I had a private lesson yesterday (less than 30 minutes), and that's it. Had a dentist appointment after it, and it completely knocked me out. Couldn't even think straight after it, let alone do any physical things. I feel OK this morning, so hopefully, I'll manage a few sets of exercises and an open floor fencing in the evening.

Laurie, the new kitchen sounds exciting, although not the process of putting it in. Hopefully, it goes smoothly and fast! Thanks for mentioning the imbalance issue. Fencing is a very imbalanced sport, but I was mostly paying attention to the left/right imbalance. I definitely need work on my hams/glutes. Apparently, many of those exercises help with lower back pain, so it's good, too, as mine started acting up again lately. The arms are getting pretty even workout in terms of pull/push, I think, but I need to do things with my left arm. I can feel the difference in biceps when I cross my arms. I had a great fencing session today, won half of my bouts, but feel like the girls just weren't putting in the effort. I also did a few sets of other exercises and have a feeling that tomorrow I'll be paying the price.

Thanks, Laurie! It gave me some push to start thinking. I just added a few trackers to my bullet journal, one for each exercise, so I'll try to do them during the day, here and there. And I'll have some reason to do it :) Now I just need to do some search for exercises that are more fencing-specific.

Congratulations! Good luck with building the business! I went to the club yesterday, but since it was mostly the kids day, I only really had my DD to fence with. I noticed that when I go there and not exert myself enough, I get very grouchy. Well, she noticed that, too, so when she realized that one bout is not going to be enough for me, she stayed on the strip with me and I got to practice several moves/correct some mistakes I have been doing. So, all in all, in was a decent day. I feel like I need to add some strength training to my routine. It gets more and more obvious as I fence people not from our club. I just have no idea when and how I can fit that into my days. Oh, and since I was so excited with this NAC, I signed up for two more competitions, one in November, and one in December. The December one is in Portland, so we'll get to see Oregon as well. We went to several competitions with kids that were out of town, but this will be first one where we need to fly. Lugging all that equipment is not going to be fun.

The two days of competition wiped me out completely, probably not so much physically, but rather mentally. Honestly, I contemplated skipping day 2 completely, as I was dead tired, and DD had a cramp in her leg the day before, and I thought she would just complain all day and not fence (she is my drama queen with apparently very low pain tolerance), but I needed to buy a new fencing bag, and I paid for DD participation, so we still drove there. DD did surprisingly well, considering, and since I didn't fence myself, I got to socialize with parents and provide some moral support to the girls. It's disgusting how some coaches treat them. Some of those girls were just 12, and the pressure that was put on them was unbelievable. Anyway, all that excitement left me totally dead the rest of the weekend. I slept well, but every time I did something, like unloading the dishwasher, it felt like I unloaded a truck. Monday was marginally better, so we didn't go fencing. Today I am planning to, but Tuesdays are generally slow, so it will be an easy day. Another positive thing about the tournament was that I barely ate. I feel nauseous when I am stressed, so I didn't feel like eating. On the drive home on Saturday at 7pm I realized that I had a latte, a bottle of Starbucks coffee, and a yogurt that whole day, so about 500 Cal. I did have dinner later, but still the grand total is minus 2 pounds for the weekend. I may pick it back up soon though. As a rule, I don't have problems with temptations during holidays, but I do have problems with cravings, and sometimes it all becomes quite messed up. I found that I actually do better with sweets, because it is the only thing that curbs my hunger. But if I don't crave them, I don't eat them, and I eat the craving du jour in unreasonable quantities. Or even worse situation when I don't crave anything or don't understand what I really crave, and just eat everything in sight, all the while being hungry. I do gain some weight around Christmas, but mostly due to moving significantly less. I also usually have the worst back pain of the year because of all the sitting around the tables.

I guess I am a night creature, since I wake up after dark. I need my sunlight during the day, but I am at my most active later in the day. I do prefer driving before dark, and already at least once a week we leave the house in the dark :(. I went to my first national level competition yesterday. It was an absolutely crazy day. First, we we supposed to start at 8, which meant we needed to be at a venue about an hour away by 7, so wake up around 5. I am so not a morning person, but I thought I would deal with it. At 11 pm as I was getting ready to go to bed I get a call, that due to an accident the equipment was delayed, and our event will start at 2. Yay. We woke up without an alarm clock, had a nice breakfast, and were there at 12. After a nice 40 minute wait in line to check the weapons, we were told that the equipment has not completely arrived yet. So, we were stuck waiting until 5pm, about three hours dressed in full gear. And I was stupid enough to put a bottle of coffee into my DD's bag. Of course, it broke, and her (formerly) white uniform was soaked. She was wet, cold, and complaining all day, but refused to buy at least a new pair of pants, which got the most of the coffee, because "whining is cheaper and more fun". Well, at least it came off in the wash, so today she can fence in clean clothes. Anyway, after it all started, it went smoothly, although some pools were waiting while the strips were being put together. We left the venue at 9:20, but only because I didn't even make it into direct elimination, and DD lost her very first bout. The competition continued till almost midnight. I guess my main achievement of the day was that I survived. And my arm didn't hurt, so yay for that. I really could have done a bit better, but it was still my best result yet, if we go by percentiles, so I'll take that.

Don't know how to post a photo, but the description sounds amazing, Laurie! Enjoy your trip :)

Thanks, Laurie. Until now I only heard that I must be lazy/spoiled/whatever for needing a nap to get through the day. And since I never really knew any better, I never even thought about looking into the reasons of it. After all, laziness is not something to go to the doctor with, and I never had any other health problems. And thanks for mentioning the many diseases that Vit D affects. I did some research and I am definitely getting it up, no matter how it will affect my energy levels. I am really surprised that the doctor was like it wasn't a big deal at all. My DH's last test came with it low as well, and I don't think the Dr even said anything about getting it up. Oh well, I am glad I figured at least this part out.

I'll sign in for October, after a long absence in September. My arm is finally feeling better, so I started fencing again the last couple of weeks, although not full time yet, and the private lessons are a little less intense. But I can do them without my elbow hurting too much, and if it hurts a little, the pain goes away after a short rest. So, this is good. Of course, right before I hurt my arm, I signed up for a very high level competition, counting on regular training. Now it is in less than 2 weeks, and I am so not ready. Still, I'll go, just for the fun of it, plus I need to drive my daughter anyway. Another thing that I accidentally discovered in September is that I am constantly fatigued. I lived with it all my life, and suddenly one morning I woke up full of energy. I did more by noon than I usually manage in full day. It was very eye-opening. If most people feel like that all the time, no wonder they can get more accomplished that I can hope for. It was a single day though, but now I am trying to figure out what it is I am missing. I just read the whole thread Soror posted about fatigue, and I'll start with vit D. I had it low a few years ago, but I never realized how it can actually affect me, so I did nothing to improve it. And honestly, until that day, it was my normal state. I blamed it on lack of sleep, but even when i sleep a lot, I don't feel exactly full of energy. And with not enough sleep, like today. I am barely functioning. I do manage fencing relatively well, but I think it is the excitement and adrenaline that carry me through. And there are still days when I can move, but I'm very slow, and my reaction is non-existent. So the theme for October is getting my energy up.

I feel we have the same grader for most problems in this class, judging by the style of comments. It is not even that they are inconsistent, they are, and she gets decent grades, but the comments just sound... condescending somehow.

DD is on week 16, and the last two weeks were pretty hard for her. Of course, she first tries to do the challenge problems based only on what was discussed in class, if it fails, she complains that she doesn't know how to do it, at which point I ask if she read the book. Most of the time it helps :) We also don't do the book problems, simply because she barely manages to finish the challenge ones on time. Also, I feel like grading is tougher for this class compared to previous ones. Is it the level or our particular grader?

My highschooler loves her DE classes, so it is a double win for me :) For 5th grade we have two obvious hits: McHenry's Elements and A Pirate's Guide t' th' Grammar of Story. Everything else just works.

Yes, I have heard it. One semester of CC foreign language covers HS grad requirement of two years in the neighborhing school district. My friend's DD did that. Now, I wouldn't give my student 2 years worth of credit for one semester, but that is another story.

No, I am pretty sure it is the dust/pollen on the clothes. It correlates with outside allergies flare ups.

I think my main goal for September will be trying to get my arm into good enough shape for a major competition in October. I will probably have to sacrifice some (most?) of the training in the name of healing. I got myself a Flexbar to see if it helps. Right now it isn't too bad, but I can feel it often. I can't even swim without aggravating it. Yesterday I was swimming with my hand in a fist, as open palm produced enough pressure on the wrist to hurt.

I can ignore dust in many places, but lately every load of laundry is followed by 30 minutes of cough and trying to scratch my eyes out. And I can't exactly not do laundry :(

I went to fence yesterday, although I felt that I should have skipped it, and by the end of the day my arm was worse, now with pain shooting through my elbow, and I was feeling totally exhausted. I cancelled my lesson today, and felt really really fatigued all day. I barely managed to drive DD to college and back, and cook dinner. I am not sure if I am getting sick or if our weather in triple-digits affects me like this, but I am ready to have my energy back. Anyway, I'll probably take it easy till Tuesday,

Sorry about your back. Hope you feel better soon, and get some help picking that stuff up in the meantime! This is great! Let's hope it holds for a long long time! I fenced both Monday and Tuesday so far, and it was fun, but it seems that my wrist is getting worse :( I am thinking about dropping fencing from 5 days a week to 4, and doing some general strengthening workout on the off day, before I got to the point where the pain interferes with my life.

Sorry about wrist. Hope it gets better soon! Mine flares up every time I fence more than three bouts or so. Yesterday I bit the bullet and bought a reusable freezable wrist support. Anyway, feel better and good luck with your matches! Today was fun. Fridays are becoming popular with veterans, so we had 6 people older than highschoolers :) I felt tired though, and didn't fence well. The weekend will probably be lazy.

I skipped fencing yesterday because DH wanted to go out for a (rare) date night and a concert. But I did fence today, even though my legs hurt after Monday jumps. I guess I shouldn't have started training so aggressively. I also feel like my lower back didn't like the jumps and punishes me for them.

Fencing today was rather disappointing, as very few people showed up. I still fenced, and finished it off at home with a series of jump squats and a couple of minutes (split) of horse riding stance.

Laurie4b ~ Sorry to hear about your son, but glad that they are okay. Greta ~ I am glad you are moving forward on your way to find the source of your health problems! And sorry about the experience with the doctor. Sometimes they are pretty set in their opinions and dismiss what patient knows to be true. Our weekend was interesting. I set very reasonable goals for the competitions, and I reached them all. So it was good. The drive was worth it just to meet some of the veteran ladies. They were wonderful, and I am pretty sure I will take the risk and go to Portland in December just to meet more of them. Of course, I also have a more detailed list of things I need to work on before I go. Oh, and one more new thing for me. I got my first "participation medal". I never had one of those growing up, but now I do :) I skipped private lesson this morning, but we will go to the open floor tonight. I will also try to research and come up with a reasonable set of exercises to do in the mornings. It was really obvious on Saturday that my legs need extra work if I want to compete against the kids.

Just had my last lesson for the week. Tomorrow is going to be mostly sitting in the car day, and then two days of competition. I am really glad my DD is old enough for this level now, so I can pretend I am not doing it for myself ;) I love the idea of HIIT, and it worked great for me when I did cardio kickboxing in a group setting, but I just can't do it by myself. I need to find a type of exercise that I an actually do at home. According to all the articles I've read on the topic, it is just the best thing ever for everything.

We did get the school done yesterday, as well as about 40 minutes of swimming and evening fencing. I discovered that swimming aggravates my wrist :( It doesn't hurt during fencing, but feels swollen, although I can't see any changes outside. When I do other (real life) movements, it hurts a little. In the previous iteration, icing helped a lot, but yesterday two rounds of it did exactly nothing. On the bright side, the other veteran lady gave me a rundown on the ladies I am fencing this weekend. Now I only have to actually use this information. I'll have to work on a few moves over these last three days.

Well, she is in a different age group, so to do well in mine, I would have to beat her consistently. Still, I do learn a lot from her. Fencing is almost as much mental game as it is physical. At this point, I have a long way to go in both. I overindulged this weekend, and the morning private lesson was hard, but I managed. Now, I have to convince the kids do some school, and then open fencing in the evening. Unless the kids convince me to go for a short swim in the middle of the day, too.