The Perfect Storm

Have you ever heard someone say this: "It's a God thing." I guess it's a hip way to credit God for something that other's might chalk up to coincidence. Well, I'm not much of a believer in coincidence, it's too random. I really do believe that God cares about what I do and how I interact with others. If you are not of the same mind, I invite you to read on and consider a different point of view or exit this post as I'm going to get religious.
 I've enjoyed a growing and evolving relationship with God. I read my bible and meditate on it daily. I seek God's presence in my life and trust that I am His servant. That sounds very high and holy until I confess that I'm human and fall short of these standards. While I've read the Bible daily for 35 years, I have not always meditated on it's meaning. Some days all I do is read it. Some parts I skip because they're lists of names, other parts I skip because I know them well enough. Often I'm rushed and preoccupied so my daily devotions are not very devoted.

There is one book in particular, however,  that I relish and that's The Psalms; five times the Psalmist says, "sing a new song,". Whenever I read these, I ask myself, " What song am I currently singing, and what new song should I sing?" In this case, I had really come close to total complacence when it comes to my fitness. I was spending hours in front of the TV. I got a lot of knitting done, but there was definitely a facet of my well being that I was neglecting. I'll leave it to you- the reader to suggest song titles for my new song. I might like to add them to my MP3 playlist.

An old camp song says, "God Works in Mysterious Ways." Is it a mystery if you can explain it? Is it a mystery if you're looking for it? Is it a mystery if it smacks you in the face and declares it's presence? I already described on my initial post how God brought Patrick to me. Here's another thing that God did. When the 4 free sessions were done, I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for the next 6 weeks. Let's face it, personal training isn't free. My income is contract based. I either have work and get paid, or I don't, and with three extra adults living in the house, our money is stretched fairly tight. Well, Jonathan heard that he was going to get a check from an unexpected source, and he told me that he wanted me to use that money towards my training. Wouldn't you know it - the check was above and beyond the expected amount in the sum of ... 6 weeks of training!

Patrick describes my situation as a perfect storm. I have a great support system in my family, I have a fairly uncomplicated schedule (for now), I have the summer weather - including the heat which allows me to get in the pool- and I have God providing in amazing ways.

A Cast of Characters

I posted about an almost idyllic ride where I can apply a prayer principle to the monotony of riding laps in a local park. I took that ride at 6 AM on a weekday, but today I was riding at 8 AM on a Saturday. Today’s bike ride had no Zen, no prayer, no peace, but it had a lot of character.

Character #1 the softball teams: This park has 2 fields, but there were two games going on (complete with parents and siblings) and various coaching sessions. How could I tell if a miss-hit or thrown ball would bean me?

Character #2 the bystanders: This includes the coaches backing into the path, the parents moving about, and the children dashing to and fro. I merely slowed down, kept it friendly and, we all made adjustments for each other except for…

Character #3 the lady on the phone: She stood in the middle of the path and I was never sure where she might bob or weave. I don't know for a fact if she has a bigger house than I do, but it's possibe that she really does own more of the bikepath than I do.

Character #4 the dog walkers: They were the least tricky to maneuver around. They usually responded to a friendly, “good morning” and moved onto the grass. There was on dachshund off leash, but he kept it together when I passed and was leashed when I saw him later.

Character #5 the jogger with an MP3 player: This was the hardest. When riding a bike and approaching someone from behind, I have observed a certain kind of etiquette. On the bike paths around here (the ones that go along the river, along old railroad beds and connect here to Wisconsin) bikers announce themselves by saying, “On your left.” When one hears this, one should move to the right and everyone’s happy. I announced myself thusly and she just kept groovin’ to her tunes. I repeated myself with a little more volume, but she still didn’t hear me. Finally I said, “Excuse me… EXCUSE ME!” At the time, I was on the lap with the hill that I enjoy coasting down while I gain momentum for the turn and the straight where I actually shift into a gear I don’t usually get to. As you might imagine, my momentum was broken up when I swerved off the path and into the grass with my brakes squealing. She startled and jumped as I re-gained my place on the path.

I think I need a bicycle bell.

Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance

When the Peanut’s character Snoopy dons his barnstormer hat and goggles, you know he’s about to go on an adventure in his WWI Sopwith Camel battling the cursed Red Barron. When I don my bike helmet and my blister shoes, I’m on my way to another kind of adventure.

I tried a 45 minute ride the other day. I must preface this by explaining that it’s been about 20 years since I rode more than 20 minutes without pain. Not only did my knees scream at me when going uphill, but my rear end… I don’t know how to describe the sensation. Somewhere between numb and goosed. After doing more time on the bike, I figured I could try 45 minutes. I rode to the park in my neighborhood that has a bike path that winds its way around soccer fields, baseball diamonds, and a playground. I haven’t clocked it, but I think it’s about 1K. It was about 6 AM and, except for a few folks walking their dogs, I had the place to myself.

The first lap went fairly well. I average between 10 and 12 MPH. I spend some time adjusting the gears so that I can maintain my speed. I’ve finally gotten used to the quirky shimano gear system where one set of controls goes from 1-3 and the other goes from 1-7 thus giving me 21 gears. Jonathan will cringe when I say that I don’t. He enjoys “driving.” That is to say he likes to change gears a lot. I still remember my 0 gear bike – on the other hand, I had no hills to climb, and I was a lot lighter as a kid.  Okay – back to my ride. A man was walking his dog off the leash. For the most part, in this park and all by themselves, I have no objection to this. If he has a dog that behaves off leash, more power to him and let the dog roam. Well, it’s a different matter when I whiz by. This dog wanted to be very dog-like and bark and run. I wasn’t quite sure what to do. Do I stop? Will the dog act like a bee and give up once I’m out of its territory? I opted to slow down and let the owner gain control of the hound. When I later passed him, the dog was leashed. I kind of felt sorry for it.

I checked my watch and it seems I’m making better time than the last time. I would have to do considerably more laps. How, will I make this interesting? I’ve already played with the gears, I’ve already settled the dog problem, and there’s not much more to do but to keep pedaling. Then I found the answer. A labyrinth. Labyrinths, when used for meditation and prayer, can be a very enriching experience. I apply Labyrinth principles to my laps. First lap – pray for the world; second the nation; third my friends; fourth my distant family; fifth, sixth, seventh, my immediate family; eighth myself. Before I knew it my time was completed. It wasn’t until I got off the bike that I felt just how much my legs burned. I still have that numb butt and my knees are tender, but I think I just added an unexpected dimension to my ride that I can look forward to.

Sub-Tri or How to Make an Hour Interesting

I get bored easily. I read several books at a time, I change furniture around, I flip around TV channels, and I grow weary of the same kinds of workouts. I have seen the same women walk around the block at 6 AM every day for the past five years. Rain, sleet, snow, they are like clockwork. I, on the other hand, have belonged to 6 gyms. Sometimes I switch because there isn’t enough variety for me as when I belonged to one of those places in the strip malls. I felt like a hamster on a wheel walking on a treadmill. The worst was a huge, national chain which boasts 24 hour availability and row upon row of treadmills, stair climbers, elliptical machines and stationary or recumbent bikes. There’s something dystopian about hundreds of people wearing heart rate monitors and headphones staring at reality TV while plodding, pedaling, and plunging. I must make an exception with the gym I belonged to with individual TV screens on the aerobic machines. I kind of liked watching those shows while I worked out – until I took my eyes off the screen and saw the same glazed over eyes and disconnected attention.

One of the things I enjoy about working out is taking my mind off of my job, my to-do list, and my cares and concerns. I do this best when I am fully engaged in the workout. This means the TV is off. I also like to mix things up. I don’t cross-train because I feel a need to work other muscles even though I know this is important. I cross train because I get bored with the same thing, so when I began this fitness program, I knew I’d have to mix things up, so I decided to do, what I call, a Suburban Triathlon.

Within an hour, I walk, bike, and run in the pool. I gave it my first go after my blister ordeal. I wanted to get an hour’s worth of workout, but I didn’t want to aggravate my blisters. Normally, when I do a short walk around the block, I bring my dogs. They are little and suffer from various joint pains, so I don’t take them on long walks. Also my schnauzer insists on frequent marking which slows things down. I put on my proper walking shoes and headed out. I went around in a little less than 20 minutes; it’s a much lighter task without the dogs pulling, twisting and tripping me up.  I must have been looking like I got a workout because when I came in to get a drink, my daughter, Leona, immediately ran to get some water for me.

Next phase the bike. I thought I was helping myself by setting it out on the driveway readying it for me, but I forgot that my saddle is black and the sun was out. Ouch. It was kind of weird getting on the bike with fatigued legs. I needed to push harder at first, but something that I am learning about biking is that those times when I can coast are sweet. I also like the breeze. I pedaled around and about bringing my total workout time to 40 minutes.

The last set was in the pool. When I workout in the pool, I do a couple of things. It is an above-ground, round pool. I can’t exactly do laps, but I can run in circles creating a whirlpool. It’s fun to do this with a large group of people and then the effect is almost like a lazy river where people can get carried around and around, kind of like a large, flushing, toilet bowl. Anyway, after creating the whirlpool in one direction, I switch directions and force myself and the water to move in the opposite way. It kind of feels like walking in a strong wind or climbing a mountain, and It really intensifies the workout. Another thing I do is jump about. When the kids were small, they loved it when I did “froggie jumps” or “washing machine” because I made big waves. Again, my heart rate is up and I can do things in the pool that I definitely can’t do on land. Well, after 40 minutes of workout, I had little to give to this endeavor and, as you might imagine, running around in circles can get monotonous. I did what I thought was 20 minutes (I didn’t have a timer with me) Surely it must have been 20 minutes, but when I toweled off, I found out that it was only 10. I called that good enough with a promise to add 10 minutes later (I’m not sure if I actually did or not).

Today I did another Sub-Tri. At Patrick’s suggestion, I broke the workout into 25/25/10. This was much easier to handle and I feel like this is fun, interesting, and do-able.

All God's Children Got 'em

I Got Shoes

When I was a child, it was common to have three pairs of shoes: school shoes, Sunday shoes, and gym shoes. In the summer, I wore sandals or went barefoot. After a productive growth spurt, I can remember complaining about my Sunday shoes being too tight. Ever frugal, my mother did not give in to my pleas for new shoes. It must have been close to Easter when I would get new, white patent leather shoes, so I had to wait with my feet pinched into my shoes making me even more fidgety during Church services.

In fifth grade, I added to my charm by having warts and corns on my feet. I guess all that pinching had its effect.  I can remember being in the foot-doctor’s office having my warts burned off. Apparently, the podiatrist’s bedside manner was less than cordial. My dad later told me that he snickered with glee when I vomited on the doctor. After this ordeal, I had to wear snow-boots to school as they were the only shoes I had that did not pinch my feet.

That pinching became more familiar as I entered into adulthood and had jobs where a woman wore a skirt and heels. The fashion of the time called for pointed toes and four-inch heels bringing me to a soaring six-feet-two. I loved wearing high-heels. I loved how my legs looked, I loved how my butt looked, and I loved towering over people and feeling powerful. The enormous ubiquitous shoulder pads of the 1980’s helped perpetuate the look but did nothing for my corns.

I can remember soaking my feet after a day at work and wondering if I’d ever be without foot pain. The answer is no. After I gained weight, I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. Now it felt as if I was stepping on a stone on my heel.  I added some shoe insertions AKA Orthotics (something old people wear) to my accessories with instructions to wear nothing but gym shoes. Lovely.

I have several kinds of gym shoes now. Gone are the flat-rubber-soled, canvas toped Keds. I have gym shoes for walking, for exercise inside the gym, for exercise when I might go outside, and I have the all-purpose gym shoes in basic black. They look stunning with my little black dress. The other day, I needed to take a walk. I was in a hurry and grabbed my indoor/outdoor shoes. I wore these last fall when I took a walk around the block; they wore a blister at my heel, but I attributed it to not wearing socks. The walk I planned was an hour-long walk. I was wearing socks this time, but these shoes will now be referred to as my blister shoes.

I wasn’t even halfway before I felt the tell-tale pain. I had to decide what to do. Clearly, I needed to go home, but when. Should I toughen up and do the full hour? I knew that resting wouldn’t make a difference, and I wasn’t carrying band-aids. After going a little more than halfway, I decided to head back home. There were several times that I almost took my shoes off and risked the barefoot experience, but that would cause other pains with my heels, so I stuck it out.

Sure enough, each of my heels sported a huge blister. Well, so much for more walks. Patrick was not discouraged. He said to double-up my socks and keep going. I switched my workouts to biking and swimming. I haven’t yet walked for an hour. It’s been a week. One side is pretty-much healed, but the other has a yucky scab that sometimes opens up when I wear shoes and my Band-Aids come off. I guess that’s part of no pain no gain if foot pain is any measure.

Choices

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. My daughter, Faith, came back from Germany, my work picked up speed, and I'm trying to fit in all these workouts! This one was actually written on the Sunday that we picked Faith up from the airport. I hope to add more posts later today because it's been two weeks into my life with Patrick.

I needed to walk today, but I have a busy day. I also know that I prefer to get exercise over with early. I do this so that I'll do it and to charge myself up. Well, we needed to get to church early. Actually, Jonathan needed to get to church early which left me with extra time. Guess what I did? First of all, let me go back a bit. Originally I figured on getting to church 15-20 minutes earlier (the time that he originally said that he wanted to get there). As often is the case, we didn't leave the house exactly at that targeted time. I figured on dropping some books off at the library and walking the trail that goes through a natural marsh. It's really a lovely walk  and one I was looking forward to. As I said, we didn't get out of the house on time, and I forgot to bring the library books, so I had some choices to make.

Here are my thoughts: I can do a couple of things with this. I'm already annoyed that my good choice to walk is sabotaged. I'm worried that I won't get the time I need to walk - remember... I'm supposed to exercise one hour each day. Well my irritation won't get the job done or serve to turn back time, so I modify my walk to once around the neighborhood at church. There are beautiful homes to look at, enough variety in the sidewalks that I keep alert and work different parts of my legs and feet, and I can adjust my time as there are lots of short blocks. Even when it started to sprinkle a little, the walk felt good and refreshing. My next concern was changing clothes. I wore workout clothes to church which was a good choice as I was really sweaty after the walk., so when I finished, I grabbed a bag from the car which I packed with a dress, some sandals and a necklace. I went to the most out-of-the way bathroom, locked the door and hoped that no one really need to use it. I proceeded to give myself a paper-towel spongebpath. (note to self- bring a washcloth, and at least a hand-towel next time). Thanks to Mary Kay, the makeup that I applied at the house stayed looking good. So with a freshened up body (all be it still a little moist) I sashayed into church fresh as a daisy and I succeeded in getting in my walk.

You might wonder about the missing 15 minutes. I made those up while walking the dogs with Faith. After a long flight, she was ready for some activity.

Soon to come: Shoes and theSuburban Triathalon or how can I break up the monotony.