Aaah.....crap!

I've got a training injury to my impaired shoulder.   Crap, darn and shoot.   It's not severe, but it most definitely hurts.   So,   legs and core workouts for  a bit, until my tweek heals.  I am going for a run in an hour or so.  That will cheer me up.

60, more than I dreamed

On a snowy night 2 days past Christmas 2004, I wondered what it would feel like to be 60 years old.  I had zero expectation of ever finding out.  I had just been diagnosed with stage IV incurable  cancer, my prognosis horrible.  I had no hope of watching my kids settle into careers, marry, have children.     These things have occurred in the years since.  I am so very, very blessed.   My story, even though it has come with challenges, is not sad.  It's been wonderful beyond my wildest dreams and expectations.  60 is not far away now.  I will most certainly make it
  If I could have glimpsed a second of the future on that winter day  I most certainly would have dropped to my knees in prayers of gratitude.  It doesn't hurt to reach for the stars.  Sometimes we find ourselves with all that we wish for.....and more.

And then there was Silence

After a day and night of the raging belly of side effects, I awoke this morning to blessed silence.  The storm rises and falls like the waves of the ocean, with every bit as much unpredictability.  Today all is calm, quiet and the sun is shining on a beautiful Fall day.   Yes, cancer is hard, but not all day every day.  Today is a good one.   I intend to enjoy it.

Running with the dawgs

I have abandoned the treadmill and moved my run outdoors.   The treadmill served me well during rehabilitation, but it is time to face the reality.   A run on a treadmill takes nowhere near the effort that a real live run takes.    Mile #1 today was with the youngest dog, Kaiser.    That gave my lungs a good stretch.  Mile #2 I ran with Lexi.   Less rigorous but still quite aerobic.   For the final mile, 12 year old Izzy.   That was a huffin puffing half mile.  I took pity and took the old gal home after a half mile.  

Minimums

A funny thing has occurred since establishing minimum self improvement standards for myself.  That 20 minutes of cardio that I've committed to  so easily becomes 40 minutes or an hour.  Without intending to I have tricked myself into getting off my butt and doing an all out work out.    The hardest part after all is just getting up and getting started.  Once I get going it is quite employable.
The new Lifetrac Fitness tracker is wonderful motivation. Great purchase.
I will be out of town the next 2 days.  This will be a test of my commitment.

 

Just do it

Every day that passes without an honest effort to move toward my goals feels like such failure.  Enough aleady!  I have lacked self discipline.    Tonight I set specific goals and I commit.

1.  No less than 20 minutes of quality meditation per day
2.  No less than 20 minutes of cardio per day.
3.  No less than 20 minutes yoga per day.


Simple, measurable and doable.   These are minimums.   Just do it.  It just an hour of my day to give  myself a better life.  No more excuses.

This old Duck

We've have just returned from Anaconda.  Bill had a pre-op appt. to discuss replacement of his remaining hip.  This is what we older couples referred to as a surgical vacation.  This will be Bill's 4th  joint replacement.  He is taking it all in stride.
We stopped by a lovely park close to the hospital.  The pictures above and below were taken at the park.

It looks like this old duck will be back in for replacement parts again the last week of Oct.  I'll take the week off.  In sickness and in health......

We had a lovely ride home from Anaconda yesterday, enjoying the first snow on the mountains.  It wasn't a lot, but it  was lovely.

Raising the bar

My fitbit has served  me well as I recovered from the broken leg.  Now I am inspired to raise the bar.  That means, of course, a new fitness gadget.  I have cardio goals for this next step in my fitness journey.  My Lifetrak arrives tomorrow.  It has the capacity to measure how much time I spend in my cardio heart rate zone.  It will give me 7 days of data.  No way to short change myself.  Either I meet my goals ......or not.

Cave meditation

I hiked trail 1906 this morning up MT Helena, so named as that is the year in which the trail was established.  I chose the trail as a training route for the Spartan race next spring as it is a lung busting ascent straight up the face of the mountain.  Lungs and legs should be well prepared if I stick to my plan of a weekly climb.   A quarter mile short of summit I discovered a lovely cave.  I stopped here for a bit of rest and meditation.  I lost focus twice during meditation.  First by the rumble of a train below and then again when another hiker passed by on the trail some distance away.  It is a windless day and sound seems to carry forever.  I took the above picture just before leaving the cave to scramble up the last bit to the summit.    All in all a lovely hike.  I returned home famished.