Monthly Archives: February 2024

Another Quick Santa Barbara Day (or Celebrating My Niece)

Posted on February 28, 2024 | Comments Off on Another Quick Santa Barbara Day (or Celebrating My Niece)

I don’t go to Santa Barbara too often, even though it’s not that long of a drive. But I do go up at least a few times a year to see my family. I go up for my niece’s and nephew’s birthdays, and I’ll continue to do that as long as their birthday parties are family parties. I don’t know how many years that will go on so I have to take advantage of them when I can.

Since it’s an easy drive, I only go up for the day so I don’t need to pack an overnight bag. I really can’t remember the last time I stayed overnight in Santa Barbara since I’d rather not have to bring all that stuff and like to sleep in my bed. I still end up feeling like I bring a lot of stuff with me, but it’s usually because I’m bringing stuff to give to my parents so I don’t have to ship things to them. And my parents usually have a bag of things to give to me as well. Typically, my dad is bringing me some tools or things that I mentioned would be helpful to have. This last time, I mentioned not having clamps to hold things down when I glue them, so he got me a set of clamps.

I went up recently for my niece’s birthday party and I really didn’t have much to bring with me this time. I did have her birthday present, but that was all I had to remember to put in my car. But I did get a new-to-me camera recently (it was a trade with a friend), so I brought that too so I could practice taking some photos with it since it had been a while since I had used anything other than my phone to take photos. I got the camera mainly to do self-tape auditions, but learning how to do more on it is a good idea in case I want to use it for photos and other things.

The drive up was pretty easy, and I felt lucky about that. The day of the party was supposed to be a very stormy day, but I didn’t have much rain on my drive. I lucked out with the storm because it only rained a little bit going up so I didn’t have to worry about extra traffic caused by people who aren’t good drivers in the rain.

Most of the birthday parties that my niece and nephew have had before only had a few friends there. This time, there were a few more friends than at their past parties (I’m guessing my nephew will have a lot of friends at his birthday in about a month). It made things a bit more hectic, but I ended up talking to my parents most of the time. The kids were doing different crafts like decorating cookie boxes (which had glitter so I was trying to stay away from that) and playing with all the toys they have. Once my niece opened her presents, they started to play with those things too. I got her a dress-up set, but she got a lot of dress-up stuff so she had a lot of new things to open up and try on.

The party only lasted a few hours before all my niece’s friends started to head home. I stuck around a little longer to talk with my parents about a few random things, but once it looked like the rain was about to start, I knew I needed to leave too so I could try to avoid driving in a crazy rainstorm. I don’t love to drive in the rain anyway, but to drive 90 minutes or more in the rain sounded awful. Just like with my drive up, my drive back down home only had a few minutes of rain and then it was easy for me the rest of the way. I’ve done the drive up and back enough to have experienced a lot of random situations that make the drive harder or longer, but this ended up being one of the easier drives I’ve had.

Hopefully, when I go back up in a little over a month for my nephew’s party, it will be just as easy of a drive. And I hope it won’t have the threat of rain so the party can take advantage of the bounce house they have been using for other parties since that is always a big hit with everyone!

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Default ThumbnailCelebrating My Niece’s Birthday (or Another Santa Barbara Day) Default ThumbnailAnother Santa Barbara Birthday (or A Quick Trip To See Family) Default ThumbnailA Santa Barbara Afternoon (or Celebrating My Future Nephew!) Default ThumbnailA Santa Barbara Birthday (or Happy 2nd Birthday Presley!) Default ThumbnailSanta Barbara Weekend (or Family and Friends Time) Default ThumbnailSanta Barbara Engagement Party (or Sunburn and Rain)

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Posted in Celebrations, Family, Fun Stuff

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An Up And Down Workout Week (or Still Feeling Ok With How Things Went)

Posted on February 26, 2024 | Comments Off on An Up And Down Workout Week (or Still Feeling Ok With How Things Went)

Even though I wasn’t feeling physically great the week before during my workouts, I was feeling mentally good about the efforts I was able to make. That week went a lot better than a lot of my bad weeks in the past have gone, and I think a lot of it was because I had so many amazing workouts leading up to it. After that week, I was a little concerned that this past week wouldn’t go the same way because it would be a bad week after a bad week, so I might not have the same high from the good workouts as I had the week before.

I had a mixed week this past week with my workouts. Some days were pretty bad with a lot of pain and nausea. I had my usual monthly pain plus I had a lot of extra hip pain this past week because of the weather. But I feel lucky that I wasn’t feeling really horrible every day or throughout the entire workout. I had bad moments, but I didn’t have any day that was all bad without some moments of relief. And when I had moments that I was feeling normal or closer to normal, I tried to take advantage of those and do little bursts of working harder.

For most of the workout, I wasn’t pedaling or rowing hard, but when I could do a little sprint I did that. We’ve had workouts before that were focused on a base pace with little surges in them, and that’s pretty much what I did on my own. And when I was on the floor, I tried to lift heavier weights when I was feeling a little better and then used lighter weights when necessary. But that was a bit harder to do because I was worried I would have a really bad cramp while holding heavier weights and possibly drop them. So that wasn’t done as often as the increases on the bike or rower. I also wasn’t getting as much sleep this past week so I was feeling a bit more fatigued, so even if I was feeling good I probably wouldn’t have lifted heavy weights.

It did help this past week that on Monday I did get to sleep in a bit since I didn’t have work and I could take a later workout. In a perfect world, I would take a class a little later than what I do now. But since my only other option is to work out after work (and I don’t want to go at 7pm), I just have to continue with my early mornings. But it was nice to have a little extra sleep on Monday since that was one of the worst days for me with nausea.

We also didn’t have any signature workouts or benchmarks this past week, so I didn’t have to feel like I needed to push myself more than I knew I could do. It was good to not have that pressure on myself and to just allow myself to do what felt tolerable. That goes along with my challenge for this month with listening to my body more. I really paid attention to how I was feeling and if things started to get bad, I eased off. I know I can’t control when my nausea gets severe, but it was nice to not feel as bad as I have before and not need to leave class because I was worried I was about to be sick. So I’m choosing to believe that by listening to my body and not being upset about what I can or can’t do, I made my bad week a little bit easier on me.

I’m hoping that this week will be good, but I know that’s not always something I can predict. Everything should be in my favor to have a good week, and as long as I’m feeling ok I plan on pushing myself again in my workouts. I know that maximizing my good weeks before these past 2 weeks really helped me get through the tough times. And if I can repeat that and make my next round of bad weeks just a little better, that will be a huge victory for me!

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Default ThumbnailNot My Normal Workout Recap (or At Least I Was Feeling Ok During The Week) Default ThumbnailFinally Getting Back To Feeling Like Me (or A Transitional Workout Week) Default ThumbnailI Hate Having A Hard Workout Week (or Not My Usual Workout Recap) Default ThumbnailHaving My Expected Tough Week (or Feeling A Bit More Prepared For This) Default ThumbnailAnother Hard Workout Week (or A Repeat Of The Last Week In More Ways Than One) Default ThumbnailFeeling Ok When It Counted (or Ending My Workout Week On A Great Note)

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A Weekday Show (or A Pre-Broadway Adventure)

Posted on February 21, 2024 | Comments Off on A Weekday Show (or A Pre-Broadway Adventure)

Since I started getting season tickets for the Pantages, my tickets have been on Sunday evenings. The group that I joined at first previously had done Sunday evenings so when I was added to the group things just stayed the same. And while the group has changed multiple times over the years, we’ve always just kept the shows on Sundays. Even when we’ve had to change the date, they usually stay on Sundays. It’s just easiest to do that and keep the routine the same since that’s what we’ve gotten used to.

I’m sure that there has been another time that I’ve seen a show at the Pantages on a weeknight, I just don’t remember it. So when we had to change our most recent tickets to a weeknight, it felt like something new. We had to change from a Sunday to a weeknight for a few reasons. The show we were seeing was “The Wiz”, and this production was a pre-Broadway run. So the cast was the cast that was expected to be on Broadway, which meant we had some names in the cast when we usually don’t get that. So all the dates were a lot more crowded than normal. So for us to change our date (which we needed to do because of my schedule), we had to search for a night that would have tickets for us together in our section. And we had another friend who was going to join us, so we needed to find 3 seats together. We ended up finding 3 tickets in the last row of the balcony, but it was in the center so they were actually considered a higher level of seating than we normally have. And being in the center was nice since normally we sit off to the side.

Before the show, we met up for dinner at RDen. I’m so glad they reopened so we could return to our pre-show tradition. We had looked at other places to eat before the show, but no other place has good reviews, decent food/prices, or is so close to the theater. It’s honestly the best place I can imagine going for dinner before the show. It was a bit more of a rush for me to get there since I was working before the show, but I made it work and wasn’t late. But I do prefer going on a Sunday when I don’t have to stress as much about rush hour traffic. But once we were all seated for dinner, it wasn’t a rush and we were able to have a nice dinner before going across the street for the show.

I don’t think I’ve seen a pre-Broadway show before. I know others who have but I think they have all seen brand new shows that were doing a tryout before going to Broadway to see if they needed to change the show at all. This time, the show was an established show so I can’t imagine they would make many changes at all. They wouldn’t change the script or the songs, but there were a few moments that I think weren’t as strong as others so I hope those are fixed before their premiere in New York. But the actors were incredible and I thought the actress who played Dorothy was so good! The closing number of the show was so powerful and that had the show end so strong! I think because I’ve seen so many shows over the years, I just notice the little things so the things I picked up on that I hope will be fixed were not things that others would notice. For example, the way the screens were used as a background was awesome in the second act, but I didn’t like how they were used in the first act. But it was still a good show and I’m so glad that we were able to find another night we could go and we were able to bring another friend with us.

The next season for Pantages will be announced in a few days. I can’t imagine that we won’t be renewing our season since my friend and I both agree that we just like having a reason to get out and enjoy theater. We might change where we sit because now we have been able to experience what it’s like when you are closer to the center of the theater. We won’t be doing super close and center tickets since those are out of both of our budgets. But upgrading a bit depending on cost might work.

But before we worry about the next season, we still have a bunch of shows this season! It’s pretty much a show a month from now until August. That’s a lot of nights out to look forward to!

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Default ThumbnailAnother Round Of A Repeat Musical (or Seeing A Show A Different Way) Default ThumbnailBurgers And Broadway (or Another Musical) Default ThumbnailNot Exactly A Musical Night (or Continuing To Be Spoiled With Our Pre-Show Dinners) Default ThumbnailFunko and Frozen (or The Last Pantages Show For A While) Default ThumbnailMore Musicals! (or Another Season At Pantages) Default ThumbnailBroadway Sings Disney (or A Fun Adventure With An Awesome Friend)

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Not Feeling As Bad About My Bad Week (or I Hope This Week Is About The Same)

Posted on February 19, 2024 | 1 comment

I was prepared to go into this past week of workouts that this week would likely be bad. I never know if I’ll be feeling horrible for the entire week or just for some of the workouts. And I never know how extreme it might be. Unfortunately, I’ve been having a lot of significantly worse weeks in the recent past. I never used to have to leave the workout to let my nausea pass or to be sick, and that happens from time to time now. It’s not as bad as it can be at home, and I still have no idea why I’m not as bad in my workouts as I am at home. Maybe it’s the fear of knowing how much worse things can be that somewhat keeps things under control.

I had just had some really amazing workouts the past few weeks, so I was on a bit of a high in general about how I was feeling about my fitness. And I’m glad I had those good workouts leading up to this past week because I didn’t get as down on myself as I have in the past with my bad weeks. I did wish that I had been able to do better with different exercises, but I was more forgiving with myself and the limitations that I had.

The only workout I was worried about this past week was the one we had on Valentine’s Day. That happened to be a partnered signature workout and I didn’t want to have to stress about doing a workout with partners. This signature workout was Capture The Flag and I feel like I have been trying to do this workout without a partner the last few times we had it. For this workout, you have one partner on cardio, one on the rower, and one on the floor. The person on the floor controls when the group switches. They complete a round of the floor exercises and go to tag the cardio person. Then the cardio person goes to the rower, and the rower goes to the floor. The goal of the workout is to get as far as possible on the row so you are supposed to really push yourself there. And for different distances that your group gets to, you can earn different colored flags.

The morning of that workout, I was pretty nauseous. I knew that I would be going slowly on the floor and the rower, which were the spots that would affect the entire group the most. Fortunately, there was going to be an odd man out after the groups were formed so I got to do the workout alone. I wasn’t able to do all the floor exercises because of my nausea, so I did the ones that I could do. And I just did the bike for about 2 1/2 minutes and the rower for the same amount of time so I was doing my own rotations. I didn’t count how many times I got through it on my own, but I did get about 1300 meters on the rower. Most people who were in groups of 3 got between 5,000 and 6,000, so I wasn’t too upset with my distance knowing I wasn’t able to row that hard.

The rest of the workouts this past week went pretty much like my bad weeks usually go. I biked and rowed slower than normal and I modified a bunch of things on the floor. But mentally, I was doing a lot better and that made me happy. There’s a very good chance that this week will go pretty much like last week did, and I’m just hoping that I finish out the week with the same mindset that I had after this past week.

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Default ThumbnailGetting Through My Bad Week (or Doing Some Solo Challenges) Default ThumbnailBack To My Regular Schedule (I’m Glad My Bad Week Didn’t Start Until This Week) Default ThumbnailThe Week Before The Dri-Tri (or I Hope I’m Going To Be Ready) Default ThumbnailSurviving My Workout Week (or I Knew It Would Be Bad, But Not This Bad) Default ThumbnailA Bad Workout Week For A Different Reason (or I Guess I Was Too Optimistic) Default ThumbnailSurviving The Workout Week (or I Forgot This Was Likely To Be A Bad Week)

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Still Having Easy Therapy Check-Ins (or A Few New Things To Do)

Posted on February 14, 2024 | Comments Off on Still Having Easy Therapy Check-Ins (or A Few New Things To Do)

My therapy appointments haven’t felt like appointments for a long time. They feel more like a check-in to make sure everything is going ok and I don’t need to change anything. I think I’m on a good dosage of the medication this doctor prescribed and I don’t see the need to change things up. I know there are other medications that I could try that might help me, but every time I’ve added something new I have new side effects. And I’m already dealing with enough side effects at this point so I don’t need to add any more. I’m glad my therapist is fine with these appointments turning into check-ins as well so they can be easy and quick. Plus, they are still virtual appointments, so they are even quicker for me since I don’t have to drive there and back.

I only have appointments every 6 months now, so they aren’t that often. I’m ok with that and know I could always schedule an additional appointment if I felt like I needed one. But since things have been pretty steady for a while, I don’t feel like I’m missing anything.

I actually brought up in my appointment this week how I feel like I just keep telling her the same thing every time, how things are going well and I feel like I’m on a good path. She thinks that it’s fine that I haven’t wanted to change what I’ve been doing and what the plan has been. But even though we don’t want to change anything, there are some new regulations for controlled substances (which my medication is) that I now have to go through.

Some of the new regulations have been things I’ve been working with. I can only get a month of medication at a time when in the past I could get 90 days at a time. It’s not that bad that I have to go in every month because I have to do that for another one of my medications. But it was nice to not have to worry about a refill for a few months. And now, I can’t request a refill as early as I used to. In the past, I could request a refill when I had about a week of medication left. That allowed for time for it to be filled since it can take a day or two. Now, I have to wait until I have only 2 days of medication left to put in my refill request, and that means that I can go a day or two without it. There’s also a shortage of the medication, so that can add even more delays with getting my refill. It’s frustrating because I know I’m not doing anything wrong, but I understand why there are regulations in place.

And while I was in my therapy appointment, I found out another regulation that I have to do so I can continue getting my medications. I have to go to cardiology to get an EKG to make sure that my heart is ok and there’s nothing weird going on with my medication. I’m not worried about my heart because I know I’m taking everything as prescribed and not abusing my medications. And I’m pretty aware of my heart rate since I wear a heart rate monitor in my workouts. But it is something that I will have to pay for to get done and I will have to find the time to go in to get it done. It’s a minor inconvenience for me so I’m aware that things could be much worse. And I don’t think I will have to do the EKGs regularly, so I’m hoping that I will just do it this one time and then I won’t have to worry about it again.

I’ll have my next therapy check-in in 6 months, right after my birthday. I’m not expecting anything to be different then and the plan will continue to be to keep doing what I’ve been doing. And hopefully, there won’t be any additional regulations with my medication that I will need to worry about. But if there are, I’ll just do what I need to do so that I can continue to make and see progress.

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Default ThumbnailAnother Normal Therapy Check-In (or It’s Still Nice This Are Easy To Get Through) Default ThumbnailAnother Virtual Therapy Appointment (or Preparing For Potential Changes) Default ThumbnailA Super Easy Therapy Appointment (or Just Doing A Check-In) Default ThumbnailA Super Fast Therapy Appointment (or Having Therapy On An Insanely Stressful Day) Default ThumbnailAnother Therapy Check In (or Someone Sees Progress) Default ThumbnailAnother Pandemic Therapy Check-In (or Hanging In There)

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Building Upon Another Good Week (or PR Weeks Are So Much Fun)

Posted on February 12, 2024 | Comments Off on Building Upon Another Good Week (or PR Weeks Are So Much Fun)

I really got lucky this past week with having another good week. I didn’t have the pain and nausea I deal with each month and my weekly injection didn’t make me feel sick. I don’t know if I’m getting used to the new dosage or if I lucked out with injected it in the right spot. I did have some extra hip pain this past week due to the weather, but that is minor compared to what I am normally used to. I know that I will be having another bad week either this week or the week after with pain and nausea, but I was just so happy to have a good week this past week and I really took advantage of that.

I think because we have the Transformation Challenge going on right now, we are getting a lot of benchmarks and specialty workouts. And I know I can’t always get a PR or have an incredible workout, but I was still on a bit of a high from my PR the week before and wanted to continue my streak. This past week, we had Catch Me If You Can. This challenge has been a tough one for me in the past. I was always getting caught at the same checkpoint each time. I knew it wasn’t impossible to get past, but I was always shy of the distance I needed to be on the bike to continue going.

But the last time we had this challenge, I somehow made it to the distance I had to get to so I could continue going. I felt so proud that I finally made it and I got past another checkpoint after that. I wasn’t able to get to the end, but very few people make it to that point so I was ok with not completing it. I was just so happy that I finally got past the point that I was always caught at and felt so accomplished. When I knew we were going to do this challenge again this past week, I reviewed what I did in the past. I wasn’t sure if I’d get a PR again this time, but I was really hoping I would beat the past checkpoint that I was always getting stuck at.

When we had the challenge, we had a little paper in front of us that showed what the various checkpoints were. But I noticed that the one I had for the bike wasn’t accurate (there are 2 types of bikes at Orangetheory and the paper was the distances for the other type of bike). I was able to get my coach to give me the one that had the distances for the treadmill and I just had to do the math and multiply those by 4 to get the bike distance. Yes, doing a little bit of math at 6am isn’t fun, but it was fine.

I kept the resistance level on the bike at my normal base pace level because I knew I needed to pedal really quickly to get past the checkpoints I wanted to beat. I felt like I was cutting things close to the checkpoint where I’ve gotten caught in the past, but I managed to get to that distance right before the time cutoff. And just like the last time I got past that one, the checkpoint after that was a lot easier for me, and the one after that was another close call. But I was at the spot where I was the last time and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the distance for the next checkpoint. Even though I was certain I was going to get caught at the same checkpoint as my last PR, I was hoping I would be able to at least get a little bit further than I did the last time. It’s not as easy to do that on the bike since the distance tracker isn’t as precise as the treadmills. But when we got to that checkpoint and I was caught, I managed to squeak by with an extra .1 miles compared to my last PR.

It wasn’t easy to get that done and I was exhausted for the rest of the workout, but I was still so happy that I got another PR. I wasn’t expecting the one I got the week before and I wasn’t certain I would be able to do this one. But to get PRs on back-to-back weeks was so incredible. I know that not every week or every challenge can be like this, so I celebrate them when they happen.

We have another challenge coming up this week, but I’m not expecting another PR. It is a team challenge and I usually do them solo so I don’t track how I do. And I’m not sure how I’ll be feeling so I don’t want to set myself up to be disappointed if it doesn’t go well. I’ll see how I feel when that day happens and maybe I’ll surprise myself again. But no matter what happens, I will still be so happy with how the past 2 weeks went with my workouts and I’ll continue to celebrate those wins!

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Default ThumbnailFeeling Ok When It Counted (or Ending My Workout Week On A Great Note) Default ThumbnailA Normal Week With A PR (or The Break Between Holiday Week Workouts) Default ThumbnailA Fun And Unique Workout Week (or Not Letting Setbacks Set Me Back) Default ThumbnailA Very Good Workout Week (or I Love When My Good Weeks Match With Good Workouts) Default ThumbnailA Better Workout Week Than Expected (or I Like When Things Aren’t As Bad As I Thought) Default ThumbnailHaving Some Improvements In My Week (or Realizing I Need To Work On Building Things Back Up)

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Finding New Ways To Accomplish Old Goals (or Feeling Good About Some Challenges)

Posted on February 7, 2024 | Comments Off on Finding New Ways To Accomplish Old Goals (or Feeling Good About Some Challenges)

To kick off 2024, I wanted to work on budgeting again. I’ve done this so many times in the past, but it’s still something I struggle with. I’ve heard a lot of people say they are making the most money they’ve ever made right now but also feel the poorest they’ve ever been. I totally related to that feeling. So working on budgeting for my January challenge seemed like the right thing to do.

Things didn’t go the way I expected them to go last month, but I still feel like I accomplished my goal. I still don’t necessarily have a budget created for myself to track my money, but I’m a lot better about how I’ve been spending money. And a big part of that is working on using coupons and deals a lot more. I have been pretty good about using coupons at places like CVS that make them really easy to use, but I haven’t been as good about doing that at the grocery store. And honestly, it’s silly that I haven’t been doing that. But I’m now working on being a lot more mindful about what I buy each week at the store and trying to make sure I look up any coupons ahead of time so I can make the best choices.

I also signed up for a rebate app that does money back on top of coupons I might find online. I know there are a bunch of rebate apps out there, but I went with iBotta. That one seemed to be mentioned a lot and was pretty user-friendly. I know that I can do a lot more with that app than I’m doing now, but I’m starting off doing what I can and I’ve already gotten just over $20 back from the past month. I know that’s not a huge amount, but it’s still $20 I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t do it.

Once I’m better with doing these things, I do want to figure out about how much I spend in a month for groceries so I can use that to help me work on making a budget. I don’t think a super strict budget will ever end up being the right thing for me, but saving money where I can and being aware of how I’m spending it is something I know I need to continue to be better about.

And being mindful of things connects a bit to my challenge for February. This challenge will be a little harder to see if I’m successful or not, but I want to work on listening to my body more this month. I’ve had a lot of things that affect my body in crazy ways and I’ve just been working on going with the flow. But that’s not working for me anymore. Especially with side effects from medication, I’m tired of letting those things control my life as much as it has. I know I can’t be fully in control, but I can be a lot more aware of how things will affect me based on different factors. Maybe if I eat differently at different times of the day, things will be better. I’m sure I need to continue to get more sleep, but finding the right amount of sleep would be good too. I know that when I can sleep in, if I sleep too much I feel tired just like I do with a little too little sleep. I also want to focus on the hip pains I’ve been having lately so I can see what I can do to make that a little easier to deal with. So much is out of my control with pain and side effects, but there are still things I can do to try to make things better for me. I’m not willing to just give up and accept how often I have bad days anymore. I need to work on making things work for me again.

Just like so many other challenges I’ve done, this one will likely last more than just a month. But I’ve already been noting things about how different medications are affecting me and finding small changes I can try to see what works and what doesn’t. I’m hopeful that I’ll have at least a few new routines that work for me by the end of February!

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Default ThumbnailFinding Ways To Treat Myself (or I Wish Money Wasn’t An Issue) Default ThumbnailUnexpected Challenges To My Monthly Challenge (or I’ll Be Planning More This Month) Default ThumbnailFinding New Money Issues (or Looking At Doing A Fresh Budget) Default ThumbnailStruggling To Figure Out A Monthly Challenge (or Finding Myself Again) Default ThumbnailFinding More Ways To Clean Up (or Now Doing Some Digital Organizing) Default ThumbnailI’m Picking Some Good Challenges For Myself (or Being Ok Not Being Perfect)

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I Got My Good Workout Week (or Beating My Expectations)

Posted on February 5, 2024 | Comments Off on I Got My Good Workout Week (or Beating My Expectations)

When I wrote my last workout recap post, I said I hoped that this past week would be a good week for me. I can always hope for a good week but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen. But I had a few different things potentially working in my favor so I was really optimistic.

I recently did some new medical testing and discovered I have an iron issue, so this past week I was finally going to start doing something about that. I know that probably won’t affect my workouts too much, but I wasn’t sure how adding iron pills might make me feel. I’m always worried about side effects from medications, even just vitamins, but I was hoping that since I don’t take my medications until after my workout I wouldn’t have many side effects in the morning.

Monday through Wednesday, I had pretty good workouts. I had some of my usual issues like being lightheaded (which probably isn’t due to my iron issue but my low blood sugar), but that wasn’t affecting my workout too much. I also had a little bit of weakness after having a bad week, but that just pushed me to work a little harder in the weight room. I might not have been using heavier weights, but I was doing my best to make every rep count. And I really felt that in my muscles after each workout.

But I really want to talk about my workout on Thursday. We had a benchmark that morning, the 500-meter row. I’m very competitive with myself for all the benchmarks. And we were warned that the 500-meter row is always a bit of an odd one since it’s not a sprint and it’s not a long row that you have time to make up speed if you slow down. I know in the past, I have burned out very quickly on this benchmark because I go too hard at first and then can’t make up for it when I’m exhausted. I didn’t want that to happen, so I put my focus on just being steady and not stressing about beating my past time. I never have gotten this benchmark below 2 minutes, and as much as I wanted to do that I knew that it wouldn’t be the right thing to focus on.

When it was time to do the benchmark, I made my focus on the 500-meter split time on the monitor. I know that I usually get slower as the row goes on, so I wanted the split time to be below 2 minutes for at least the first half of the row so that when I slowed down, I would still be close to 2 minutes by the end. I took a deep breath before I started and got a couple of really hard pulls in first to start the row.

I was shocked at how low my split time was at the start of the row. I was close to 1:45, which I knew was not going to be sustainable. But it was a great way to start the row knowing that I would slow down. But I was able to maintain that pace for a lot longer than I thought. My split time wasn’t getting above 2 minutes once I was halfway through the row. But I was starting to get really tired. I struggled to catch my breath, but I also didn’t want to stop because I knew I had less than a  minute to go.

I did end up burning myself out for the last 40 or so meters. My split time jumped a lot higher and I was really struggling to row. But I kept moving, even though I was going really slow. And once I was done, all the hard work I did for most of the row paid off because I PRed by a huge margin!

I was not only below 2 minutes but I beat my last PR by 7 seconds! I would have been thrilled to get a PR by a fraction of a second, but 7 seconds is unbelievable to me! If I hadn’t burned out, I probably would have been closer to 1:50, but I’m not upset at all. If I hadn’t gotten below 2 minutes, I might have been upset by the end of my row. And I’m glad that didn’t happen so I could have this awesome win to end my week!

I seriously needed this PR. I didn’t realize how much I needed it until it happened. But it was the reassurance I needed after my bad week that I wasn’t weak or having major setbacks. One week might not be as strong or as good as the other, but I’m still making improvements over time. And this row proved it to me so much!

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