Crunchy ‘Nanas

Well, I am happy to say that, though it doesn’t sound like much, I am on my way to getting proper exercise. My energy is definitely picking up a bit (though you’d never know it by my falling asleep at 8pm on the couch!) and, along with a 3.5 mile hike around Blean woods last weekend, I walked 15 minutes at lunch on the 3 days this week that I was in the office and not on my feet in the rockpools.

Laugh all you want, but those 15 minutes plus the stairs to get me back up to the office, that was pretty much good.

Looking through some recent photos, I am reminded that I wasn’t a total slacker in my first trimester. We hiked a different circuit around Blean woods in August, and a bit down in the New Forest at the beginning of September. And embryo had nice in utero rock out sessions to two of my favorites, Peter Gabriel and U2, this summer, which just goes to show I can stay awake when it really matters.

I am sure I must be talking to myself here, but I’ve never let that stop me before. Though my thoughts have been silent here over the last couple months, my life has been the opposite. I have just been too busy and wiped out to even think about blogging, as well as not really being at liberty to say much about real life  and running (or lack thereof) or anything really.

Alas, no more. We are 15 weeks into the rest of our life. I am sick and tired and exhausted but I am so happy and relieved and excited to announce that my family should grow next March all continuing to go well.  But, wow, has this pregnancy thing got me floored. Cooking a baby’s hard work! I have never been so sick and exhausted in my life. Not complaining at all, it’s what I have been waiting for, but wow, where was that cave and why couldn’t I just crawl into it to hibernate?

However, this past week I have started to feel like I have had a little more energy and it’s time to get serious about remedying my slacking in the exercise department. For the last month, the extent of my physical activity has pretty much been limited to the four flights of stairs I have to walk up to get to my desk at work (hey at least I don’t walk to the other entrance and use the elevator!) and the sets of pelvic floor exercises I do when I remember.

And that’s why I need to blog. I know exercise is important, and I really need it to make me feel accountable until I am feeling energetic enough to WANT to exercise. I won’t be running for a while because I wasn’t running regularly enough before I conceived to feel I can ‘continue’.  But I will be walking and I will be trying out the town pool (let my gym membership expire in June and now I definitely don’t have the money to renew!) and now that I have worked my last Saturday for a while I will be able to get to my antenatal yoga.

So, if you are out there, and you don’t see a weekly blog on something physical I did, please shout ’slacker!’ and kick my butt in gear. Me and my baby thank you for it.

I started a new job 7 weeks ago. Since then, I have run twice, biked 4 times, and yoga-ed not once, except for stretches after the running and biking activities. I am not happy about this. Not only do I know rationally this is not a good way to live, but I feel it. My hips are even tighter than normal, the office stairs have me huffing more than I would like. My mental state could be worse, but I miss yoga so much, and know it would help me balance everything I need to do, and help me to tackle all my challenges in a much more relaxed state.

I cut myself a little slack because being sick and trying to keep up with the new job was flippin’ hard. I didn’t really realize how sick I was until I started feeling better. But my energy level was completely wiped. I wanted to do something, but I was running on empty and all resources were going into trying to do my best at work. Crunchy husband was an absolute star during this time because he wasn’t 100% either and he still cooked me dinners and cleaned the house when I had people coming over to record the newsletter.

So, yeah I’ve been struggling a bit with the balance. Even though I know I should get up and exercise before work, I think if I am up and awake it would be nice to just get in and try to get some stuff done while it is quiet and the day is young. Which I know is not healthy, and yet I feel it’s so important for me to do well. Partly because I know I can do well, and partly because I really believe in the organization and I don’t want to let it down. It’s been a bit of a challenge trying to keep the daily happenings going and plan for the future and get up to speed with it all - a challenge that I completely expected and welcomed, but yeah it has had me pretty zapped for energy outside of office hours.

However, this weekend I cleaned my room (how old am I?) and we went out for a stellar bike ride to Broadstairs and back. I am feeling good about this. It feels like it has positioned me well to tackle all I would like to get done this week before I step on the plane and head home to California, so that I am not sitting around for two weeks with the sick hole in my stomach thinking about all the things I wished I had gotten done, that should have been done. No good wasting a vacation day with worry and yet, I know myself so I want to get as much as possible done so I won’t. So, um yeah we’ll see if I manage another run or exercise before Saturday. I’m going to try my best.

Happy early birthday to me! I brought home my new road bike today. I’m super excited. It’s my first new bike in 10 years. It’s my first new road bike, ever. (I’ve been really lucky to borrow some good ones, though.) It’s a carbon fiber frame, and a very smooth ride.  The nice folks at the bike shop popped a triple on it, so that it’ll be ready for the hills if/when we ever move back to California, and installed a computer so all I had to do was screw on my pedals and hit the track.

And it has a bell. Ding! (I know it’s UK law to sell it to me that way. It’s not very rock n’ roll, but it amuses me. I think I’ll keep it on for a while.)

I’m very pleased.

Crunchy husband reunited with his bike - and soon to be upgraded

I eagerly anticipate the day I don’t need to don layer upon layer of thermal clothing just to go for a bike ride. I was pulling out all the clothes for my Thursday ride this morning, and stacking them methodically on my bed to make sure I had everything I would need - last week I somehow managed to forget my padded shorts and ended up wadding up a t-shirt and shoving it down my pants - because I’m one classy rider! - and the thought occurred to me, “I’m going to fill one washer load from just an hour’s worth of activity”. And even though it’s warmer than it has been, and I’m not allowed to complain about anything because we’ve got a warm vacation booked for the near future, I got a bit wistful for well, sunlight. It’s been completely gray the past few days and it really gets me.

Yesterday, during a bit of visualization, when I was prompted to put myself in my favorite place, a new image came to mind. Instead of finding myself bobbing around in an inner tube in Lake Tahoe, eyes closed, face toward the sun (as usual), yesterday I somehow found myself in an alpine meadow. It was summer (obviously!) and I had just stepped out from the forest into the grassy sunshine. I didn’t know you could feel such warmth in your mind. Oh my god. I could feel the dusty rays striking my arms and the top of my head, I could hear the horse flies buzzing past my ears, I could see the cheerful blue sky. It was so nice.

I think I am done with winter. Done, done, done.  But, I am not complaining, I promise!

(But, I am done.)

The last notable thing that happened in 2008 was that Santa, or one of his invisible representatives, gave me the virus. He had cookies coming out of his ears, and still he choose to leave germs instead of, like you know, an iPhone.

However, I am not really complaining because I was only completely down for the count on Boxing Day (yes, I ate my roast in bed - at least I could eat, I know) and my real life Santas from all over the world blessed me with cards, photos, funky cool knitted arm warmers, California poppies, a ‘nana saver (which deserves a post of its own), rockin’ CDs, ho-hos and Nutter Butters - my favorite! iPhone take that!

But, back to the virus. You know, the one that everyone around the world has right now. Or one very much like it. Like I said, it only knocked me out completely for a day or so, so I was lucky in that respect. But, that incompletely part totally kicked my ass. Not being sick but being sick has to be one of the most annoying things. I went for a run on New Year’s Eve and got to mile 2.5 and thought, “wow, I’m done” even though I had felt fine before I started putting one foot in front of the other.

However, this week has been better. Wednesday, I decided to venture out into the land of “it’s not much but it’s got to be better than nothing, even if that something is totally mental”. I did yoga. I didn’t die. Granted, it was not too demanding of a session, but still, I didn’t spend the entire session working on my breath in child’s pose.

Yesterday, despite the immense fog that blanketed the land, my friend and I resumed our Thursdays cycling. Having both been sick, we took the mountain bikes out to Fowlmead, saying this way we can do as little as we want (so hard core, I know!). We thought we’d take a spin off road, but then decided that avoiding the trees in the dark mist sounded better than abrasions and fractures, so we kept to the track.

We didn’t end up doing very much (though we did enough to get the blood pumping to my hands and feet at least), but it felt slightly satisfying knowing that, once again, I didn’t feel like I needed to crawl into bed for the next week. So really, I’m hoping it’s the thought that counts. Fingers crossed.

I know I have been known, once or twice, to grumble about the weather here in good ol’ England. Just once or twice, of course. So, for a change of pace, I’d like to exclaim enthusiastically: it was a beautiful morning!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the recent cold weather just about slammed me to the ground.  Yet these past few days have been a little bit warmer and, much to my liking, sunny.

This morning I hopped on the bike and set out for a ride down to the coast with a friend, who has recently hired herself a personal trainer and is getting herself back into shape. I am always nervous about riding or running or swimming or generally doing anything with someone I’ve never done it with because I am afraid I am going to keep them back. (This person used to compete in triathlons on the world scale, so yeah a little bit tougher than the tri-for-funs I’ve done.) But, the pace ended up being all right. I actually wasn’t pushing it, but that suited me fine today and gives us more time to ride together before her speed improves and she wants to ditch me for someone faster.  (From what I hear, this trainer’s going to whip her into some serious shape.)

But, like I was saying - the weather. I bundled up (and believe me, there was serious bundling going on, I’ve recently discovered I can wear hiking socks with my cycling shoes), but I was feeling toasty by the time I got to our meeting spot, it turns out both of us were. As we rode past rows of dried out corn into Ramsgate, the sun painted sparkling light across Sandwich Bay. I could (get this!) feel my fingers and toes. My teeth were not chattering and my brain wasn’t numb so I could actually carry on normal chit-chat. It was wonderful!

The only good thing about being in England during the cold fall and winter months is the birdlife here around the Thanet Coast. Well, okay I am sure there are other merits as well that I don’t properly appreciate, like dark mornings and gray, dreary afternoons, but the abundant waders are what we turn our attention to the most when this time of the year rolls around.

On Saturday, we set out across the fields and marshes to get to the River Stour in a completely new way. We ended up tromping through ditches and walking the perimeter of fields with no evident exits and well, never quite made it to the river. But hey, it was an adventure in our own backyard and exercise. However, contrary to what you might expect from the introduction to this post, we saw no birds. Psyche.

However, yesterday we hiked up the beach at Sandwich Bay, and boy, did we see birds! I got excited by my one spot of a curlew on the way up to the estuary, but I wasn’t really prepared for the magnitude of birds we would see around the bend. Ladies and gentlemen, the birds are back in town!

We saw curlew, grey herons, various plovers and oystercatchers in the hundreds. I even got some shots, though not very many good ones, with our new telephoto lens.

I believe it is time to investigate the new hide over at Pegwell Bay. Bring on winter, I’m armed and ready!

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Miles traveled for October’s 30-mile Challenge: 18 miles down, 12 to go

I was worried about yoga yesterday. But, the live-in masseuse worked his magic Tuesday night, and my muscles were less sore yesterday morning, and yoga was fine. Better than fine, in fact. It was a very fulfilling workout.

My instructor asked us what we wanted before we started and at first, we all just sat there, kind of duh, blank morning stares, where’s my tongue, how does it work? But, then someone said, “something positive” and I just thought yeah, something positive. That would be really nice.

And it was. I still find it amazing how simple movements can stimulate such emotion and release. Going into warrior I, over my usual thoughts of shoulder blades down, little toe rolled into floor, came this flood of positive energy*. In that instant, there was a bit of peace within my body. I just felt good, warm, happy. I hate to admit to being the girl who talks to herself in class (it’s possible I am already the one known to cry- I tell you, it just unlocks emotion, it’s like a good book or movie that way), but I’m fairly sure I whispered “thank you”. I just felt grateful.

Yoga is good for me that way. It helps keep me balanced in mind and spirit (though not always in body, but I think that’s getting better too).

[*It came again when I was able to go from downward-facing dog, to chaturanga, to upward-facing dog without putting my knees to the floor(!!!), but I think that was more pleasure from personal accomplishment than anything else. My arms are not my strong point. I am feeling it today, but yay me!]

My gym stole my iPod. And I’m not sad.

I’ll spare you the skimpy details, but I was in the locker room, sitting on the bench, drying my feet and noticed the music was pretty chill, Finley Quaye’s “Even After All”. Not one I usually hear anywhere but my iPod, thanks to the Thicker Than Water soundtrack. I thought hey, that’s cool. It makes a nice change from the Rockwell “Somebody’s Watching Me” I used to get at the other gym. (Kind of funky in the locker room when it’s playing while you ARE in the shower.) Then I heard it. Comb stroke, part to shoulder. Hesitate. I wasn’t sure it could be possible, they keep the level pretty soft in the changing room, but yes indeed-y. The Thievery Corporation remix of Sarah McLachlan’s “Dirty Little Secret”. Yeah baby! It’s cool, seductive and lounge-y. I love it. Maybe somebody IS watching me and knows just what I want to hear. I combed and re-combed my hair, just so I could hear the drum beat drop toward the end. I’m fairly sure I was swaying, but no one was looking at me funny, so I must have contained myself pretty well. All right, I don’t have much shame, but I don’t tend to bust a move in the locker room. Usually.

It was like the time I popped into Somerfield and as soon as I stepped through the double doors “Solsbury Hill” started up. It was as if they saw me coming. Or, iris recognition lasers triggered the music. Hey, now there’s a thought. Big brother me any time if it means no more James Blunt. (Okay, Christa, I just threw that in there to rile you up so you’ll slam me some more country music dedications on Facebook. Yee-haw!*) I grabbed my milk, bounced a little in line (subtly restraining myself from initiating a dance party), and handed over my fiver. As I held myself back from saying as enthusiastically Californian as possible “I luuuuuuhhhhve this song”, Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime” kicked in to the Hill’s fade, and the lady shouted over her shoulder “Could you turn the music down, puh-lease?”. I checked my shimmy, picked my chin off the floor, and slunk out of the store. Don’t let the iPod hit you on the way out, ya know?

While we’re on the subject of music (yeah, yeah I swam and yoga-ed today, check the log if you’re really that interested), who’s excited? Who is EXCITED? U2-3D! I can’t hear you. Yeah okay, not quite as excited as if the boys were to play in my living room. Or, even Wembley Stadium for that matter. But, I’m pretty excited. (And not even too bitter that it’s already out in California.) I can’t wait to see my man up close and personal. Funk it up, dawg!

*For those who don’t know me, not a big fan of the country…

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Now playing: U2 - Mysterious Ways
via FoxyTunes