A Public Service Type Post

Warning: This post contains information of a personal nature. If you are eating please swallow and put your food down before proceeding. Thanks!


Yesterday I learned of a new kind of pain caused by running. It seems to be common among larger sized persons.At least that's what the internet says. It makes me wonder why I had never heard of it before I experienced it.
 I expected the thigh rub pain, when you have them they rub. I expected the knee pain, it's a given with me. I even expected the ankle pain, it's what happens when you break it in your teens and it isn't set properly. This pain I never expected. This pain is chafing of the butt crack.
I didn't even know it was there until I hopped in the shower and the water hit it. I think I screamed and I know I jumped. That made Princess yell at me. (She wasn't in the shower, she was in the sink.)
Apparently, I've lost enough of padding in my boom boom to make my shorts loose enough for thing to rub together in an insidious way. Then when you least expect it, BAM! Your butt is on fire! This sucks and it now hurts to walk or sit.
It is not a good feeling, knowing I can start a fire with my behind.
Just thought you all should know , that way you can avoid it walking funny like me.

It's been a busy, good week

I finally completed the Comparative Religion class I've been taking and turned in my essay. I was a little worried because it took me so long. It was a go at your own pace online class, but I'm sure there is a limit to how long they would have waited.  For a writer I really have issues turning things in in a timely manner. Well I passed, and in the mail on Thursday was this beautiful certificate! Now I just have to figure out which class to take next.

It's so shiny!

Yesterday was my 10 year anniversary so to celebrate I ordered dinner in. I had it delivered from Brother's Noodles and it was as good as I remembered. They don't usually deliver to my area, nothing but pizza will, but I pulled the sympathy and large tip card and they were more than happy to bring it over. I really loved the Kung Pao chicken, it had just the right amount of heat and the vegis in it were still nice and crisp.

Kung Pao Chicken

The Mongolian beef was a bit bland, so I broke out my squeezie garlic and that really brought it to life. They did get the heat factor spot on though. I'd never had it with bell peppers and it really adds a good dimension to it. What I really want to know though is how they get the rice to be sticky, but not slimy. It's the perfect texture and firmness. Whoever does their cooking is really great!

Mongolian Beef

The rest of the evening was spent watching cheesy Netflix and relaxing. All in all it was a good day.

On the writing front I'm still on schedule to self-publish at the end of this month. I'm so excited! Although it would be nice if the monsters I live with would leave me be for more than 5 minutes. Somebody is always yelling at the door, but the worst are the strange crashing sounds that you go to investigate. There is never anything out of place when you go look. It's weird.

On the running front I'm redoing Zombies, Run 5k week one again next week. My knee is still a bit annoyed, but I think it's coming around. Or maybe it's just giving up the battle. I plan to keep taking it slow though. I kind of like this running and I don't want to not be able to walk.

Have fun!

Restart of Zombies, Run 5 k

I'm restarting my plan to redo Zombies, Run 5k. Outside I'll be doing the 1st week and inside I'll be on whatever week I'm on. Right now it's week 4.  I have these great headphones called Yurbuds my husband got me. They let in ambient noise so I can hear the zombies and what is around me. I got the blue ones.
 Today was the first outside walk/run. I strapped on my water pack and headed out into the sunrise. There may have even been a slight spring in my step. :-0

The sun is just getting up.

It started out great. I went to the bike path because it's safe and I know it. On the way there I saw a pair of ladies doing their morning walk. One had a baseball bat and one had a golf club. They were very friendly and we all said hi. That reminded me I didn't have my stick with me, but nothing happened so it was all good.

I love trains!

I was going strong and enjoyed the first few running intervals. I was feeling cocky and smiling at the people I saw. I even pretended to race a train. It was great! A passing bicyclist said I was looking good, that made my day. I wonder if she knew I could hear her.

Pretty little flowers.

Shortly after the flowers my wonderful knee popped and that sucked. It hurt but I kept going, but there was no more running for today. I just tried to walk faster for those intervals.

Little mushroom.

It's sucked, it popped at the best running segment yet. I was feeling good and warm and floaty. Then bing out it goes. The walk home was slow and a bit painful, but I stayed upright. Thursday I'll try to remember my stick. Otherwise it was a great start to the day.

I was outside moving across the Earth under my own power in the coolish morning air. It was great! I can't wait to do it again, minus the pain.

Did too much yesterday.

Yesterday started out great. Husband and I went for a walk/run in the park. We ended up going almost 3 miles total. My knee felt strong so I did all the 30 second sprints for the workout and the knee lifts. I felt so good and springy. The walking parts were fun too and I saw some cool things.

Pretty little butterfly

Giant mushroom I thought was a bagel.

It's missing a wing, but still has attitude.

I have no idea what kind of bird that is, but it was having a great time playing in the pond then fanning its wings dry.

It was great. Fast forward a few hours and my knee is burning and throbbing a bit. I tried stretching it out, but nothing helped. finally before bed I took some Advil to chill it out. I don't know why it hates outside so much, asphalt is softer than concrete covered with linoleum, but stupid knee doesn't hurt when I run back and forth in my house. Maybe it's because I wear shoes outside.

Anyway I've come up with a plan that will hopefully work. I'll keep going on the new missions inside on most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'll start over on week one on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. That way I can still hear more of the story and stay engaged, but I'll be also building up outside strength more slowly. 

I've just been loving going outside and I'm not going to give it up, If I can only do 15 seconds at a stretch for another month I can live with that. I hate having to go slow now that I know I can run, I just have to make sure I don't make my knee worse by trying to go to much to soon.

Waiting for the storm

I'm working from home today due to the storm warnings about Hurricane Odile causing flash floods. I live in Tucson, the desert. Last Monday was a crazy rain day and this one is supposed to be even worse. So far it's just been drizzling steadily, but I'm not driving in it. What scares me is that the flash flood warning is through tomorrow evening. I've never heard of one so long here.
I went outside for a walk/run in the real world again this morning. I had wanted to do it yesterday, but it was raining yesterday morning. I'm on week 2 of Zombies, Run 5K and I'm loving it. If you join look me up; my screen name is Eibhir. Betty was taken.
For week 2 I get to run for 30 seconds in a row. I did fine in my living room yesterday, but that's about 10' one way then turn around. In the real world after the first 20 seconds my knee was twinging so I went back to walking. I also seem to be faster in my living room than in the real world, I would have figured the turning would slow me down. It was great, I started before the sun was out and as I rounded toward home I saw this pretty little flower.

Pretty purple flower.

I love the photos my new phone takes!

The other day the husband and I rescued some beetle larvae and I thought you might like to see them.  His dad had cut down their tree and they needed a new home. They are cool and dry to the touch. Also a bit squishy feeling and their little legs are very pointy. They were released near a palo verde tree. I hope they like it there.

Palo Verde Beetle Larvae

My aquaponics are still going strong. Well the tomatoes are, all the lettuce was crowded out by them. we put a plastic sheet around them to keep the cooler off. They are big, but no fruit yet.

Tomato plants

They roasted pepper seeds are also doing well. For something that was cooked they seem pretty hardy. If you look closely they even have small flower buds forming. I can't wait to see what kind of peppers they are, they bag just said roasted peppers on it.

Roasted peppers thriving.

I hope you all have a great day and try to stay dry. I want the storm to get here already!

Have Fun!

I'm Back!

Sorry I let life get in the way of blogging again. Summer is always so crazy and I don't even have human kids to blame it on. A ton of things have/are happening, a lot are boring, and some are really awesome.

Boring: I've been working super hard on my novel and a short story. The shorty will be self published by the end of next month on Amazon. After my last rejection I've decided to take matters into my own hands and do it myself. It's exciting for me, but boring to anyone outside my head because watching someone sit and type is blah. I have enjoyed scaring strangers at the store when I get a new idea by whipping out my voice recorder and saying scary things into it. a lot of people move away at that point.
I've been working on cleaning my house, it's not done yet. I don't think it will ever be done. I have decided that pine sol is the best cleaner in the whole world, but it will strip your skin off a bit after 45 min with out gloves. That could be why it works so well. It also get out the cat smell like nobodies business.
Got a new phone that takes better pics in low light than my camera, I hate my new phone for it.

Awesome: It's almost cool enough to go for bike rides again! In a month I'll be back to pedaling like crazy.
I'm finally making progress in learning the ukulele. I've been trying for about 2 years, but I wanted to play notes. I just can't beat into my brain where the notes are on the fret board. I've decided to learn chords instead and can now play 3 songs OK. My animals think I'm funny when I rock out on Polly Wolly Doodle and Hush Little Baby. 21 Songs in 6 Days by Rebecca Bogart and Jenny Peters is my secret weapon. I has however taken me a lot longer than 6 days, but I'm still moving forward.

The most awesome thing of all though. The absolute super excitingest thing in my little universe right now happened last night. A little back story first.
A long time ago I was a runner. I loved running and it was one of my favorite things in the world. Then I got hurt, my knee cap was cracked and there was no more running for Betty. Heck, walking was a pain. So I rode my bike and that was great, but I missed running. Then I hurt my knee again. I'm a dork. I got heavier, walking and biking got harder until I couldn't get my leg over the top tube without lots of pain. I was close to 300 lbs.
In January of this year my husband and I got fitbits. It was incentive for my to try and kick some butt. I lost a little weight and in March we got Sylvia. Thanks to her low step through and comfy ride I lost more and felt better, then summer came. I'm crazy, but not crazy enough to ride in that kind of heat so she sits behind the couch until later this year. I can't wait!
In the mean time I've been walking back and forth in my living room to get my steps in. It was boring, but effective. I started gently jogging in place during commercials and my knee didn't collapse! It felt good even. My ankle hurt though.
Then last week on Sept. 9th my darling husband got me the app Zombies, Run 5k training. It is great! I'm on the first week still, but it has given me back my running. The first workout I ran in place for the intervals. The second I ran back and forth in my living room. Nothing popped or snapped. There was no searing pain or soul crushing throbbing during or after the 15 second sprints. It was rocking!

Then yesterday morning we went outside! My husband and I went to the park for our walk and I ran in the real world for the first time in 3 years! It was the best 15 second sprints ever! I did it and there were no tears! I'm can run again!
It's only 15 seconds and I'm really slow, but dude I'm running!
Here's a screen shot off my Zombies, Run page. I'm so excited!

                                               

Zoe Went To The Regionals

Zoe got picked to go to regionals for track. She was so excited!  Saturday we went to watch her run. It required getting up early, but it was worth it. I forgot to take a hat so I got a touch of the burn.

People milling about before the action.

We got there early for her event and it was packed already. There were people everywhere and it was hard to get up close enough to get decent pictures. We made sure we had a good spot to people watch then waited. 

 It was a bit warm out but the wait was interesting. A few of the parents yelled at their kids in a mean way, but most of them were very supportive of the runners. Most of them just seemed to want the kids to do their best and have fun. The women seemed to be the more aggressive ones and that was fascinating to me. I enjoyed watching the people, and a couple were even playing Frisbee. They let a little boy play with them and he had lots of fun aiming at the man.

Waiting for the hand off

She's in blue Taking the baton.

She ran in the relay race in second position and did really well. She took off like a rocket and all the practice they had been doing really paid off. No one dropped the baton. I hope she sticks with it, as long as she enjoys it. I love going to see her run

We have lift off!

Her team came in 2nd by 3/10 of a second.