Shedding It

It has been an exhausting week. I want to say I’m not sure why, but I am trying to be more introspective. So: new job, with new colleagues (hard work for an introvert) lingering anger and loss about the fact that I had to change jobs (goes with the territory, but still not fun) no IT for most of the week, which made it really hard to read into the new job, or finish tasks left from the last one lack of sleep (averaging no more than about 4 hours a night, despite getting myself into bed at a reasonable hour) the lack of sleep was definitely related to muscle pain from tension - mostly in my neck and jaw, but sometimes my back and even into my legs. And the tension was largely from the work issues, so vicious spiral was happening. Yesterday I arranged to go for a walk with a friend. We usually try to walk together every Wednesday, but she had been out of town. She had the brilliant suggestion of visiting my horse, since she has never met Fancy, and the farm is relatively near her house.

 Today I explored chair yoga exercises. I tried five different ones, but there are lots more on Youtube. The first was a Yoga With Adriene video.  Then I tried Beyooutiful Living:  Chrystina’s set was good too:  I really liked Ekhart Yoga, and found her voice sufficiently soothing that I might check out more of her videos:  The last for today was this one: There were lots more, plus 5-15 minute sets just for neck and shoulders, or for standing up out of your chair. I have constant issues with tight neck and shoulders, so will be exploring further.

Mentally, this has been a tough week.   Yesterday I spent several hours sorting and shredding papers. There were documents, notes and files that dated back more than a decade. I need to do more. My goal is to fit everything from my old office into existing spaces at home. I will not fall into the temptation of acquiring more storage solutions. Marie Kondo is very much on my mind. Today I worked on decluttering my brain. I went for a swim this morning with a bunch of friends. We were in the water as the sun rose. It was peaceful and I spent a bit of time doing speed work - trying to increase my stroke rate and push each stroke harder through the water. Sadly, when I finished, my Strava showed that I was 120 M short of my 2.5 km goal for the morning. I tried to let it go, along with the list of tasks I had set for myself today. Instead, I called my parents and asked if the invitation to my sister’s cottage for the day was still open. It was.  I limited myself to one craft project for the

This morning’s overcast weather meant that The Pond was empty except for the regulars (mostly sweet older ladies who are clearly puzzled by the newfound enthusiasm for open-water swimming. They have been doing it daily for decades, from late April until past Thanksgiving). I had an early phone call so it was just a quick 1.2 km dip with Vicki and Tom. It felt great to have the place almost to ourselves. Then I headed to the community garden plot to pick some beans, before going home and making a jar of refrigerator pickles. I’m not a very good gardener, but I enjoy pickling from time to time, especially with things I have grown myself. It feels healthier, making things from locally-grown foods is probably better for the environment, and I find both the garden and kitchen time to be relaxing and therapeutic. 

 Unlike many on the Fit is a Feminist Issue blog, I don’t cycle for fun. I spent much of my youth living in Europe, where many people used their bicycles to commute. I could get into that, and for many years I have cycled to work in all but snowy or rainy weather. I didn’t love it, but I preferred my bicycle to walking or using public transit. I did enjoy riding in a dress or other work clothes, and occasionally passing someone kitted out in full cycling gear.  Back when my son was an infant, I recall talking to a work colleague about how I could ride my bicycle to a certain grocery store. I never actually did. My son is now well into adulthood. I didn’t ride much last year as I broke my arm in July, and didn’t get the medical clearance to get back on my bike until right at the end of the cycling season. Then COVID hit just before the spring cycling started, so I have only gotten out a couple of times. But today I rode all the way to the grocery store! It turned out to be exactly the s

On Friday night I had an impromptu walk with my friend Renee. We ended up going more than 7 km along the river as the sun was setting. By the time we got home it was completely dark. It meant I missed the planned Zoom paint night with friends, but I am learning to let that go. Besides, I have some screen captures of our model, so I can go back and paint him if I feel ambitious. Renee and I. Down by the boat club.  We weren’t the only ones enjoying the evening.

 It has been a lovely weekend for getting out on the water.  Yesterday the egrets were eating breakfast, red squirrels  were chattering, and I got caught up in a Canada geese traffic jam on the way to the swimming spot. I did a nice 2k with a couple of friends. Today there was a glorious sunrise. I met up with two different friends and we did the same route. It was lovely as one person had never gone out into the really open water before and she had a great time. The other person was someone I haven’t seen in ages, so it was nice to catch up. Just hanging out on our floats and chatting by the channel marker before heading in on the last stretch felt wonderful. Oh, and the geese were back, but standing in a row on a wall rather than blocking the pathway.

Today is my last day in a job I enjoyed, with an amazing team of colleagues. It has been really hard to wrap my mind around the end of an era and start engaging in a new assignment. I seriously considered whether I could manage retirement, and have reluctantly concluded that I need to work at least one more year - if only to take the time to ensure a smooth transition from salary to pension.  Thank goodness for friends who convinced me to visit last night and teach them how to make pretzels. It has been years since I last did it, and apparently I had not written down my process in detail, so that made for some amusing challenges. In the end, we had several dozen giant pretzels, I had my recipe notes updated, and we spent several hours watching clips from broadway shows. For the record, Christopher Walken as Captain Hook was probably the highlight of the evening, especially when we came across this review of his performance:  https://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/12/christopher-walken-captain-h

 It has been a crazy and stressful week. The tension in my neck and jaw had reached the point where I have had a headache for a week. The headache has been so bad that my teeth hurt. So I went for a swim because swimming helps me get out the crazies. I went more than 5 km, which is my longest distance in a very long time. The jaw is still sore, so I’ll be back to massage and stretches later tonight, but the brain feels better.

In the absence of swim meets and club practices, Masters Swimming Ontario has put together a virtual swim meet. I am doing the longer distances and am pleased to report that I hold the record in my age group for the 1 km swim. We will not discuss the fact that only two of us have logged Swim’s so far and the other person is a much younger guy, so in a completely different category. Today I finished and registered my second swim: 3 km. I’m happy with this swim. Ignore the Strava swim time. It’s never accurate, though the GPS part is good. My actual time was 1:28, so very consistent, even with the more open water of the river, and swimming against the current. It was my first time swimming to the marina from the beach, which I knew was about 1500m round trip, so I didn’t get bored. Three trips to the marina, plus a large loop near the beach, should be enough for the 5 km swim that is my next challenge.  I can feel a little tightness in my shoulders, but I’ll easily get rid of that