Happy Belated Birthday to Me

I’m never the best at remembering other people’s birthdays beyond the Facebook acknowledgement. For example, last week I sent my nephew a very belated card for his birthday back on September 5th. But it’s not so often that I forget to acknowledge my own birthday!

It’s not that I failed completely — I did meet my parents for lunch in Toronto to celebrate my birthday on Thursday. But I usually do a blog post on my birthday, and it didn’t even occur to me until way later in the day when I was about to wind down for a good rest before a three-day stint representing Arts and Humanities at Western at the Ontario Universities Fair.

My blog posts are usually a stock-taking of sorts and some forward-looking planning. Here’s from my 49th birthday. And here’s from my 50th.

This past year, particularly the last few months, have been trying for me. My fitness routine has faltered quite a bit as I come to terms with some big life changes. I’m not talking about menopause, though that’s been an issue too. Instead, I planned my spring badly, with a 30K and then a marathon too close together. It knocked me down completely. See here and here for the sad details.

And then there was Renald’s retirement and his move onto the boat. I like to think of us as worldly and progressive, and in some ways we are. His retirement dream, to live on the boat and winter in the Bahamas and summer on the east coast of the US, requires good health.  I’m not ready yet. He’s older than me and has worked hard. Waiting didn’t make a lot of sense. Yadda, yadda, yadda. So the intellectual reasons support this arrangement but the long-distance relationship has been difficult for me.

And then there was the flood on Labor Day weekend. It destroyed my condo and the repair is so extensive that I need to relocate for at least six months (along with over 20 other unit owners in the building). with the students just back and classes about to begin, it was not the start I’d hoped for in my new role as Associate Dean in Arts and Humanities.

So what fell to the side? Race plans. Workouts. Early mornings. What did I prioritize? Sleep.

Now, feeling rested and re-settled, albeit temporarily and with just a limited amount of stuff, into a comfortable condo on the other side of downtown, I’m ready to get back to a routine that prioritizes health, fitness, and self-care.

For me to stick with anything, I need some goals. My short term goal is to run a sub-60 10K by Halloween. But to be quite honest, I don’t see that happening. Instead, if I can hit sub-65 this time and then train for a sub-60 in the spring, that will do. In the longer term, I want to plan for the Kincardine Women’s Triathlon in July and the Olympic distance triathlon again next August in Bracebridge. I have a bit of trepidation about an August race because it can be so unbearably hot, but I like Bracebridge and think that August will give me time to train.

I’d also like to get back to the weight room.  This is a challenge when you’re doing triathlon training. For one thing, weight training pulls in the opposite direction or so they say. It’s also difficult to fit everything in. Say I wanted to do two swims, bike sessions, and two to three runs a week.  The Beautiful Badass Muscle Sculpting program that I’m interested in trying is a 4x a week split routine. Nia Shanks (from Lift Like a Girl and author of the Beautiful Badass workouts) says that if you’re doing it right, then you probably won’t want to do a lot else. But the triathlon training is an additional 6-7 workouts a week.

All of this leaves yoga right out of the picture because there’s just no time.

So I’m torn. I’ve already signed up for swimming, my 10K is a month away, and winter indoor bike training starts up in November. The workout program is 16 weeks.  This is my problem: I want to do everything and it’s not realistic. What to dispense with? This is something I need to think about over the next little while so I can know what to focus on.

Oh, and I just bought a new triathlon bike, which is an odd thing for me to have done. I will blog about that another day.  Further goal: to become comfortable on my triathlon bike.

Happy belated birthday to me. I’m okay with 51.