Tried a thing. It was hard.

So today I (sort of) rode a bike for the first time since last October.

My first ride

For comparison, here’s a ride from last summer:

Training ride last summer

Can you spot the difference?

So today’s ride was on a tandem. I had this idea, that starting on a tandem would be the thing. I remember when my kid was little, I had a trail-a-bike I attached to the back of my bicycle, and I would ride him between morning kindy and afternoon pre-school three days a week. It was a workout for me, because kiddo put in zero effort. They could have pedalled along on their wheel, but fat chance of that happening! I kept us upright and moving, and figured kiddo could do the same for me now that they’re all grown.

Tandems are different, though.

Our pedals turned in synch, so there was no chance for me to just coast along. We had to pedal together. The back seat is close enough that I couldn’t see much beyond kiddo’s back, which was somewhat panic-inducing. Our starts were incredibly wobbly, which made me tense up and grip my handlebars for dear life, which made the wobbling worse. 

Very near the start of our very short ride, we took a break so I could do a 5-minute breathing exercise (part of heartrate variability training, to help with controlling migraine and other symptoms). Then tried again. I quietly counted, “one, two, one, two,” under my breath, as a reminder to pedal. I focused on breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth. I focused on the fuzziness of kiddo’s sweater, and trying to relax my hands instead of strangling the handlbars like a maniac. There’s a chunk of the loop that I walked, looking for a washroom, and taking a little break. And then we rode all the way back. 

I was starting to feel almost normal towards the end. But I was also asking, “Are we there yet?” well before we were back at the bike rental place.

So—a success? Maybe, in that we didn’t crash (although we did come close) and I didn’t cry (although I did come close) but it’s a long way from being able to feel normal.

A bit headachey this evening, and super tired. Hope I don’t get a migraine from it tomorrow. I am taking a new migraine med, which has been helping so far for the first week I’ve been on it, but I don’t want to count too many chickens.

Stuff about GERD and me

So the med I am taking for the cough is pantoprazole sodium, which is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) designed to reduce acid in the stomach. It usually takes 2-3 days to show results, but could take 1-7 days. To know if it’s really having an effect on GERD, you need to take it for 4-8 weeks.

So the fact that I had a coughing fit last night doesn’t really mean anything yet! Gotta be patient.  

From what I gather, the cough is caused by esophagitis which is caused by damage done from the stomach acid. So in addition to stopping the stomach acid from going where it’s not supposed to, I need to give my esophagus time to heal. 

If GERD is even the cause! We don’t even know that yet. On the one hand it seems possible; on the other hand all the lifestyle risk factors don’t really apply to me. I barely drink at all, don’t smoke, not overweight, don’t snack at bedtime, etc. The one risk factor that seems possible is caffeine, but I don’t drink a ton of coffee (although I did when I was younger!) and not after noon.

Anyway for now I guess I just have to keep track of what (if anything) changes, and see what the doctor says.

The cough.

My cough. My doctor once told me they could tell I was in the waiting room because they recognized my cough. And yet, they never really did anything about it... oh I had all those inhalers on my foray through asthma but the cough never went away and I just accepted it.

Well, I recently saw a pitch for clinical trials of a medicine for chronic cough, and thought—sign me up!

So I’m starting that process. Part one is Rule Things Out. Which is to say, in an interview with a doctor during which I tried to remember all the inhalers I tried, they asked, “What about reflux?” Well, my regular doc brought it up once as a possibility, sort of floated the idea and let it hang in the air and then moved on to something else and never tested the theory. 

So, now we’re testing the theory.

I started taking meds for GERD (I forget the name, and it’s late so I’m too tired to go look at the bottle) last night, one pill a day, half an hour before dinner. Yesterday I thought, was this better? Tonight I was at the theatre, so of course I extra hate it when I have the urge to cough at the theatre, and yep, it hit me. 

Maybe the meds are something you need to take for a while to know if they work? I will try to remember to look it up tomorrow. Meanwhile I’m keeping track here because otherwise I won’t remember (did my cough getter better while I was on the gastritis diet last summer? I don’t remember). So expect a lot of boring cough reports, I guess.

One thing after another

I almost forgot I had shingles a couple weeks ago until I came to post here!

This week, it’s viral gastroenteritis.

The weeks in between were fairly busy—nights out with three different out-of-town friends (Chicago, Winnipeg, Montreal), an opera, a couple of plays, a reading, a group dinner out, bicycle club social, work  lunch/bridal shower, tennis lessons, the kid’s big Coming of Age event, a protest march. I feel like I’m forgetting stuff.

I did end up having a drink four days in one week, when normally I go weeks without any alcohol, so I thought maybe that was the problem. 

Nope, it’s going around. 

I have lost 6 lbs in four days and it does not feel good. You can easily see where my body wants to be—hovering around 138-140 (previous high was during the dental self-pity era, but dropped off when I got back to normal). Presumably I’ll bounce back once I can eat again. 

Weight change—or rather, maintenance—over 8 weeks 

Meanwhile, here’s a typical meal: half a cup of applesauce, chamomile tea, and saltines. 

Bland and digestible 

Gearing up to have a cup-a-soup later. Have to go slow; food does no good if it doesn’t stay down! I shudder to think of my iron levels though. 

Meanwhile, it’s a good time to stay indoors with the wildfires making outdoor exercise unhealthy if not impossible. I was supposed to do a group run last night and cancelled due to illness (obviously), but maybe that’s for the best? I’d likely be back to needing an inhaler if I tried a bootcamp run in the smog.

At this point, just hoping for a quiet weekend. 

Race report

Spoiler alert: it was terrible.

I have put off writing this, because it was such a horrible day. But here goes.

Mother’s Day is always hard for me, because I still haven’t recovered from my mother’s death, and since I have been a mother, I have never had a partner who cared about me. So it’s generally a disappointment. Maybe less bad on average since my divorce, but still a hard day.

This day was the worst.

The one thing I asked from my kid was to be at the finish line. They said they would—but they were at their dad’s on Saturday night. We discussed bus routes, Presto cards, etc. etc. They said they’d be there.

I was super emotional all morning, obviously.

I texted my kid from the start line, reminding them of which bus stop to get off, and that I’d check in at the water stations to give them a better idea of timing if I was running early/late.

I texted at the 4km water station.

I texted at the 7km station—there was no reply to my previous texts, so I decided to walk for a bit (save my energy for the final km) and wait for a response. Nothing. I texted their dad. They overslept “but on the way soon.” I was coming up to 8km by then.

There’s an incline up to 8km, so I decided to walk to that point and then resume running. But just knowing my kid had forgotten me on Mother’s Day of all days—after I made an emergency sick-kid school pickup just two days before, and then went back again to collect their bicycle—I just felt so alone. All morning I had been struggling not to cry, off and on. Now I had a full-on panic attack. Tried to remember all of my grounding exercises—box breathing, find something red, something blue, etc.—but I just couldn’t breath. I started making a wheezy/whooping sound on every inhalation, something like stridor, which reminded my of when I had pertussis a number of years ago. I focussed on my diaphragm, and finally got to a normal breathing pattern by 9km. 

I ran the last km, obviously no one was waiting for me at the finish line—I was all alone—and again couldn’t breathe. I made it to the medic tent just for a place to sit down, and they checked my blood pressure (125/75) and oxygen (99%) and after sitting for a while I was ready to move again. 

Got a drink, got my medal, went to the luggage check, got changed, was on my way to the food area when the kid texted, “almost there.” Arranged to meet at the luggage check (easiest to recognize from a distance, fewest people to get lost in a crowd), and we left without eating.

I didn’t even manage to get any sponsors to donate to the charity (one friend sponsored me later that afternoon) so it was 100% pointless.

Worst run ever. I don’t think I’ll do a 10k again.

Where’s the beef?

Wow it’s been a while!

Have spent the last nearly-two-years in lockdown due to covid (how is this still going on??), and in that time fitness has been up and down. 2020 was my first “official” 10k, although in between signing up in January and running in May, it went from a proper event to “do it on your own and everyone gets a finishing medal.” I did run the full 10k though! 

In other news, my lungs are still poor, although I’m wondering if it’s my lungs that are the issue, or anemia? I’ve always been on the anemic side, despite taking iron for years. Shortness of breath can be a symptom of anemia. So maybe that’s what’s happening?

I’ve had all sorts of bloodwork done. My thyroid, kidneys, and liver are all top-notch. I have beautiful levels of B12. I had a GI scope (upper and lower) and my insides are perfect. Basically I am a picture of perfect health, except that RBC is the low edge of normal, dipping into anemia. Ferritin is in the basement (should be between 50 and 150; the highest I remember mine ever being is 18, and this year it’s slipped from 6 down to 5). I also have a higher than normal RDW, which refers to the size/width of red blood cells; basically they’re irregular from what I understand.

Years of Eurofer followed by a couple of years of Feramax have done nothing. Now I’m waiting for a referral to a haemotologist. 

Meanwhile, I switched to Palafer, at my doctor’s suggestion, and I’ve decided on top of that to increase my red meat intake. Far from vegetarian, I still don’t eat that much red meat—we usually have burgers on Wednesday and spaghetti and meatballs on Thursday, but that’s really it for beef. Once in a while I’ll have a steak for dinner, or marrow on toast, but not very frequently.

So, starting today, more beef! I just had liver and onions for lunch, and have a steak planned for dinner tomorrow. Friday morning, blood pudding for breakfast. Sunday, beef stew for dinner. Will keep this up until my next round of bloodwork and see if it helps!

Never easy

Well.

I have been meaning to post a follow-up after my trip to the allergist last Wednesday, and now I’ve just got a call from my regular doctor, and I’m all distracted, so typing it all out seems like a good idea.

I thought the allergist visit would be fairly straight forward. It was scheduled for 8 o’clock Wednesday morning, and not far from work, so I didn’t even imagine I would be late that day let alone miss work entirely.

First they took my blood pressure, which was 100/72, on the high side for me, but perfect by everyone else’s standards. I got the scratch test, which revealed nothing, surprisingly. Then they did a secondary test where they did a bunch of little injections in my shoulder, and I started shaking and feeling disoriented and dizzy, and nearly passed out. I was so shaken up I was practically in tears. They took my blood pressure again, and it was 115/72—bit of a jump in 15 minutes! I had to lie down for a while, and then sit for half an hour, and then I thought I was fine. Then we did one more scratch test and I had the weird over-reaction again - shaking, dizzy, the whole nine yards.

This, if I didn’t mention before, was the same sort of reaction after giving blook last July and October. I gave blood again this January—five days before the trip to the allergist—and I was fine. This time I skipped my morning coffee, so I thought I had figured out the cause and solution.

I had mild allergic reactions at the injection site to all the things my son is allergic to - dust mites, pollen, outdoor mold. The nurse thought it was significant; the doctor did not. He suggested it was an issue with “irritants” and chronic sinusitis rather than “allergens” and suggested I come back in six months to do a patch test, and gave me a prescription for nasal spray and sent me for some bloodwork to check my immune system. He also said something about sending me to an ENT, getting a CT-scan of my sinuses and “don’t worry we won’t do surgery unless it’s absolutely necessary.” I’m sure my eyes bugged out of my head! I was expecting something more on the lines of the recommendations we got for my son - ditch the humidifier, Claritin in the summer, etc.

He also told me to take the day off and go home and rest, which I did. I lay on the sofa for a few hours, felt better, then went out to do my bloodwork, and promptly needed to lie down again.

Fast forward to this morning.

I just had a call from my regular doctor’s office (they were cc’d on the bloodwork results, which I can only assume came back abnormal). The doctor said my red blood cells had been “increasing in size” over the years, and “nothing to worry about, we just want to rule out a few things,” and determine whether they need to send me to a haematologist. She said they’d email me a req for bloodwork (it’s been 43 minutes and they haven’t sent it yet! Anxiety!) to check my levels of B12 and folic acid, and liver function.

Naturally I have been googling all the possible causes. Alcoholism—nope. Hypothyroidism—wouldn’t surprise me, as Hashimoto runs in my family, but I don’t have any of the other symptoms. Malnutrition—seems unlikely, as I eat quite well, and looking at the list of foods rich in B12 and folate, they are all things I eat regularly.

However, another thing that runs in my family is pernicious anaemia. There are all sorts of autoimmune diseases in the family, but (up till now?) I have never had any of these myself. Looking at the symptoms of pernicious anemia, there are many that line up with what I’ve experienced: fatigue, lack of energy, or lightheadedness when standing up; shortness of breath, mostly during exercise; clumsiness; irritability; numbness and tingling in the hands and feet; problems concentrating; loss of balance. All things I’ve complained to my doctor about for years!

So, have I been finally hit with the traditional family autoimmune disease? If so, I guess pernicious anaemia is a good one to have. I’m kind of hoping that’s it, because all you have to do is take the right kind of B12 supplements (I do take an off-the-shelf one, but if I have pernicious anaemia, I’d need a prescription supplement). In the old days, my grandfather used to drink sulfuric acid with meals to make up for the lack of “intrinsic factor” due to the illness. So much more easy to manage now!

Now it’s been 59 minutes and still no req has been emailed. I am doing to die of anticipation if it doesn’t get here soon!

A difficult winter

I have had a fairly difficult winter so far, and as a result am completely off track as far as diet and exercise go. I can feel my jeans getting tight, so I know it’s time to get moving!

In my defence, we have had some record-breaking cold temperatures. Also, I was horribly sick in December—whooping cough and shingles at the same time! Followed by noro! It’s frankly amazing that I left the house at all.

That said, the slow recovery from whooping cough has made me very aware of the sad state of my lungs, and the fact that I need to get moving to get them strong and healthy again. I’m back on an inhaler—the Symbicort Turbuhaler—and hoping that will help. I have crazy killer coughing fits that leave my body aching, and I want them to stop! Interestingly, they don’t seem to be brought on by exercise at all—mainly scents and smells. I am seeing an allergist next week who will be able to give me some answers, I hope.

Also, I learned recently that low blood pressure can make exercising difficult. And I have low blood pressure! Mostly when people hear that, they say, “Great, lucky you,” but it can cause problems, and apparently can especially cause problems with regards to exercise. So I’ve been reading up on that, and how to manage it. Some key factors include pre-hydrating (dehydration can cause a pressure drop) and an active cool down (taking it too easy after exercise can lead to blood pooling in the legs). Compression tights are also recommended, maybe that’s my next step?

This morning I went for a run for the first time in months. My lungs were fine. My big toe is a little achy—not hurting per se, but just kind of sending me a signal, saying, “Hi, remember me, your broken bone? Please be gentle!” I do love the fact that, even though I’m no athlete, I can do all right despite not having run in months. Only ran about 3km this morning, but when I think back to my first attempts at C25K, and how I struggled to get through the 60-second runs and barely recovered during the walks, I am astounded at how my body says, “I remember how to do this!” and just keeps going.

Hope the weather holds so I can keep going!

Back at it

Wow.

Well, I survived my 5k back in April, although my time was pretty poor! Shortly after we started, my phone fell out of my armband, resulting in a tangled mess of cords... sigh. I had to stop and put it all back together because otherwise I would have been running with my hands unmanageably full. This never happened before, and hasn't happened since - why race day! Argh.

To be honest though, I haven't run much since. With four or five hours a day marching on the picket line (in all kinds of terrible weather), I found myself sufficiently worn out (especially my feet) that I could not bring myself to go running on the regular.

Then, back to work a few weeks ago, I got bronchitis again, and was again not up for much!

So, I am back to the inhaler. This time, it's the Symbicort Turbuhaler, a combination steroid/bronchodilator, in the form of an inhaled powder. I think it's working, but I'm also having side effects, like fast/irregular heartbeat, trouble sleeping, and my vision seems blurrier. I may have to go back to my doctor and see if I can take something else.

But I did manage to get out for a run today! Just a couple of miles, but it felt good to get moving. I had a bit of a steep hill in there, and was definitely feeling it in my legs after that! But more importantly, my lungs/heart felt up to the challenge. (n.b. I definitely waited till after the run for my inhaler - usually when I take it I feel like I need to rest for twenty minutes!)

What a month!

Where to begin...

One month ago, I went on strike. Some of those days, I was out on the picket line - basically 4 hours of walking at a slow pace. Which was fine, except for the weather, and the ensuing bronchitis.

Most of the time though, I was in an office, on the communications committee, trying to manage social media without any wifi. Not easy! In fact not doable, so I was also working on it at home, from 6:30 in the morning before I went to the office, and as late as 11 at night.

Recipe for burnout! Actually, I bet that contributed more to the bronchitis than the picket line. Anyway, I will be back on the picket line starting this week, and could not be happier!

Anyway, I have not been doing a lot of running. And then last week, I remembered that I had a 5k coming up (here's the link, should anyone care to sponsor me - it's for a good cause!), so I needed to get moving. I still have a bad cough, but my lungs don't have that rattle-and-wheeze they did when the bronchitis was raging.

On Tuesday, I ran 1.5 miles to the picket line, then walked for 4 hours, then walked 1.5 miles home. On Wednesday, I walked 2 miles to strike HQ, and 2 miles home. In boots with 3" heels. Not sure what I was thinking, but my calves were absolutely killing me for days.

I took a couple of days off after that, but this morning I went for a run and I feel great! When I was getting back to the beginning of my circuit, I wanted to keep going, so I threw in an extra leg with a steep climb to wear myself out. 2.5 miles, or 4km.

Can't wait for Sunday!

I’m back!

I signed up for a 5k!

The last time I ran a 5k was in 2010, a fundraiser for the Brain Tumour Foundation after my mother died of cancer. This time, it’s a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Foundation, because a friend had “triple negative” (a very aggressive type) but thankfully survived! Here’s her story:

So, I bought some new running shoes, and this morning started the “Couch to 5k” regime. Or, actually, a version thereof, because I don’t know where the earbuds for my phone are, so I just alternated running 60 seconds/walking 90 seconds eight times, then running 120 seconds/walking 90 seconds 4 times. Good enough for day one. Need to get my phone sorted though so I can do it properly!

The best part for me was that I did not cough once on my run! My lungs have been terrible this year - my darling son brought home all kinds of germs in the winter, and I couldn’t take sick days when I needed to because there was too much work to do and I was the only one able to do it. Two rounds of antibiotics when they thought I had pneumonia; then the diagnosis changed to pleurisy (what is that you ask? If you remember The Glass Menagerie, it’s the illness that Laura had in high school which caused her to miss months of classes—then called “pleurosis” which led to the nickname “blue roses”).

Ha, I coughed just now because I am writing about not coughing I guess!

I was fine for a while after I eventually recovered, but the first week of summer vacation, my darling son again brought home a nasty bug, and I can’t seem to shake the cough that came with it. Partly, I think, due to the terrible humidity that has cloaked the city in a veil of smog and pollen.

So I am thrilled that I was able to run and breathe this morning! The sun was just starting to beat down upon the city in my final stretch home; next time I will try to get an earlier start.

not another inhaler!

i swear, since that first bout of pneumonia right before i got pregnant with my son, my lungs have just never been the same.

before that, i was fine and never thought twice about breathing.

since then, i have had "reactive airways syndrome," chest infections, and flirted with an asthma diagnosis.

this past fall and winter have been stressful - single parenting a special-needs kid, full-time job, part-time school. this winter i had to travel for work twice in one month - and not fun fly first class and stay in a hotel travel, more the leave home at 5 o'clock in the morning to drive across the province for a 15-hour day of work kind of travel.

at the beginning of september, i had a nasty cold with a cough that never really went away. it would get better, and then return. in december it came back with a vengeance, and i just about knocked myself out with the wrong kind of robitussin. apparently some people drink cough syrup for fun? i had just 2 tsp and felt like i was losing my mind.

anyway, i got through the winter break with not enough r & r, but enough to tide me over. but starting the work year with more travel did me in. i suppose the cold snap didn't help either - i think it was -20 on my first day back, and of course i walked!

long story short, by the time i dragged myself to the doctor the following week it was officially pneumonia.

i've finished my round of antibiotics, and feel somewhat better, but still so very tired and headachey. standing to sing during sunday morning's service was exhausting. walking a flight of stairs is exhausting.

i have a flovent inhaler to take for the rest of the month - and a refill if needed. hoping i am back up to speed well before then!

Travelling, swimming, breathing

So we just got back from a week in the country, where we cooked fresh food and breathed fresh air and went for walks in the woods and swam every day in a cold clear lake.

And this is what I learned:

I’m a stronger swimmer than I was before. I’m less wimpy about getting into the cold water, and better able to swim a reasonable distance without getting winded. I’m less likely to panic if I get swamped by a wave. I give all credit to my son, without whom I wouldn’t be spending so much time in the water.

I can’t breathe city air. this morning I was totally winded on the short cycle to work, and haven’t been able to catch my breath all day, sitting in an air-conditioned office. My ribs feel tight and I find I have to remind myself to breathe, or I won’t. and then I gasp for air.

Of course, I’ve no solution for this, other than moving to the country which is tempting but not a realistic option. So I need an option b. But first I need to work out what that is. Which means I need to work out exactly why I can’t breathe in the city.

Oh, weather!

The weather has been crazy here lately—massively muggy, torrential rains. Our street turned into a river, and we were without power on a few occasions! The weather problem is two-fold: I find it difficult to exercise when it’s too hot and humid, and I find it very difficult to breathe. I feel like I am constantly short of breath! And sometimes get a sharp pain through my chest.

All of which reminds me of all the appointments I had a few years ago, when I was on inhalers, and going for pulmonary function tests, and all of that. I do not want to do that again! In part because the whole adventure seemed largely useless—the humidity seems to trigger the breathing problems, but if I went to my doctor about it now, I’d probably end up with an appointment in the fall when my breathing wouldn’t be so bad anyway. So I really can’t be bothered.

In any case, a cold front moved in the night before last, so the air is a little fresher now. I went swimming last night for an hour, and this morning did 20 situps and had a brisk walk to work! I hope the weather stays just as it is right now. This is what I call perfect.

Getting better all the time

Except for continuing to be ravenously hungry, things are getting better here. Probably related to the days getting longer.

I saw my dentist, and my gum has healed enough that he was able to give me a temporary crown until I get the bridgework done. So, hallelujah! I’m still a little shy about chewing, but a hundred times more confident than I was before.

Haven’t been able to ride my bike (where is my headlight?? argh), but I have been walking to & from work this week, and it feels good! Weather is finally getting useful for outdoor activities again (although this morning we were hovering at the treacherous zero mark—lots of slippery patches).

And, best yet, I haven’t (knock wood) gotten the spring allergy/sickness! Stopped taking the antihistamine (too much drowsiness) but haven’t gotten sick.

Now, I just have to be more diligent about remembering my vitamins!

Revelation

I have been super tired for the past week or more. As in, going to bed at 7 o’clock every night tired. I set the alarm for 8:30 and get up for an hour and a half, and then back to bed at 10 o’clock (which used to be normal bedtime for me).

Then this morning, it hit me! Every spring, I get a terrible wheezing chest cold. The first week of March. like clockwork. so regular, I wondered if it might be a seasonal allergy (although there’s not much growing here the first week of March, but it could be leaf mold or something that appears when the snow melts). Anyway, I thought I’d be clever this year and head it off at the pass by taking a daily antihistamine (cetirizine) before the sickness hit. Antihistamines are known to cause drowsiness.

Duh!

Starting today, I am going to take it in the evening instead of the morning. I hope I can avoid the wheezing by this preventive measure. I do not want to use an inhaler ever again if I can help it!

In other news, my jaw stiffness is getting better, so I’m going to assume it was just a normal phase in the recovery from the crown lengthening procedure.

School daze

The young fellow is back in kindergarten, and I’m back on the bike!

The summer was spent driving him to & from distant preschool, which was maybe for the best as it was super hot and humid here—hard to breathe just standing still, I’m sure I would have been wheezing and clutching my chest if I’d had any kind of real exertion. The evening swims were just the right kind of exercise for the weather.

Now though, due to a childcare nightmare (isn’t it always the way), I find myself on the bike a lot. I ride to & from work, and on two days a week, I spend lunch hours riding to the kiddo’s school, riding him over to his afternoon minder, then back to work, and then I pick him up on the bike after work, we ride to the library or wherever, then home.

I encourage him to pedal too, but really I do all the work! Sigh. It’s better for me, though.

I am pleased to say I managed to get some dinners & lunches made and put in the freezer, including a great kale/white bean/sausage/tomato soup, which is great. Today’s lunch was leftover black bean/corn/avocado/tomato salad. yum. And I’m back on the take-2-pieces-of-fruit-to-work track, also good.

Next challenge: get running! Got my shoes, got a schedule where I can fit it in, Now I just need to get on it!

Back at it after ten days away

Well, after ten days at the cottage and one on set, I am back to the daily grind. And a sinus headache. I was sick before we went away, and felt blecch again on our return, so I figure it has to be allergies. I’ve started taking cetirizine again, which seems to be helping.

Our time away was filled with all sorts of treats. I made three batches of cookies at the cottage—not counting the brownies and shortbread I made before we left town—as well as peach pie, marshmallows, pancakes for breakfast on at least four occasions, and other treaty stuff like popcorn with melted butter. Yum. There was also a fair amount of time spent relaxing with books and knitting.

But we did also eat a fair amount of healthy stuff: fruit, veg, and meat purchased from farm stalls. And, went swimming and for hikes and even a (short) canoe trip.

So, maybe it all evened out? I certainly have no intention to go back in time and try to track my input & output. But my first day back is looking pretty good nutrition-wise:

And I remembered my vitamins!

Hot hot hot!

Well I haven’t done any cycling in weeks, I’m afraid. I had a grand plan of taking my spare bike up to the subway stop near the kiddo’s pre-school, and then at least cycling that chunk of the journey. But when I dragged the bike out I found it needs new tubes, and it has been too hot and humid for me to ride anyway! My little lungs can’t cope.

We have managed to go swimming a few times, though. I don’t get to swim as much as just run in the water, but running in water is pretty taxing, I think. Let’s call it “resistance training.” although really, it is mainly “trying to fulfill the always be an arms-length from your child rule.” He is faster than I!

Anyway on this record-breaking temperature day, which may or may not end in a thunderstorm, we took our lunchtime yoga class up the many steps of Casa Loma to the gardens of Spadina House. And there, in the shade of a chestnut tree, did some cooling breaths as the breezes swept around us. It was lovely! Can’t think of a nicer place to be, or nicer way to get some exercise on a hot day.

It’s amazing

How keeping up with the blog and maintaining good diet/exercise habits go hand in hand. I don’t know which inspires which, but I certainly need to make more of an effort with both!

So this morning I did 20 sit-ups, remembered my supplements, replaced the brake pads on my bike, and rode to work. Whoo! Oh, and instead of grabbing a coffee when I got to the office, I filled my water bottle.

Had a healthy lunch yesterday (green salad, organic swiss cheese, cherries, carrots, and an orange) and will have a similar lunch today (except an apple instead of an orange). Should get more variety I suppose, but it’s a challenge grocery-wise.

Another challenge is this weather—hot & humid. It’s meant to be like this all week, then cool off a bit on the weekend. looking forward to that—I find I get short of breath quite a bit in this weather.

Next step will be buying some new sneakers. I don’t even know where to begin—what brands are good/bad? I’m concerned as much about the ethics of the company as performance—actually I’m not really concerned with “performance” at all so much as support. My foot has been sore a lot lately—due I think to walking more in inappropriate shoes, and then favouring it. I need a bit of a heel, not a lot, but I tend to feel like my foot is being bent upwards, if that makes any sense. I would assume that is related to the soft tissue damage? Who knows...