Organizing my to-dos

I've been experimenting with different ways to get stuff done and keeping track of all my to do items. I was starting to feel like I was rewriting the same list or just felt so overwhelmed with how long my list could get that I just gave up making lists and figured if it's important I'll remember it. Not always true mind you. 

I came across the idea of the bullet journal and briefly tried it out but it was more work than I wanted. But I liked the structure of the journal, and specifically the idea of having an index to keep track of the different pages of content. 

About a week before thanksgiving, I went through my house and pulled all my random projects into one big pile in the living room. Everything from mending a sweater to my folder of figuring out my style/outfits to installing a new fire alarm to my knitting project. I also pulled my multiple lists together. It helped seeing everything together. Granted there were several things I didn't include - in situ projects (finish painting my bedroom) or large and heavy projects (sort through my boxes of papers from childhood to present or my yarn collection). 

What was helpful was I started seeing patterns and was able to group projects. I had my craft projects and enough material to warrant knitting and sewing to have their own separate lists. I had a pile of stuff I was doing because I was motivated by making others happy - in a good way (write personal thank you/birthday cards). I had a list of things to do to save/earn money (call my internet provider, post items on craigslist). And on and on. Then I took an old notebook from my use it or lose it pile which meant it wasn't precious, so I felt comfortable experimenting and not wasting a brand new notebook. And each page I wrote out what I was doing that day. Top of the page was my projects/to-dos I needed to do. They were top priority and I consider them a necessity. And the bottom half was a bunch of other stuff I wanted to get to but if I didn't it was ok. I planned out most of the week and tried to focus on categories for my future self, money related, time sensitive items (cook the chicken in the fridge before it goes bad) and a few items from the "others" list. 

It's still early days but it's made things lighter for me and I don't feel as daunted. I'm able to realize that some items I may never get to and when I copy the lists over I might drop some items and prioritize others. And, I just had a nice little boost today to keep up my momentum.  I had a call midday from an old college friend. She has always been so good at sending me birthday cards and I've not always reciprocated so figured I'd return the favor and have been sending her a series of cards these last few months. One, I'm using up my stationary collection that really was just sitting around and being too precious to use. And two, I knew she was going through probably one of the hardest parts of her life right now. We chatted and caught up and at the end she shared that the cards were just heaven sent and just what she needed in this most trying of times. And I didn't even realize to the full extent of what she was going through. She said she felt like I was her angel sending her love and support when she most needed it and that I somehow sensed it. Anyways. It just reminded me of the old saying, "the path to hell is paved with good intentions."  Which I didn't really understand until way into adulthood. I thought good intentions was a good thing. And then realized if they are never acted upon and no action to carry them out then it really is just nothing. Still don't get why you would go to hell for something like that but I digress. Earlier me would have known cards would be a good thing to send this year but would have never gotten around to executing the idea. It's a great reminder.

Wild beasts, groceries and Antique Roadshow

First off, this morning. I was baking away for the week and using brown sugar. After I was done I noticed I was getting low and thought, "man, I thought I had stocked up on brown sugar, that would have been a good thing to use my grocery coupons on the last two months."  And then an hour later, guess what I found in my mail - more grocery coupons for December. It's the same grocery store as last month that just opened up and is a bit far away, but not too bad. I'm not sure I'll use every weeks coupons, but think I'll make use of the $3 off $15 some more. 

Yesterday, I popped up to NH for an orienteering event. I wasn't sure what to wear as its getting quite brisk outside but even hiking up and down hills can make you overheat. Anyways, great crisp sunny day and I headed out with the first wave of folks also orienteering. As usual, the second control tripped me up - I went too far and over shot it. Well, to make it to the third control, there was no easy way to get there on trails so I went off trail, following, what we in the know call a "handrail" (look at me learning the lingo). I followed a stone wall, now overgrown with trees and shrubs, in the middle of the forest. As I passed under one tree I saw a strange pile of dirt in front of a hole at the base of a large tree in front of me. It wasn't natural and I was curious so I headed straight towards it to investigate and that's when I saw some movement inside the hole, and I made out a black furred beast that was moving around and pointing its rear at me. Yup, I sprinted away as quickly as possible as I'm 99% sure it was a skunk. I felt bad I disturbed its home and felt bad that there would be a bunch more people probably following the same handrail and disturbing the skunk again and again. 

As I was finishing up the course, I started picking up fallen pine branches from the ground. And by the time I got back had a big armful. And as I drove home, I noticed another big branch from a different kind of pine tree fallen on the ground. I had a quick argument in my head about stopping and ended up turning around and going back for the branch. Except the branch was bigger than I had thought (it didn't fit in my car). So I take my hand clipper (i came prepared for this outing) and started trimming off good boughs for my collection. There was a guy leaf blowing the front yard, a way back from the street and came over to check I was ok and not broken down. When he saw what I was doing he went and got bigger loppers and helped me. How nice, right?  Now I have a pile of branches in my living room I need to figure out how to decorate with. 

And finally, I've slowly been cranking through projects - one of which is finally getting around to selling stuff I want to let go of but think I can get some money. I reached out to a local company that sells mid century furniture to see if they would be interested in my Thaden Jordan bent plywood dining set. Looks like they are interested and want to know how much I want. I figured I'd do a little research, and look what I found. One of the chairs was on the Antique Roadshow.  And just one chair goes for at least $800. Not sure how this translates to real life prices. But needless to say, I'll hopefully recoup my initial cost buying and shipping the set. I had a momentary pause about selling the set but reminded myself that although beautiful, by letting go of the set, I open up space (physically and figuratively) to let even better things come into my life. 

Grocery Run

For me I find coupons bring more stress then they are worth. I've been collecting old newspapers from dad for a spring time attempt to block weeds and came across the Sunday insert of coupons.  I ended up using one for contact solution. A different brand than I use but it was $1 off. Well, I fell for the marketing trick - using a coupon to get customers to try a new product. Strike one. But then, on top of all that, I don't know what it is, but I've gotten an eye infection two different times this fall. I finally figured out it was the contact solution and switched back to my tried and true and no problem. Strike two. So now, I'm back to my rule of only using coupons on a brand I like and that I need. I can't tell me how many toothpaste coupons I come across but I don't need any more tubes. 

My other rule is to only use coupons that are for a store and not a product. My local ace sends me monthly $7 off $25 purchase, so I stock up on those for when I need something. And that was about it until this fall. October I got a promotional sheet of coupons from a grocery store down the street. I think they're trying to keep up with whole foods since this was the first time I ever saw this promotion. Anyways, it's the kind where you get four columns of coupons for each week of the month for $7 off $25 purchase and then $1 off different departments. So $9 off each week. I had trouble finding stuff to buy by the end since I had stocked up my pantry and wasn't wild about their produce - I like buying local, in season produce. Anyways, final week I felt good that I saved good money about $25 without buying anything I wouldn't normally buy and fits in with my new approach to eating - buying single ingredient foods (mostly).

And then, a few days later, wham, in my mail was another mailer for a new grocery store next town over.  Another set of four weeks of coupons for November. I didn't think I'd use them all, skip a week or two. Well, I ended up using them all (not the meat or bakery coupon). And just finished using my last set yesterday, saving about $25 again. 

I'm all stocked up on dry goods and onions and dish detergents and everything. And wham, guess what I got today?  Yup, another promotional deal for groceries - single coupon for $35 off your first purchase. This time it was at my gym.  They were having an open house with a bunch of different tables. I almost skipped them but ended up chatting with one group, "Farmers To You" which is just up my ally. It's a small organization in its early days but it's basically like your online grocery delivery, like pea pod or other similar companies. Except this one is a partnership with small Vermont farmers. Great story revitalizing the dying art of farming in New England. Lots of great stuff, but a bit pricey for my budget. However, as I start buying less and less and really just the necessities, I don't feel as overwhelmed focusing on environmentally and socially responsible purchases. Especially with food that you are consuming. Local is always so much better and New England has such great biodiversity in its farming. Tons of options. Anyways, looks like I'll be shopping for December foods with my latest coupon. I'm curious if three is it or will I get another monthly coupon promotion in January. 

Gym Update

I fell off the wagon for November. Can you tell from the lack of posting?  I want to write it down though so I can try to learn and keep trying new approaches. Ironically, it was because I was trying too hard. I was good, going all week long the first week of November, and then I was popping up to dads on Friday. I didn't even want to go Friday morning as I lay in my warm comfy bed, but since I was leaving after lunch for dads, and had a bunch of work to do that morning, it was a "now or never" moment. I realized this was a good lesson and thought, I should try to figure out how to create more now or never moments. Because the most frequent downfall for me is, I'll go later today and then never do. 

Since I wanted to keep up my run of working out first thing in the morning, I packed my running gear and Saturday morning I woke up, waited for it to be light out and went out for a run. I was happy to have confirmation that my gym membership is worth it. I kind of hate paying to run on a treadmill when I can just run outside (and I use the gym for other things too). But it's the cold that would make it even harder to motivate and get going. Doable, but I need to remove my road blocks not add more. I started off and it was cold out.  I was glad I had my hat and had added an extra layer. I ran down to a neighbors house to drop off a note as part of my networking. I wasn't running too much - run walk combo. But in hindsight, realize I was warming up and it was all up hill mostly. I got to the end of the street and turned around and said, try running the whole way back to the Main Street. I didn't think I'd make it but that was my goal. And oh my goodness, no problem!  It helped that some of it was downhill but still, earlier me from the summer would never have been able to. I was so energized that instead of turning to run home I went the other way towards town to take the long way back. As I was rounding the corner and heading up the hill to dads I noticed the gate was open at their neighbors. Their property backs up to a grand house with even grander gardens - they are often profiled in magazines and on walking tours. The front part is formal, but the back part is more wooded. I popped in to check out the back part.  It was wooded but this strange manicured wilderness. Really neat. And I noticed at the top of the hill/cliff the back of dads place. I figured it was so early no one was up and I hadn't seen any do not trespass signs and I wanted to get home, this was the shortest way. I made a dash up the steep hill and came into dads neighbors backyard (opps) and I quickly made my way home quite winded with that last bit. All told, my run was 5,000 steps and 25 flights of stairs. Not bad and I felt really good after. Not tired or sore at all and energized. 

Dad and I went for a hike in the afternoon and then the next morning we went orienteering together. We did the orange course like usual but man, at the end was I tired. It was longer than normal, over two hours. And looking back, it was a lot of hills and almost all off trail (instead of just half). It was really cool because there were a lot of stone walls in the forest (from the farming days) that you'd follow... Up and down and up and down hills. 

The next day I was so sore and wiped out. I realized that weekend I had done too much. I think of it as bars on a ladder and I'm at one level and it's OK to push yourself a few bars further up than the usual bar, but if the gap is too far, it's too much and you just fall hard. That's what happened here. And it took a few days before my body was up for more work out and by then my hormones had swung and it was hard to motivate. And as I noted before, the bigger the gap from your last workout, the harder it is to get going. 

On the upside, I used accountability to motivate me and at thanksgiving I was up at dads again. And both mornings I went for a run first thing and it felt good (not as good as that first time) and also kind of nice to non-verbally brag. Hard to brag just to yourself when you are on your own. 

The first run, I went a different direction (I knew part of the run was the novelty of the route for the first time). I went south and realized it wasn't too far from some public woods that dad and I hiked after my first time running in nh at the beginning of the month. I decided to pop into the woods and run around the pond. It was gorgeous, early winter morning and so picturesque. I was able to visit my favorite spot we had discovered and I named Gnomeland. The moss and lichen is amazing in early November - super green and full - blooming. And there is this one swath of lichen or pale white green moss in amongst these mini baby furry pines.  It looks like a blanket of magical snow. It's just so quaint and untouched and your imagination can run wild with something like that. I didn't dawdle though because, 1) it was cold, 2) I suddenly became aware I was alone in the woods. 

I don't know about you but I've always tried to be street smart and never be in a situation that makes me vulnerable, especially as a woman. When I travel, I stay in at night (I'm exhausted anyways), and although I love the woods I never go on my end. I think what got me this time was that with orienteering I've gotten used to being "alone" in the woods, but you're actually surrounded by tons of people so it doesn't seem desolate. And I had just been to these same woods a few weeks earlier with dad so they had a familiarity and I thought of them in conjunction with dad. 

Anyways, I realized dad and other orienteers were not actually with me, so I ran quickly the rest of the way around the pond, trying to take in all the picturesque beauty but not stopping or slowing down. I got back to the road and ran until the foot of the steep part of the road. And walked the rest of the way. I'll have to see if I can get a picture of the place from nick. We ended up going there later that day for a hike, me, dad and nick.

After thanksgiving. Nick spent a few nights, while visiting friends before flying back to DC and I kept up my gym visits. And then Monday hit and I got the beginning of a cold. I still went to the gym but the rest of the week I was super stuffed up. Tuesday I was drinking so much I think I visited the bathroom over 20 times. It was just drink water, toilet, drink toilet, repeat. Anyways, I didn't know the etiquette about having a cold and the gym (turns out, it's best to be considerate and stay away while your contagious), and I didn't want to overdo it again and push my weakened body too much. 

I'm still stuffed up a bit, but feel on the mend, this Saturday morning. I plan to go to the early morning Tai Chi class I've been meaning to try out and if I'm feeling good, stay for the step class I usually go to Saturday mornings. It's all about thinking in terms of resets to break the cycle you are in. I. Trying out a new reset system I've been experimenting with and formalized for this month. So far so good, buts only day 2. I'll keep you posted. 

Gym classes

This weekend, since I had no orienteering I made it to the step class on Saturday. When I first started, the instructor told me, after an hour of me having two left feet and being terribly uncoordinated while the rest of class stepped in unison, that it takes about ten classes before you get the hang of the routine. I wasn't too bothered as I knew it as just part of my brain that hadn't been wired that way...yet. 

Last time I did the class, I did pretty well.  Still a few missteps but generally I was getting the hang of the routine. But this weekend, I felt like I had gone back in time and was more uncoordinated than ever. What happened?!  I realized, as I was trying to stay in step, that I hadn't been to a step class for a few weeks, between orienteering and being out of town. And that its like a language - you gotta use it or you lose it. And as I was trying to be in step, it dawned on me, it's good that I'm going to the gym and taking these classes, because not only a, I working my cardio (good for hearts and lungs), and weight routines (good for the bones and muscles) and sweating (good for getting a better chemical balance emotionally), it was also good for me mentally - retiring parts of my brain and irking out that important muscle at the top of my body. So I held on to the idea I was working my brain muscle as I stumbled through the rest of the class. It was good I was doing something my brain could do in auto-pilot. And I realized, as I was thinking all this, that I was thinking a lot more during the class. My mind as wandering and making these connections but also not really focusing on the routine which also hurt my coordination. I kept trying to tell myself to focus at the task at hand but for some reason, that morning my mind was all over the place. I like the discoveries my mind s making right now. A lot of aha moments all of a sudden and I'm trying to capture them. And it wasn't like I was ruminating or worrying, but I want focusing where I needed to. I need to figure out if there is something I can add to my morning routine that will help me focus and then release later and let the mind wander for the creative stuff, but then focus again. It almost sounds like an exercise: focus and then wander, focus and then wander. I'll have to figure that one out and get back to you. 

Oh, also have to mention I just went to my first barre class. I've been meaning to go and finally made it to the class.  A little early so got my cardio in for the day too. I thought I'd like it since I liked the ballet fit, but I was presented with a jarring start of the class. The instructor was nice but then she cranked up the music - modern rock and proceeded to do some really fast aerobic, quasi ballet (but barely) moves all while yelling at the class over the loud music. A stark contrast to the ballet class which was calm and quiet classical music. Just not what I was expecting. I almost wanted to step out after 15 minutes but I've started thinking of ways to do more experiments and thought of this as an experiment - to test out if barre classes are a good fit for me. By the end of the class it quiets down, but she kept yelling at us and was more like a drill instructor than I had experienced before. At first I was thinking this isn't for me. But then I questioned myself, was it really just because the class was hard - I really could feel my core muscles and my arm and leg muscles were like "what the hell ya doin' to us?"  So it was a good work out in that sense. I did feel like it easily put strain on your lower back if your form wasn't right.  And I wasn't always getting the form right - a lot to focus on right from the start - no easing in. By then end I was happy I stuck it out throughout the class. But I came away from the class feeling quite anxious. I just don't like yelling, especially when the person is yelling at me. I might make it to the class again now and then, but it's not making it onto my regular workout routine. However, there is one other barre instructor that offers a class in the vending that I was also interested in. And I'm going to not discount barre completely and try this other class to see what the atmosphere (and music) is like and see if it might be a better fit. Who knows, the class I went to today might be good fit for me later, but just not right now. I'm still new to exercising and I respond better to warm hugs than drill sargents. 

Flashback to being five

I feel like I'm off my habit. As I mentioned earlier I haven't really clearly defined what the habit is I'm trying to create. I think I'm finding exercise every day is too vague and doesn't create the habit. Or maybe it's actually the best way to enter into the habit. This morning I woke up extra early and was supposed to have visitors (they canceled later in the morning) so I got up and tidies and cleaned.  And by the time the gym opened up at 5, I was on a roll with cleaning. I have to say it's so nice resetting the house to clean and tidy. I need to remember to do these resets more often. 

By the time I ate breakfast I found out my plans had change for the day and I kept going with work projects.  I did see that I could go to a 4 pm ballet fit class. I meant to get out the door earlier to run errands first and get some cardio in. Instead I ran late but knocked off some dragging to-dos which really felt good. And the class was a nice surprised. Very relaxed and not what I was expecting.  Basically it was laying of the floor stretches/Pilates and the second half was your classic ballet routine at the bar. And oh my goodness, I had a vague flash back to my younger days of doing ballet. I think. I was pretty young and the memory was pretty vague and if I'm honest the memory might have been from a movie I saw and not really my memory. But anyways it was a nice feeling. Ballet is so simple and yet difficult. I was focusing on so many different things but at the end of class I did feel taller which is one of the main benefits the instructor shared. I think I might do a little YouTube research and practice before next weeks class. I have grand visions of becoming and elegant and graceful person in how I hold myself and float across a room. From someone who is a tripper - it's a goal. 

The instructor was super friendly and after class she shared more about the exercises and we got talking about lifestyle and food and just generally a nice overall positive boost. I did still hop onto the treadmill but only ran a bit before I realized I needed to head to the bathroom (too much water) and then I figured I should run my errands and get home for dinner. So not a full cardio workout today, but I did make myself do a bit. 

I pulled out my old Fitbit (first generation, it's that old) and charged it up last night. I was supposed to go to a museum today and was curious how many steps I'd walk. I put it on first thing this morning and even though I was sitting and working for a bunch of today, between the running around tidying the house and the ballet class and the treadmill, I ended up close to 7,000 miles which isn't too bad. 

I think I'm going to try wearing the Fitbit for a few days and see how my exercise routine each day contributes to my overall steps for the day.  And tomorrow, I've steeled myself to make into the gym early (before 6 am let's say) and try to get the morning routine again.

Oh, and to follow up on the previous post, the orienteering results from my day out with sharing the trails with the horses, I placed 4th. So my run of top 3 has ended but it was a pretty good run. I'm on the fence if I should go this weekend. There are no local orienteering events, but because this is New England, going to a meet in Conneticut isn't that much farther than usual. It is two hours though. Maybe I can piggy back another trip on it too. We'll see. 

What's the Etiquette with Running around Horses?

I think I mentioned yesterday, I had the rare treat of two orienteering meets in one weekend. This Sunday morning, I was admittedly lazy and stayed in bed an extra hour (or more). Webster was very upset since he had gobbled down his wet I had fed during my bathroom trip and he wanted his dry which I dole out later in the morning after I've made my breakfast but was being delayed since I was still in bed.

I had a morning of chopping, cooking up a ton of green peppers and sweet potatoes. I also experimented with new spice combos for mini sausage patties.  A good way to use up older spices. By the time I sat down for breakfast it was already 10 and I didn't get out the door until twenty minutes later. 

I'm doing this new thing now. Instead of just plugging in the address into my gps and blindly following directions. The night before I looked online the route, studied it drove on memory how to get to the place. I think it's a good warm up for orienteering since one skill to develop is to remember your route with minimal map checks. I did it yesterday and again today and it's a good way to exercise the brain. So strange to say it, since this is how we used to drive anyways, pre GPS. I'm starting to notice ways technology can make us (me) lazy and lose skillsets unconsciously. 

I checked in and was off by 10:50 am. This is the second time I thought I was being lazy and getting a late start but accidently (subconsciously?) did the right thing. Usually meets are 10 to noon for check in. And I like to be there right at the start. You're less likely to shadow someone else on the same course. But it turns out today's event was 11 to 2. So I was early, but they were open for business so it all worked out. Same thing Friday. I was on a role with some projects so didn't get into the gym first thing in the morning and by the time I finally got around to it, it was lunch time and I had a hint of guilt it was so late. Except my gym was closed Friday morning for construction work and didn't open until 2. So I ran the rest of my errands and came back. I had known about the scheduled delay for two weeks. The notice was on the door I went through every day. Except I forgot, but maybe my subconscious remembered. Anyways, two times I felt bad I was running late and it turned out I was early. 

Today's meet was another gorgeous perfect fall day. Again not too cold that my nose is red but cool enough that when I was working up a sweat and then got to place I could run, the breeze created from running felt really good. The meet was in a DCR park that had a strong smell of manure when I arrived. I kept checking my shoe because I thought I stepped in something. Not sure what the park was about since I didn't check it out, but there was a farm and I heard mooing near the start of the course. 

I started off right behind someone else who I thought at first was on the same course, but we just had an overlap of the same control at the beginning. Which I used to my advantage to test out a question. Is it faster to cut through the brush and go a direct route, or take the longer route around, but on trails where you can run faster. We were at control one at the same time and he headed off on the hypotenuse of a right triangle and I ran the two legs of same triangle. Longer distance but we got to the same place around the same time. And I think he was probably more tired fighting through the bush.  So I filed that lesson away for later. Just after he popped out of the woods and we were both looking for control number two, along came two ladies on horseback down the trail. By then I was heading off trail in search of my landmark. But it was a nice addition to the fall day. 

Fast forward to about control 8, and I'm running along a path and see two more horses heading my way. I had a moment of deliberation in my head. Can I keep running? Or should I slow down and walk so as not to upset the horses?  I had no idea, but figured they must be overlapping with other runners so I kept running but tried to provide as much distance between us as possible. And I slowed down a little. 

Overall I did ok. I didn't have any one control like yesterday that I really struggled on.  But I did have a bunch (around 3-5) where I didn't find them straight away and had to self correct. I did remember having trouble with marker two and thinking, why do I always have trouble with the second control as that was the one that tripped me up yesterday. This time, I was thrown by the guy that started just before me.  He pops out onto the trail just before me and I'm distracted with my experiment I think so although I think I'm paying attention, I missed a stone wall and head off trail later than I should. I was definitely influenced by the other runner.  It turns out his second control was near mine on the same side of the trail, but several hundred meters farther along. Once I figure this out, I run back and find mine right away. I really need to learn to block out the other competitors because usually they are on another course, or more lost than I am. 

Today's forest had a ton of stone walls. I can't remember having another meet where I used stone walls so much as guides for finding the markers. There was one water spot, near a stone wall that I was so happy to see. I really need to invest in a small water carrying device. I was getting thirsty today. And yesterday. 

Overall, I had a lot more energy and didn't feel as sluggish or groggy legs. And I could feel I had a better energy source with my hearty breakfast in my belly. I do think I still need to work on my endurance since I did take a bunch of bigger trails I could run on but did a combo run and walking. I couldn't run the whole distance. I did push myself to run most of the last leg home. My eye has pretty much cleared up. But to be on the safe side I wore my glasses again today - no contacts yet. I didn't mention before, but it took some adjustment yesterday. I don't wear my glasses outside ever and this is an older pair so I had to get used to going from looking at something up close to something in the distance. I'm definitely putting glasses on my list of things to save up for once I have an income again. This pair is from pre 9/11, so over 16 years old. Crazy how fast time has gone by.

And when I sprinted to the finish and downloaded my results, I walked around to the screen and saw... I was first again!  Again, first out of one competitor - just me competing so far. As I say, take your wins where you can. So I'm enjoying first for awhile. I'm not sure I'll place this time since I think i did decent, better than where I was at last year, and I ran a bunch.  But I also walked a bunch since a lot was off trails and I wasn't always spot on finding the controls. There was one control that was by a bunch of rocks, right by the trail.  Should be easy, but there were a bunch of trails in the area and it was tricky figuring out which trail you were on. Trails are useful until they are deceitful - usually when they are the tiny ones and not all of the trails are marked on the map, so you think you are on one trail, but you're on another trail. Anyways, I'm learning to keep cross checking the map with the terrain to ensure I'm where I think I am. And I'm standing by these bunch of rocks thinking, wait, maybe I'm on this other trail and I need to head over that way, when I look up and notice the marker just to my left tucked behind the rock I was standing next to. I was right where I thought I was. Opps, that cost me an extra half a minute figuring that out. And I'm learning it's these moments that don't seem like much can add up. 

Oh, also, I've been practicing the advise from a fellow competitor a few weeks back.  We kept overlapping, doing the same course and he advised me to "always plan my exit."  Meaning, you are planning how to get to the marker, say marker three but as you are getting close, also start figuring out what route you are taking to the next marker, marker four. That way, as you come upon marker three you know which way to head without having to stop and take time to figure out what next. It's more graceful, helps with your time and is good etiquette since you standing by a marker gives away the location to other runners. I found myself practicing, "planning my exit". And started thinking that's a good lesson to take to the world at large. Head towards your goal but plan what's next too. I'm not sure of any particular examples in real life yet, but am going to practice planning my exit this next week and will report back. Also no results posted yet, so will have to report back if I placed. 

Well Webster is meowing for dinner.  He's like my alarm clock, always telling me when 6 am and 5:30 pm are. He really has taken after Winston. Which makes me realize I somehow have inadverntently trained this behavior since I'm the common denemonitaor with the two cats. 

Overlapping Passion Update

I posted earlier how I have discovered orienteering and last time I was out, it was pouring down raining and I found I could run a lot more than I thought I could. Nothing like an incentive like rain. It looked like my endurance was being built up. I also noticed that I had placed in the top three at the last several orienteering meets. I started thinking maybe I'm not only getting better at orienteering skill wise, but also I'm getting in better shape. Orienteering is a sport after all.  It's known as the thinking mans sport. Well, I was waiting patiently for the next meet so I could test my theory. 

This morning (Saturday) I was contemplating going to my gym's basic step class in the morning and go from there to the orienteering event. I'm still trying to figure out if my habit is going to the gym every day to work out or is the habit just to work out in any form or location. I do want to try doing both the gym and the orienteering on the same day. I was planning for that day to be today and had gotten up and ready in time to go, but in the end decided not to which was a good move. I need to hit the grocery store (which I did on my way home today) and I got an eye infection last night, ugh. Which translates to, I'm not in top form since all I had for breakfast was an egg and toast (usually I have a ton of cooked veggies, several eggs and sometimes some meat - a nice hardy meal) and my body was fighting off the infection I had gotten. 

I did get to the event ten minutes early, and they had opened up early too. It was only two towns over so nice and close and man, is it peak New England foliage time right now. It was so gorgeous, a warm but not too hot but also not too cold, your nose gets red, kind of day. I figured the fresh air would do my body good. And not a cloud or drop of rain in sight. 

As I started off, I started jogging but wasn't feeling in peak form. Plus a lot of the course was through the woods (versus on trails) and I try to be extra careful so no injuries occur. Twisted ankles are not uncommon. I did find that I was getting winded faster and couldn't really run long stretches much (although it does make a difference running down a slow incline versus pounding up the incline). 

It was strange too, as I was heading to the first marker, things felt off and I realized I had swapped what hand had my thumb compass and what hand had my epunch. How many times have I done this and I didn't remember this right?  It was like I put my watch on the wrong wrist. One sign my body is not in optimum form. I also found my legs were a bit draggy. This is not uncommon at each meet, but usually near the end after they are worn out and tired. This time, even in the beginning they were groggy. 

But I was determined to try to keep my role of placing on track. And kept jogging than walking than jogging than walking. And bam, control 2 tripped me up.  It was at the top of a cliff and I approached it at the right place I thought, but then couldn't find it.  Back and forth I went, I had my catch basins (features that triangulate your area). I finally found it, literally feet from where I climbed down the first cliff. I had read the map wrong and thought it was on a lower cliff.  Lesson learned, but I thought, man I need to up my game on the rest of the course after killing 15 minutes on marker 2. 

I hit some markers spot on which was a nice confirmation my bearing skill is getting better. But I also was off a few times, but recouped quickly and found the marker. Over all I didn't feel like I messed up too much but it wasn't spot on and I walked a lot of it. I was tired the whole time, yet envigurored by the fresh air and mental stimulation if that makes sense. My body was just groggy. 

Fast forward an hour and I finished. We are high tech now and there is a screen set up where you download your results and you can see right away where you placed within the different levels. And guess what - I was first!  Crazy, right?  Well, actually, because I got there early and did alright, I was just the first person to finish the course. I was first out of one person competing. 

I had thought, since I had gotten there early, I might try doing two courses. Some people do that and it's something I want to try out, especially as I am becoming more fit.  And although I'm spoiled living where I do and we have a ton of orienteering events, there still aren't as many as I wish there were. I want to get out there and do more. 

But today was not the day. I mean it was a perfect fall day so it was the right day, but my body just wasn't up for it. I swung by the grocery store (the parking lot was packed) and picked up food and  the pet store for food for the cats and then home. I had leftover chili in the fridge ready to go.  I'm learning to know my weaknesses and I knew I'd be hungry when I got back and not want to make anything. So I had taken the chili out of the freezer so it was ready to go. Although frankly I was still hungry after eating a big bowl of it and ended up finishing off my almond meal and coconut cookies. So good. And then...

And then I found two hours had gone by and I had accidently taken a nap on the couch. I was still tired so moved to my bed and slept another two hours. I was wiped out, so clearly this pink eye infection is stronger than I'm giving it credit and I need to let my body do its job and fight the infection off. It's looking better now.  It was like I was getting a cold, but through my eye - same mucus snot coming out of the eye. I had used a mascara last night that I hadn't used for awhile which I think might have gone bad. I therew it out. I've been drinking a lot of water and am going to go to bed early. 

But even with a "cold" and being sick - I placed!  I noticed Jim was running the computer and he's good at getting the results posted quickly (i.e. Same day). Usually it takes a few days. I went to the website and there were the results, and I scrolled down to my class, and there I was, no longer first, which I didn't think would last, but only down a few spots to third out of 19 people.  11 minutes behind first place and 38 seconds ahead of fourth place. My roll is still rolling!  

A rare occurrence, there is another meet tomorrow.  Two in one weekend. As I was driving home today, wiped out I was thinking I'd not go, partly because I was so tired and realized I should take it easy, but also because I thought it was at a location I had been to last month that was not my favorite and super steep hills. But now, after napping and seeing how well I did and seeing that the event tomorrow is actually at a place I haven't been to yet, I'm wanting to go. 

I'll make a big breakfast tomorrow - my favorite go to - sweet potato hash with peppers and spinach and eggs and homemade sausage patties. And play it by ear. Weather looks good and I really want to go. I'm going to go make myself drink some more water and flush this thing out of my system. 

Lesson: prepare

After the last post wast posted, I jumped out of bed got dressed and went straight to the gym. That was Tuesday. Today is Friday and I just got back from the gym and feel great. In between, not so much. This month was extra rough with the hormones. I've started thinking that the act of going to the gym and sweating out the hormones (like sweating out toxins). It doesn't work like that but that's what it feels like.  Wednesday I skipped because my period started. I made it Thursday and Friday but skipped Wednesday for the very reason I said I wouldn't. Looks like I need a better plan than just saying, "don't do that again".  

Here's what went down, my period finally arrived at 3 am, and by the time the gym opened, I was cramping and used that as an excuse. In reality, it was part the cramps but also, the hormones were raging and I was feeling really down. I figured I'd wait until the afternoon when the cramps should have lessened. Good in theory but by then my mental mood was in a rut and I just wanted to cuddle up and not leave the house. So I need to figure out a toolbox of things to have on hand when I'm heading into a slump. So far I've found the following are always small steps that help maintain or step me up:

1. Exercise.  I need to figure out if increasing the length or intensity have an impact.  It gives me a hit of happy.  The problem is how long it lasts.

2.  Finish a project. I stumbled on this one. Something switched inside of me and all these projects I've had for years I'm knocking out or calling it quits and getting rid of. I was surprised the other day that when I finished wrapping my books I felt really good. My living room gets a ton of sun and the books get bleached otherwise. Be careful of projects I can get stuck on or projects that take too long. It's the act of finishing not just working on the project. The joy of accomplishment. 

3. Reset Body.  This is obvious but often gets neglected. I've learned to go through my checklist.  Drink more water, eat more healthy food (I'll forget/not realize I'm hungry), take a shower, brush and floss teeth.  

4. Reset Rooms. I've realized that usually I'm ok with clutter but become more sensitive to clutter during down times. It adds to the negativity. The simple act of surrounding myself with a positive energy room instead of a negative energy room makes a difference. Weird. This time I found that resetting rooms that I inhabit the most made a difference. I started with my kitchen, doing the dishes putting stuff away and deal with the stuff that had been sitting around for awhile to be dealt with or bring down to the basement. The next time I entered the kitchen I got a little jolt of joy seeng a nice and tidy room. The surfaces were empty and clear other than my carefully curated vignettes.  It looked pretty and made me feel happy I had such a nice place/things. I did the same with my bedroom, and back sunroom.  Folding throw blankets, putting away unfinished projects. All surfaces were cleared. 

5. Go outside. I always feel good after gardening outside. I've been putting it off some days since I'm conscious to limit my time outside between 10 and 2 to reduce sun exposure. As a result I haven't been outside for awhile. I need to remember it's good to get out and since it's getting darker earlier these days, I need to try getting out in the morning after the gym. Maybe I'll try a different sequence. Instead of gym-breakfast-projects now I'll try breakfast-gym-gardening so I just garden when I get home. 

6. Have a cup of tea. I set out last year to enjoy tea, never being a big tea drinker but wishing I was. I never explored why I wanted to like tea other than being an Anglophile.  Now I realize, in the UK, anytime something goes wrong, you have a cup of tea. The act of making a cup and enjoying the drink basically helps you smooth yourself I think. Luckily I've been associating tea with comfort and coziness which carries through times I'm not. Plus it adds fluids to the body which is good. 

Avoid:

1. Refined Sugar. I knew this but still wanted something sweet and ended up making cookies. Ironically this was a mini boost for accomplishing a project (finishing up almond meal that I wanted to use up).  But latter felt icky after eating the cookies (I always end up eating a few more than I should). 

Modification:  my urge for something sweet is hard to ignore. Next time instead of using only will power, make some energy bites instead. They are sweetened with honey but overall give an energy boost and otherwise are healthy. 

2. Getting stuck on a project. I'm at the end of my very first sweater I designed myself. Except the button band isn't simple and I keep finding I do something and it's not quite right. This fine normally as I'm exploring the best techniques. But when I'm down, this is just discouraging and saps my limited positivity storage. 

Modification:  prepare projects by testing out making part of it or one of a thing when times are good and then package in a bag or box all the supplies to continue or make other items. Basically do the prep, exploration, creating and figuring out when things are good. 

Well, that's my list of things so far. I'll have to think and see if I can come up with more before next month hits. I'm resolved to figure this out - nothing like trial and error. I need to run - off to bingo!  I've wanted to go to bingo for five years now and am joining my friend and her mother. Hopefully it's not too expensive. 

Hitting the Wall

I noticed that in my early weeks, starting my exercise habit, I was going strong, getting to the gym every day... That is until I hit that time of the month where my hormones sometimes spike right before my period. I skipped a day and used my period as an excuse.  But then when I was looking back at my progress a few weeks later, I called myself out. It was a weak excuse and if anything, that's the time to get into the gym to produce the other types of chemicals in the brain to balance things out. 

I was determined to see if I could do better next cycle. And here we are.  Some months the hormones aren't that bad, but this month it seems extra strong. Which I find just amplifies what ever I'm feeling. And unfortunately I have a quiet anxiousness with the job situation/finances. In my good days I know everything is manageable and my life is nothing like what others face on a daily basis, I'm quite privileged and lucky to have the life I do. 

Yesterday I made it into the gym at 5:30.  One motivator was that we have a new class schedule at the gym. After a few months, they'll see what classes were popular and edit them down. So I was motivated to try things now in case they don't make the cut. I got in and found I was the only one there for the early class and they need three people to have the class. So I did the treadmill instead.I wasn't really in the mind frame for it, expecting to do something else that morning. I usually do two miles - combo walking, running and hills. But I let myself compromise and do 1.5 miles since I would be back in the evening for my balance/bones class. I sometimes get there early to get free parking before it fills up which then I spend the treadmill before the class starts.

I got home, had good energy and got stuff done.  But as the day progressed, my energy dwindled and I found myself needing an afternoon nap. By 4 pm I was up but still not great energy. But I was resolved to make it to the evening class.  I really just wanted to snuggle in bed and enjoy a good book. Did I mention it was a dreary, rainy day yesterday?  All I wanted was cozy but instead I put the gym clothes on and off I went. 

I was cutting it close so had to up my speed on the treadmill to get in the half mile before class. And I was so happy to see that I could run for a half mile solid (well almost, I did walk for a minute first to warm up). It's so rewarding to see progress, isn't it?  I wasn't getting winded and even had my workout jacket on while running - I wasn't getting to hot. 

Anyways, I was glad I got to the gym, had my cardio and my class. And in the evening went home and had a good meal. I'm really learning to be good about always having some healthy leftover already made in the fridge, ready to go. I know it's obvious, but sometimes when you've reached the tipping point on your energy you can't make dinner when it's just for you. And putting good food in the body makes you feel good and vice versa. I really wanted some chocolate chips when I got home for the gym (I stocked up on a sale of ghiradelli chips - only $1.50 - usually they are $4). I've learned this was because, one I was thirsty.  When I'm thirsty I crave sweet. And two, I was hungry. When I'm hungry I crave sweet and usually by this point I need to eat something before I cook - I don't have enough energy to push through. No thyself. I've gotten rid of almost all my "fast food" snacks, since they have no nutrional value. The one I exception is I now have jars of nuts in the fridge. My go to is raw almonds. I used to look sideways at friends and family who ate nuts, even the salty ones. Not high on my list of foods. But now, I can't imagine not having them stocked. Sometimes (most of the times) I'll throw in a dried fruit or two like prunes. 

I digress though.  It's 6 am and I'm trying to get going and go to the gym. Again, I wish my period would just come so the hormones would reduce but that's why I need to go instead of rolling back to sleep. Ok, this post has helped remind me why I can't not go. I have to go and get my dose of energy for the day. I'm going to see how long I can run for. It's crazy that I'm not getting indeed after two minutes. That was where I was at the beginning, only six weeks ago. I'm off, wish me well. 

Overlapping Passion with Habit

Last weekend, I went orienteering.  And unlike the weekend before, when there was drizzle and a chance of rain, so I wore rain pants, jacket and brought a change of clothing and foot ware, this weekend, I ignored the rain forecast. Why?  Because the week before it never rained, it threatened to, but not a drop when I was out there and I was overheating from all the gear I was wearing. I figured, it's just water and the tree canopy would help dissipate most of it. And frankly, I don't look at the forecast much these days so didn't realize the drizzle was going to turn into pouring down rain. 

The point of this long winded ramble is that last weekend, I went out to do something I love, orienteering in the woods, and because of the pouring down rain the whole time I was out there, I was super incentivized to go quickly. Like, instead of mostly hiking through the woods, finding the control points, I ran. I ran mostly the whole course. And you know what is crazy rewarding? I could run!  

I'm not a runner, never have been, even when I ran track in high school to add to my credentials for getting into college (I had the academics, clubs and extracurriculars but no sports). I can run for a bit and then walk and then run a bit more (like a minute). And this is where my habit of going to the gym, working out and building up endurance is nicely paying off in my orienteering world. 

As rain was dripping down my nose, and I was cursing I didn't bring a hat and wore cotton clothing instead of the quick dry stuff I have, I was pleasantly surprised I could keep just jogging along. I'd pound up hills and watch my footing on slippery roots on the way down hills. I actually had to slow down to a walk sometimes to read my map since I'm not skilled enough to run, read a map and not run into trees or trip. 

I ended up coming in a close second in my group level (I'm orange). And in under an hour too. Some times it will take me up to two hours when I'm just enjoying being out in nature, walking the course and getting lost here and there. 

When I was running through the woods feeling like a top athletic performer I was getting a hit of dopamine or whatever internal reward for really doing well. The working out was paying off in ways other than what I mainly focused on - energy boost and mood stabilizer. It felt great. And I really didn't mind the rain.  As someone pointed out before I started, it was a warm rain - mid-70s.  And as another person I met along the course pointed out, wearing eyeglasses was torture - they fog up constantly so you can't see where you are going nor read your map. I was happy I was wearing my contacts. And don't ask me why, probably out of a well established habit, I had lotioned up with sunscreen on my face and neck before I headed out, even though it was overcast - you never can be too careful. I quickly figured out I better rub it all off with my sleeve, while I was out in the woods, before it ran into my eye and burned. I had an incident a few weekends before on a hot sunny day where the sweat carried it to an eye and it hurt. A lot. Lessened learned, and preempted.

Another interesting thing is that I didn't need any water. At one of the control points there were jugs of water and I decided to skip it, wasn't thirsty. I've never skipped drinking water. Maybe because it want so hot or maybe all the water reduced my sweating. Frankly I really couldn't tell if I sweated at all. My clothes were soaked through to my underwear. Usually I'm very focused on the course but my mind did wander a bit planning what I'd do when I got back to the car. Interestingly I was just reassessing the stuff I store in my trunk, specifically a nice black fleece blanket.  It can be used as a picnic blanket (but when's the last time I had an impromptu picnic), more often I end up wrapping my Christmas tree in the blanket to reduce needles and sap getting all over my car when I put the tree in my back seat. But now, as I was wet through and through, I was so happy I had such a nicely outfitted car. I ended up stripping off the wet shoes and socks, pants and shirt and wore the blanket as a long skirt.  I had a workout jacket I had left in the car (I.e. It was dry) and opted to drive barefoot. I put all my wet stuff on a plastic sheet I kept from last Christmas tree haul and felt pretty smug about it all. When I got home I tip toed across my driveway, shoeless, carrying my stuff in, took a hot shower and then caught up on my laundry. The only thing that took forever was for my shoes to dry. They are still not dried out, three days later. 

Today I went back through all my orienteering results over the last two years to see how I placed overall.  I found that I did consistently about the same for the last year and a half - bottom third. I'm a walker and still honing my orienteering skills. Plus, I didn't really care about my placement, I just loved being out enjoying nature and finding the control points, eventually.  But the last three events I placed in the top three for my group!  I think I'm getting better at orienteering and not getting lost, but these all are events occurring since I've started my P66D challenge. So I'm guessing it's a combination of my skills improving but all my physical ability to go faster.  I'm curious if there is a correlation. I know I'm running a bit more but other than last weekend, I still mainly walk most of the course, I think. Maybe I'm running more than I realize. 

I can't wait to test whether I'm actually doing better or its just a fluke based on other factors, like who my competition is, etc.  I'll have to wait two weeks before the next event but now I'm reenergized to train more at the gym. I have a deadline to keep my improvement going. I think I'm going to do more of the dreaded Jacobs ladder. Imagine something like a stair master, but on an incline and it's a moving ladder where you climb the rungs with both hands and feet. It should be easy but man, I get super winded after 3 minutes. I don't know how people do it for 30 minutes. But I think it's building up my endurance more than other pieces of equipment. Back story on the ladder, all the fire stations across the state got one as part of a grant a few years back. Except it turns out the last thing firefighters want to workout on is the ladder so it got donated to my gym. 

Well, I'll hopefully report back on how future orienteering events go. There aren't that many left this fall which is a bummer and a few got canceled.  I think there are 4 or 5 left before winter.

I just popped over to the Internet and did some quick research. Earlier this year, I was out at my moms in Ohio for the month of May and was able to catch the one orienteering event near her town.  I've done a few events up in NH and of course a bunch in MA. All quite different due to different terrain and forest types. NH is the most challenging - super dense and tons of mosquitos. Well, thinking about who reads my blog, I just searched, and both northern Texas and the Phoenix area have robust orienteering clubs. Florida is a bit more sporadically spread across the state. And you know what?  No winters so the clubs don't shut down over the winter months, actually, I'm guessing that's when they are in full swing since they probably shut down in the summers too. So now I've put orienteering in AZ, TX and maybe FL on my bucket list - specifically in the winter months when my club is shut down - I can travel to get my orienteering fix. 

At first I was super excited but we'll see what I think once I've slept on it. I mean, here in New England there are nice furry animals, the snakes are mostly always harmless, spiders are your friends (they eat the bugs - I name mine George and have three living in my house at the moment) and the worst bugs we have are mosquitos and ticks which frankly aren't scary, just dangerous because of what they might be carrying. But out west, I mean, my uncle fred last summer said they shot a half dozen rattle snakes when clearing out the brush in their back yard, and that's just their suburban backyard. And their spiders are furry, but not in a good way. And scorpions and those are just the popular stuff, what about all the B-list celebrity wildlife that are probably just as dangerous, if not as scary looking. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a snake that isn't dangerous out west. Maybe I need to do some homework first and figure out how an out of towner would fare at one of these orienteering events. Hopefully I can talk a family member into joining me for an orienteering excursion - no running necessary unless it's for your life!

P66D Findings

Ok, having been about a third of the way into my experiment (I think), I'm staring to notice some things and have a few hypothesizes (is that the plural form?). Here's what I've got so far in stream of consciousness form:

1. Hypothesis 1: it might have helped that I dabbled in the habit I wanted to form before jumping into the deep end. All my gym visits throughout the year were a warm up for this marathon. Or it could be me just wanting to feel ok with my earlier poor performance.  Next step: for a future P66D project, pick a habit I've never really tried before (so flossing is out since I keep trying to be better). And see if it is harder to start up. 

2. You have to sweat for it to count. This one I might refine later, but basically I'm finding that the days I come in and work up a sweat, I get more energy for the day.  It got me questioning if earlier months, where I would go in and walk on the treadmill while reading a book really did much. Maybe, but the best bang for the buck is to sweat. I'm still trying to figure out what my minimum time that counts. So far I try to do at least 20 minutes. Take-away: Define your minimum requirement to qualify. Otherwise you can talk yourself into 'I did enough' but you really didn't for it to stick. 

3. Have two levels of go-to work outs. Some days you just aren't up to doing a full intense work out. The idea of it is just daunting. It can be good ammunition for daisy in her fight to keep you from going to the gym. The other day I was finishing my period and feeling sluggish. I told myself, bring your book and do the recumbent bike. Except, instead of doing the super easy course from previous months, I upped my level. It took some experimentation, but now I know what level pushes me, with rolling hills, that lets me read and sweat. Take-away: have a fall-back level in case of emergencies (day of weaknesses). 

4. Name your nemesis. Mine is daisy. Lazy Daisy. Words are powerful and I've been learning to be mindful of what I say. Not just to others, but especially to myself. That internal critic, and perfectionist and excuse maker has been too loud and bossy over the years. Prepare arguments against Daisy ahead of time, in your times of strength, so that in your times of weakness you are still on point. Mine right now is that 'I want to know my number'. It seems so insignificant but I have this belief that the number exists and because of that I really really want to know it. It's like that wrapped gift in the corner. You're just itching to find out what is inside. 

5. Practice parenting practices. This is crazy but sometimes I'm finding that techniques I've learned to manage kids are working on me. I'm dipping into my toolbox and using anything I can find. One practice I was doing was giving options to myself before bed. With kids, they don't want to go to bed and you can spend hours in the fight head on.  Or instead, you offer two options which both end in bed, but now they feel in control of the situation. For me, I was saying after I brushed my teeth (which is usually where I ended my nighttime routine) that I could either floss or wash my face. I'd end up doing one each night for about a week (mostly flossing). So strange that it worked since I knew what I was doing but it helped.  For the gym, Thursday morning I had woken up super early, like 3 am early and ended up getting up and working on projects. By the time my gym opened at 5:30, Daisy was working her magic - 'I'll just finish what I'm working on since I've been really focusing on finishing projects instead of leaving a lot of open projects'. By 6 am I had finished the project and Daisy was trying to talk me into other stuff to do instead of the gym, 'I had the afternoon class I was going to go to anyways, so might as well just go a little early before the class and do some cardio then and then you only have one trip and then.... ENOUGH' I interrupted. I knew I'd be even weaker in the afternoon since I didn't get a full nights sleep and less likely to go (which I ended up not going since I was taking a nap). I ended the bargaining, shut it down and marched myself into my bedroom to get changed and said to myself, 'that's it, you're going to the gym right now'. I felt like I was reprimanding an argumentative kid that you just can't reason with. You sometimes just have to shut it down and be firm. Just thinking in terms of parent/child helped me be strong. And you know what, I got an energy boost from my workout that got me through most of the day. 

6. Use the same routine - same time every day if possible

7. Reward yourself - new shirt - felt great wearing it for the first four times - careful of retail therapy habit. 

8. Stack your habit. Built on my routine of getting up, making bed, going to the bathroom, drinking a glass of water, giving the cats water, feeding the cats, insert new bit here: dress and gym. 

9. Prep the night before. I don't know why but setting out my workout clothes really seems to help. One less decision to stump you and exhaust you. 

10. Variety - same morning routine, different workout routines.  Depends on mood and energy level.  I have the treadmill, side elliptical, bike, rowing machine. 

11. Bonus days - getting better so do more. Morning visit and afternoon class. Class doesn't count since not much sweating - mostly weight strengthening and stretching/balancing. Or the ladder for three minutes - super winded. 

12. Name your immediate benefit. I go to the gym because it's good for me. I think of it as preventive maintenance but it's so hard to think of the delayed reward that is 10, 20, plus years out. Instead I've been focusing on the other more immediate rewards, mainly my energy boost and mood stabilizer. Last week, I was chatting with Larry, the owner, while working out, and stumbled upon an analogy. The workout is like my morning coffee, my caffeine boost. I don't do coffee or caffeine but am surrounded by people and society who can't function without their morning hit. Now I could be like everyone else and have my morning pick-up too. Saturday morning I was sluggish but I told myself, 'you just need your morning coffee' and off I went to the gym class. Daisy was like, 'but...' And didn't even get an argument in. 

First two weeks: ok if not exactly same routine. Get in the door and do your minimum and it counts. Let's you refine your optimal routine to be most successful. 

Second two weeks: build on momentum and add bonus. Extra workout - the ladder or a class (two visits). Stick to the routine you zeroed into your first two weeks 

P66D Progress

P66D = Project 66 Days. I'm on day 23, or should I say day 20, or maybe I'm just at day 6. Here's the thing, does it count if I make it to the gym, regardless of what time? Is the habit going to the gym and working out each day, or is the habit going to the gym every morning at the same time (or around the same time)? Can I skip a day? How big a gap can I have and still maintain the habit forming activity?

I found an instructor at my gym that I like. She teaches at my level (well, a bit beyond, but it's good to reach and push yourself) and has a nice attitude/way about her. I've tried to make it to her Monday and Thursday afternoon classes and her Saturday basics step class. But I'm really trying to go first thing in the morning. Wake up, get dressed and out the door. As I've been experimenting, sometimes my inner voice in the morning says, "we're tired, and it's Monday, so just go at 5 pm for the class, it will count". Does it?  Luckily, my experiment has fought against the voice when, later in the afternoon, it starts coming up with excuses not to go to the class. I want to know my number which has been pretty good motivation. Especially since I want to apply my number to other things. 

I figured I'd focus on one habit at a time with this technique. I've been trying out other habit techniques with other habits I want to create (like flossing every night and washing my face every night).  So far P66D has yielded the best results. I had one day that I skipped so far, Sunday 9/17. I find the weekend the hardest since my gym doesn't open until after I've been up for awhile. So it's a different morning routine.  I was trying to remember the reason for the skip - it was my period and it had just started the day before so my flow was at its peak and I still had a few cramps. But really, if I'm honest, I think that inner voice got to me and won that fight. I've made it out the door and done stuff, with much worse conditions. I was just weak and lost the internal argument. 

Still, overall, I'm pretty chuffed with my progress so far. It's my best chunk of exercise to date, and I'm feeling an improvement, which I think in turn yields more progress since I'm stronger to fight that internal voice. I really need to come up with a name for that voice. I think I'll try calling her Daisy for now. Lazy Daisy wants me to be lazy so she doesn't feel bad being lazy on her own. 

Finding My Habit Number

I was just rereading my last post which I had forgotten was about the gym and was from January, almost ten months ago. Well, as I ended that post, it does help to tell people about whatever you are working on. Plus I want to remember this journey for future reference. I'm working on my Project 66 Days. For me, it's a bit like the Whole30, except, I'm inventing the rules as I go, through trial and error. 

Here's the back story.  I joined the gym, as I mentioned, in January and found myself sometimes getting the energy benefits but not all the time and waning in my attendance sometimes, and then picking it back up. Basically I was all over the map. As a way to help me, I started recording when I worked out on this small calendar.

As you can see, I didn't start recording until March.  I think I was doing pretty well in January and into mid-February, making it into the gym three times a week which I thought was a good amount, especially coming from zero times a week practically. By March, I was forcing myself to go, just to not be giving away money, and trying to get a little of my money's worth. On a side note, another thing I love about my gym is that they have a reverse promotion. Instead of the other gyms, that offer $1 membership for the first three months and then bump up to $100 afterwards, my gym starts high and after three months drops - there is a payout instead of a financial penalty to keep with it. This has helped me a bunch, as you can see, some months weren't great and I started thinking I should cancel for now and then re-up later just to not waste money, but the extra up front cost kept me in check. 

By April, I reinvigorated myself to go.  I wish I remembered what I did to change things so I could record it as part of my journey. The square box on some of the weekends is me going orienteering and not going to the gym. Still a good workout as I'm outside and running/hiking.   I'm guessing this might have been my trigger as April is when orienteering started up for the year. 

May, I had a legitimate excuse, I was in Ohio busy helping my mom.  I did try to get out for a morning run the first week or so, but I'm still not much of a runner, and I was running around from dawn to dusk so much anyways, I used this as an excuse to put my exercise on hold. Although, i did manage to go to the one orienteering event they had that year in my moms town. How fun is that?  I've been orienteering in three states now (MA, NH, OH). 

By July, I was slipping again and didn't even want to record my poor performance for the next 8 weeks.  I did manage to go to the gym some and was doing outside activities like canoeing and hiking over the summer but nothing consistent or intentional. 

Around the end of August, in my perusal of life improvement stuff on blogs and YouTube videos, someone mentioned in passing the term 66 days. I looked it up and there wasn't much out there - so no new program that was storming the Internet. I did find this article though (link here) that explains that the old 21 days to form a habit was never based on any scientific study. It was just an observation of a surgeons from decades ago that got blown up and latched onto. Fast forward and there is a more recent study that quantified the number of days to form a habit from a large study group of subjects. It showed that the habit number varies from person to person and other factors, but that the average number is more like 66 days. Well, as this new info percolated, I went to my first orienteering event on a bicycle on Labor Day weekend, Saturday, September 2.

I had missed it last year and was looking forward to going this year.  It was in Lexington, so after packing a lunch, I hopped on my bike and biked to the starting meet up. Near the end of my ride, I was questioning if I would actually do the bike orienteering (there would be a smaller foot course too). I'm not wild about biking on streets, being spoiled by so many great bike paths in my area, and not really trusting drivers. Also, my ride to the event was slightly up hill the whole way and I really should have put a bit more air in my tires (and worked out more/trained). But luckily, when I got there, the excitement of the event overpowered that voice inside that is so good at finding excuses. It was structured as a three hour event, where you try to get as many points as possible and get back within three hours without being penalized for being late. 

We had five minutes to study our maps and I picked a general route that hit the controls mainly around Lexington, while simultaneously avoiding steep hills (as much as possible) and busy streets. After the first ten minutes (which had a bit of a hill), I was in lala land. It was marvelous. A beautiful day, minimal traffic (I think everyone was out of town over the long weekend), and I was getting hits of dopamine or whatever, whenever I found a control, and tons of vitamin D, even though I had lathered up with sunscreen. I ended up finding myself ahead of schedule and adding a few extra controls to pick up. I was going at my own pace and just enjoying the journey and exploring the back roads of Lexington and great weather. As I was biking I would grab handfuls of my new go-to snack: a bag of raw almonds and dried fruit. It was prunes at the moment so kept an eye on my consumption as I wasn't near any bathroom facilities and I had learned in my twenties the hard way what happens when you consume a bag of prunes. 

I got back with ten minutes to spare and compared notes with another competition, picking up some tips.  On my bike ride back home, I stopped and finished off my lunch that I had been too busy to eat most of it. And had a leisurely afternoon. It was almost five hours of bicycling all said, with a bunch of hills, even though I tried to avoid the worst of them. The thing was that I didn't feel anything as I was biking.  Maybe winded here and there climbing up a hill but no muscle aches. And then like certain alcohols, much later, it hits, rather crashes over me. That night I woke up an pain. Luckily this had happened once before on another long bike ride with my dad, so I knew it didn't warrant a ride to the ER. But man, for someone who has never been a big sports person, this whole lactic acid build up is a b!*&+. I had a brunch get together up in Maine with old friends, two of which are doctors, and they said it was normal and looked at me like I should have experienced this earlier in life by now. Basically you just flush the acid out with water and time. And by Monday I was feeling better and went to the gym. 

And this is when the 66 days, percolating in the back of mind clicked. I need to find my number. No listening to that one inner voice that says you are doing good making it to the gym a few times a week and then comes up with other excuses that build and build. I'm doing my own experiment and going for 66 days, or longer. This post, about my beginning of my project is long enough. Next post is progress so far. 

Gym Girl

I started a part two post for Christmas decorations and when I returned it was gone - no draft. Ugh. But in the meantime, I've slowly been taking down the decorations in the new year. I held onto the two little trees an extra week and brought them to my town public works Saturday. They had their chipper out and people were dropping off their trees. It felt a little like going to the farm and seeing where they process the animals. Felt bad they were getting chopped up. 

The big news is that I joined a gym, for the first time ever as an adult. I always argued I only liked exercise as a biproduct from stuff like hiking or biking. And definitely, I was not a gym person. But, as I've been making my way through the healthy improvement stuff, I found that I still had periods of low energy.  And the more I read the more there was one thing everything was writing about that I hadn't really gotten into - exercise. I know it's obvious, but I was hoping I could just eat right and do a few other things and be good. 

I started walking in the fall and that was pretty good, even when my neighbors dog didn't like the longer walks. But then it got cold and rainy and it just wasn't happening. I dabbled with the idea of swimming but after talking with folks realize it might not be the best fit for me due to the boredom.  You can't read or listen to podcasts. 

So that left gyms.  I finally decided on the one that was closest to me, only four blocks away. I kept meaning to pop in and join in December.  Mainly because I didn't want to be that person that joined a gym at the beginning of the new year. 

Ok and this is where it gets fun. My gym is not your typical gym you see on tv.  My first visit I went at 8 am and the guy behind the desk was my dads age I think, but seemed older. And he mumbled. And was not a sales person. I told him I was interested in joining and I wanted to learn more. He handed me a one page flier and upon a little nudging from me he went on to explain the membership options. Which, after explaining it to me twice, still sounded like the same. 

After putting my stuff away I was ready to go and asked him if he could show me what to do or a tour. He mumbles what I'm interested in, like what piece of equipment.  He then proceeds to punch the start button and says I'm all set. I spent the next 45 minutes on a semi-recumbent bike and familirazing myself with the gym and watching the people.  I initially I was disappointed the guy wasn't that helpful but then I warmed up to it.  I rather him than a hovering guy. I learned about the gym etiquette of wiping down the equipment after use. And I loved seeing all the socializing. I was by far the youngest person. I was facing the nautilus weights and the ellipiticals. There would be a lady, maybe in her 70s or older working on the weights and another lady of similar age would come in the back door all bundled up and they would chat for awhile. Two middle age people caught up while on the ellipiticals. A little later on there were two older gentleman working on the weights. I was so surprised seeing so many older people at the gym. Talk about blowing my preconceived conceptions. 

Afterwards, I decided to stay for a 9 am cardio class. At first I thought I'd get my own personal class, but turns out everyone was just late. Full of mostly soccer moms. There was a step included in the workout, and omg, I was horribly uncoordinated. I had a hard enough time getting my arms and legs going in the right away let alone managing the step. It was a great workout but man did I feel like odd man out. Clearly my brain is not yet wired like that. It will take some practice clearly. 

When I got home that first day, nick was visiting and I filled him in.  He got as much of a kick as I did from this atypical gym. More later, but to cut to the end, I started going at 6 am and found Larry, who owns the gym I think, and gave me the whole intro, tour and what feels like my own personal training. Just what I was looking for that first day. His approach is to ramp up slowly to encourage wins versus frustrations. Just my style. After the second early morning workout, I'm finding my energy and mood so much better. I was trying to go in every morning.  Friday I slept in and told myself I'd go in in the afternoon. That never happened. Saturday they didn't open until 8 am and by then I was into other things and never went in even though I thought I'd try to go later in the day. Finally Sunday I was finding my energy level waning and by midmorning I made myself go in and felt so much better after. It's Monday now, and I went in at 6 am. I think I learned that I need to go first thing in the morning otherwise I fall back into old routines. I'm on week two now.  Fingers crossed this works out. It helps telling people.