Reluctant Acceptence

One of the things I'm struggling with is a "new" exercise routine. My plan for the new year was to jump back into exercise. I was feeling so good compared to how I'd felt for the last 6 months that I thought I was good to go. Yeah, not so much. The first week in January I went back to work and started swimming masters again. I was wiped out by Thursday. The second week, I added an exercise program at the Y for cancer survivors. Again, I was completely wiped out, this time on Wednesday. Hmmm . . . maybe it's time to re-evaluate the situation.

First, the swimming. Not only am I slower and moved down to the slower lane, but I'm not even leading the lane. *sniff* The Masters workouts were really kicking my butt trying to keep up with the intervals. Also, Masters and the Y class are on the same day. I discovered that I can't do two workouts in one day, I don't have enough in my energy savings. Unfortunately, Masters is only on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. So, my new plan is to swim on Wednesday and Saturday until the Y program ends in March.

Cycling, I got back on the bike! Dad and I went for a nice easy ride on the Coyote Creek Trail. My goal was an hour. I'm not much slower, but I was pretty tired around mile 9. Luckily, the car was only a mile away. My butt, however, was done at mile 8.


At the half way point.

I'm going to try to get on the bike once a weekend for a fun, easy ride. Weather and schedule permitting. I can get on the stationary bike at the Y, but there is only one upright bike in the whole place! Getting the sit bones in gear will be challenging.

I did a little running on the treadmill at the Y. The good thing is that I can still run. Not very fast but the feet do leave the ground. However, running was a little too much so I'm back to walking with purpose (aka < 20 min mile) twice a week. My plan was to run the Mermaid 5K in May. But I will have to see what I'm up to by then.

I was frustrated that I couldn't jump back in to my old routine. I was feeling so good and normal that I didn't understand why I couldn't do what I used to. Apparently, abdominal surgery, chemo, and six months of inactivity takes a toll on the body. Who knew?! So, I'm settling into my new routine and working on accepting the new me.

Blog Silence

Radio silence is what one of my bff calls it when she doesn't hear from me for awhile or I don't call her back. According to her, "radio silence is not cool."

So, sorry about the blog silence. I've been conflicted about what to write about. I had grand plans for 2011. I was going to jump in with both feet and get moving on my "new normal." Umm, yeah. It didn't quite work out that way. "New normal" is a lot more new than I expected it would be. As much as I didn't want my blog to be a "cancer" blog, it looks like the C-word will be coming up often.

So, here we go . . . let posting about becoming the new me begin!

New hair pic, December 23, 2010:

Just one day left . . .

This morning the alarm went off very early. I hit the snooze button at 5:14, 5:21, 5:28, and 5:35. I finally got out of bed at 5:42 got dressed. It was pretty chilly, I wished I had slept with my clothes. Jemma and I were out the door at 5:50 to meet BFF2 for a brisk walk. In a weird way it was nice to be walking in the cold, dark morning. (One of the major bonuses of early morning walks is there is no one to see me throw away the poop bags in the garbage cans that some people keep on the driveway.)

It has been interesting to go from training to doing very little activity. I can really feel it. After walking-with-effort for about 20 minutes there is a little pulling sensation on the inside of my knee. Based on knee pain I had while I was training for a 10k, it means my adductor is tight. Oh, alright everything is tight. IT Bands. Hip Flexors. Quads. Hamstrings. It looks like I will spending some quality time with my brand new foam roller.

Tomorrow I start pushing my body again and go back to Masters. I've gone a few times since June, but nothing remotely consistent. I'm interested to see what I'm able to do in the pool and how long it takes to get my endurance back. My plan is to get in the pool at 6am and swim for at least 45 minutes. I want to push but not totally exhaust myself. It's been so long that I decided I needed new gear. Right? New bag, paddles, suit, cap, and goggles! I'm going to be so coordinated.

I can't completely wear myself out in the pool because I'm also going back to work! Part of me can't believe that I haven't been there since mid-May. I haven't not worked since 1996 when I started grad school. Things have changed at work while I've been gone so there will be a lot to get used to. I've been climbing the walls that last few weeks, and I am ready and excited to go back to work.

It's good to be getting back to "life."

Early to bed, early to rise?

I hope so. Today I tried to get up at 7am and it was a struggle. Tomorrow I'm jumping back into my old routine and meeting a buddy at 6am for a walk. Ugh. I have to get back into the early morning routine because I'm going back to work on Tuesday! More about that later.