-fitness goals and I didn't want to bog myself down with lists. I still have to write 'thank you' letters to everyone we stayed with in Ireland (yes, write as in pen to paper with my best penmanship), I need to go through my spice cupboard and my fridge and clean them out, I need to find a job, I want to bake some Zupfe, I'm working on a craft project involving spray paint, I'm trying to set aside 30 minutes a day to crochet, and I stupidly decided to give Nanowrimo a shot... again.

I looked at the list above and wrote down the following fitness goals: don't skip dance class, and go for a long walk at some point. I'm aiming big this week!

Despite the lack of concrete fitness goals for this week, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I really want out of the six months (the length of my journal) so while I have been lackluster in actually setting my weekly goals, they've never really been that far from my mind. I've gotten them figured out for next week and will be doing some of them this week (doing yoga in the mornings, for example) but I don't want the added guilt of not achieving them when I already have a full plate.

I may be the only person who has to write 'write to-do list' on her to-do list.