HAWCS 2

Today was my day to cross yet another first off my list.  I would be riding in a helicopter for the first time.

You all know how much I "love" flying, so I was a bit nervous...okay, a lot nervous.  I took a Gravol with my lunch, and aimed James to the airport.

After filling out the necessary paperwork, and passing (yes, I am that boring) the criminal check with flying colours, we were off.  Had a tour of the hanger, learned about HAWCS 1, met Frasier the pilot and John the officer, and went outside to meet my ride.

It was a lovely day in Calgary, for the first day of spring, but with the warm weather came the wind.  Lots of wind...the Gravol didn't stand a chance!  We did head up, and helped out with tracking a vehicle for the guys below, before heading to the far south end of Calgary, so see the guy with with the fake lawn.  Seriously...neon green stands out amongst all the brown in town.  No fertilizer works that well!!!  But we were buffeted about quite a bit, and I know the guys wanted to show me how the equipment worked, but my tummy did not appreciate the banking to the right and the left.  I was honest and told the guys I had reached my limit, and we headed back.  It was a choppy landing (the wind had really picked up) and well...suffice to say, it's a good thing they pack barf bags.  At least I waited till we were on the ground!!  Although, man, I felt off the entire afternoon.  It was hard driving home, for goodness sake!  Luckily a nap helped, which I enjoyed after I got home, not while driving!
:)

Calf is still tender, but we'll see what tomorrow's ART session does for it.  It's hard to guide my 10k class (which is up to 28 members...yikes!) without being able to run with them.  Rest is hard.

My cutie-patootie photo of the day...George helping his mama with her Epicure business. 

Later,

Rest - a four-letter word

rest 1 (rst)

n.
   1. Cessation of work, exertion, or activity.
   2. Peace, ease, or refreshment resulting from sleep or the cessation of an activity.
   3. Sleep or quiet relaxation.
   4. The repose of death: eternal rest.
   5. Relief or freedom from disquiet or disturbance.
   6. Mental or emotional tranquillity.
   7. Termination or absence of motion.

There are times when, despite all you do and precautions you take, that your body decides it has had enough.  Mine did that on Thursday.  Yes, I've had a nagging shin/calf issue that I've been dealing with, with chiropractor and ART and stretching and rolling with my beat-stick, etc.  However, it decided it was in charge on Thursday.  Thursday was my first night of my 10km clinic (2 of my 5k members ran the Diakonos 5k on Saturday, and I'm pretty sure they both got PB's - so proud!), so after the intro talk, we went out for a short, sweet run to ease ourselves back into things.  About 100 m down the path, when SNAP right behind my knee!!!!  I mean, the kind of sound that you should only hear when stepping on a stick.  I stopped immediately, told everyone to continue on and tried to stretch.  OMG it hurt, but I quickly assured myself that I had mobility, could put weight on the leg, and could move my foot up and down (phew...Achilles was fine!).  I hobbled back to the Running Room to wait for everyone, and after much debate about what I did, I headed for home and ice.  Lots of ice.  Mainly for my vodka, but some for my leg!

And straight to my chiro Friday morning (again, I wasn't worried about broken bones, and there wasn't a huge amount of swelling, coldness or bruising) and after some gentle prodding (I hit the roof a couple of times) he determined that my knee was where it was supposed to be, my ACL was good and no ligaments or tendons were torn, so I most likely over strained my calf muscle.  The "snap" could have been the tendon moving over the joint or something...he had me at "nothing torn".  Phew!!!  After some gentle ART, and sitting under the laser for awhile (I think it just Christmas lights on a piece of rubber, but if it works, what do I know?!), I walked out with Olly the Octopus keeping the swelling down.

It's weird, but it worked. 
I am also being forced to rest.  That means no running...no bootcamp...no clinics...no races...ARGH!  SO HARD!!!  Okay, so I can't walk up and down a flight of stairs right now and if I take too big of a stride, my leg quickly reminds me who's in charge, so I guess I have no choice.

But I was supposed to follow this man through his moves on Saturday.

le sigh...  Do you all know how boring it is to WATCH a bootcamp?!  VERY...good thing Tommy isn't so hard on the eyes.  And he was nice enough to make Olly a keepsake. hehehe

I did do too much walking yesterday, and felt it today, but again sat under the laser and let Dave do his magic on my leg.  I will arrange for someone to take my group out on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday (hoping I'm not down too for long) and will now marshal at Saturday's L'Arche Half, rather than running it. 
 
Now I will really be putting my weight watcher's training to to the test, as I won't be earning all those lovely exercise points...will power, here we come!  Asked Tommy for some advice, and bought his Last 10-pounds book for when I'm healed and ready to kick it to the curb.
 
It's going to be a long few weeks...wish me luck.
 
Later,

MIA Again??

I find when I get really busy are work, staring at computers/spreadsheets all day, the last thing I want to do when I come home is stare at my computer.  Which means it's been almost two weeks since I last blogged.  Guess that much excitement has happened along the way...haven't exactly felt the crushing need to tell you all about it!

Work: Quarter end = uber busy time for me.  Still learning my reports and requirements, and always asking for more.  I want to do well at this job, and I want to be busy.  Busy is good!

Running:  My 5-clinic is winding down, and I am down to 3 devotees.  And one of them is hit or miss, as he is also on the ballroom dancing circuit (yes, seriously) so has to miss clinic nights for either rehearsals or competitions.  I am signed on to head the 10k clinic starting on the 15th, and I do hope for more of a steady turnout.  Or my ego may just take a beating!  I am exciting to be running more than just 10:1's as well, as I am suddenly facing race season head on.  I signed up for more races - a women's only 10K (they had me at Starbucks), and another Spartan type race called Mud Heroes.  Can't wait!

Bootcamp: Was doing well, but my weird leg really acted up this week.  Could be the running, could be the bootcamp, could be I'm 49...we'll never know!  Either way, I had Graston (yes, I actually ASKED for it!) on Wednesday, which promptly made the pain MOVE.TO.A.NEW.SPOT!!!  Needless to say, no running, no bootcamp, no nothin'.  I did go for a walk today while my clinic ran, and while the leg is stiff, it feels better.  I go for another ART session tomorrow (after Friday's emergency ART), so hoping to be back by Thursday for the new clinic.  Getting old(er) sucks.

Weight:  'nuf said.

Okay...I vow to get back into blogging the way I did in the beginning, and will do my best to be entertaining and witty and charming.  Or just honest.  Not sure what sells these days!  Hope everyone had a great weekend (AWESOME weather in Calgary - loved every minute of it) and enjoys the week ahead.  See you all soon.

Later,