Catching up

I’m married. I’ve honeymooned on the west coast. It’s time to get back to training if I can stay awake.

The honeymoon was great. There was a lot of walking so I did not run that much. However, I could not avoid a quick run in the Arcata Community Forest. It’s a beautiful redwood forest with some significant elevation changes.

Truth be told, it was all beautiful. We spent time along the coast and driving thru the redwoods.

Getting back to the run in the forest. I woke up a little earlier than my husband. I quick google search showed me two different options for a run. One was the marsh and one was the Arcata Community Forest. I could hardly pass it up. The trails didn’t look that bad in the pictures. And the pictures lied.

Just driving up to the trail, I knew that there was going to be some significant effort needed. The pictures did not do the steep path justice. I quickly decided to turn it more into a quick hike. I tried to stay on the trail as much as possible but I still got lost. All together I managed to go 3.5 miles. I did run some, and a lot of it downhill. It was hard because I kept stopping to look around. The trees were rather massive. The air was fresh and a little thin. I finally got on a trail and asked someone how to get back to the parking lot.

The trail was hard. I was drenched. And I enjoyed it. I’m not sure where I was getting lost but I kept losing the trail at some point. While I do use technology to help me with training, I was very grateful to have it help me to get back to the trail. Here in our area our trails are very well marked. ACF trails really did not have anything. Some of the regular trails looked more like animal trails. But the run was still totally worth it. Or hike. Whatever. It was half hike and half run.

Otherwise, there was a ton of walking. We walked on beaches and boardwalks. We wandered thru animal parks and aquariums.

I loved the trip. We explored Portland down to LA.

We got back last week and I’m still tired. I did run last week. It was a good run. It was hard but I added some elevation and speed here and there. I decided that I will be catching up on Person of Interest. I felt like it was a hard run and there was sweat everywhere but I need to be more comfortable being uncomfortable. I can’t go faster if I don’t train for it.

Yoga was fun. We had low aerial on Wednesday with some regulars. Class just flowed and it we worked on stretching and not bugging someone’s sprained ankle. Single point kept us a little off balanced even in the common poses. It added something a little different to class.

Feels good to be back in the silks

Friday, I went to Friday Night Live in Waukesha. The yoga studio I work at has an outdoor rig and the city closes the streets. There is live music and food and us demonstrating some of the skills we’ve learned and teach in class. There was some talk of lyra but I didn’t want it and my vote was listened to. Perhaps next week.

So that’s my story. I’m not sure that it makes a whole lot of sense because I think my head is still spinning from the honeymoon. It’s good to be home and good to get back into the swing of things with a head full of good memories. 

More photos can be found and will be posted on my flickr

Oh and I recently joined Instagram 

Karn and Dumpy are glad to be home. I can't get a picture of the dog because she's been stuck like glue to me. 

Floating Along With Life

Life has been rather interesting lately. Aerial yoga took a back seat to a visit with my rheumatologist. They only took two vials of blood this time. But I have to go back for one test still.

Thursday, on the way to the gym, fiancé and I took my car to a friend to get a sound looked at. It sounded like a loose belt. No big deal. Well, it wasn’t the belt. It was the transmission, and it was cracked. So gym time and yoga time turned into hunt for new car time. Even when we had a few spare hours, I just couldn’t bring myself to get to the gym. I was anxious. Some of my cars haven’t been the greatest. I might have, in fact, felt better if I went, but I didn’t.

Long story short, I found a car. And life got back to normal.

I went for a treadmill run on Sunday. It was about 55 min and 4.75 miles. I seemed rather slow but I added some hills. I also added 1-2 minutes of ten minute mile sprints. And I was stuck in my head. And it was rough. The hills were awful. The wi-fi wouldn’t stay connected, so I couldn’t distract myself with Jessica Jones. But around mile 4, things got a little better, and then worse. I have never wanted to puke after a run but I did after this run. I looked like a hot mess after the run. So here is a picture from before I started running. No one wants to see this "after" picture.

This would definitely qualify as a bad a run. Still, I got thru it. Because I could. Because I decided that a bad run was just a bad run and stopping wouldn’t make it better. It would just make it shorter and I would have given up on something that deep down, I knew I could do.

I don’t have a lot to report. That’s really it. So thank you for joining me. We did go to the pet store for crickets and I took a few pictures of the reptiles. I also took some pictures of the dog and dragon in house.

Accepting Life on Life's Terms

Welcome to a new week. We have new opportunities. Let’s take advantage of them.

So what have I been up to?

Tuesday evening I had a birthday dinner with friends. There was twenty of us chatting, laughing and enjoying good food and drinks. It is my favorite restaurant and our waiter was blast. He knew how to handle a bunch of rowdy yogis and friends with humor and ribbing. Seriously, though, I’ve not had a bad dish there and look forward to my next meal there.

Wednesday, I woke up remembering why I don’t drink often or much. I had an appointment with a new doctor. We discussed where I was with my depression and anxiety and made a few adjustments. Then, I had lunch with my fiancé who then joined me for a shopping trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods. Got to pick up some new running clothes. I can feel all spiffy now. While we were there, the fiancé noticed a picture they had on their wall.

Aerial yoga went well. It was rather low key as I was still feeling my birthday drinks. I made sure that we stretched our necks and backs as it seemed we were all carrying some stress there. We chatted about life and what we had all been up to. I am happy that we have a free space to express our feelings as well as express ourselves thru asanas. I think it helps with the mind body connection.

I didn’t run on Thursday. New medicine made me a bit wobbly, but will help with both the autoimmune and depression. So sucking it up till the side effects past, but moving at a fast pace seemed like a bad idea.

Friday, I went to aerial yoga with SDTB. She really enjoys it. It’s always nice to see someone have such joy in the fabrics. Class stretched us out and challenged us. The leg series we do to warm up, I think, might be the hardest part of the class. I learned a new move called infinity and accidently found a way into a wrapped swing seat. Another fun part of aerial yoga is finding cool “mistakes.”

Saturday I was up for a run. I went to the gym early to get a head start on my fiancé and SDTB. It felt so good to run. I didn’t go for any records but tried to keep a steady pace. I averaged out at 12:34. There were a few sprints. I wore some of my new birthday running clothes. I know now where the Bodyglide is needed. I find each piece of clothing has different hot spots. Bodyglide is a runner’s best friend. It is better than Vaseline because it won’t stain clothes.

Did I learn anything over these past few days? I learned it’s ok to take it easy sometimes. I learned to be adaptable. I learned that I don’t have to break records every run. I learned that mistakes can lead to some fun discovery. 

I also learned Karn is rather photogenic

To Gym or Not To Gym

Happy Monday! We made it thru the weekend.

Friday I went to Level 1 Aerial yoga. Went with my stepdaughter-to-be (SDTB). She really enjoys it too. One of the actresses from Pretty Little Liars does aerial stuffs. We enjoyed the scene from Pitch Perfect 2. And of course, there is the fun and freedom of doing yoga in the hammock.

It was a nice class with familiar faces. I was feeling a little stiff going into class. Stiff and tired. I also got to finally pick up my Christmas presents from the studio. Which reminded me to actually purchase their presents sitting in my etsy cart.

I don’t know that we focused on anything in particular in class. It just felt like a good overall workout. I felt loose by the end of class. My flexibility is suffering due to the running. I need to recover it. I would like to eventually get my splits. I never had them even as a child. Backbends, however, I don’t really have any urge to improve. Anyways, the class reminded my why it’s good to go to other classes than my own. It gives me a chance to relax and enjoy class more. Not to say that teaching low aerial is high stress but you have to be aware of all the students in class and help them with their needs. We talked about running for a minute too, which I never mind talking about.

Not from Friday's class

Saturday, we drove the SDTB to the Madison area in the morning, when I normally do my long run. It felt good to sleep in. It was nice to get up and see the sun already up. At the same time, it did feel strange watching what I ate on Saturday. I think the dog was happy to take a rest even though she is a bundle of energy at this point.

My fiancé has been wanting to start going to the gym. I’ve resisted. I’ve got plenty of body weight and yoga exercises I can do at home and have all the equipment already. Plus, I’ve got running stuff for cold weather. What do I need a gym for? Hold that thought.

The gym he chose is a good gym. Close to the house and lots of equipment including a pool and lots of classes. The staff is all sorts of friendly. They even have a treadmill that is easier on the joints and TRX straps that I can work on aerial conditioning. There is even a nice hot tub, sauna/steam room, and roomy and clean locker rooms.

But still why do should I spend money on a gym when the world itself is my oyster? The answer is this morning. It was -7 degrees and even the roads were shiny with a layer of ice. Because of this, I’m pretty sure I’ll be joining this gym.

While I was there on Saturday, I managed to get in 4.75 miles. Since I wasn’t going to be able to get in my normal 3 hours, I worked on speed. I played around with the pace and incline. I ran my butt off. I tripped a couple of times when I was starting out. It feels weird to run but go nowhere. With such a steady pace, I realized too how much my pace varies. Even though I average 5.2 mph, I definitely go slow in some spots and get a little more speed in others. It was tough to hold a pace. The fiancé checked in on me a couple of times, which made it hard to find my rhythm but I’m glad he did. He knows I can get anxious in new places.

So I’m joining a gym. I’ve got plenty of work I can do in the morning on my rest days. But on days like this morning, I can run safely inside. I wasn’t so worried about the cold, but the sheen on ice on the roads. Sidewalks were nearly a solid sheet of ice. We are also dog sitting a little Jack Russell and I don’t think he is up for runs in the morning. Right now, I’ve got a week pass. I will see about running in the morning and running/walking in the afternoon when I go with the fiancé. When I was using the treadmill, I had to admit that it could be a great tool, especially for me and my need for speed and ice free conditions. Now I’ve got some research to do on how to keep my skin and hair healthy with gym work outs. I might have needed to do it before but now I feel like it’s really important.

Saturday and Sunday, we watched football and I held Karn. The dog is getting disinterested in it as it seems to do very little and doesn’t move very fast. Karn hangs out under my sweatshirt or scarf or even hair where it’s warm and goes to sleep. He also got a new background of Monument Valley which looks rather spiffy.

Here is a shot of Monument Valley that I took this Spring

 

 The dog was also super snuggly. She was cuddled into whoever was on the couch. For a collie mix, she sure can be a couch potato.

That’s it. That’s my report in. Nothing too ground breaking or earth shattering. No epiphanies or wise words. Just staying active and happy.