Trying something new!

So I’ve made a little plan for myself for the month of March, alternating between C25K and lighter cardio days. Trying to build gradually instead of overdoing it (again) and crashing out (again). More “jog towards the danger” than “run towards the danger” if you will.

Today, I tried using the elliptical machine for the first time.

The Elliptical

It took me a minute to get going (that is, to figure out how to get it going). But I’m excited to try something that uses my arms as well, and also is just a different “feel” to get used to.

The weirdest bit (to me) is that it doesn’t have the cross-body motion I was expecting—like when you’re walking, or a baby starts crawling—with left arm moving with right leg, and right arm with left leg. After all of the struggles I’ve had working on that, both at the start when I thought I’d use an umbrella as a walking stick on a rainy day and more recently when I started using Nordic poles, this is just the opposite!

Eventually I got used to the rhythm though, and managed to maintain a respectable (for me) pace.

The main thing is it’s another way to get my arms working. My left arm is still very much a noodle after all that time in a sling, and I obviously can’t think about lifting anything until I get my balance issues sorted out. Friday I couldn’t walk a straight line for hours after getting eye drops, yet another reminder to not get cocky! But I still think I can see the shadow of a bruise on my left arm sometimes. Today it seemed very visible when I was on the Elliptical—maybe because of the lighting, maybe I was just seeing it from different angles due to the different motion?

Is that a faint bruise, still?

Note to self: make sure to do a thorough stretch tonight, as different muscles were getting some use today. 

Survival tips: what to wear

Getting dressed with one arm has been a real struggle. I can somewhat use my forearm now, but I have severe pain if I don’t keep my bicep basically glued to my ribcage. So, no sleeves, pretty much. Definitely no pullovers of any kind. Bottoms are difficult too—I struggle with fasteners one-handed, as well as just getting things on.

I have really been struggling with this! In part just, literally, struggling, because it’s colder now, so can’t just bum around in tank tops or whatever (although spaghetti-strap tank tops have been a lifesaver, because you can just step in an pull them up). But also, it is just really demoralising. I normally enjoy dressing—used to work in vintage clothing, have all sorts of fun pieces, but they’re mostly not injury friendly. I prefer tailored and fitted to baggy and loose, so I can’t button my shirts over my sling easily (I had my arm buttoned into a shirt all day once, and by the end my hand was numb). I can’t wear the tank top with nothing over, because it’s too cold. Pencil skirts that zip up on the left are difficult to put on. It’s too cold for bare legs and tights are impossible. I owned precisely one pair of jogging pants before this, because they’re just not my style. Now I own about six, and I look into the mirror and it’s not my own self looking back. Whiny, but it bugs me.

But I figured out a solution. I ordered a bunch of snap tape. I took a few expendable tops—a couple of hand-me-downs that my kid outgrew, and a black mock-neck pullover I made years ago—ripped out the left side seams (if I really want, I can always re-sew them later, I guess?) and sewed in the snap tape. Voilà! Shirts I can put on. Doing up the snaps is not easy, and on cold days the feel is breezy. But it’s so much better than nothing.

Looks like a normal polo shirt!

Awkward pose, but you can see the snaps!

Then an email popped up, saying, “a seller has offered you a discount on a vintage red cape.” After sighing and wishing I could splurge on such a thing, it occurred to me—capes are perfect when you can’t wear sleeves! It should be here any minute; I keep anxiously running to the porch every time I hear a sound. (My new glasses came today too—almost as good as my old glasses!)

Glasses, new and old

I am sick of the constant jogging pants though (even if I did manage to find one cool pair). And finally, it hit me this morning—suspender tights (warning: NSFW)! Regular tights would be a nightmare to get on one-handed, not to mention having to deal with them again every time you go to the loo. With suspender tights, they’re easier to get into since the hip-to-waist area is basically missing, and once they’re on, underpants go on top, and can go up and down as needed without involving the tights. I think (hope) I have another pair somewhere! 

Survival tips: my bed

A few adjustments I made. Just sharing for fun. And if someone finds it useful.

My bed

The Pillow Wall

I arranged my pillows to form a pillow wall to prop up my arm and keep me from rolling onto my bad shoulder. Basically took my two firmest pillows, stacked them, and placed them to the side going lengthwise along the bed instead of widthwise at the top. The rest of my pillows are at the top where pillows normally are. This allows me to extend my arm and keeps me from rolling over in my sleep. Yes I have a lot of pillows. My ex used to complain about it. So glad he is gone from my life! These pillows make a much better partner!

The Dimmer Cord

I have an extension cord dimmer switch so I can adjust the light without having to reach. See that lamp on the bedside table in the background? It was too far away. The dimmer cord is basically an extension cord you can plug one thing into, controlled by a dimmer switch, and enough length that you can keep the dimmer close to you even if the plug and lamp are not. I got this when my kid (now grown and away at university) was a baby, to use in the nursery when he fell asleep in my arms. I have no idea where I bought this one so many years ago, but this dimmer cord is pretty much the same.

The Bedside Box

That bedside table, so near yet so far. Couldn’t get to it without leaning on my arm. Couldn’t move it to the other side of the bed, as there’s a dresser there. Can’t move that, and it’ too high and too far to use as a bedside table. So, I put a cardboard box on top of my wastepaper basket for a makeshift reachable bedside table. Because it is a box, things stay inside/don’t fall off. It is ugly, but who cares! It works and cost nothing!

Actually, none of these solutions cost me anything; they’re just stuff I had on hand. But they have been so helpful to me!

One thing after another!

Be warned this is kinda gross. The yucky pics are at the bottom of this post; if you don’t want to see them, don’t scroll all the way.

After my fall I got a fitness watch so I could track my heartrate and know when to take a break before things got too far. I am including this pic mainly so one of the gross pics doesn’t end up being the thumbnail for this post.

Mainly putting this pic here as a buffer

The watch was suggested by my concussion pal. Current wisdom says that rather than avoiding everything completely when you have concussion, it’s better to do a little bit, rest a little bit. But take that rest break before you are really feeling that you need it (i.e., before you get symptoms, like headache and nausea in my case).

It’s pretty basic, but does the job. Or, did the job. It was wild to see my heartrate spike to 132 as I slowly shuffled around the grocery store, occasionally needing to lean against the shelving when I lost my balance. It was set to warn me if my heartrate went above 100 or below 50 (I got warned for both of those!) For the first two weeks, it regularly warned me that my resting heartrate (50) was too low, and now it’s happier with me because my resting heartrate is more normal (60). My sleep is crappy and irregular, but no surprise there.

It was also “fun” to count my steps. I’ve never been a pedometer person, but it was instructive to see my daily average of 600 steps climb to 1,200 steps. Just 9,000 more and I’ll be an average sedentary person!

Anyway I’ve been wearing it for three weeks now, taking if off to bathe. 

As my shoulder gets a little better, I can do more with my left hand as long as it isn’t weightbearing (I’ll post about exercises and physio later). One thing I’ve done is go back to two-handed typing. I can only do it for a little while though, and then I start to feel sore. Today I figured out why.

(This is where it gets yucky!)

My skin is rubbing off under the watch strap. I swear it was not like this two days ago! But now I am rubbed raw.

For the time being, my fitness watch has been replaced by ointment and bandages. Photos of my wounds below, so I can find them if I need to show them to one of the docs. I can’t figure out a way to “spoiler” them, so consider yourself warned and stop reading now if you don’t want to see! No more heartrate tracking for me, I guess. It just seems to be one thing after another these days and I am tired of it. 

So that’s why it’s so tender

I had a different worse gross extra problem last week that I don’t even want to talk about.

Learning! F4LBR #4

Going camping with my teammates this weekend—bike, camp, bike!

Meanwhile, earlier this week I did a Flat Fix clinic with a rally veteran, Steve. He did a Hill Climbing clinic last month, which was excellent, so I knew this would be a good one. 

One of the great things about this adventure is all the people I’m meeting along the way—it’s a real community! I feel like I really am going to end up with Friends For Life at the end of it.

Here are some great photos Steve took on Tuesday—love the one where I’m framed in the wheel!

Really learned a lot from this! I thought I knew how to change a flat, having done it soooo many times, but a few tips and tricks really make it all smoother. Having tire irons and a decent pump help a lot too—I love my floor pump, but it was great to give the portable a test run. Thanks Steve!

Fitness + craft: worlds collide!

So, with a 300km 3-day ride on the horizon, obviously I need more than one pair of shorts—I’m thinking I need 3, so I have a fresh clean chamois each day!

But shorts/bibs are not only crazy expensive, they also tend to not fit right. They don’t accommodate my hip-to-waist ratio, or my long torso. 

But then Discovery Fabrics was having a sale! And they have a sewing pattern for bike shorts! The only question remaining: where to get a chamois?

I emailed Discovery, and they said that while they don’t sell chamois, I should check their Facebook group, because someone there would have the answer. And they were right! I have a chamois order in at Aerotech, and meanwhile my fabric and pattern arrived from Discovery:

Because obviously if I’m making my own bibs, they’re not going to be basic black

So excited to get to work on these!

Got new tennis shoes!

So of course it's snowing!

Also made this hoodie to throw on after tennis or a group run on a cold day.

Weekend update

5k run this morning. Felt really good! Temperature on the cusp of zero, but the sun was shining and birds were singing. My 10k is four weeks from today… yikes.

Overall this long weekend has been pretty good (although since I keep a four-day work week, it’s really no different for me).

Friday: fixed my flat tyre. Still need to install the new headlights and grips, but at least it’s rideable now. It feels so nice to be able to get around again. Baked honey cake and made onion rings for the first time (so good!). Rode my bike to tea with my cousins, later met a friend for a sauna and a drink. 

Saturday, tennis was cancelled (supposed to be my first lesson, boo) but met a new friend for hot chocolate, did some shopping downtown, got new running shorts (Uniqlo Airism) in the same grey as my Brooks bra, a couple of t-shirts for summer (realized last summer just how old and ratty my t-shirt selection had gotten), and a cute tank top. Picked up liver for dinner.  Did a tiny amount of sewing. Then went to the opera in the evening and was very good about going straight to bed without playing around on my phone (although I did bring cookies and milk). 

It was only this morning that I remembered that yesterday was my parents’ wedding anniversary. Previously that’s been a hard day for me, but this year was fine. And I realized that—subconsciously I suppose—the things I chose to do in the course of the day honoured each of my parents in their own way (sewing and liver for mum, opera for dad), and called them to mind without sadness while I was doing them. So that is a big improvement for me.

Have some feelings about my birthday this week, the usual “how am I this old and still single, no one will ever want me” routine. But I’m also feeling fit and strong today, and trying on new clothes (cropped tank top, at my age? I think it’s pretty cute, actually!) and meeting new people are both tangible reminders that I have new experiences and adventures to explore. I should probably take some progress pics again, it’s been a while.

Overall, feeling pretty good and feeling more like myself again.

Gear review: Brooks Women’s Dare Racerback Sports Bra

After years of running in squash-everything style sports bras, I finally got one with proper sizing - the Brooks Women’s Dare Racerback Sports Bra. Wriggling into this thing was a struggle! Comparing the back view of the 2.0 version, I think they heard that and made some changes.

Nevertheless, I have to say this bra is amazing! Nothing moves! I never realized how much bounce and shift I was putting up with before. S/M/L sizing just doesn't work for me. It’s kind of ridiculous when you're looking at a size chart for a bra that's totally non-adjustable, and they pretend that the same size will be fine for both a 30D and a 40A... no it won’t! So glad to have found something that has proper sizing, is adjustable, and holds everything where it belongs.

Confirmed: balance is lousy

That’s what I noted in my first post about tap dance. Taking this photo—trying to show off the shoes—was tricky!

But I am having so much fun doing this. It’s for my mental health as much as anything. I just feel giddy in my shoes in the studio, listening to the sound of feet stomping, even as I try to avoid seeing myself in the mirror!

With some of the most recent cheque from my side hustle (I consider it all fun money, although most of this recent one went to necessary stuff) I decided to treat myself to some gear just for dance—a ballet wrap, and because leotards are misery due to my long torso (seriously my “girth” measurement—shoulder to crotch and back—is 4” longer than leotards that come closest to my other measurements) I got a skirt with built in shorts. Technically it’s a tennis skirt, but it was cheap! Both pieces together came to $50, just enough to qualify for free shipping, yay!

The TMI Post

Well, it's been a week of 16:8 intermittent fasting, and the only effect I have really noticed is that I am constipated. Yesterday, for my first meal of the day at noon, I opted for a favourite that can usually be relied upon for the hoped-for result—oatmeal porridge with dried apricots, sunflower seeds, and molasses. And a pot of strong black coffee.

No luck.

Thinking I might go back to the 2:5 version as that has worked for me in the past, with no ill effects.

In other TMI news, I seem to have gotten my period, which is very unlike me. I had a bit of spotting a couple of weeks ago—now it occurs to me, timing-wise, could that have been ovulation spotting? Ugh I have no need to ovulate. Whatever.

Anyway today I am crampy and bloated and uncomfortable. Went for a run; didn't even make 4k because aside from feeling blecch, one of the seams on my tights started rubbing me the wrong way and it was just all around unpleasant. Ugh.

At least I have been keeping up with my mini workouts four times a week. 

I was hoping to go for a bike ride this afternoon, but we'll see what my belly has to say about that I guess. I have been gearing up for biking season (literally) with new shorts, new horn, new gloves, a tune-up and new chain, and a new cup holder (a birthday present from my wonderful son)! New shoes have been ordered, and I'm working on a pattern for a cycling dress with all of the features of a cycling jersey - rear pockets, technical fabrics—but cute instead of ugly (kind of like the shoes - although not “officially” a flat cycling shoe, they have the features of one—room for toes, grippy soles, snug secure fit with some support). I'm going to order some fabric called “chitosante” which is made using a fibre from crab shells, and is supposed to have great properties for wicking as well as being odour-resistant. I hope it lives up to its advertising!