Posted onMarch 17, 2020|Comments Off on Doing At Least One Scheduled Thing (or The Last Normal Thing For A While)
When I was writing my posts about coronavirus before, I think I was hoping that it wouldn’t get as bad as it could. As I’m writing this, Los Angeles has pretty much shut down. Grocery stores and pharmacies are still open. We can order delivery food (but you can’t eat at a restaurant). And some other essential places are still open. But for the most part, things are closed. It’s weird and I’ll write more about that coming up.
Everything that I had scheduled for the next few weeks have been getting canceled one by one. The only thing that didn’t get canceled was a doctor appointment I had scheduled for yesterday to get my eyes checked. I am almost out of contact lenses and needed to get a new exam before I could order more. It took a while to get this appointment, so I didn’t want to cancel it. But I had no clue if it would still happen or not. I assumed it was still on because I didn’t hear otherwise, so I headed over there a bit early since the office is in the same shopping center as a few stores that I knew would be open and possibly very crowded.
Driving there was weird because there weren’t a ton of cars on the road. I know that’s a good thing because people need to be staying home, but it still felt eerie. And getting to the office for my appointment continued to make me feel uneasy. There was a checkpoint to get through before I could go inside (which I totally understood since they need to make sure people aren’t sick) and then it was empty in the waiting room. I’m used to having to sit and wait a long time for eye appointments, but I was the only one there. And in the waiting room, all the seats were moved to be on their own and apart.
I know this is all done for safety and health, but it doesn’t change that it just feels odd to me.
I was called back pretty quickly and got through every section of the appointment back to back. In the past, I’ve had to wait in a waiting area between different sections of the appointment. This was so fast. Before I knew it, I was seeing the doctor to see if I needed a new prescription (one eye got a bit worse so I am getting a stronger prescription) and we were discussing if I was happy with my brand of contact lenses. I said I was and I was brought over to where I could order some boxes. I got a year’s supply since that’s what I usually order when I get new contacts. And I was done after that. I was in and out in under 25 minutes which I think is a record for me.
After that appointment, I headed over to the main Kaiser building to make a stop at the pharmacy. I didn’t have any prescriptions to get, but there were a few over the counter items that I wasn’t able to find at a regular drugstore and thought I would give a hospital pharmacy a try. It was weird in there too because they had the seats blocked off so only one person could sit in each seating area. And just like at my eye appointment, it was empty inside. Even when I’ve gone at a weird hour, I’ve never seen it without at least a few people inside.
I was able to get almost everything I was looking for, so that was good. And then I headed back home to not be in public. I know that I’m lucky that I have a job that I already work from home, so I don’t have to worry about work. And I was able to get things at the grocery store so I have more than enough food for the next two weeks. I am going to try to go outside for walks and things if I can, but for the most part, I’m going to be inside my house for the next 2 weeks (or longer if things are closed longer). It’s weird to think that my appointment was my last normal thing for a while, but I know that it is for the best because we all have to work together to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Posted onMarch 16, 2020|Comments Off on Trying To Have A Normal Workout Week (or I Need OTF For My Mental Health)
This past week of workouts was just odd. Everything is just odd right now. There’s no denying that. But I tried to do everything I could to make it seem like a normal week. I struggled with pain and nausea for the first part of the week and was hoping that was going to be the worst of it. And physically, that was the worst. But the second half of the week was mentally a struggle. I tried my best and I think that I did pretty ok.
Monday’s workout was an endurance day, and I was definitely struggling with nausea. I didn’t have too much pain like I sometimes do, but it was there. But my nausea was really bad and I knew it would be another workout where I just had to try to do my best.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks. But like I have started to do on my bad pain/nausea days, I didn’t really worry too much about doing the push paces or all outs. I pedaled when I could and took a break when I needed to. I don’t like not following the workouts because one of the things I love the most about Orangetheory is having a coach to push me. But when things are this difficult for me with my body, I really can’t do much else. I could try to do things a bit more as planned, but I’d rather not have to rest when I don’t necessarily need to because everyone else is in a recovery minute. Especially if I just took a break to let some nausea pass. I feel like it’s better to just keep going and that’s why I have started to focus a bit less on the specifics on those days. And it’s not all the time that I feel like this, so I know I’m getting the coaching in on other days.
On the floor, we also had 3 blocks. I knew ahead of time that there were a lot of things I would need to modify and my coach and I were able to go over those things before the workout started. That helped a lot because I wasn’t feeling confused about what I should do and felt more confident about what I was going to do each block. Everything that was done with an ab dolly was something that I had to modify. But I think I got some good things to replace them with. The first block had single-arm low rows using the bench (I did them as hip hinge low rows so I wasn’t facing down too much) and ab dolly rollouts (which I did as rollouts on the straps). The second block had seated low rows, pikes on the ab dolly (I did plank leg lift using the bench), alligators on the straps, and push-ups to knee tucks on the ab dolly (I did these as push-ups and mountain climbers separately using the bench). And the last block had plank Spiderman (again, using the bench for my hands), sit-ups, and a 300-meter row. It wasn’t easy to get through all the floor blocks, but I did it.
Wednesday’s workout was a power day. I wasn’t doing a lot better than I was feeling on Monday, but at least it was a little less pain and nausea. But I still had so many modifications I had to make to every part of the workout.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks that had different intervals of a push pace, base pace, and an all out. All of the all outs were 30-seconds long, but the push and base paces changed. I wanted to do the intervals the way we were supposed to and I was able to do a little faster pedaling for the push paces and all outs. But I still was doing a lot of pedaling when I could and resting when I needed to. It wasn’t exactly the same as what I did on Monday and it wasn’t doing what I can do when I feel good. It was somewhat in the middle.
The rowing was one long block. We started with 3 rounds of a 100-meter row with squats with a medicine ball. Then it was 3 rounds of a 150-meter row with squats to shoulder presses with a medicine ball. And the last section was 3 rounds of a 200-meter row with ground to presses with a medicine ball. I did ok for the first section with the regular squats. But the squats started to make me feel a bit nauseous so I didn’t do any squats in the second section. I just did shoulder presses with a medicine ball between each round. I was working on my first 200-meter row when the block ended so I didn’t have to worry about what I would do to modify the ground to presses.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks and I did a lot of modifications by using the bench for my hands. The first block had deadlifts with weights, burpees (I used the bench), and plank jacks (using the bench again). And the second block had lunges and planks with in and out with our hands using a mini-band (again, with the bench for my hands). Anything that had a plank element in it made me very nauseous and I took a lot of breaks in the middle of doing all the reps. But I knew this could happen so I was prepared for needing those breaks.
Friday’s workout was themed for Friday the 13th and I knew it would mean we also would also mean we had a lot of burpees since those tend to happen on Friday the 13th. I was finally feeling normal, but the mood in class was not normal. We usually have a full class, this time we didn’t. I think everyone knew that people were going to possibly avoid coming to class because of coronavirus. But it was still weird to see it not as full as we are used to. I know there are reasons to not come to class, but I feel like it’s one of the better places I could go to work out. The classes are small, everyone has to use an anti-bacterial wipe to clean up everything they touch. And I think most of us are feeling so anxious and we need something to keep us calm. And for many of us, that thing is our workouts.
The cardio was all about 1s and 3s. We had 3-minute distance challenges and 1-minute recoveries and all outs. I was able to do my biking work a bit more normal and that really helped me feel better. I wasn’t able to do the biking as hard as I know I could, but it was so much more than I had been able to do for the past week. And I did take the recovery time to be able to go really hard for the all outs.
On the rower, we had one long block. We did 100-meter rows and 13 squats between each row. I was really trying to do my rowing as fast as I could since 100-meters is a sprint, but my endurance wasn’t quite there. I know that whenever I am getting over when I’m nauseous that I usually need to do a workout or two before I’m back to my best ability. But I think I might have forgotten that a bit in the workout.
And on the floor, we had 3 blocks. In the first 2 blocks, we had 2 exercises and both exercises had 13 reps. The first block had burpees and bicep curls. And the second block had burpees and triceps with weights. The last block was timed and we had 1 minute of burpees, 1 minute of bicep curls, and 1 minute of triceps.
Saturday’s workout was something I really needed. My work shift on Saturday morning was just insane, and I needed my workout to recover from the mental stress I was under at work. I still laugh when I think about how I look at workouts as a way to get over stress or to feel better, but I guess that’s what happens when you get into a regular workout routine.
The workout was strength-based so we had incline work for cardio. We had 2 blocks and both the blocks were similar with all the work being at a base pace but alternating between no incline and incline work. The intervals on the first block were a bit longer than the ones on the second block, but they were both tough. And I was feeling good enough to do all the inclines the way I was supposed to. I also think it was helping me get some of my frustration out over how I was treated by some customers during my shift.
On the rower, we had different types of rowing for stroke drills. We started by doing 15 stroke tests to see how far we could get for 3 rounds. Then it was a 45-second row for 3 rounds. And we finished with 150-meter rows for 3 rounds. Every time, we were supposed to focus on rowing slowly to get as much power into our rows as possible. And between each row, we were supposed to lunge jumps. But I really can’t do those and it’s always tough for me to get on and off the rower, so I did regular squats instead.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had squats with weights, plank pull-throughs, and double crunches; all of those exercises were using weights. And the second block had sumo squats with weight, plank shoulder taps, and side plank pendulums. There was so much plank work and I’m so glad that I was finally feeling ok enough to be doing that. I know I could have modified things if I needed to, but I’m glad I didn’t have to because it’s tough when almost everything had to be modified.
This week, I have no clue what will happen. As of right now, I plan on going to my workouts. I know the studios are doing everything they can to keep things clean and safe for us. But as I’ve learned this past week, things can change so quickly. I really hope that I’m still able to make it to my workouts because it really does do amazing things for my mental health. It puts me in a better headspace and helps to keep me feeling like I have a bit of control in what feels like an out of control world. But if things change, they change. And I’ll just have to be ok with whatever does happen.
Posted onMarch 13, 2020|Comments Off on Trying To Be Cautious But Not Overreact (or Aware Of The News)
I would be surprised if there is anyone out there unaware of COVID-19 (or coronavirus) right now. It’s all over the news and there is no way to not see at least one story about it on social media. It’s almost impossible to avoid all the news about it unless you don’t watch any tv or do anything online. I’m not necessarily a news junkie, but I do pay attention to the news every day. So this has been something I have been reading and hearing about for a few months.
Whenever there is a big health-related news story, I try to not take everything that is said as the truth. There is usually some sort of spin to the story and I try to find a reliable source to get my information from and to confirm what I have gotten from other sources. For example, when some sources were saying that this was much more fatal than most other diseases, I was able to see online that while it was worse than some other diseases that it is not killing everyone who catches it. When some news was saying that the cases in this country would be down to just 1 or 2 within a few days, I was able to see online that wasn’t likely.
I’m not panicked about what is happening, but I am aware and being careful. I’m making sure I wash my hands much more often now and I am being cautious when I’m out if there is a large crowd. I’m not hoarding food or supplies, but I am making sure that my emergency kit is stocked and that I do have a bit more non-perishable food than I usually have in my house. I know there are several people who are stocking up, but I don’t feel the need to do that. It is a bit annoying that others are because it can make it difficult to get things that I need. For example, it took me 3 stores before I found one with any toilet paper for sale. I was out and needed to buy some, but other people were buying out the entire stock (I don’t quite understand why that is one of the main things people seem to be hoarding).
I don’t want to complain about things being canceled because I know they are doing it for a good reason. But it is sad to see so many things being canceled or postponed that I have been looking forward to doing. Some of them have been fun events and some of them are union meetings. With the union, almost all meetings have been put on hold because they are trying to make sure that we don’t get each other sick. For me, that meant 5 meetings this month are no longer on my calendar. I know that staying healthy is important, but I really have loved doing my union work and I’m sad that I will be missing that this month. And as far as the fun events go, I’m sure those will all be rescheduled at some point and I’ll have a lot of things back on my calendar soon.
With all the different precautions being put into place, I know I am very lucky if anything is done in LA. I already work from home so I don’t have to worry about what will happen if I can’t go to work. I do worry about if there will be as much work for me if things get worse, but I can’t think about that too much. I live close to different stores so I can get things I need (as long as they are in stock). I know some people are worried that grocery stores will be shut down and not open, but even places that have quarantines are keeping stores open so people can buy food and other things they need. I don’t need to worry about having to survive on only the things I have in my house. And I think everyone living in the US is pretty lucky because we do have good hospitals and so many scientists working on this situation right now. Even if politicians say that it’s not a big deal, there are others who know how bad it could be and are working on making sure that doesn’t happen.
I know that things can get really bad, but I’m trying to focus on the situation right now and taking the steps I can do now. And worrying too much or thinking up what could potentially happen isn’t a healthy thing for me. Even though my panic and anxiety aren’t as bad as it used to be, I don’t want to do anything that might trigger an attack or make me spiral. All I can do right now is stay aware, pay attention, and take little steps and actions that will make sure that I stay healthy and safe.
Posted onMarch 12, 2020|Comments Off on Some More Virtual Therapy (or Trying Another Medication)
I’ve been doing my appointments with my therapist virtually for a while. It’s been a great setup for me because I don’t have to deal with driving in traffic or paying for parking. I know there are some rules about my therapist needing to see me every so often, but I believe that the video chat appointments fill that requirement.
But with all the issues with COVID-19, I was even more grateful for being able to do my appointment at home. I don’t want to be around people when I don’t need to. And it turns out that they have been converting all the in-person appointments to virtual ones, so even if I had a regular appointment originally scheduled I would have had a virtual one.
Most of my therapy appointments are about checking in with how I feel on my medications. It’s not as much about talking things out as it used to be (or as some people think therapy is all about). I’m not saying those things aren’t valuable or what therapy should be about, it’s just not what my current appointments are about. I’ve done a ton of talking things out, now we are working through finding a solution.
I’ve been doing pretty ok with Vyvanse for a long time, but lately, I’ve noticed it not taking the edge off the same way it used to. It’s something that I’ve become more aware of and I’ve been tracking it knowing I could discuss it at this appointment. And I did bring that up to my therapist this time. I said that I didn’t know if my body was getting used to the dosage but that I didn’t necessarily want to increase it. And she agreed with me because I am toward the top dosage that has been studied. There are people taking double what I take, but that’s not recommended nor are there a lot of things known about the long-term effects of doing that.
So my therapist recommended that I should consider trying adding another medication to my plan. I’m definitely open to doing that, but I also am hesitant about that. The last time I added a new medication, it didn’t go well. But I also know that I’ve added medications several times with no issues so I can’t just think about the rare times that it wasn’t so good. And we did go over some of the medications that I’ve taken before and how I reacted to them.
There have been a few studies about different medications that people take for anxiety or depression that can help with getting into recovery from an eating disorder. I have taken some of these medications with no success or causing some bad side effects. So those were immediately removed from consideration. What I will be adding will be a different medication that is also a mood stabilizer. The idea of taking a mood stabilizer is that it can increase patience and reduce impulsive behavior. Both of those things could be good in multiple aspects of my life, but it makes a lot of sense with my eating disorder. So I agreed to try out this medication to see if it helps.
I’m going to starting taking a half dose for a week before moving on to the full dose my therapist wants me to be on. And after 2 months, I’ll be doing another virtual appointment to check in and see if it’s helping me. Of course, if I have bad side effects as I did on the last medication, I can message her and we will create a plan for me to go off of it. But I’m trying to stay positive and hope for the best. I want there to be no bad side effects and only the positive side effects that I want to help me.
This medication isn’t as strong as the last one I tried so it might take a while for me to see any results or side effects. That’s why my appointment is set for 2 months from now. Most people don’t notice a change for almost a month, so that gives me a month to see any changes and a month to decide if I like those changes. I’m not thinking that this is going to be a miracle medication and make everything better, but anything that helps would be so amazing.
Posted onMarch 11, 2020|Comments Off on Being A Marathon Supporter (or Cheering On My Cheering Buddy)
It’s been a tradition of mine for a few years to go out and cheer on the marathon runners. A lot of the time, I don’t know anyone running or I’m not able to see the people I know who are running. I just go out to cheer on the runners and enjoy the positive environment. It’s really a great way to boost my mood and I know that the runners appreciate having people out there to encourage them.
I haven’t always made signs for my cheering, but I have gotten into making fun and clever signs. I usually do some searching online for signs other people have made and sometimes I’ll use the same idea and sometimes I will get inspired to make something different because of something I saw. I’m not the most creative person when it comes to making the signs, but I do have fun with them and they aren’t too difficult to make.
Most of the time, I’m not alone when I’m going out to cheer on the runners. My friend Liz joins me and we each will usually have a sign (I don’t mind making signs for us both). But this year, Liz couldn’t join me because she was going to run the marathon! I was sad she wouldn’t be out there with me, but I was so excited for her to do her first marathon and of course, I was going to cheer her on! I tried to find a friend to come with me so I would have a buddy out there, but I wasn’t able to so I went by myself. But at least I had a sign I really thought was clever this time to hold up.
I had also made the “tap here to power up” sign in case a friend could come with me, but since I was alone I thought this one was a bit funnier.
Liz had sent me a link to follow her progress live online, so I knew when she was getting close to the cheering spot. I didn’t head out until I knew she was getting close, and I made it about 15 minutes before she would get there. So I held up my sign and cheered on everyone who was going by.
This sign might not have gotten as much attention as the power up sign gets, but the reactions I got were much bigger! So many people were laughing when they went by and read it. Several of them joked that I’d be their hero if I did that for them. I even got smiles and thumbs up from the police officers on bikes going up and down the street. It made me so happy to see how much joy people got out of the sign. That’s exactly why I made it and I’m glad it accomplished what I wanted it to do.
While I was holding it up, I was watching the tracking for Liz to make sure I knew when she would be close. Fortunately, since she’s normally cheering with me, she knew exactly where to look for me and I didn’t have to worry that she would go by and I’d miss her. And soon enough, I saw her running toward me with a huge smile!
I was screaming and cheering so loudly for her! I was so proud of her and she looked so strong! I cheer around mile 19, so she was well past halfway through and she looked like she had only been running for a mile or so. And she was able to stop for a moment for me to give her a hug and for us to take a quick selfie.
And then she was off again! She had another 7 miles to go and I knew that she was going to do amazing and finish it with a great time. Of course, I would have loved to have her hang out a bit longer with me since it’s always so fun when we are hanging out and doing the cheering together, but she had to keep going so she could get to the finish line.
I stayed out there for about 20 more minutes cheering on the runners. I knew I wouldn’t know anyone else running past me, but every time I thought about maybe heading back to my car someone else had a really awesome reaction to my sign and I decided to stay out there. But I couldn’t stay all day for a few different reasons so I did have to get back home.
This was exactly the boost of positivity I needed. I know there is a lot of scary news out there and some people even said I was crazy for going out there to be around a big crowd. But I don’t want to feel isolated and I knew the runners would be out there no matter what. So I wanted to be there too and do the small part I can do in supporting everyone running the marathon.
Posted onMarch 10, 2020|Comments Off on A Santa Barbara Afternoon (or Celebrating My Future Nephew!)
Even though my brother and sister-in-law live pretty close to me, I don’t make it to Santa Barbara that often. I haven’t been up there for a while and I know that I should make plans to do that more. It’s only about 90 minutes away from me, so it’s not that far. But I know I will be going up there more often soon because my sister-in-law is pregnant and my nephew should arrive in about a month!
I’m so excited to be an aunt and I’ve already got a lot of things that I can’t wait to get for my nephew. And when I found out the date for the baby shower, I immediately started to think of a good gift.
I looked at a bunch of different websites to get inspiration for a gift, and I found something that I loved and could make myself. They were bookplates (stickers that say “Library of Baby Levin”) and I knew that would be perfect! I know what my nephew is going to be named and I knew the theme of the nursery is safari animals, so I made some really cute stickers with different animals on them. The only problem is that they aren’t telling most people the name yet (only family knows right now), so I couldn’t give a gift with his name on it. So I had to get something to go along with the bookplates to give at the shower. The obvious gift was to get some books, so that’s exactly what I did!
I wanted to find books that relate to things that my brother and sister-in-law like so they could be an introduction to those things for the baby. So I found a book on San Francisco (where they met), Santa Barbara (where they live), world-traveling (which they love to do), and wine (which is one of their favorite activities). I will say, finding a baby book about wine wasn’t easy, but I was so thrilled when I found it!
The baby shower was this past weekend and I drove up to Santa Barbara just for the afternoon. I drove with my great aunt (who lives near me) and we went a bit early so we could spend time with my parents and dog. The dog had knee surgery recently so I really wanted to get to see him. And I hadn’t seen my parents for a few months and I knew they had some stuff for me. We got up there about 2 hours before the shower started, so that allowed us some time to relax after the drive and hang out. Shockingly, I didn’t take a single photo of the dog when we were there!
And when we were at the shower, I didn’t take many photos either! Part of the reason I didn’t take photos was that I was dealing with a lot of nausea that day. It’s unfortunate that a bad nausea day fell on the same day as the party, but I can’t really control that. But the other reason I didn’t take a ton of photos was that I was focused on enjoying being there. I wasn’t sure how many people I would know there, but I did end up knowing quite a few people. I knew I’d know my family and my sister-in-law’s family. But most of my brother’s friends who were there were people that I have known for a while too. I think the last time I saw them was at the wedding, but since everyone stays in touch through social media it didn’t seem like it had been that long. And I did chat with some people that I didn’t know so I did end up feeling like I knew everyone there.
The few pictures I did take were of some of the decorations.
And of Ross and Krystle when they opened up gifts.
I had given them a heads up that there was a part of the gift that had the name on it, so they opened that without showing anyone else before opening up the books for all the guests to see. I think they were just as surprised as I was that there was a baby book about wine! And I think they loved all the other books I got them too.
After they opened the gifts, the party started to wind down a bit. My great aunt and I hung around for a while so we could catch up with family, but we didn’t stay too late since we did have to drive home. We were there for quite a while, and I should be back soon since I will go to Santa Barbara when my nephew is born. My parents will be staying there next month so they don’t have to worry about driving down when she goes into labor. I’ll just be in LA basically waiting for the call to get into my car and head up. I can’t wait!
I’m so excited that there will be a new member of our family soon and I can’t wait to see what he’s like and what he will add to the family dynamic!
Posted onMarch 9, 2020|Comments Off on At Least I Was Prepared For A Bad Week (or Something Is Better Than Nothing)
I went into this past week of workouts knowing it was a high probability that it would be a bad week for me. I was hopeful that it wouldn’t be, but I’m also realistic and have dealt with this enough. And I was right, it wasn’t a good week for me. But I still did what I could and I have to be ok with that.
Monday’s workout was a strength-based class and it also had a bit of a run/row to it. I was excited about this class, but I was having one of the worst hip pain days that I’ve had in a long time. Usually, my hip pain is either an on-going dull pain or occasional sharp pain. This time, it was an on-going sharp pain that spiked with every step I took. The pain was a bit scary because that can mean that I need to see an orthopedic surgeon, but I wasn’t going to freak out too much. But it did affect my workout a bit.
The cardio was split into 3 blocks and the middle block was the one that had the run/row. The first and last blocks were similar. The first block had a 90-second push, 45-second base, 90-second push at incline, 45-second base without incline, and a 90-second push at incline. The last block was the same work, but done in reverse (so starting with the 90-second push at the incline). After the first block, we had to remember what distance we got to so we could use it for the run/row. The run/row was rounds of half the distance from the first block and a 200-meter row. For all the cardio work, I had to go a bit slow on the bike and be cautious with the resistance levels I used. And it took my time getting on and off the rower so that took up some time that I wish I had been able to be working. But I did my best and I was pretty happy with what I was able to do.
The floor also had 3 blocks. The first block was mini-band work with squats to side kicks, hip raises, and lateral walks. The second block had goblet squats, plank side rotations, and bicycle crunches. And the last block had sumo squats to upright rows, step-ups (which I modified to be lunges), and more plank side rotations and bicycle crunches. There were a few exercises that were extra hard on my hip, but I was just patient with myself and made sure that I felt ready before starting each rep.
Wednesday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. It was also a day that I had a lot of nausea. Fortunately, my hip pain was almost completely gone (so I don’t need to worry about seeing an orthopedic surgeon) and even though I was nauseous I wasn’t dealing with cramps at the same time. It’s not the best situation to work out in, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was also a switch day so we were switching a lot and I didn’t have to worry about being in one section of the room for too long. We had 2 blocks at each section (6 blocks total).
For cardio, the first block started with a 2-minute push pace. Then we had a 1-minute base pace before a 2-minute base at incline. And we finished with a 30-second base without incline and a 30-second all out. The second block started with a 2-minute push just like the first block did. Then we had a 30-second walk before a 1-minute all out. Then it was 2 rounds of 30-seconds of walking and 30-second all outs.
The first block on the rower was all about stroke drills. We had 15 pulls on the rower to get as far as we could. After 15 pulls, we had squat jacks (which I modified to be regular squats) and we continued doing rounds of those until the block ended. We had to remember what distance we got in that first block to use when we got back to the rower for the second block. The second block started with 25 squat jacks (which I did as regular squats) and then we were supposed to row the distance that we got in the first block. The second block wasn’t about doing stroke drills, we just rowed normally. I just got to that distance when the block ended.
And on the floor, we were supposed to use heavy weights but my nausea wasn’t really allowing me to. I hated that I had to go a bit lighter on the weights, but I knew it was what I needed to do. The first block had bicep curls, front squats, neutral half thrusters, and squats. And the second block had deadlifts, low rows with weights, burpees (modified using the bench), and double-tap crunches. The floor work in both blocks was a bit of a struggle with my nausea and I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to.
I also had a workout on Thursday. I couldn’t do my workout on Saturday so I had to fit in an extra class somewhere else. Every time I do a workout in the afternoon I seem so thrown off by them. And it’s weird because for years my workouts were in the afternoon so I should be used to them. But it is a good way to mix up things since I usually am pretty set in when I work out. And I don’t know if this was due to the workout being in the afternoon or it was just that day, but it was a bad nausea and pain day for me. I took all the medications that I could to manage it, but it wasn’t helping.
The workout was an endurance day and it was a 2 group class. The cardio had 3 blocks and the floor had 1 long block. For cardio, I know there were different push pace lengths, but I wasn’t really focused on that. I was pedaling when I could and resting when I needed. I didn’t think too much beyond that. I hate when I can’t really follow the workout, but for cardio sometimes I have to do that. And I know that when I do that on cardio that it’s not a horrible distraction or anything to the others in the class so I don’t feel as guilty.
On the floor, we started with a 500-meter row and then we had the exercises. We had a hip hinge swing with weights, lunges with lateral raises and front raises (I split them up and did the lunges on their own and the arm movements on their own), hip hinge reverse fly, hamstrings on the ab dolly (which I did as hip bridges), and roll-outs on the ab dolly (which I did on the straps). After completing the exercises, we went back to the rower and decreased the row by 100 meters each round. Between some of the modifications taking longer than the assigned exercises and needed to take breaks, I only made it through 2 rounds on the floor even though it was all one long block.
I was feeling a little better on Friday, but I still wasn’t doing great. It was a strength day, and I was able to do more than I could on Thursday which was nice. But there were still lots of breaks that I needed to take and I wasn’t doing as much as I could do if I was feeling ok.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks had a mix of push paces and base paces with and without incline. I was using the resistance levels for the incline work but I was going much slower than I normally would go on the bike. But it did feel good to push myself a bit more than I had on Thursday even if it wasn’t quite what I wanted to do.
On the rower, the first block was rounds of 200-meter rows with squats to shoulder presses with a medicine ball between each row. I was doing ok with doing 200-meters and only needed to take a break once in the middle of a row. And the second block was another stroke drill block. We had 20 strokes each time and the same exercise between each row. The 20 stroke drills took longer than 200-meters so I had to take breaks in the middle a lot more. The nausea was getting really intense on the rower, but it wasn’t as bad as it has gotten at times.
And on the floor we had one long block split into 2 mini-blocks. Each mini-block was supposed to be done 3 times before moving on. The first mini-block had push-ups (I used the bench to modify them) and single-arm hip hinge rows with a weight. The second mini-block had chest presses, plank pull-throughs (I modified these to be plank shoulder taps using the bench), and single-arm low rows on the straps (I modified these to be using both hands instead of just one). Even though I modified so many things on the floor, it didn’t feel that way to me and I was happy that I was using close to my normal weights for the weight work.
Just like how I was going into this past week, I am aware that this week might be a tough one for me. But I also know that hopefully after this week I’ll be back to feeling normal for about 2 weeks. And even if I feel awful and I am barely doing anything in the workout, whatever effort I can do is better than what I would be doing if I wasn’t in class. And sometimes that’s all I can tell myself when I’m really down on myself and my ability.
Posted onMarch 6, 2020|Comments Off on The First Dolby Show Of The Season (or Having Some New Things And Some Familiar Things)
As I mentioned before, this season the musicals I go to were split between the Pantages theater (where they typically have been held) and the Dolby theater. The Dolby is where the Oscars are held each year and I’ve been to another event there years ago. But I definitely wasn’t as familiar with that theater as I am with the Pantages. And this week, we had our first show at the Dolby and we tried to start a new pre-show routine.
The Dolby is inside the Hollywood and Highland center, which has a few different restaurants to choose from. Dani and I decided that we would go there early to have some dinner and then get to our show. I’ve been to Hollywood and Highland a bunch in the past, so I was familiar with the area. And since we were going to the show on a weekday, we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time for traffic. We were shocked when the traffic wasn’t bad at all and we got there much earlier than we expected.
We weren’t sure where we wanted to eat and we had so much extra time, so we did a little walking around the area before getting food. It’s so interesting how that part of Hollywood feels so different from the part of Hollywood by the Pantages. And the two spots aren’t that far apart. But I guess a few blocks can make a big difference.
We got some dinner and realized we still had almost an hour and a half before the show started. So we decided to do one of our normal pre-show activities and head over to Wood & Vine for some dessert! We took the subway one stop to get there (there is a stop at Hollywood and Highland and the next stop is next to the restaurant) and got a seat at the bar to see what we wanted to eat. We decided to go with our favorite dessert which is the butterscotch one. And it was just as good as it always is!
Even though we didn’t have a full meal there, getting dessert somehow made things feel more normal and more like we were used to before a show. It’s funny how the smallest routine thing can make everything feel right again. We didn’t have a lot of time to hang out at Wood & Vine because we had to get back on the subway to get to the theater. We made it back 10 minutes before the show started which was the perfect amount of time to find our seats and get settled.
I had been worried about how shows would look in the Dolby because in my memory it’s a much larger theater. And it might be a lot larger, but I don’t know if the top two balcony sections were used. So nobody was seated that high above the stage.
Our seats weren’t the seats we will have for other shows because we had to change the date of our tickets. But these were close to what we would have. We were in the balcony, but we were in the second row which was not too far from the stage.
And because we were in the second row of the balcony, we weren’t that high above the stage so it didn’t feel like we were looking down at the show instead of out at the show. It did feel bigger because the ceiling was so high up, but it didn’t feel like we were seeing a show in an arena instead of a theater. That was a nice surprise since I had been pretty worried about that. I’m glad my fears were wrong and that it seems like the shows we see at the Dolby are going to feel just as close as our shows at the Pantages.
The show we saw this time was “Escape To Margaritaville”, which is another jukebox musical.
We’ve had a lot of jukebox musicals in the past. Sometimes I am familiar with the singer or band and knew that I would know a lot of the songs. Sometimes I go into a show thinking I won’t know any of the songs and it turns out that I know most if not all of them. This time, I went in thinking I wouldn’t know any of the songs and that turned out to be true. There were 2 songs that I knew, but the rest of them were completely unfamiliar to me. I thought maybe I would think that I would recognize a little bit, but there wasn’t. It was interesting being in a theater where so many people were singing along and got really excited when a song started because they knew what was coming up. I just wasn’t a part of that crowd and it did make me feel like a bit of an outsider.
But no matter how I feel about a show, it’s always such a fun night out. I will always enjoy going to a show, especially when it’s a new show. I love seeing what musicals are out there and it’s such fun when I discover a new favorite too. We got several more shows at the Dolby coming up this season and I can’t wait to see what shows will connect with me!
Posted onMarch 5, 2020|Comments Off on I Let Procrastination Catch Up To Me (or Not Realizing I’m Slacking)
I’m usually pretty on top of getting things done on time. There are a few things that I know I don’t do when I need to or as often as I should (there are some cleaning tasks I put off for a few days). But when there is something that has to be done by a certain day, I usually finish it up much earlier than I need to. It’s rare for me to feel a time crunch to get it done.
When I was in school, I wasn’t always like this. I didn’t necessarily cram for tests or things, but I did put off doing some essays and papers instead of getting them done as soon as I got the assignment. I don’t think my procrastination really affected me much in school because I did get decent grades. I think a lot of the reason why I didn’t get better grades was due to a lack of interest in a subject and not poor work.
But for some reason, I’ve been procrastinating on a few things lately. And of course, all the things I’ve been procrastinating on need to be done around the same time. I have no good reason for slacking right now, but knowing that doesn’t motivate me enough to get it done. But now I have no other option because I need to get things done and I can’t skip doing them.
Fortunately, several things I’ve been putting off are mainly fun things. There are a few things that aren’t as fun, like dealing with some stuff with my taxes or other bills. Those things aren’t as fun for me to do so I understand why I’m not doing them. And they also have a slightly longer timeline before they are due, so I’m not as worried about them. But I’m not going to focus on those things for this post because that’s not as interesting. I’m more interested in why I am putting off doing things that I should enjoy doing.
The first thing I’ve been putting off was making signs to cheer on the marathon runners. This one makes a bit more sense to me because I honestly forgot the marathon was this weekend. I thought it was still a few more weeks away. But I’ve known it was this weekend for about a week now. I got the supplies I need to make signs, but I haven’t done anything with them. I need to get these done today or tomorrow because the race is on Sunday and I don’t have any free time on Saturday.
And the reason I don’t have free time on Saturday is that that is the day of my sister-in-law’s baby shower! I’m super excited about it for a lot of reasons. But it’s also another part of my procrastination. I’ve had the present I got for the shower for almost a month at my house. But for whatever reason, I just haven’t taken the time to wrap it. There’s no deep reason why I haven’t done this. I’m not upset or anything else like that. I think it might be because I love wrapping presents and I take a lot of pride in making gifts look beautiful. But I haven’t felt like I had the creativity and artistic skill to do it. And I don’t want to make the gift look sloppy. I know that it will only look sloppy to me, but I don’t want that to happen. So I was waiting for the right moment when I knew I could make it look good. But I can’t wait forever so I just have to get it done and feel ok with the results.
I know that some people say that procrastination is an act of rebelling against something, but I have no idea what I could be rebelling against. Maybe it’s just laziness after having some crazy busy time and high stress. Whatever the reason, I know that I’m cramming to get things done now. But I will get them done on time and everything will be ok. I hope.
Posted onMarch 4, 2020|Comments Off on Almost Deja Vu (or Not My Usual Hair Appointment)
I’m not someone who changes things that often. If I have something in my life that is good or works, I continue doing that. I don’t fear change most of the time, but I also don’t like to change things up if I don’t have a reason that I need to. With my hair, I have a mix of changing things up and keeping them the same. I have changed my hair cut and color over the years, but for almost 14 years I have had the same person doing my hair.
My friend Erin started doing my hair in 2006. I went to a salon that a friend recommended to me and Erin was the stylist that I randomly was booked with. I followed her to another salon when she switched and when she started working from her home, I started going to her house for my hair. We were strangers when I started going to her, but we quickly have become friends and I love that she does such an amazing job with my hair.
I was trying to find a time for her to do my hair at the end of last month and she thought she would be able to fit me in. Sadly, there was a family emergency and she had to let me know that she wouldn’t be able to find a time for me to come over. I completely understand that she wasn’t something that she thought would happen and I told her that she should focus on her family and we would chat again soon about hair. I wasn’t going to bother her when she was dealing with something, but I did want to get my hair done since it had been a bit too long since the last time it was cut or colored.
In a weird coincidence, I have another friend that is also named Erin who does hair. We met at Orangetheory and I have known for a while that she was a hairstylist. We’ve chatted before and after our workouts about our work and for some reason, I never knew the name of the salon she worked at until recently. And I almost did a double-take when she told me where she worked. She works at the salon that I went to when I moved to LA in 2001. It was close to my college and they offered all students a really good discount. I went to that salon from the time I moved to LA until I saw not-Orangetheory Erin at the first salon we met at. I don’t remember the reason why I stopped going to that salon, but I think that maybe the stylist I was seeing wasn’t there anymore.
I asked Orangetheory Erin (I guess I will have to use nicknames like this to keep them straight in this story) if she could fit me in for hair, and she was able to do so this past Sunday. The salon is in a different location now, but it’s still the same salon as the one I started going to when I was 18. It was such a weird realization about how full circle this moment felt.
I didn’t think about taking before and after pictures of my hair, so I don’t have any to share (sorry!). But I’m so grateful that Orangetheory Erin was able to fit me into her schedule with little notice so I didn’t have to wait a while to get my hair refreshed. Because I have such dark hair, the gray hairs that I have are really obvious. I’m lucky that there aren’t too many, but there are enough to bother me and I was using some cover-up stuff to hide them. I just wanted my hair dyed so I didn’t have to worry about it because I have a few things coming up that I want my hair to look nice for.
The salon didn’t look the same as it did at the old location, but there were still a few things there that for some reason gave me feelings of deja vu. I don’t know why the setup of some of the stations made me feel that way, but I also realized that it had been a long time since I was at a regular salon. I am just so used to going to a house for my hair and that’s what my normal is. So I guess going to a salon felt so weird to me that I was connecting it to an old memory of being at one. And I was trying to connect that to when I was at that same salon at the old location.
It was definitely different going to a different place and having a different person do my hair, but I’m so grateful that I have a friend that can be a backup for doing my hair when I need it!
Getting Back To Normal (or Friend Hangouts And Doctor Appointments)
