Daphne007

Okay here I am.

It’s noon on the 24th of November , 2009 and its about time to give a little writing here. It’s been a heck of a while. So, yes I am still breathing, although it was touch and go for a minute.

I am just finishing up in a few weeks my first semester at school, and seemingly more or less successful at that. Heheheh, who’d of guessed. So now the next hope is to just make it through 2nd semester alive and intact enough to get into the Excercise Science department in September. The hope is to do a program called Clinical Excercise Physiology. But there is still no guarantee I’ll get into the program.

Physically, things have been a bit rough. I’ve been having nerve, muscle and possibly joint problems with my hand, arm and neck. Apparantly my body’s response to pain is to lower my heart rate, which has on a few ocassions caused me to hit the deck. Biology lab is a bad place for this I feel. So I’ve been on excercise restriction for about 2 months which is just about enough to make me go insane plus some. I’m now almost feeling human again. I’ve found a fencing club and after 3 years of no fencing at all, I’ve started working out there a little bit. Footwork, lesson, footwork, gentley. And have found my way back to a swimming pool, carefully after no swimming order by doctor being overturned by common sense.

I discovered that I haven’t been swimming for two months because my doctor isn’t aware of how one properly and efficeintly swims. Her concern was that every time I breathe I’m cranking my head 90 degree turn. This is true if you don’t know how to swim and are mimicking the movements to the best of your abiblity , but the proper form of swimming is a full body turn, as if your body is on a pole that is driven straight down your spine. To breath you trun on the pole…. head is still in line , everything straight. So back to the pool I go….damn I’m out of shape. Yuck!!!!

So much for my goals being met in a timely fashion. *sigh*… this is frustrating.

Anyways…I shouldn’t be bithcing too much, could be worse.

Many smiles, -M

I’m officially moving in 28 days. For the next 21 minus weekends I’m in the swimming pool for 5 hours and then fighting sleep all afternoon, so it doesn’t ellude me at night. My goodness this is awesome. Who could ask for anything more? For 4 weeks, in a swimming pool (A1), teaching (wonderful), with kids (fantastic) and….. welll I can’t think of something else but I’m sure it would be fantastic too.

Yesterday after work I went grocery shopping for a pinic…and then surprise surprise, went on a picnic. It was fantastically lovely. Unfotunately in all of my eager attempts to have a bit of a nap and get ready for picnicking I neglected to hand my wet bathing suit up to dry. So maybe I’m not quite as eager to get to work this morning. There is something particularly nasty and ew about putting on a wet bathiing suit.

Training wise, I’ve been dong my best , but haven’t been able to secure consitent rides to the gym. However, I haven’tl et that stop me and I’ve been doing 15 min , swim sprints at my lunch time. and low level HIIT plyometrics in my backyard. My neighbours probably think I’m crazy, especially because I’ll talk myself into doing those last few reps…rather loudly and disgustedly at myself. In retrospect , maybe it is a little odd….

Nutrition wise, I’m really back on track, much better then I was last time I thought that I was back on track. On average I’m eating 0630 - bowl of cereal and milk, protien shake with bannana    1030 some kind of carb and protien and a vegetable (todday is chicken and whole grain pasta and sweet potatoe) , 1400, whatever I decide to make for a good well balanced lunch. then supper around 1800, and a little snack before bed. I`m feeling overall stronger and healthier and lot more energy for my day. I`m pretty sure I can keep this up this time. Thank you all for the support you`ve been giving me. It really has helped me get in control of this food thing.

Many smiles I`m pulling for you   -Menara

Okay so today we’ve worked it out all logistically. Menara will actually be able to go to the gym today.  I am super pshyced and ready for it. I’ve been doing modified HIIT Plyo workouts at home, (at least when I haven’t been sick sick sick) so don’t be thinking that I’ve been lazy or anything. But I’m finally decided to cut the body fat down and get "Picture ready". I want to get a brief picture portfolio together. Was hoping to be ready by August, but because I’ve been sick I don’t think I’ll get there in time. That’s okay. I’m now thinking 12 weeks starting Monday yesterday. So that will take me to around beginning of October.  I guess a portfolio building session will be in order for my birthday. Hehehe.. Definatly psyched ,and happy to have a realistic fitness goal.

I’m rambling,,,sorry.

So I guess I’ll have to put up progress photos soon…and then every few weeks or so, lets see what this body can do. Today is a full body 3 sets 12 reps alternating upper body lower body excercise with 60 seconds rest.  And then time permitting a HIIT swim.  100m warmup relaxed pace. 25m sprint…. 25m medium….25 sprint …25 medium …60sec.. rest… do it all over again 5 times then 100m relax cool down….

I prefer to HIIT train to time but without someone flagging you down in the pool, its insanely difficult to time your intervals.  

Then lunch and a rest and basketball tonight. Now I’m going to talk about basketball because I can and becaues I am once again super super super  psyched.

Sundays practise was absolutely bloody brilliant. I don’t think I’ve ever played that well. I don’t know what got over me but I was on. Although , I was also often down…  Apparantly the fifth wheel on my chair (the little wheel in the back that keeps me from flipping backwards and cracking my head open) isn’t quite in the right spot for the way I play. You can imagine what this often ends up in happening …. And for some reason I’m finding it very difficult to get back up from being flat on my back in a chair. Coach kept trying to not laugh at me as I frantically was trying to flip myself over. I most undoubtably looked like a grounded fish trying to find water. Admittadly though it probably was kind of funny.  

We’ve started circuit training at ball practise…which honestly isn’t doing much for me. It’  a very simple basic circuit that really isn’t that challenging. Or so I thought. I was wathching my teammates and am absolutely shocked and amazed at how out of breath and whining and complaining they were after this. It zapped the strength out of them.. I tkind of was a nice break from practise for me and put the strength back into me.  It’’s mostly 16-21 year olds, I seriously don’t get it, but it’s okay…Coach will hopefully have them in shape in no time. Canada games 2011 isn’t for a few years yet. They have time and good potential. I’m too old for Canada games unfortuanlty.

Okay I’m done rambling and now it is time to eat. and get ready for the gym .

Many smiles -Menara

Today is paperwork monday.

Yesterday was dig ppostholes and mix concrete in the pouring rain day.

But today is paperwork monday. I start teaching swimming lessons again on July 6. Yes!!! Yay!!! whooopeeeeee!!! So today is callback day and cross the fingers hope there aren’t any cancellations. Then there are more calls to make, to figure out what to do next for school. I swear they make the in structions for registration as difficult as they possibly can. Why? To weed out those that passeed the application proces but perhaps through some fluke? I don’t know…but I am definatly determined to be a able to do this, no matter what.  Hell I’m sitting through a year as a humanities major doing biology, physics and chemistry and possibly math… just so i can get into the excercise scinece department. They’ve decided to exepmt me from two math courses for the advanced math i did 6 years ago in high school. This is not settleing well with me.. I don’t remember any of this stuff. So i’ll be ina higher level math class…and probably be quite clueless. How many ways can one person say uh oh!!

So hopefully , if dad can stay awake long enough…. I’ll be able to go into the gym today. yay!!. If I leave now I can still make it back in time to phone the school before the offices close… hopefully..

Alright…cheers all and keep smiling.

-M

It’s 0630 in the morning on a Saturday. What the bloody hell am I doing awake? 0545 damn musquittos buzzing around my head and taking a snack out of my backside woke me up swearing.

I passed out last night at around 0030 . exhausted, sore and covered with dirt.  Have been working on property, digging holes, moving builiidings, schleping firewood, deconstructing things, constructing things, planting seeds, trimming trees, cutting grass etc. My goodness it’s fun, although I was having only a minor fit when I had to stick my hands and arms under a jacked up building to get concrete blocks out from under that had sunk 2.5 feet into the ground. "Please don’t fall, please don’t crush me" was a runnning comentary through my head. Luckily my limbs are still attached…for now. There will most liekly be more of that today.

Thursaday (I know I’m moving backwards in time here, but thinking of things is not always linear and logical especially at 0700 in the morning). Thursday was interesting. Basketball practise was supposedly cancelled due to lack of location. So 0730 my friend picked the still groggy my up and we went and got our tires pumped and had a sweet practise of our own for close to 3.5 hours. It was great. Then he dropped me of at the gym for 1.5 hours where I had an awesome workout and killed my self on 22 min of HIIT training on a Keiser bike. I hate that thing.  My friend came and got me and we went back to his apartment had a bite to eat, baked rhubarb pie, and at 1700 got a call from coach saying that they found a location to practise and to be there at 1900.   So off we went and had a killer practise. I was fine until I got home and passed out on the spot. It was great. I love days off from work. hehe

Last weekend I went off Island to a nearbye city (nearby being 6 hour bus ride in this case) and crashed at a friends place. Sunday was a fitness convention put on by one of my PT certifying bodies ,CanFitPro. There were some good lecturers. Nothing earth shattering new, but good reminders about Pre-Habilitation and some interesting things regarding Core strength and necessity. Two lectures regarding two similar topics, was really intereesting because they both subscribe to two different and opposite phillosophies regarding core stability. It was super interesting. Then for the last time slot of the day I attended a workshop on interval training, or so I thought it would be. I guess it would have been wiser to check who the presenter was and realize the a workshop on interval traiining from a cardio group fitness instructor was probably a little different then what I was originallly excpecting. Oh well… that was my fourth ever group fitness to music class attended and to date the most successful. I did not fall over, get kicked in the head, run in to anyone, or get called out by the instructor. So all in all a good day.

And on the weekend I opened up my e-mail… a regular happening, not expecting anything unusual or fantastic. But little did I know that waiting in my inbox was my acceptance letter for university. hehe…happiness ensued. So now it is official and will be starting school on september 8th. So now I am not quite but almost desperatly looking and hoping for a job (preferrably in a gym of course) in Montreal.

 Many smiles and good happy thought to you all…and yes I am still breathing.

Yours Truly - Menara

As I’ve been absent for the last while, I’ve been getting messages to the effect of …"Where are you…" "Are you okay.." "What’s going on…" "Are you still breathing" etc.

And guys.. I really appreciate it. It’s lovely to be worried about on ocassion…. but yes I’m okay.

So here is the Menara Report, so I don’t have to repeat myself to all you wonderful, kind hearted individuals.

I find that when I am not working that even though I have more time… i nfact more then I’m used to knowing what to do with, that i take care of myself substantially less… which makes not an iota of sense. If one of you told me this, I’d tell you you’d need a smack up the side of your head and to get your ass in gear.  And yes… I probably need just that.

So sleep has been not terribly exsistent… food … well food when I’m eating is good, but not consistent… As I write this I can’t help but think… What the Hell is Wrong with me? I know better.  But things are looking up ..I think.. I hope.

I went to horse farm yesterday with a friend and was amazed at how out of beath she was walking back up from the fields… I was just getting warmed up. Things, and realizations like this make me never want to stop.. makes me want to take care.. so I don’t ever get out of breath like that again. Been there… not cool.

I know I’m kind of rambling here… oh well.. you’ll survive.

last two times I’ve been in the gym, I’ve noticed some distinct odd personalities there. I thought it was kind of humerous at first… but then it got irritating… then I had to walk away before I got in a fight.  I can tolerate being cut off from my alternating stations I’ve set up , once… maybe even twice… I can handle twice…. but three times, and obviously unplating my high pull bar, with me less then two feet away, was a bit much.

I didn’t notice such brash arrogance through out the year… perhaps it being a university gym, the clientelle change with the time of year, seeing as school is out. 

Another interesting thing… Canada Games is coming to our little province… and aparantly the gym at the university will be closing for two weeks durning the games for security reasons…   Scurity form whom?  It might perhaps be open for four hours in the morning and then four in the evening … but (and here is the kicker) not open to members.

This didn’t make sense to me either.

This is the part of my life that makes me smile. The part where I wake up at 6 in the morning and all I can think is "gym gym gym gym gym gym gym".

So I try to be super super quiet, so I don’t wake my parents, so I don’t get fandangled into a conversations where all I can think is "gym gym gym gym gym gym". This is the Plan. Write a note…. "Mum, dad I have bike to gym, I will phone home at reasonable hour…I love you" The hope was to be able to get a lift back home at said reasonable hour. Not sure if I could manage the 14km before and after my workout, but I was willing to try.   Back to the Plan.   Note, left…. grab a quick breakfasty type item, and throw protien powder in my bag…navigate bike out of house…avoid terrible amounts of loud noises and off to the gym I go…. "gym gym gym gym gym…smile"

 Unfortunately plans don’t always work this way…… Open bedroom door to head to kitchen to write ingenious note and of course forget that my parents don’t function on reasonable times of day and for some reason mum is already up? And the phone is ringing? And conversations are being had? BReafast being eaten? Something is n’t right here.  So I do what anyone can only do and say "I think I’d like to go to the gym this morning…" as if this is a surprise to anyone…lol.

Mum replies, with that is my plan too, let’s eat breakfast and get going…WOW… the world is amazing me this morning…. I’m ok with this..

Again , things aren’t always what they seem. More phone calls,  breakfast, breakfast dishes, phone calls, paperwork?, teeth brushing, more dishes (wher did these come from?) , conversation, radio listening….. in other words….waiting waiting wating….

my desire for the gym waning with each passing moment… 10:00 arrives and I arrive at the gym, already exhausted from excitement being dissapointed. But these things happen.

Workout was ….. bizarre today. Not quite full of the pep I was hoping for. Was a 5×5 supposedly, but it seems that today I was to not escape the eye of an older gentlemen who has been "watching" my progress…. only slightly eerie maybe??

And he decided to let me know that I shouldn’t get "too big" because i don’t want to get "too strong"…..  this confused me…. any ideas?

Basketball season is done. Although practises continure. Was supposed to retireive my chair today and do a pushing workout today but… damn snowstorm. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow is a workout day.. yay it’s time to grow grow grow. Tomorrow will be squat , deadlift hrug, bulgarian split squat, tep-up and reverse crunches…

Second day of my grow grow grow stage….. super excited i am.

I know this blog i dijointed, i’m till decompressing from tournement. I actually got to play for 45sec. lol. yay!!  45sec and two point for me.

 Many smiles - keep up the good work all

 I’ll have better updates later I hope when my brain is working better

You’ve got to be kidding me. Just when I’m getting going life throws me a curve ball. Okay, sorry I’ll back up a bit and start back at the beginning of my weekend. Went over to basketball tournement. It went fairly well. Saturday we played really good, and since we are placed first going into finals whether we won or lost this weekend, everyone got equal floor time. Even us rookies…like me. Yaya!!!  Saturday evening I found the hotel swimming pool and went for a fantastic half hour swim, my goodness it felt good, despite some hotel guests jumping in over my head , coming slightly too close for comfort. Saturday night my wrist starts to hurt really bad. My hand goes numb and bright white with restricted movement. Then comes the radiating pain, up into my hand and fingers. Despite freaking my teammates out, it was fine (ish) in the morning and I of course still played. Sunday afternoon it started to hurt again. I came home with the team on Sunday and had a Dr. appointment this morning. He’s scheduling an appointment for me to meet with a surgeon to discuss my options in removing a gangley that has formed in my wrist. Great!! Just Great!!

So tomorrow is a gym day, and hopefully my hand won’t go numb on me in the middle of my workout, that would so not be cool. Don’t worry I won’t push it too hard. Then home to prep for my practical this weekend.

Life just doesn’t give breaks does it?

It is almost the weekend already? Oh my goodness, the time is flying by. So much is happening all at once.

Have been a little bummed as yesterday was my last day teaching swimming lessons. I didn’t realize how sad that would make me. It’s way too easy to get so attached to the little ones. I’m definatley going to miss them , but at the same time I really need to get some experience working in a gym.  Saturday morning and sunday morning are our last two league games for the basketball season. We are currently 10-0. I think that’s a nice place to be. We are guarenteed to go to finals in two weeks whether we win our last two games or not. Hopefully this will mean us rookies will get a little more floor time this weekend… that’d be nice.

I’m staying over on the mainland afterwards for a few days , to stay for a job interview at a Goodlife fitness there. It’s an all women’s gym, which I’m slightly skepitcal about. The atmosphere in those gyms are often strange I find, but I’m not judging until I see it, and besides it will be some good experience. Not terribly thrilled to be working in  a corporate gym but , I’m not knocking the experience.

 I have decided to go back to school to study Athletic Therapy (It’s the Canadian equivilent to Athletic Training) with an eventual goal to be working with disabled sports teams. The school is in Quebec which means I’ll have to do a pre-year to get the equivilent courses because the Quebec school system is a little different then other provinces. but I believe it is worth it.  I’m completely psyched and ready to go yay!

Mean while I want to get my NASM or NSCA, undecided which, so that I can get my CSCS upon graduating with my undergrad degree. I’m rambling, I’m sorry. Just excited.

So this weekend basketball, then interview. Next week practical exam for CanFitPRO - PTS and then perhaps 2nd interview. Then in two weekends I think, basketball finals and hopefully have a job by then. Maybe my head is exploding just a bit.