Daily Challenge 35: Foggy Morning

My surgery site still hurts. It isn't bad most of the time, but enough to make it clear that I haven't healed completely yet. I think some of it is the scar tissue stretching. I took off some time but I think this week I'm just going to keep pushing through it and try to get out, alternating exercises.

This morning I rode down the Yelm-Tenino trail on my Trek Marlin. It was a foggy, cold morning, but things were starting to clear up a bit on the way back.

Daily Challenge 34: Out Running

I weighed myself this morning and discovered that my weight continues to go up! I'd hoped that exercising this past week would have brought it down a smidge but I guess not. Oh well. It's not really about the weight, except that it gets easier to do the things I want without carrying around extra weight. I'll keep working on it, right now I'm about 25 pounds heavier than I was this time of the year in 2011.

I went out today for another short run down to the trail and back. One more step along the journey.

Daily Challenge 33: Self-Portrait

Yesterday I got up and went for a morning ride on the mountain bike. It was cold outside, down to 37°F, so I dressed warmly. Too many layers! It felt okay when I left. Then I started getting warmer the farther I went. I decided that I'd turn around at the intersection with the Chehalis-Western trail and head back. When I did, I stopped and took off some of my extra layers, including my mittens and ninja face/head mask. I also unzipped my outer jacket partway to ventilate more.

I didn't have any problems as far as my surgery site. I got back, realized I hadn't taken a picture, and took a quick self-portrait. Then I used that image as a reference this morning to paint a self-portrait. The result is a bit off, but that's okay. It's all practice. You can't see the whole thing in the small pic above, but it'll appear on the December issue of Exposed Monthly: Raw Creation! That's my magazine/blog where I talk about what's going on each month, indie writing, and publishing.

It's great getting out again. Today I worked outside in the yard, so I'm not posting a challenge post.

Daily Challenge 32: First Post-Op Trike Ride

Last night I went out and installed my Down Low Glow lights on the trike. I had everything ready this morning to get back out on the trike and ride. It felt great getting out. My legs groaned a bit. After weeks of inactivity, this week I've been going out each day. I'm not pushing too hard, trying to take it easy. At first the cold cut through my layers and I thought I needed another layer, but once I warmed up it was fine. I didn't want to turn around when I did, at the 6.0 mile marker on the trail, but I figured going farther would a) take too long, and I didn't have time, and b) mean pushing too much. Still, great to get out!

Daily Challenge 31: First Post-Op Run

This morning I went out for my first post-op run. I took it very, very slow. I haven't walked much or done anything like this since before the surgery. In fact, the last run I posted here was clear back on September 17th! Part of that was just that I was spending more time on biking and triking. Still, it's been a while and I definitely felt that in my legs. Since I was moving so slowly it wasn't as much work for my lungs. One of these days I want to get a Garmin GPS watch with a heart-rate monitor so that I can track that as well. I'm using Endomondo on my phone right now, but the watch would make a lot of this easier and can sync with the site.

I didn't do this run barefoot! Cold, wet and dark doesn't make for a good combination. I did wear my Vivobarefoot trail running shoes, which I like for conditions like this. As conditions improve I'll work more barefoot runs into my rotation.

In any case, this is a start. I think I'm going to continue alternating exercise forms, and gradually get into shape!

Daily Challenge 30: Biking!

This morning was kind of a big deal for me, because I went for a bike ride! The last time I was on the bike was over two months ago. I hadn't yet gone to the doctor, but I was having a few issues. After that I cut back on my activity leading up to the surgery. And since then I haven't felt up to doing much at all. Plus I've been taking it easy, listening to the doctor's instructions.

I wasn't sure how it'd go even getting on the bike. It was fine. No problem. I didn't strain. I didn't push hard. Nothing that would cause a problem. I went for a short, easy ride up to check my post office box and then took the short route home. Short ride, slow speed, and it felt great to get back on the bike!

I tried using a new app on the phone to track the ride. It doesn't pause when I stop (taking pictures, going into the post office) and I can't change the activity from running. I wanted to try it since it posts directly to Dailymile.com, but I don't think it's going to work too well for biking. There are some great iPhone apps out there but I'm stuck on Android for now. Oh well.

I need to remember to put the fenders back on!