Personal Development Community

Yahoo! Paula. It sounds like everything is going great for you. And isn’t it great to be able to lift those boxes??? Those Maryland crabcakes won’t be so unusual for you. Looking forward to welcoming you back to the east coast.

Two workouts to report here. 

Wednesday, I was tired and frustrated from work, so the answer - head to the gym.  The hotel where I’ve been staying in Denver has a great workout room, so it was easy to stay there for over an hour.  I had the place to myself.  I went for 40 minutes cardio, then 30 minutes of mostly core exercises. 

Thursday - run through the airport day

Friday - back with my trainer.  Now that life is out of the way for both of us (he graduated with a degree in exercise physiology and kinesiology last week) it’s time to get serious again.  He kicked my newly replaced and now healthy butt.  Last week my doctor cleared me for most workouts, and also for kayaking, although he did give me the ‘look’ when I talked about kayaks, surf, rocks and rolling in the same sentence.  Precautions - anything involving crossing my legs (some yoga poses), high impact exercises (running is to get away from bad guys, not for exercise), falls, and one especially for me, being tossed around in the ocean wearing a boat.

The weekend warrior strikes again.  Not a workout, but a wonderful, active, life experience.  I paddled with friends across the bay to Angle Island, and around the island.  We had some wind, some waves, some current… enough to make things interesting but overall relatively mellow.  We had lunch on a beach… chocolate was shared.  We visited a historic site, then started our journey back home, past the million dollar mansions along the Tiburon shoreline.  It’s OK to dream… Finally, home to my cat, a glass of wine and take out sushi.

I have a great workout with my trainer yesterday.  I realized that is has been 1 1/2 years since I started resistance training consistently.  There have been some ups and downs, but overall I’m stronger and have more muscle definition.  I like working out with a trainer - someone to push me to do all three sets when I’m bored after the second.  The month before my surgery and the month after we had reduced the intensity of the workouts and to focus on core strength and maintenance.  Then travel and life events got in the way and cut back our sessions.  Now that I’m healthy again - there is no mercy.  He is pushing me harder than ever, and it feels soooo good.  Hurts a bit too, but in that good way where you know you accomplished something. 

It’s going to be a challenge to keep up with the workouts during the move, and with everything else happening in my life, but it’s worth it.

I’m glad having a trainer is still working so well for you. I would hate to be without my trainer so it feels good to know someone else is satisfied too. Not only do I work harder when I’m working with him, I work harder by myself in preparation for working with him.

Do you have a date for your move??

Two more workouts with my trainer this week.  It’s sad but I’m going to be moving soon and I’m not going to be able to continue working with Ryan.  I know that I know what to do, but it’s nice having someone else worry about what’s next, and to keep me honest with my form, and to push me, and to talk with....  I’m going to miss him.

I know what to do, and I know how to do it, but that’s not the point.  I like having someone to push me and to challenge me.  I always seem to give that little extra, just so I can prove something to that 20 something big, strong, kid.  He’s followed me through some physically tough times, through surgery, and through recovery.  He’s always challenged me while staying within my physical limits.  I don’t think I would be where I am now, at least physically, without him.  So I move on - and maybe look for another trainer. 

New note - Yesterday Rich and I decided to walk to downtown Lafayette instead of driving to go out to dinner.  It was a great feeling to be able to walk about 1 1/2 miles one way.  It’s been about 2 years since I could comfortably walk that distance.  To celebrate we stopped for ice cream on the way home.  After seeing what a ‘small’ looked like, Rich and I decided to split one order instead of getting two, then on the way home, Rich ate about half of my half.  I love being with someone who can eat, and enjoy food.  It lets me have a few bites with no guilt.  Nothing waisted.

Paula, it sounds like your hip is feeling much better. I had a back injury last summer that required minor surgery to have a piece of bone removed, but I’ve never had a joint reconstructed. I know what you mean about agonizing pain though. You have come a long way quickly. Keep up the great work and stay well.

It’s funny that I never thought I was in agonizing pain before my surgery.  It was a chronic aggravation that I lived with and refused to allow it to interfere with my life, even when it did.  I went to the gym, kayaked, even made my first combat roll… all while insisting I was FINE!  (Otherwise referred to as Fanatic, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional).  In my mind, I was fine.  My need for activity was so much greater than my need for pain relief that it kept me going.  After surgery, I realized what I had been living with.  The arthritis was so slow to develop, I didn’t really remember what it had been like to be pain free.

The joint replacement was amazing.  I could hardly walk into the hospital, and when I woke up from the surgery the pain was gone.  Replaced by a constant itch from the surgery and anesthesia.  Now I feel better than ever and I need to be careful not to over do things.

this may or may not be considered ‘exercise’, but in the overall scheme of the universe, it counts!  Saturday I volunteered as a safety paddler for the Aquanfest demo day, ‘People paddle’.  It’s a combination fund raiser for people with disabilities and a chance for kayak equipment sellers and manufacturers to let people try different boats.  Our job as safety was more to help people have fun and to make sure that everyone was, if not dry, at least alive. 

The exercise was minimal - a few sprints against the wind to get to the wayward paddler, plus a few laps around the cove, just for fun.  The emotional rewards were huge.  More about that on my journal thread.

Sunday was the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon.  I was a volunteer kayak escort for the swim portion of the event.  This involved paddling from the eventual finish to the start point near Alcatraz - against a fairly strong current.  Then we escorted the swimmers back to Chrisy Field where they started the bike phase.  We offered our boats as something big and floaty that the swimmers could use for a rest.  We were visual and verbal cues to help swimmers stay on course, and we could call for a boat if a swimmer needed to be repositioned on course or needed to get out of the water.  We were there for moral support for inexperienced swimmers who could easily become disoriented, and who just wanted to know that they weren’t alone in the open water. 

It wasn’t exercise, it was living and giving back to those who have trained so hard and are living their dream.

Hey there, Paula:

The last MM call opened-out the first line of your signature quotes ... we are who we are. That’s our anchoring starting point. The summer may hold some journalling for me with regard to this very subject.  I hope the fur isn’t flying around the house with the change in location.

Ross

This is a good bye from California Kayaker - I’m now a Maryland Kayaker!

There will be some challenges to my workout plan.  We are living in a very rural area and a gym may be hard to find.  Right now, my workouts consist of a few dumb bells at home, walking, biking and of course kayaking.  It’s going to be tough to keep going without my personal trainer, but I know that I need to keep moving.  I’ll be starting a new thread to continue to track my progress.