Well-trained bodies - August

[Harriet Vane]

Spent some time on the recumbent bike yesterday while watching Derry Girls. Then this morning I hit the gym first thing, so that was good. 

[Soror]

1 hour ago, knitgrl said:

I will probably not be posting this week, as I have Covid. The good news is the Paxlovid seems to be working and I was able to sit up for a whole hour and a half this morning.

Hope it's an easy case.

On 8/20/2023 at 3:07 PM, Laura Corin said:

We made it out for that hike. It was only six miles, but hilly and the path was narrow and uneven. I was unusually tired out by the hills, but we took lots of breaks and made it round. I just took one photo.

The woods on the right are a commercial plantation. The ones in the centre have been reforested with mixed native species by the woodland charity to which my mum left a legacy. My brothers and I have decided to use the legacy to dedicate three acres of existing woodland and also plant trees in a new wood near her childhood home in Devon.

What a lovely tribute.

_------------

It's been crazy busy. We got ds moved in to college last Thursday. He started classes Monday. Also, on Monday Dd1 started at the local CC on Monday for 2 classes, dd2 started at the PS Hr. High, and dh started back to college (same college as DS but he commutes).

I've taken a walk nearly every and still got steps in even if I didn't take an actual walk. 

Last week I did 2 upper body strength workouts. This week I've only got 1 so far. I think right now I'll be happy to hit 2 a week 

 

[Laura Corin]

2 hours ago, knitgrl said:

I will probably not be posting this week, as I have Covid. The good news is the Paxlovid seems to be working and I was able to sit up for a whole hour and a half this morning.

I'm sorry to hear that you have Covid. Best wishes for a quick recovery.

Shopping trip around town on foot this afternoon with my daughter. She was checking charity shops for clothes and I was looking for second-hand set texts for my module. I'll walk the old dog later.

A couple of things have shaken out in our reorganisation  at work. One good - a very irritating colleague has quit. One not so good - another former colleague about whom I have strong doubts as a people manager has indeed become my line manager. Oh well - onwards and upwards. 

[Harriet Vane]

58 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

I'm sorry to hear that you have Covid. Best wishes for a quick recovery.

Shopping trip around town on foot this afternoon with my daughter. She was checking charity shops for clothes and I was looking for second-hand set texts for my module. I'll walk the old dog later.

A couple of things have shaken out in our reorganisation  at work. One good - a very irritating colleague has quit. One not so good - another former colleague about whom I have strong doubts as a people manager has indeed become my line manager. Oh well - onwards and upwards. 

Glad the shakeup brought some good things and bummer about your new line manager. Sometimes management and promotion decisions leave me scratching my head.

[Laura Corin]

10 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Glad the shakeup brought some good things and bummer about your new line manager. Sometimes management and promotion decisions leave me scratching my head.

On paper she looks good. And the specific proof that she's a bad line manager is hearsay - my best friend just retired from the dept where she works. It's an absolutely rock solid report , but as I have not witnessed it, I was not able to bring it up.

For all I know, the other shortlisted candidate was worse. I know nothing about her.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Laura Corin

[Ali in OR]

I did a good Fitbymik 30 min workout that combined dumbbells and cardio with a warm up and cool down but it actually ran 34 min. Fine for now, but I know I run short on time during the school year. Would love to find the same thing but 28 min! She used 10 lb weights, I had both my 8's and 5's out, switching to 5's for anything lateral. Dh, who does some serious workouts, commented that this looked like a good workout. And it was.

Going to do some scrapbooking today--something I was not able to do at all last school year. I am ready to start 2015 in the family album and I'm only going through 2021 then I hope to be done with scrapbooking except for our Christmas album (a few pages a year). It will probably be next summer's goal to get it all finished up. This summer I got youngest's last album finished up and I updated the family history album I did in 2000 with some info/pics I got 10 years ago. And youngest wasn't even in that album since she was born in 2002--I added her!

Edited August 24, 2023 by Ali in OR

[Laura Corin]

I had a nice quick walk up the den with a friend at lunchtime. This evening I went to my first yoga session of this new term. Hard work - I had to drop out of a few moves.  But it felt good.

[Harriet Vane]

Gyrotonics today. 

[Soror]

On 8/23/2023 at 10:57 AM, Harriet Vane said:

Spent some time on the recumbent bike yesterday while watching Derry Girls. Then this morning I hit the gym first thing, so that was good. 

I love Derry Girls!

-----------------------------------

I did some paperwork this morning but otherwise am taking off. I don't have anywhere to go today and it is wonderful after several busy weeks. 

I got in a walk this morning and am getting ready to do an upper-body strength workout.

I hope as we all adjust to the new schedule it won't be quite as hectic and stressful.

Pickleball has been pretty sparse with the hot weather and when they have had it I couldn't make it. As the weather cools off there should be some afternoon sessions maybe I can make some of those.

[Ali in OR]

30 min on the treadmill this morning--my last free weekday of summer.

I did not scrapbook yesterday. My two Alg 1 co-teachers ended up being able to go into school so we had our first work session to plan out how to teach our new book a bit. The first unit will be tough as the book expects that they mastered a bunch of skills in middle school that we know they haven't, so we have to do a lot of re-working. Anyway, I will probably do some more work with that today but I also have a goal to get 2015 photos ready to scrap and maybe get a page or two done.

[wintermom]

I've been getting in a daily walk around a nearby park with dh, mom or others. Today, dh and  I are golfing with old friends. It should be fun, and there will be much laughter and ball searching due to our lack of skill. 😅

[Laura Corin]

Rest day today - just a walk up the den and an old dog walk. 

I'll be working this weekend whenever I'm not hanging out with daughter. It's almost the start of the academic year.

[Ali in OR]

27 min yoga this morning--Adriene's Peaceful Warrior. I like that one.

I did organize my 2015 photos yesterday, but even better, I cleaned up the card table where I do scrapbooking (the album didn't even fit all the way on the table because I had so many piles of paper, stickers, photos, and tools all over). And then I completed one page, so 2015 is officially started. I'm hoping that with it clean and organized I could sit down and do a page or two now and then and not wait until next summer. I think I'll do some more pages today.

[Laura Corin]

Very brisk walk up the den at lunchtime.  Otherwise today was work and hanging out with daughter. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by Laura Corin

[wintermom]

Got in another walk around the lake this morning, then we went to the local zoo. A fair bit of walking involved there, but pretty slow with lots of stopping to watch the animals. There was a baby zebra running around his enclosure that was adorable! I also saw meerkats for the first time in my life. They were a lot smaller than I envisioned. So fun to watch!

[Harriet Vane]

9 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Very brisk walk up the den at lunchtime.  Otherwise today was work and hanging out with daughter. 

It’s always good to be with the kids. I feel sometimes that I am hungry for their faces, their voices. Glad you have this time to enjoy together.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Harriet Vane

[Laura Corin]

1 hour ago, Harriet Vane said:

It’s always good to be with the kids. I feel sometimes that I am hungry for their faces, their voices. Glad you have this time to enjoy together.

Yes. What she loves to do is just lie on the sofa, rug on her knees, with her feet in my lap as we both read. It's very peaceful. 

[Soror]

@Laura Corin I'm glad to hear you are getting a nice visit with your daughter

@Ali in OR Kudos to you for working on photos I have given up even attempting to, some day!

-----------------------------------

I did not get strength training Friday. I got distracted with dd1 doing school and quite frankly was just exhausted and never mustered the energy to do it. 

I *did* do strength training this morning. I'm trying a 2 week- 20 min program by Nourish, Move, Love on youtube (recommended on a thread here recently). 

So, last week I did not hit twice weekly strength goal as I only had 1. 

I did hit my step goal every day.

My food is inching better, although admittedly I've made the least progress on this goal. I'm focusing on eating more good food so I have less appetite for less nutritious food. I'm doing some food prepping today. 

It feels good to put some energy into personal goals. I need something else to focus on besides all the big changes here. It also feels good to get back to some routine and habits in the morning. A lot of my schedule changes from week to week but I'm trying hard to set aside mornings to be at home to focus on homeschool and around the house. That helps give me a sense that things aren't as drastically different as they are.

[Laura Corin]

@Soror that's what I try to do with food - eat a large volume of healthy food to displace the less healthy stuff.  It doesn't always work, but it's my best tactic.

Today - once daughter was on the train home, I worked from home until 4.30, then made a chickpea-stuffed squash for supper. I was able to leave that cooking on a low temperature while I took a brisk and hilly 3.5 mile walk. 

[Harriet Vane]

16 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Yes. What she loves to do is just lie on the sofa, rug on her knees, with her feet in my lap as we both read. It's very peaceful. 

This is how I like to sit with dh. 🥰

[Ali in OR]

Dh and I went out for a final summer hike late this afternoon. Definitely seeing signs of fall--yellow leaves falling, poison oak is red now. And it was dark when I got up this morning. If I don't check in tomorrow, I will be doing 30 min on the treadmill and then heading into work at 8:00 for training. Sigh. It was a good summer and I'm fully recovered from last school year. Time to dive into the next one.

ETA: Monday am 30 min treadmill done

Edited August 28, 2023 by Ali in OR

[Harriet Vane]

We’re trying to fit in some obligations before some big things hit. I dropped everything yesterday and blitzed over to Florida—a dear friend who I count as my honorary mom is 80 years old and her husband has dementia. We try to check in a couple times a year. So I am lucky to get a walk on the beach today and tomorrow.

[Soror]

Strength workout this morning + walk

[Harriet Vane]

[Laura Corin]

Just walks to and from meetings today and then to and from the bus.

My new boss is very loud. I have to share an office with her. I'm trying to 'give her space' by working from home when she is in the office, but that system isn't in place yet. My head is ringing.  I turned down my hearing aids but that wasn't enough.

[Harriet Vane]

2 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Just walks to and from meetings today and then to and from the bus.

My new boss is very loud. I have to share an office with her. I'm trying to 'give her space' by working from home when she is in the office, but that system isn't in place yet. My head is ringing.  I turned down my hearing aids but that wasn't enough.

That’s wretched. 

For many years my dh and I shared our home office. Since he was at work all day, he only used it some evenings. But now he works full-time from home and I have learned he is loud. I cannot work in the same room as him. Since our kids are launched it was easy for us to carve out separate work spaces on different floors of the house. No such option for you with your supervisor unfortunately.

[Soror]

@Laura Corin that sounds miserable, best wishes in getting the at-home work set up asap

----------------------

glutes and abs today--- 

You know every few weeks I'm trying things and seeing how they go with modifications. Eventually, I will return to normal. Sunday I took no Ibuprofen. Yesterday I took 1. I'm going to try and skip again today.

Food is still a WIP. I did do some prep and bought some supplies at the grocery store.

[Ali in OR]

bodyweight circuit x2 and a little yoga this morning. I'm trying to baby my wrist since it's still hurting from July. I should have got a wrist brace immediately but did finally get one this weekend. No push ups today--did elbow plank instead.

Long day yesterday--they sprang an extra afternoon meeting on us instead of letting us work together. I hate that. Another long day today.

[Laura Corin]

Brisk walk at lunchtime.  

I persuaded my new boss that I was the person she least needed to meet in the office. As we already know each other, we can meet virtually. So I'm going to work from home on her regular in office days. Hooray!

This is already a very long week. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Laura Corin

[wintermom]

5 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Brisk walk at lunchtime.  

I persuaded my new boss that I was the person she least needed to meet in the office. As we already know each other, we can meet virtually. So I'm going to work from home on her regular in office days. Hooray!

This is already a very long week. 

Brilliant! Happy working from home! I love my home office. ☺️

[wintermom]

I played some really nice ladies doubles tennis this morning. I wasn't that consistant, as I've been away for over a week, but I wasn't completely horrible. Lots of good laughs. 

I made an appointment with my dr to see if there is anything actually "wrong" with my hips that might be causing the daily pain I'm experiencing. After a week of very light exercise (mostly pleasure walks) and the pain being constantly present in both hips, I'm getting more suspicious that it's not caused from over-doing my tennis. It's less likely to be an allergy response either, as I had a week free of all my regular allery triggers. My family genes is known for bad hips. Most of my mom's side of the family have to have hip replacements. Seems too early for me at age 56, but I don't really like living with this pain much.

Edited August 29, 2023 by wintermom

[Ali in OR]

30 min on the treadmill this morning.

Yesterday's meetings and trainings were with everyone in the school district. Today will be just our school and lunch provided. I usually like this day as I like the people I work with directly.

@Harriet Vane glad to see in the other thread that you got out of FL before the hurricane.

[Harriet Vane]

21 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Brisk walk at lunchtime.  

I persuaded my new boss that I was the person she least needed to meet in the office. As we already know each other, we can meet virtually. So I'm going to work from home on her regular in office days. Hooray!

This is already a very long week. 

Yay!! I’m so glad.

[Harriet Vane]

Back to the gym first thing. Some guy was trying to “encourage” me (You can do it! No you WILL do it! You ARE! You’re doing it!). I didn’t like it one bit. But other than that it was a good workout. I followed up with a walk on the lane—the weather here is wonderfully cool and the forested lane was a delight. 

[wintermom]

1 minute ago, Harriet Vane said:

Back to the gym first thing. Some guy was trying to “encourage” me (You can do it! No you WILL do it! You ARE! You’re doing it!). I didn’t like it one bit. But other than that it was a good workout. I followed up with a walk on the lane—the weather here is wonderfully cool and the forested lane was a delight. 

 

Lovely photo!! 

That kind of "motivational" chatter from a stranger would cause me to leave before I snapped at him. I'd probably complain at the front desk, too. Signs should be posted, "Guys, stop the chatter to women in the gym. We are just here to exercise. Save the pick up lines for the bar." 😉 

[Harriet Vane]

8 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Lovely photo!! 

That kind of "motivational" chatter from a stranger would cause me to leave before I snapped at him. I'd probably complain at the front desk, too. Signs should be posted, "Guys, stop the chatter to women in the gym. We are just here to exercise. Save the pick up lines for the bar." 😉 

Yeah, I just like to think nobody notices me sweating away in the corner. I don’t like people watching me while I exercise. 😁

[knitgrl]

So, Covid had me in bed for 5 days. I was pretty tired for the next few days thereafter. I'm still kind of tired today, but more or less normal. As such, I went for a 5 minute walk today to see how I hold up with that. It was fine. I'll probably walk just 5 minutes for the next day or two, and gradually increase it. That's what my doctor told me to do when I got it last year, anyway.

It seems like I have had so many set backs over the past year in trying to maintain a bare minimum fitness level. But I tell myself it is not how many times I get knocked down, it is how many times I get back up.

My plan for the future is to join my family in Tae Kwon Do. Dd13 is a black belt. Dh and the other two kids have been taking classes for the past year or two. I am the only one who is not doing it, and I have started experiencing FOMO at belt testings. Classes start next week. The chemo pills will affect the amount of intensity I can manage, but the first few levels aren't super intense. Right now, as an observer, I am more intrigued by the patterns rather than the self-defense or sparring.

[Laura Corin]

@knitgrl that sounds like a great idea. Do you think the leaders will be sensitive to your having to choose your own pace?

I didn't get out at lunchtime but managed a brisk and hilly walk after supper.

Tomorrow night - yoga class.

[knitgrl]

They will absolutely accept a slower pace. All I need to do is let one of the teachers know, and it will filter to the others. I did some research into the philosophy behind TKD, and it has a built-in emphasis about meeting people where they are and accepting that not everybody can do all the things. Dd13 is far from being naturally coordinated. But they guided her and accepted her differences in timing - she used to be the last person to finish every time they did patterns in unison, sometimes by what felt like half a minute. They are totally fine with whatever you can do, as long as you are putting in effort. On the other hand, they can have firm words for those who don't put in any effort. I think it is a great dojo.

[knitgrl]

Put in my 5-minute walk. I think I am just fine to increase it to 10 minutes tomorrow.

[Laura Corin]

Really good yoga tonight. I had no time for a walk,  so that was it.

I think I'm coming down with something  - probably just a cold. The new students arrive next week and I'm due for my flu jab on Monday,  so I'm hoping that's all it is.

[Harriet Vane]

Gyrotonics today. I also had a MAT adjustment this morning, which actually seemed to really help me do some of the gyro stuff. Or maybe it was just a lucky day. 

[wintermom]

On 8/30/2023 at 5:02 PM, knitgrl said:

They will absolutely accept a slower pace. All I need to do is let one of the teachers know, and it will filter to the others. I did some research into the philosophy behind TKD, and it has a built-in emphasis about meeting people where they are and accepting that not everybody can do all the things. Dd13 is far from being naturally coordinated. But they guided her and accepted her differences in timing - she used to be the last person to finish every time they did patterns in unison, sometimes by what felt like half a minute. They are totally fine with whatever you can do, as long as you are putting in effort. On the other hand, they can have firm words for those who don't put in any effort. I think it is a great dojo.

My TKD studio was like this. It was great for me when coming back to train after having babies. Hope you really enjoy the experience! I liked patterns, but the first few patterns are the hardest. Then the movement build on each other. So don't worry if it seems to take a long time at first - your muscle memory will eventually kick in! I made it up to 3rd degree black belt, but I still remember those early days of learning my first patterns. 😉 

[wintermom]

56 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Really good yoga tonight. I had no time for a walk,  so that was it.

I think I'm coming down with something  - probably just a cold. The new students arrive next week and I'm due for my flu jab on Monday,  so I'm hoping that's all it is.

Hope you feel better soon! This time of year is round 2 of seasonal allergies, as the rag weed comes into seed. 

[wintermom]

I'm getting in my daily dog walks in the woods this week, and I'll be playing mixed doubles tennis this evening. It should be really fun.

Also, this is the last day of my work fitness challenge! I'm #1 on the individual list, and my team is also #1!! ☺️ I didn't get any over-use injuries, either. I've been intentional about spacing out my tennis and other intensive activities. 

[Ali in OR]

20 min dog walk this morning and apparently I moved around enough at school to close the exercise circle (another 10 min at a good pace). This morning I thought I would take the dog out again before dark but it's just been cool and rainy all day and I'm not feeling it. Sorry Molly. There will be another dog walk tomorrow morning if I don't check in.