Pre-Vacation Jitters

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Does anyone else have that dream where you're supposed to be on a flight in a half hour for a very important/fun/exciting trip, and not only are you not even at the airport yet, but you've completely forgotten to pack? I put it in the same category as the dream where I realize I have a final exam today for a class that I completely forgot to go to all semester. Usually it's a Spanish final. Because I might be able to fudge my way through an English or History final with some good BSing, but there's no way to fake that I have no clue how to work the Spanish subjunctive anymore.

I love to travel, but I always get a little nervous beforehand because I'm convinced I will forget something vital. Truth be told, I usually forget something, but it's usually not something vital, and I can usually buy whatever it is wherever we are. The one time I really triple-checked the suitcase was when we went to India because I had no idea what India would have in the way of, say, Oral-B floss, and whether we would even be anywhere close to a place where I could pick some up.

My mild pre-trip anxiety is exacerbated today because the swim is on Sunday, and given that I was kind of pooped after a 500 this morning, I'm a little nervous. However, I ate some junk food yesterday (office mid-afternoon snack break + BBQ and pie at a friend's house) and I definitely noticed I didn't feel my best this morning. Or last night, for that matter. Motivation to eat healthy on Saturday!

I'm also a little nervous about the yucky weather forecast next week. Fingers crossed that it's just an island thing and while it will probably rain a little every day, it won't deter us from any of our fun plans. Or from getting a tan.

I miss being tan...

Wish us luck!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LMB100 5/23/2013 7:09PM

Excitement! Have a great trip and good luck with your swim!! Report Inappropriate Comment

Review: SwiMP3

Monday, May 20, 2013

Jason gave me a SwiMP3 ( www.finisinc.com/swimp3/ ) for Christmas 2011, and because I'm a horrible person, I just used it for the very first time a week and a half ago.

Actually, my conundrum has been that pretty much for the last year and a half whenever I swam, I was either with the Masters team, or with a swim buddy, and it seemed rude to just flip on the music and tune out. However, the Saturday before last I had scheduled a long swim and I knew my swim buddy couldn't be there. So I charged up the SwiMP3, loaded it with some songs, and tried it out.

I love it! First of all, the SwiMP3 uses bone conduction, rather than headphones. I've heard swimming headphones can be tricky, so this seemed like a useful innovation. The only thing is, when the music is on, for some reason it really amplifies the noise of the water rushing by my ears, and the sound of blowing out water when I breathe. Maybe because I happen to be listening harder, so I notice ALL the sounds...? When I do backstroke, it's less noisy because there's no blowing out air prior to breathing and my head is in the water for the entire length of the pool.

That's a minor quibble, though, since I quickly adjusted to the ambient noise and focused on the music.

The two side pieces hook onto each side of your goggles, and set on top of your upper jawbone/cheekbone. When I tried it on the night before, I was worried that the plastic would dig into my face and give me a headache after a long swim, and if I loosened the goggles anymore, I was afraid they would leak. I needn't have worried. I don't know if its a buoyancy thing, but I didn't even notice the plastic pieces resting on my face after a bit.

The sound quality is a bit tinny, and I miss my bass beats, but, seriously, I'm listening to music underwater through MY BONES! That's pretty awesome.

I definitely need to make a new playlist. I've used it twice now for long swims (20-25 minutes) and have discovered that some songs just do not work for me and swimming. It seems like repetitive, intricate music and beats, with simple words get me in a nice groove. Think "Lift Me Up" or "Bodyrock by Moby, or "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim.

My conundrum now is that I really want to use the SwiMP3 during our St. John swim, because wow would that make that 1 1/4 miles go quickly! I think I'm going to call the organizers and see if I can.

(This is in no way a sponsored post, though that would be pretty sweet if Finis decided to give me another SwiMP3.)

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CALGALFOX 5/22/2013 1:17PM

Yeah it's great to have music while you're swimming and my favorite place to swim and listen to music is in the Caribbean. I have the Finis, but because of the tinny-ness, I prefer my earphone mp3. You can cut down on the outside noise by wearing earplugs. Report Inappropriate Comment

HEATHHILL 5/21/2013 2:53PM

Oooooh, maybe I will get a swimp3 player with some of my award money!!! Thanks for the review!!! Report Inappropriate Comment

KELLYIM 5/20/2013 8:19PM

The sound doesn't really work out of water. You can kind of hear it, but not nearly as well. If you plug your ears, you can hear it better. Report Inappropriate Comment

LMB100 5/20/2013 6:19PM

Bone conduction... interesting... one of the reasons I don't own a MP3 player is because I can't stand earbuds. Seems like no matter what size or shape I try, they either hurt or just won't stay in. So I gave up. I wonder if the SwiMP3 works out of the water too? You'd have to figure out a way to connect them to your face though, if you aren't wearing goggles. Report Inappropriate Comment

Sometimes A Flower Is Just A Flower

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

(I wrote this on my non-healthy living blog yesterday, but thought I would share here too, because I know I'm definitely not alone in this.)

Yesterday at church I Took A Stand and now I feel kind of dumb about it.

Actually, to be more precise, I didn't take a stand - and after I finish my story, you'll understand why that's a very bad joke.

Every year for Mother's Day, the bishop gets flowers for all the women in the church who are over 18. At the end of Sacrament Meeting, he calls the little kids who are under 8 up to the front, and he has all of the adult women stand up, and then he instructs the kids to give a flower to every woman who is standing, so they dash around, handing out carnations wrapped in plastic and a pretty ribbon.

The first year we were in that ward, I felt silly standing up, because I wasn't a mom and I didn't have any thoughts of being a mom quite yet, but I stood and took my flower.

Yesterday was a different story. Yesterday I just Wasn't In The Mood. See, we've been trying to have a baby for 2 1/2 years. I think almost everyone we know in real life knows this by now, since we've been steadily answering "not yet, but we're trying" for at least a couple of years whenever anyone we know asks us about the whole kid thing.

The first Mother's Day after we started trying to have a baby, I just smiled sillily and I took the flower. Last year, I was feeling a little more down about it and I actually left the room right before, just figuring I would avoid the topic altogether. This year I had to conduct the music, so I was essentially trapped there until the bitter end of the meeting. And I just Wasn't In The Mood. So I stayed seated, and I grabbed some papers out of my bag and started pulling things together for the Sunday School lesson I would need to teach in 10 minutes.

Then a cherubic little boy thrust a fuchsia-colored carnation in my face despite the fact that I was not standing up, so of course I took it and I smiled at him brightly and I said thank you.

Sigh.

When we got home, I told Jason it was probably silly for me to stay seated. What was I taking a stand against exactly? A nice gesture?

(OK, there are also some vaguely feminist reasons rattling around in my head, but those are really just a strident cop-out because mainly it was the baby thing.)

As Jason said to me, "Sometimes a flower is just a flower."

I'm not going to go into the details here, but yes, we've been to doctors, and yes, we're working on solutions. Overall we're optimistic that it will happen, but time keeps passing, and we keep getting older.

On the upside, though, we've been able to save some money, we've been able to buy our house, and I've been able to really find my groove professionally. None of those things would have been so secure if I'd had a baby a couple of years ago, and I feel like every little bit of stability that I can give our future children and our future life is a plus.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

LMB100 5/15/2013 9:24AM

Boy, can I relate. See, you're definitely not alone! It took me a couple of years and some aggravating fertility treatments (which I gave up on) to get pregnant too. I never walk down that road with other women, unless they want me to. It's too personal. I think the worst part of all of that was the comments from other people, no matter how well-meaning. Every time I heard something like that, I wanted to lash out and hit someone. The absolute worst was the sister of my best friend. She was early in her pregnancy and having some pretty bad morning sickness. She said to me, "See, now aren't you glad you aren't pregnant?" My friend knew about the problems we were having but her sister didn't. I was so upset by the comment that I had to leave, which I did before I said something totally regrettable. Yes, sometimes a flower is just a flower, but at the same time I agree with Woubbie below. It's "Mother's Day," not "Women Over 18 Day." Making every woman stand and participate seems a little extreme to me. I think it invalidates the extremely personal choice of women who choose not to have children and it belittles those who want children but don't have them, for whatever reason. Sometimes those "nice gestures" aren't so nice and I don't think you have any reason to be ashamed of your feelings - or to feel dumb - about this. I also think your feminist reasons for disliking this are valid, but that's probably a different blog. I do applaud you though, for being nice to that little boy in spite of yourself. Report Inappropriate Comment

WOUBBIE 5/14/2013 4:21PM

Frankly, I find the practice a little unsettling. You exemplify one side of what's wrong with the situation - it's a very painful subject for many couples. My husband and I went through the same thing for almost 3 years. Hang in there and do your best to be patient! But the flip side has validity as well. Your intuition was right. Not every woman wants to, or indeed, SHOULD have children. The holiday is Mother's Day, and shouldn't be diluted. Report Inappropriate Comment

HEATHHILL 5/14/2013 11:56AM

Oh Kelly I can so relate.....I've mentioned that we too had trouble getting pregnant and it's just so hard to deal with all the emotions around it and the things people say..... It was very hard for me to realize that most people just can not relate to fertility issues. I truly believe they are not trying to be mean but that really, they just are unable to understand it. However, at the time I was going through it myself I'm not sure I could have seen that. I echo Carol with the stability in the job and relationship. We were only able to have one baby, and she is of course the light of my life. But soon, she will be all grown up too and having that foundation of a relationship has been a good thing for before, during and I'm sure after the kid is gone. I hope the treatments work. It's amazing what can be done today. Had my husband and I tried right after we were married, we would have been told there were no treatments available for the specific issue we had. The procedure we needed was only about 5 years old when we finally used it, and we had already been married almost 9 years. There is hope still. I will think good thoughts your way, whatever the results for you. Report Inappropriate Comment

CALGALFOX 5/14/2013 10:35AM

Awww kiddo I really feel for you. We had to go through years of waiting and tests and I sincerely hope your outcome is like ours. You are right, you're not alone. I found that out when I went through the waiting, the tests, the frustration. We also were able to buy a house, promote my career and add stability to our lives. The amazing outcome was that when we did (finally) have a child, we were so clear on our relationship and such a cohesive unit. I would never trade what we gained in the end, for having had children at a younger age. The other added benefit is that now that the kids are grown and gone, we are back to being a very comfortable couple. We have many, many friends that had a hard time with the kids leaving, but I believe that having those years before children has made these "after children" years a total joy. Good luck my friend. Report Inappropriate Comment

SDTOHIO 5/14/2013 10:08AM

Thank you for sharing. I found it very moving. I wish you much luck and blessings. Report Inappropriate Comment

Shin Splints

Friday, May 10, 2013

I'm pretty positive I have shin splints, which has happened before when I've started running. My buddy and I were still planning to go to kickboxing tonight, and I was going to tell the teacher I couldn't run, only it turns out she pulled something in her back the other night.

And she's 22 and teeny, so it's not just because I'm old and decrepit and overweight. This is some intense stuff and we need to be careful.

Which begs the question, what kind of ridiculousness does he put his "Elite Training" class through? I can't even imagine.

So we probably won't go tonight, which is a shame, because I wanted to get in the workout and, despite the pain, I am really enjoying the kickboxing/Cross Fit experience.

Here's a couple of questions for you: have you had shin splints? How long did it take you to get over them? When you started running/walking again, did they come back?

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

CALGALFOX 5/15/2013 2:58PM

I have had problems with them over the years in distance running and dance. I've found that the barefoot runner shoes seems to have made this issue a thing of the past. For me, I didn't give in other than taping, so the problem could go on for weeks or more (I'm really stupid). Report Inappropriate Comment

JAHINTZY 5/13/2013 11:56AM

I've gotten shin splints many times, I think it usually took just a few days for the muscle to loosen back up. I would also kind of massage my shin - straight up and down along the length of the muscle to help it out. I've found that since switching from wearing a pair of new balance cross trainers (that had a heel) to a pair of converse low tops I actually feel much much better. Keep in mind that I am very used to being barefoot and without support or cusioning underfoot so your mileage may vary and that solution may not work for you. Bascially without the heel I'm lifting my toes less in order to get a comfortable foot strike - therefore less stress on the shin muscle to lift my toes up and less shin splints. Report Inappropriate Comment

KATIAT325 5/10/2013 8:09PM

I get them all the time. It helps that when you're sitting down, you start tapping your feet, because it gives the legs the needed stretch. Also, to reduce the occurence, I usually take a break about 10 min into my walk/jog and stretch out my calves, and flex my foot up and down - your shins really feel it. It helps. Report Inappropriate Comment

WOUBBIE 5/10/2013 6:02PM

Sounds like a crappy trainer. Have you thought about getting custom orthotics? If your feet really are as flat as you say you might need to have a physician fit them. Report Inappropriate Comment

LMB100 5/10/2013 4:24PM

I had them years ago, when I did gymnastics and track in high school. We just taped them up and kept going. I can't remember how long it took them to heal, but they haven't been back, so I'll count myself as lucky. I think some people are just more prone than others. Report Inappropriate Comment

So Basically I'm Doing Cross Fit...

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

kellyim10.blogspot.com/2013/05/so-ba
sically-im-doing-cross-fit.html
(I've got a bunch of links to exercises in this blog, so I'm just putting the link to my Blogger blog so you can read it there)

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

WOUBBIE 5/8/2013 3:41PM

Yikes. My right knee just throbbed in sympathy. Maybe someday... Report Inappropriate Comment

LMB100 5/8/2013 2:36PM

Holy crap. Well, I commend you for sticking with it. I'd have been out of there at the first suicide. Report Inappropriate Comment