About Me

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Austin, Texas, United States
I'll make you laugh, or break my neck trying. This is usually accomplished with daily bouts of swimming, biking and running. A former "chub-a-holic," I got fit and healthy the good old fashioned way and went from a mid-pack athlete to top age group runner and triathlete. I'm a Writer and USAT Level 1 Certified Triathlon Coach. I guess that makes me part Tina Fey and part Jillian Michaels. Visit my coaching site at www.fomotraining.com

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

A Day in the Life...

I'm not gonna lie. Sitting here on the couch doing nothing totally blows. My experience over the last week has been a mundane combination of waking, hobbling downstairs (which I've now mastered, thank you very much), making coffee and a semblance of breakfast, and then retreating to the couch where I watch my leg move up and down in the CPM Machine while catching up on episodes of "Glee" and "Dr. Oz."  I read,  write articles, spend way too much time on Facebook and challenge my literary skills with multiple games of "Words with Friends." After about 3-4 hours of that excitement, I get up and spend about an hour making lunch, all the while wondering how I could possibly be hungry since I burned ZERO calories sitting on my butt (thank goodness I have a decent basal metabolic rate). The afternoon is spent doing much of the same. Even my cats think I'm being a bit lazy. Yeah--these guys.


For exercise, I climb the stairs on my crutches, shower and brush my teeth. Whew...exhausting. I sit in our steam shower for 15 minutes at 105 degrees just to remember what it was like to do yoga. Unfortunately, I can't really bend over and do "standing head to knee" or "rabbit pose" right now. I sit in the sauna and basically talk to myself (and whoever is getting a good laugh from up above).  My afternoons are spent back in the leg machine and catching up with friends by phone and email. I can't thank you enough for reaching out to make sure I'm alive and sane. I'm definitely alive. I can't speak for my sanity.  This view gets a little boring...and reminds me that I need a good shave and pedicure.



On a positive note, I've written a couple of good articles, finished a book, started my Training Peaks coaching tutorial and have made contact for potential future writing endeavors.  I also get 9+ hours of sleep a night and, so far, my leg/hip feels awesome. I actually start some physical therapy this week and my first follow up with the surgeon is next week. I can only hope this means I'll have some independence soon. By independence, I mean to say that I hope I'll actually be able to drive myself places and walk up and down stairs without a crutch. Soon enough, I'll be able to get in a pool and move my legs back and forth. I've never been so excited about aqua jogging in all my life. I have to convince myself that I haven't become the pile of fluffy goo that my body feels like right now. Sad, isn't it? Less than one week after running my final "marathon," I feel like a chubby sloth. The mind can play cruel tricks sometimes.

Thanks to friends and hubster, I've had some wonderful outings. I actually did a lap on the track a couple of days ago and met some friends at Whole Foods for my first scooter adventure! Michelle came by on Saturday and gave me some wonderful downtime material (trashy romance novel and chick flicks!!) Most people would kill for this meditative and reflective time. I just hope it doesn't kill me first.


Until then, I'll just keep jumping these little hurdles one at a time...


Because that's how I roll!!

5 comments:

greyhound said...

Ahem. You know, I started a Facebook Scrabble game for you in an effort to occupy your time, but you're all, like, "Let's ignore greyhound and maybe he'll go away." Like, WHAT-EVER.

Ulyana said...

Great job on the recovery!

Anonymous said...

LOVE the "romance" novels...good luck with the recovery...

Dave said...

I totally saw (and giggled at) the cover of "Blackwolf's Redemption" at the grocery store the other day.

Now I see the error of my ways. I was wrong to laugh at it, and it's obviously a very serious work of American literature that will someday be studied alongside Hawthorne and Whitman.

ShirleyPerly said...

I like that photo of you with the hurdle. And you're right, a lot of folks would kill to have all that extra time you now have. Try not to rub it in too much!