My last day in my 40s

Christmas run on the 606 - 50 degrees out!

Today was going to be a super-lazy, stay in pajamas kind of day - but then it hit 50 degrees and sunny, so I had to take advantage of it and get outside. M and I went to the 606 for a run. I did 3 miles without stopping, which is the most I’ve done at once in a long time. My workouts have been all OTF for 1.5 years, and I never get more than 2 miles in there. I’m feeling great that at age 49 and 364 days I can just knock out 3 miles at a decent pace (@10 minute miles). 

I’m not quite at my pre-surgery speed, but my strength and endurance is good. And I feel fully recovered and am so happy to not be dealing with cramps and mood swings and all that other crap. I wish I could’ve gotten this taken care of years ago. I also love that I don’t have to live in fear of menopause. I’ve had zero symptoms and my skin is better than every. 100% positive. 

I feel better than I did heading into my 30s. Not as good as 10 years ago. That was when I was in peak running shape, right before the injury. But considering that, I think I’m doing pretty well. I’ve found other ways to stay in shape and have been consistently active since then. 

Starting to catch up

So this morning I posted about today. And realized that I hadn’t posted in over a year. My last post was about discovering Orange Theory. That was just the beginning. I got totally hooked. And got in really good shape. I got stronger and faster and I love it. I was going 5x/week. Then I took 7 weeks off to recover from surgery and now (right this minute) I’m getting really sore from this morning. You do not use rowing muscles for anything in your regular life. And I rowed 3000m this morning, and did not take it easy despite my best intentions. I was between two young guys and my competitive side kicked in.

Changing gears... I’ve been thinking a lot about what to post, where to post and why this year. I gave up Facebook at the beginning of February. I only Instagram to look at Orange Theory benchmark results and piercing stuff (I got a little obsessed with piercings this year). I tweet, but mostly for work or work-adjacent stuff. Since I quit FB I’ve taken far fewer pictures, and really haven’t been journaling or writing in any way. I’m not giving myself any place for reflection. I’m not sharing much of what’s going on with me. I think I don’t care about the sharing, but need reflection. Trying to figure out what I want/need. And where to do that.

I begin again

Its been a year of a lot of change - too much for a quick before-work post - so today will be about today, and I'll catch up later.

Today was my first day back at the gym in 7 weeks. I had a laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy on October 1, because I was diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome a few months earlier, and since there are no reliable tests for ovarian and uterine cancers, which my genetics predispose me to, I got everything taken out. The whole process was much easier than expected, other than a few hours of discomfort in the recovery room, I felt surprisingly good. Uncharacteristically, I listened to my doctor and didn't go jumping back into my normal level of activity once I felt good. I waited the full, proscribed 6 weeks (and more since my dr. was on vacation week 6 and I couldn't get my all-clear appointment until yesterday) to start hard workouts and weight lifting. And since I don't belong to a regular gym anymore I was limited to running outside and minibands. Which I was not great about.

I learned or reconfirmed that I'm best when exercise is an appointment that I go somewhere to do. I do not push myself enough when I'm just running outside. I'm also really dependent on my usual level of exercise for weight control. I gained 6-8 pounds during recovery. I do not look or feel my best.

Mostly I felt disconnected from my physical self. I love what my body can do. I love being strong and pushing myself and I really missed that.