Tag: exercise

Winter Morning Walk

What do you mean you don’t recognize me? It’s me, not Charlie Brown. 🙂 (No scarf)

I’m either admirable or an idiot or an admirable idiot. 🙂 Despite a temperature reading of 16F I decided to do my 2.75 mile walk anyway. I know that I’m not suffering REAL cold – that’s for folks like my friend Honour in Bay of Fundy. Walking really does make me feel better while I’m walking. And I can cling to the notion of being healthy & determined while I sit at my computer staring at things that annoy me. I’ve been walking now since Sept 27 and it does feel ‘off’ if I miss it. I’ve also learned a few things I need to do in preparation.

From back in the fall, before all the leaves shriveled up in self-defense. Isn’t this pretty?

My routine starts in the morning with a cuddle with BC. She’s an excellent alarm clock. Then I weigh myself. Yeah, sometimes that ruins the day right then and there. Then I begin dressing. In layers. Since September the number of layers has grown.

Also not today. But wintery morning skies make nice photos. Thank goodness today was BRIGHT sunshine.

Today involved 5 layers on my torso, 3 on my head, 2 on my legs and 2 on my feet. Toss in some face protection as well and I’m all ready! Legs = my nylon yoga pants plus sweatpants. Feet = pair of knee-hi stockings plus heavy socks. Torso = nylon turtleneck, long-sleeve cotton tee, fleece jacket, hooded sweatshirt, nylon windbreaker (hey – I get COLD). Head = baseball cap, sweatshirt hood, windbreaker hood (and oh my – when I’m walking into the wind coming off the river I NEED all of those). Face is protected with lip moisturizer, a cloth facemask (that was new today trying to protect my cheeks), sunglasses. Oh! and my hands!!! I always wear surgical gloves under my mittens. When the temperature is below 20F, I use my incredibly warm mittens from Norway (which are usually too darn warm). 🙂 It’s very hard to reach my tissues to blow my nose when needed. But hey – I did it. I walked. Keeping to my personal commitment. But oh please – let it be warmer tomorrow!

Didn’t see any friends this morning. This shot was a few weeks ago. I’m on my front steps very near to her.

Another Step Forward

Things were VERY bad this morning. I was extremely stressed out. Many issues that are “real” and probably some that only seem to be issues because of lack of sleep or insufficient hydration or whatever. I was able to walk in 3.5 inch heels on Thursday, but not very well. PT on Friday didn’t go very well either – could not get the one toe to unlock and flex. Sigh. Things such as that accumulated. As has my weight. Ugh. Before noon the big cranky gray cat had attacked the black kitten twice. I was wound tight and tighter. What to do?

inch by inchIn the past, when I’ve reached that ready-to-scream-and-snap state, I’ve worked out. Okay, well then, I’ve been doing the grocery shopping (1.5 hours in sneakers & upright & moving). I wore 2.5 inch heels all day at the beginning of the week. Surgeon has said I’ll do more harm now by babying the foot than by pushing the limits. It wasn’t much of a decision. I changed into my workout clothes, grabbed my music and headed for the treadmill. I’ve not worked out in over 6 months, probably much longer. *laughing* I wasn’t even sure the treadmill would START. It did and I stepped on. I walked. I walked and I walked and I walked.

My walking was either pitiful or a major triumph. Or both. The FASTEST rate I got to was 2.4 mph. I used to start warming up at 2.6 mph. I pushed the incline up to 4% as I walked. I might not be going fast today but I could go steep. The triumph is that I walked a mile – nonstop. Considering that a few weeks ago I couldn’t walk at all without a major limp, I was quite pleased, even if it took 27 minutes. I started at 2 mph and got it up to 2.4 before I stopped. Considering there was a time I used to RUN, 2.4 is embarrassing. Considering the last few months, 2.4 is a miracle.

If I can walk, well, I’m sure I can row, too. *grin* Yep, I can row. Again, comparing it to what I used to be able to do, I did wince. Comparing it to the last several months – I rock. 180 strokes in 5 minutes.

Even more to the point, I do not seem to have damaged anything anywhere while I walked and rowed. My mood definitely lifted. No question that I worked out the negative energy that was stressing me. Since I think I’ll still be sufficiently limber tomorrow, I’m planning on doing it again.

Wish me luck and continued endurance and commitment. I hear my shoes calling.

Phoenix

SL was not the answer today. It wasn’t the question either, actually. But so often, when I am stressed from RL, or bothered, or just need refuge, SL has been the answer. Today was one of those dumb days in RL. Nothing was seriously wrong. But a series of inconveniences, aggravations and setbacks occurred. And I was not able to deal with them. Some days you know you should have stayed in bed with the covers over your head. But I wasn’t smart enough to do that. So when the final stupid inconvenience happened, I lost it. Thank goodness I have wonderful friends who came over and dealt with the immediate issues. Even so, I continued to feel stressed and pressured. I had been in SL for a good part of the day on business. I dealt with the business issues, everything was fine, but no siren song called to me. Nothing in SL or RL appealed. I thought I was going to explode.

checking-out-the-treadmillsWhat to do???? Run. Well, it’s been years since I’ve been able to run. Blew out my knees. The best I’ve been able to do has been power-walk. But I couldn’t think of anything else that might work. There is no SL-equivalent for running yourself to exhaustion. Or if there is – I don’t know it. So I dug out my running clothes and headed for my long-neglected treadmill. It felt so darn good. I started walking. Walked faster. Faster still. Pushed it up higher and began running. Oh my yes. Obviously could not run the whole time. Even I have enough sense to not run full out after 5 years off. 🙂 But I did two miles and felt that glorious wonderful sweat and exhaustion. I feel like a human being again. Of course, let’s see how I feel tomorrow! But to run again, after all this time. What joy.

So how does this relate to a blog about SL? Well, in so many ways what I do in SL has a corresponding effect in RL. I blogged once about sitting in a classroom at NCI beach. (Remember those stupid trees? Speaking of which – they tore out all my gardens. Sigh. Ingrates.) Anyway, sitting there in the class for an hour, hearing the surf and the wind was nearly as therapeutic as being down the real shore. I’ve gotten in a sailboat and headed out to the open sea to soothe my soul. I’ve gone to Shengri La and ridden the horses over the hills and through the fields, finding peace. Maybe I should buy a treadmill in SL. Whenever I’m scripting, or merely IM’ing, I could use the treadmill. Perhaps it will have the same subconscious effect? Perhaps my body will be fooled into thinking it is really exercising? Yeah, I know. Crazy idea. But I think I’m going to give it a try. 🙂 What have I got to lose? (L$600) Wish me luck.