Good Friday to you!

Indeed, it is Good Friday, which means a super-long weekend for all of us here in Canada (since we celebrate Easter Monday)! I love Easter!

And keeping with the season, I have my own Easter miracle to share. My dear friend Kymmy, who I told you all about yesterday, proved that an indomitable spirit and the collective will of hundreds of friends across the world truly can triumph. Despite a severe head injury and broken neck, and odds quoted at approximately 35%, she is awake and talking!!!! She flew through the surgery, and though she has a long road to recovery, she is on that road now. I am so happy, and thank you to everyone who kept her in your thoughts.

My cold (yes, I'm resigned to admitting I actually have a cold) is stubbornly hanging on, and today has settled in my upper chest with a rather nagging, hacking cough. Hopefully, this means the end is nigh (the cold's end, not mine... though there are times...) The gym is closed for Good Friday (but not Easter Sunday.... oohhhkaaayyy....) so I won't be going in for a workout. I'm going to try to get a run in, and maybe some core work if I can handle it, but with the cold now in my chest, it is compromising my respiratory ability, so, as Shawn has been trying to teach me, I'll have to listen to my body. Stupid body. Why can't it learn to listen to me? I've been telling it to stop being sick for the past four days.

I have a "progress session" with Dr. Mike on Monday, to find out if the chiropractic is actually making any difference to my back. I do notice some difference, and I have to say, he is a miracle worker when it comes to quickly alleviating the minor aches and pains caused by muscle strains, etc. Which I get a lot because of the whole gym thing. Plus, he usually has a few sound pieces of advice for whatever issues I have that week, or just an interesting anecdote or two. I enjoy going to the chiropractor.

And it's Friday, so my three fun facts!

In honour of the fact that Shawn was commenting on the fun cracking noise my knee made as I was doing squats off the bench this week, here are three key elements to improving cartilage formation and knee function: strengthen your quadriceps (the large muscle in the front of your thigh), commit to regular vigorous exercise (that doesn't hurt your joints), and eat foods rich in omega-3s, like fish, berries, flaxseed, and avocado.

As I fight off my cold, researchers are suggesting large doses of vitamin D might help fight off the flu. Studies with children have suggested that taking 1,200 IU of the "sunshine vitamin" might help ward off the nasty bug which makes the rounds each winter (when most of us are getting less vitamin D from the sun, coincidentally).

And, in honour of the season, a bite of chocolate might help your heart. (Yay!) Researchers have suggested that eating one square of dark chocolate each day could lower your risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. But be warned: if you indulge in this high-calorie, high-fat snack without eating fewer calories elsewhere or exercising regularly to burn off the extra intake, you'll negate the chocolate's benefits by packing on extra pounds.

Have a great long weekend, everyone, and enjoy your Easter!

My April Fool's Wish.... Prayers needed

I suck at April Fool's jokes, so I'm afraid I don't have anything cute and clever for you all.

I'm dealing with a bit of a personal tragedy today. In the global world we live in, the internet has closed distances like never before. As a result, there are people on the other side of the country, the continent, and even the world who I consider very dear friends whom I've never actually met in person. Last night I found out that one of those dear friends, a sweet young 18-year-old woman with a tremendous spirit who I've "watched" grow up over the last two years, was in a horrific car crash and is now fighting for her life. I personally have spent the last twelve hours hoping she pops up and virtually yells "April Fools!" so I can give her the reaming of her life... but I know it won't happen.

So I'm asking you all to send your prayers out to dear Kymmy. She needs them. The community to which she belongs, an online community which is closer than any collection of streets and yards, needs them. We need to believe our "baby sister" is going to pull through this.

My own update, though you have to forgive me, as my heart isn't really in this: Though I felt better yesterday, the aftereffects of my illness caught up to me on my workout, and Shawn had to scale things back pretty dramatically. A step cardio workout I can normally do two reps on at sixty seconds each, I got one rep at forty seconds before he called it quits, and I spent the whole workout feeling very fatigued. I did get four minutes on a plank though - even on the stability ball, my personal best was around the two-minute mark - and could have likely gotten a little bit more if I'd been willing to push, but I knew there was more to come. I am so looking forward to shaking this so I can get back to a real workout.

On the mend

Another good night's sleep has truly done wonders for me. I woke up this morning feeling considerably better than yesterday; at the very least, I didn't need to take a breather between putting on pants and putting on socks. You know it's not going to be a good day when you look at your feet and curse your legs for being so long. And you're only 5'6".

I'm not 100% yet, but I've improved mightily over yesterday, or even Monday. Made it into work and will go to my training session after work. I do kind of wish I could just have a brief nap to just recharge, as I find I'm a little fatigued, but I think I can push through it. I'd also like to shake the slightly naggy cough that's settled in my chest - it's not bad, just irritating. For now, I'm just gonna continue with my ginseng tea (which I brought with me) and water and hope for the best. I'm not willing to give up training because of a bit of a cough unless Shawn outright says no. And considering I felt worse Monday, and we were still good to go, I think I'll be fine.

So, going to hope for the best, and go make myself another cup of tea!

Heal thyself

Today's valuable lesson: surround yourself with knowledgeable people, then listen to what they tell you.

When I told Shawn that I was feeling rather under the weather last night, he suggested I might be a little played out, and sagely advised me to take today off, get lots and lots of rest, take lots of Vitamin C, drink ginseng tea, and get more rest. While I was a little skeptical about calling into work sick because my trainer told me to, when I got up this morning and exhausted myself trying to get dressed, I decided he was probably right, and even though I've used my one allotted sick day this month, I called in sick. My throat was still sore, my head was pounding, and I felt like I had been hit by a bus. I stumbled through making myself some newly-bought oatmeal for breakfast (which even in my state of illness was incredibly yummy), and then stumbled back to bed. I did have to haul myself out of bed for a chiropractor's appointment, and to straighten out a paperwork snafu at Nubody's, but besides that, I've been sleeping.

And you know what? I actually feel better. Not 100%, and still tired (I undertook a very strenuous walk followed by a nap, and then did laundry and made my lunch - exhausting, I know), but a whole bunch better than I did. I'm pretty sure I can handle work tomorrow and my training session. Very different from my usual tactic, which would be to fight through at all costs. I suspect this way is much better.

And now I'm going to bed so I can get a good night's rest before work tomorrow!

I hate Monday...

So my good night's rest didn't get me anywhere... and my long weekend in the cold caught up with me.

Woke up this morning with a sore throat, and an achy back and neck, and an overall feeling of blechyness (I just invented that - it's great word, isn't it?). Have a hair appointment at 12:45, a chiropractor appointment at 4:00, and a training session at 5:00, and work all freaking day, and all I really want to do is go lie down somewhere and sleep. And I'm still cold. I may need to pick up another long-sleeved workout top before this afternoon, I'm that cold. I'm really hoping that Dr. Mike can do something about the achy back and neck, which I'm pretty sure is caused from being so tense in the cold all weekend.

Should probably cancel my training session for tonight, but I really don't want to - after all, I'm just a bit under the weather, not all out dead. I'm sure the workout will be good for me. And hopefully Shawn will take a little pity on me.

One down, two to go....

Oh my... I'm not dead, but I might wish I was...

How to spend a GREAT Sunday:

Get up at 7 am. Go to an incredibly, incredibly cold building. Freeze your butt off for five hours whilst showing dogs. Make sure by the time you leave you are COLD, exhausted, sore, COLD, stiff... did I mention COLD?

Get home, take a brief break, then get your things packed and go to the gym for a training session. Still be so cold that you have to wear a cover-up coat over your t-shirt. Be so tired you are actually a little worried about said training session.

Decide after training session that you should totally do step class. That's a good idea.


I am so tired. And I have another session tomorrow. Shawn has said we'll do upper-body, not legs (which is nice) since I did step tonight, but I don't know how I'm going to survive. I made it through step tonight, but it was hard. By the half-way mark, I was watching the clock and dragging - a lot.

The session actually went pretty well, considering that I was tired, and Shawn was a little under the weather so we were both a bit subdued. I did manage to aggravate my wrist doing pushups, which likely never would have happened had I not spent two days grooming dogs, and my back was a bit sore, from standing on cold, horrid dirt floors. But, I'm making a fair bit of progress in weight training, and in some aspects of core work, though in my last exercise of the night, fatigue finally got to me.

Hopefully a good night's sleep will make all the difference and I'll be able to face tomorrow's session as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as usual.

On my break....

I'm taking a bit of a break, and decided to sit down and write my daily post, or it wouldn't get written. I was at a dog show all day, in a very, very cold building, then got home to run to Dartmouth and pick up the computer I bought my mother, then run over to Halifax and do some shopping. Not much mind, but a little. So I'm very tired now.

A break from what? Well from something I've been meaning to do for some time, but been too chicken to actually get started on - I am cleaning out my closet and getting rid of all of the stuff which is too big for me. Which at this point is very nearly all of it. Some is being handed on to friends, some is being tossed, and some is being donated to charity. It's just all being taken out of my house.

I did go and get a new pair of jeans to replace some of the pants I'm tossing, and for the first time in my very long memory, I'm down to a size eleven from Reitmans. I am both stunned and thrilled.

My training session last night.... didn't happen. No, the world didn't end. There was a mix-up with scheduling and somehow Shaun ended up double-booked, so he offered to make it up to me with a free session for Sunday night. This could be fun; I'm now training Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. And I usually do step on Sunday. I might be dead by Wednesday. Or very fit. One of the two. Even without our session, Shawn didn't want to leave me high and dry (I really did find a great trainer - and it was just luck of the draw), so he gave me a copy of the program he's designed for me, and told me to go through the legs exercises he's laid out. Oh my goodness. Maybe I should have warned him that I needed to be able to walk today. Five different weight machines, all with multiple pyramid sets, plus lunges with dumbbells, plus step-ups on that wonderful YMCA step. My butt still hurts.

Anyhow, I have to get back to purging. I've never had this little clothing.... I feel rather naked really. A friend is supposed to be giving me some hand-me-downs tomorrow, so hopefully that'll fill the emptiness a bit!