355 Days

"Whatever you want to do, do it now.  There are only so many tomorrows."

And on that note, let the countdown begin...

 

Cruisin’

I’m getting ready to head off for another cruise! Yes this is my second cruise this year but I expect it will be very different from the first. Obvious difference is Alaska vs Caribbean. First cruise was with just my parents and sisters. This cruise is with my husband’s family. It will be loud, full of drinks and laughter and inappropriate jokes, you know, Italian style. Alaska had plenty of laughs and good memories but it also holds bad memories for me and sad times. That was our last family vacation and also the first indication of how rapidly my mom was going downhill, even just over that one week. I’m afraid I’ll hear her foot dragging when I’m on the lower deck running. I’m afraid I’ll see her cutting her food with a spoon while at dinner. That cruise was the last time I had any sort of somewhat comprehendible conversation with her and even that was a stretch. I miss her so much and it kills me every day.

But I’m going to try to focus on the good and enjoy myself and getting dressed up and eating a ton (hopefully not too much!). I had to try on each dress I plan to wear for dinner to see what actually fit. I was expecting several to be too big because I lost weight but I was surprised to find how they fit me. Apparently building muscles makes the dresses fit in an unexpected way. I might not have boobs but I have lats and back muscles now! And I might have a flat stomach but my midsection seems thick due to abs. All sorts of changes from the two years ago on my last Caribbean cruise.

I’m hoping this vacation will give me back some pep in my step. Well not really in my step since running is the one area I’ve been feeling pretty good about. But I’m desperately hoping my shoulder will feel all better with over a week of no swimming or at least no pool lap swimming. Let’s be honest, I can’t not swim when I have access to a crystal clear ocean. Especially when there’s a GoPro and my coach needs a new video of whatever mess my current stroke is in. I’m also hoping by the time I get home I’ll be itching to hit the road on my bike again. I’ve been going through a weird phase with the trainer. Historically I hate the trainer and although it’s good that I’m learning to not hate it, I’ve been spending way too much time on it. Partially because of horrible weather but I’ve been too lazy to take it off the trainer and actually face the world and cars and real hills which is absolutely ridiculous because we are finally getting gorgeous riding weather. So cheers to a good vacation and what’s to come after a week of relaxation!

It's October?

When did it become October? Clearly I’m behind on monthly goals. Let’s review last month shall we…

 

-     Finish my first 70.3 – YAY done! My first half complete!

-     Do I really need more than that? Fine, what else… - I still don’t think I needed to do anything beyond this.

-     Make peace with my current abilities – I think I did this before the race. Maybe struggling a bit afterwards but I’m trying. (Really Katie I’m trying!)

-     But! keep the fire burning to further my abilities – Ok this has been a roller coaster. Right after the race I was super amped up with “I can’t wait to fix this” and “get better at that” and then that all went away while I was enjoying recovery and I didn’t really care how hard I pushed myself. Now I’m back up, maybe not as high as I should be though.

-     Eat, drink and sleep like I don’t give a shit. AFTER my race. – I did this whole heartedly for 2 days? I continued to eat like “crap” for 1 week. Apparently I don’t know how to completely not give a shit.

The end of the month was a frustrating one due to shoulder pains. The pain seems to be flaming out of control on weekends so still trying to figure out what makes it suddenly so much worse but I’ve narrowed it down to 3 possibilities. Detective work to continue. The original cause is most likely my screwed up swim stroke. (That and how I sleep since the pain is worst while sleeping.) Apparently while in the progress of trying to improve my stroke I somehow made it worse? I now have bicipital tendinitis in both shoulders… yay for me!

This has killed my time in the pool which is making me sad. After having almost a week off it felt so good to get back in the pool even if it was for such a short time. Unfortunately with the pain still very much there in both shoulders I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to normal swimming. And it was just starting to get good! I had longer swims on my schedule! The good news is I leave this week for a cruise. Yes another one, my husband’s family this time. Hopefully a week of limited swimming due to lack of pool will help it heal. Until then it’s trips to physical therapist/torture man. I’m guessing it will be needles today because I can’t imagine how he’d use “the tool” on my shoulder. I shudder to think. 

So let’s see, October goals. I’m going to make this a theme month, the theme being food. With a cruise coming up how can the theme not be food?

-     Make weekly meal plans

-     Actually follow meal plans

-     Eat lots of greens or at least one green every day

-     Don’t go crazy on the cruise… round two, let’s try to actually do it this time!