Great week!

Another great week.  I was able to get back to class after our holidays and it was great to be back.

Tomorrow I get my first live immunizations and that is another big step moving forward.  Work has been going well.  My brain is another part of me that the more I exercise it, the better it gets.  Don’t get me wrong, when I don’t practice something over and over and OVER, I lose it.  This was evident with my butterfly swords form.  I THOUGHT I knew it until I tried to do it this week.  I forgot so much! The good news it’s coming back fairly fast.  It’s been very evident the different layers of memory and the repetitions that it takes to move those actions into a deeper memory layer.  Previously it would take less reps and I “thought” I knew it but the advantage that I have now is that I need to do more frequent repetitions so I never allow cobwebs to set in and I do know when I it’s solidified.

I have joined a different cancer exercise program and that starts on Wednesday.  I’m looking forward to it but I have a lot of work before Wednesday.  We are making space for Nate to move back home and that brings a lot of clutter to my exercise room.  I don’t deal well with clutter, I thought I did before but I was fooling myself.  The clutter is stressing me out but I will get through it.  It has made me downsize a lot of items.

Busy but great week!

Numbers

Pushups (equivalent) - 1220

Sit-ups (equivalent) - 820

Kilometers - 818.7

Weapons form - 150

Hand form - 165

Sparring - 40

AOK - 685

Piano - 1/50

Tai Chi - 33/50

Yoga - 29/50

Meditation - 12/50

Below the surface

This week Mike and I were on vacation on Vancouver Island.  There was lots of walks, kayaking, and enjoying being by the water.  The ocean was calm and in the morning it would have a glass like appearance.  It reminded me of my training. Although it may look like nothing is happening on the surface, below there are small changes occurring all the time.  Tides coming in or out that over time have large impacts.  Impacts that you don't see when you are sitting and watching for change.  Only by comparing at different intervals do you see differences.   This week I noticed more strength in my legs but I also noticed a marked increase in my neuropathy pain but that was due to the heat wave that we all were experiencing.  Still I am happy with the improvement that continues to occur week by week.  Although my numbers are low, they are slowly increasing with my focus being on walking, Tai Chi,  and Yoga.

Numbers

Pushups (equivalent) - 1200

Sit-ups (equivalent) - 800

Kilometers - 749.7

Weapons form - 145

Hand form - 145

Sparring - 40

AOK - 615

Piano - 1/50

Tai Chi - 32/50

Yoga - 28/50

Meditation - 11/50

A better week

 Last two physio appointments went very well.  Not sure there’s been improvement in my neuropathy but definitely able to walk downstairs better this week so that is a win.  

I was able to watch the Tiny Tigers and I was impressed with Sihing Brinker’s push up form so we chatted about it after class.  She asked me where I was at and I can’t even do a “let down” from my knees but I also haven’t been doing my wall pushups so how can I improve?  So I’ve been mindful of trying to do a controlled lowering when I do my cobra physio exercises.  Started with a few wall pushups a day and a few core reps.  Again little steps.

Also instead of mending a relationship, this year I am focusing on the people that I take for granted will always be around.  I spent a day with my high school best friend and even visited with her parents.  People who were instrumental in molding me to the person I am today and yet it was over 25 years since I’ve seen them.  I was lucky they were still around so we could have a visit.

Yesterday Mike and I met up with friends from our early years.  It’s been over 10 years since we’ve seen them last but it was like it was yesterday and now I’ve found out she’s going through her own cancer journey.  These are the relationships that I don’t want to take for granted so I need to put more energy into them and prioritize time with them.

So a good week!  Mentally and physically. Being on holidays definitely helps too 😊.

I will post my numbers later this week but wanted to get another blog out.  Little steps for consistency.

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Goods and Bads

 It’s been 2 months since I’ve blogged.  I let it slide and it just kept on sliding.  Now I need to stop the slide.  

Lots has happened in these last 8 weeks, good and bad.  I will start with the good.

Participated in the tiger challenge and I was happy with how I did.  It was a long day and I slept a lot after it but a great day.  

June 3rd I was able to ring the bell at CCI.  I’ve been transferred to the long term follow up.  I stopped my last immunosuppressant May 24th so I can start my live immunizations after July 24th.

Work has been going well and I am getting back to my regular routine faster than normal.

Today I participated in the Canada Day demo and it was great to be part of the group.  Everyone did amazing.

So on to the bad.  My numbers are atrocious and the little that I do, I have not been tracking them well.  Although being off of immunosuppressants is good, it has allowed for all the inflammation to show up, things that were also suppressed. My feet have been killing me even when I’m just sitting, my hips, calves and back are sore.

I have been doing yoga twice a week and Tai Chi.  This exercise has allowed me to have some normal movements.  I started physio to see if I can get my feet hurting less.  I have neuropathy and plantar fasciitis.  The first two sessions were great and I was so excited but then the neuropathy kicked in worse and we are back to square one.  Finding that balance between moving forward without aggravating the nerves.  

I am tired of being in pain and tired of not making any progress.  This is when the mental part of training is really needed and I am just exhausted and this overshadows the positives.  But at least I blogged.

My numbers have not really changed at all but here they are:

Numbers

Pushups (equivalent) - 1107

Sit-ups (equivalent) - 700

Kilometers - 340.7

Weapons form - 125

Hand form - 125

Sparring - 30

AOK - 485

Piano - 0/50

Tai Chi - 22/50

Yoga - 26/50

Meditation - 9.5/50