My beloved and I are both cajoling our middle aged bodies these days. Our physiotherapist, Emily, recommended rock climbing or swimming for our upper body mobility and strength.
Monday morning we sat drinking coffee and looked at our options. Family membership at the Y runs $180 a month. Goodlife pools are not for doing lengths.
Membership at Western for both of us ran about $1000. Yikes!
Thankfully for people looking for once a week lane swim the City of London has 10 visit pool passes and a convenient location just a couple clicks from our house which runs about $5 a week.
Indoor pool lanes are so calming and comfortable.
Monday night we got goggles, cap and suits. Wednesday night we were doing laps. Easy peasy.
I love swimming and I feel at home there. It may be almost 10 years since I last did a lap. My body remembers.
Warm up of kicking and pulls. Easy front crawl. Breast stroke. Pulls. Front crawl. Breast stroke. I didn’t focus on speed or distance, just form and breathing.
I cooled down with sidestroke, sculls and a quick stretch. Michel had more structure to his workout. We left satisfied and committed to going back next week. Yay!
I’m so grateful to have extended health benefits that help me access physiotherapy, chiropractic and massage therapy services. My midlife body is more mobile for it.
Wednesday night I was on the massage table in agony as my skilled RMT Kiet was working on my calves. There were knots. Knots upon knots. The back of my knees where hamstrings attach, knots. My glutes, top, bottom, sides knots. Agony. I cussed.
“Any chance you are up on your toes when walking these days? Are you tip-toeing through the snow?”
Kiet is very wise. Yes, my strategy for slippery conditions is to be more on the ball of my foot rather than the usual heel strike and roll to toes walking.
“Uh ya, I try to walk like a penguin but it’s more like a velociraptor.”
He laughed.
“Ok so definitely stretch calves and hamstrings after walking and try to find more heel striking movements.”
Oh ya. And I’m motivated to stop being a velociraptor because OWIE.
I often have tight calves. I know daily negative heel drops and calf raises are necessary. Do I let it slide? All the time.
So my walking commute home on Friday I looked for moments to lengthen my stride, focus on a heel strike and full range of foot motion.
I hope next month to feel more fluid and less stiff.
The weather in Southwestern Ontario has been mercurial. One day rain and 12C, the next freezing rain, then snow, then rain. You get the idea. It’s what we call in these parts a “wintery mix”.
With the barometer fluctuating any joint I’ve injured starts a conversation with me. My right knee gets cranky when it rains. My right hip reminds me of a fall in December. Lots of biomechanical feedback. So much so I didn’t walk in the worst weather. This is very out of character for me. I’m the one who wrote Nat decides she’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether she likes it or not.
I do take advantage of opportunities to walk to physiotherapy, the chiropractor and work.
My commuter bike is tucked behind construction supplies awaiting me to adjust the shifting. I’ve been getting a lift. It’s been so gross out!
I’ve enjoyed the days where there is good footing and I have my little spikes for my shoes on me at all times. They are not great on my knees when the ice gives way to solid footing.
All of that to say, overall, I’m still averaging 9,500 steps a day, even taking it “kneesy”.
So here’s to navigating the rest of the season with self compassion and some stick-to-it-ive-ness
Nat smiled at the camera in a light jacket, a grey knit toque and a mustard yellow cowl.
A new year often brings a sense of renewal. I’m not one to make resolutions in January. It is a good time to check in on goals and make adjustments. Steady as she goes!
I’m stacking the deck in my favour for a good 2026 by ensuring each day has movement in it. Daily dog walks, cycling commutes, strength and flexibility. I’m set up for success and have fully ditched “all or nothing” thinking.
Resilience
I’m bracing for bad stuff too. Experience has taught me along with all the great things comes a healthy dose of hard stuff, horrors even.
It’s the complicated gift of middle age, being pulled in many directions without falling apart.
Going through tough stuff has taught me I’m a good hugger. Olympic level hug giver right here. Happy to demonstrate at any moment.
I hold hands at hospital bedsides very well. I stay careful and kind now, even when I’m really upset.
I’m more resilient thanks to my fitness adventures.
So my wisdom to share on this year’s fitness goals is here for you if you need it.
It all counts
Watch didn’t record? Garmin dump your ride? It’s ok if it didn’t end up on Strava. Your body knows you did it. Data is only one measure. You were there. You did it. Go you!
Say it again, it all counts
Barely got to the workout? Had to wrap up early? Needed to lighten the resistance? Take a lighter weight?
AMAZING! You showed up for yourself and invested in your wellbeing. Well done!
You don’t have to like it
There will be days it sucks and you don’t enjoy the workout. You will always feel a sense of accomplishment regardless of how it went.
If a given activity is really chapping your ass switch it up. Ditch the weights and do a cardio dance class. Yoga pissing you off? Take up a martial art. You don’t always have to like it. Way to go!
Confidence comes from trusting yourself
You know when you are sick and need to rest.
You know when you need down time.
You know when you need help staying motivated.
You know who to go to for help.
You know a lot!
Trust yourself!
Plans rarely survive encounters with reality
The beautiful plan will fall apart. That’s ok because you knew it would happen and made flexibility part of the plan. Please, please, please break up with perfection.
My MVP (minimum viable plan) is 60 minutes of movement. Walking, cycling, stretching, dancing in my underwear. It’s adaptable.
Weather is sweet? I’m on my bike.
Back getting tight? Add another walk and do some yoga.
Bike out of commission? Grab some dumbbells.
You get the idea.
Messy is good
Challenge yourself to be a bit of a wreck. Not all moments are instagram moments.
Exploring the edges of your capacity is exciting and helps you grow. It’s not necessary every day but totally required to keep monotony at bay.
Team up to survive
It’s a fitness wasteland out here. Team up in person or virtually with workout partners. You will get more workouts in more often. Harness the power of positive peer pressure.
HAVE FUN
I’m serious. Play disc golf, beach volleyball, snorkel with manatees, whatever makes this year different than last year. Be silly and do stuff. That’s part of fitness too.
That’s it
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you gleaned some gems that you can keep for 2026.
Spoiler, this is the advice I need so I wrote it down. Hopefully I don’t forget!
LETS GO 2026!
Nat is cozy in winter clothes. Michel, forever photographed just behind her and off to the side is looking lovely. They are in front of a brick house with lots of snow on the ground.
In January I had planned on averaging 30 km a week on the bike. That quickly fell apart but I wasn’t worried. The real goal was consistency and I cycled more frequently than ever thanks to my tiny commute.
My recorded distance in 2024 was just over 700 km. I wanted to double that and hit 1,500.
As the year winds to a close I may hit 1,100 or not? I don’t care. I’m pleased at getting over 1,000 cycling kilometers in. It’s 45% more than last year. It felt easy and that was the goal. Yay!
A Strava screenshot showing my typical pattern of a spike of cycling in July. It also shows a year of cycling every month which is very new to me!
I do want to get more base training in before July. I want the MS Bike Tour to be easier and I think more time in the saddle will do that.
I’m tinkering with my commuter. There’s something amiss with my shifting.
I will continue to bike in winter when it makes sense. I’ve been humbled by the volume of snow and embracing kindness to myself.
I don’t need to prove anything and my commute needs to feel boring. I have quite a bit of anxiety in general on in office days so after one particularly rough ride in I realized it’s ok to walk in or get a lift.
This advice on using judgement was shared with my most experienced cycling friends. They applauded extra efforts but also shared they too are less ardent on cycling “no matter what” and more cycling when it makes sense.
So here’s to more bike rides and more distance in 2026!
My latest physiotherapy move is designed to help my shoulder stay seated in place.
Emily demonstrated the move, arm out sideways and bent at the elbow up. Gripping a tension band rotate the hand down, parallel to the ground and back up.
“Oh it’s like the waving cat statues!”
A white cat waves at you
“Yes!” Emily grinned “A Lucky Cat!”
It’s a classic silly little move that hones in on a weakness. I could only do 4 reps and completed the remainder without tension.
I’m grateful for more days pain free. I’m glad I’m seeing progress. It’s very slow but definitely happening.
Strength has returned to my left hand. The nerve pain has retreated to my shoulder. I have a buffet of simple exercises I use to keep the healing on track.
If I’m very lucky I’ll be able to have a full range of motion in 2026.
I was shoveling my driveway on Wednesday. It was after my morning walk with Michel, my immortal beloved, and Lucy, hellhound, when I had a slip and fall.
It was sudden. I was upright shoveling and then on the ground. I’m sure I yelled.
I landed on my right hip and shoulder. Imagine a panda bear rolling around, that was me.
I got up, dusted off my pants and headed inside. I was embarrassed and mad. There was ice from the previous day under the fresh powder. A classic formula for slipping.
It’s been a few days. I’m sore but nothing serious. My socials have photos of friends with broken arms or other tales. One involved a brain bleed. They are recovering. But. Wow. Falling is not nothing.
I’ve been working on my balance. It involves deliberately using my peripheral vision, core strength and practicing my balance in a variety of settings. It’s really helped.
But it is icy and I’m out in it, biking and walking.
A friend offered her strategies for avoiding falling. We know these things well.
The penguin shuffle, where you are slightly forward and take small steps.
Wearing grippy footwear and adding crampons (little spiked overshoes).
I occasionally break out my hiking poles.
Strength and flexibility should help me stay relatively injury free. I credit learning barrel rolls in roller derby to my good outcome.
If you go down like a rodeo clown rolling helps disperse the energy.
Here’s to staying Rollie Ollie this winter!
A penguin being very skilled at walking in slippery conditions.
My gran has been in care since 2021. Before that there were signs that she had some memory problems. Her personality changed as she forgot to be reserved. She was more joyful and spontaneous as well as flustered. She couldn’t make it to a specific place at a specific time.
She did not willingly go into care and was very angry at my aunt and uncle who took her.
I got to visit her on her birthday in 2021 and she forgot that she was opening her present while taking the tissue paper out of the bag.
Her confusion quickly passed and she was back, in the moment, her personality shining.
I’ve visited each time I’m in New Brunswick. This summer our visit was challenging I think for both of us. She couldn’t form a sentence. There were moments she was so deep in her mind I didn’t recognize her face. And then she would be back. Her sharp wit and quick smile. Gran has the driest sense of humour. We laughed so hard.
She has forgotten so many things. The one thing she hasn’t forgotten is that she wants to go home. Not the house she raised her children in, but her childhood home.
It was where I stayed in 2021.
My great grandparents house is a story and a half covered in cedar shingles.
“Do I know you from Lake Ave?” She is looking for connection and context.
“Yes, I visited you, your sister and your parents quite a bit.”
After this year’s visit my sister and I went through boxes of her things that were gifted to us.
It was an assortment of mismatched dishes, linens and knickknacks.
When I got home I decided I was decorating in defiance of Gran’s dementia.
Five plates of nursery rhyme characters? Front and center in my dining room.
Irish linens still in the box? Heck ya, we sleep on pillowcases the envy of royalty.
Handkerchiefs, napkins, crystal. It’s all being used. I remember the times we used these in Gran’s home. I remember the care she took to keep a house so clean you could eat off the floor. I remember. And these mementos remind me that we all will forget at some point.
This plate is one of a pair. The second one was gifted to my great aunt. I have plans to reunite them one day. Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John.
My workouts came to a halt the end of October. The scramble down to New Brunswick was quickly followed by a return home. My beloved and I took turns being away for work. Starting today we will both be home TOGETHER. What a novel concept!
So we are back to strength training this morning.
I’m walking the dog again.
Strava sees the unusual gaps in my activities. So does my Apple tracking apps.
I feel a pang of guilt and let it go. I mean. It’s understandable to not make everything work all the time!
Dr Suess in “Oh the Places You’ll Go” has a line about “Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t.”
And it reminds me that sometimes you need to not do the workout.
I move my body for my wellbeing. Part of that is having a buffer so when I can’t be as active my body is ok.
Walking is the last activity to fall off my plate and the first thing I pick up. It really helps my back and my brain.
Next is strength training. I love feeling strong and capable. I need a reliable block of time with Michel so we can grunt together.
Then comes the indoor spinning. Whew. Ya. I need time and motivation for that so it is sprinkled sparingly into my calendar.
I’m glad my beloved and I are committed to caring for our bodies. It’s a joint project done in parallel.
Nat and Michel are dressed in cozy winter clothes, dusted in snow, smiling after a walk in a snow squall. It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how!
It was 4:45 am on Wednesday as I boarded the de Havilland Dash 8. I always get a hit of nostalgia on that airframe, it’s the same one I flew in during my air navigation training in the mid 1990s.
I sat down and tried to buckle my seatbelt. It was hilariously too short. I was surprised but I also hadn’t flown in a year. My weight and general shape haven’t changed much.
I asked a flight attendant for an extension. They are used in the demonstration before take off so I knew they had them.
I had mixed feelings about needing the extra space but decided my comfort was the most important thing.
In Toronto I switched airframes to head to Winnipeg. It was an Airbus of some type. This time it almost fit but by now I was cavalier and refused to squish myself.
The flight attendant was happy to help. When they arrived with it I exclaimed “oh you have my present!”
It was easy to use. No one cared. I don’t think anyone even noticed.
My trip home on Friday was with another airline in Boeing 747s. I sat down and effortlessly clipped in, no extension required.
3 airframes, 3 very different belt lengths. 1 very tired woman.
I remind myself that commercial flights are uncomfortable. No one feels that the seats are roomy or that they have enough legroom.
People on each flight negotiate to see if they can get an aisle seat (like I did) or sit in the emergency exit row. I saw various strategies to try and fit each person, and their stuff, into a very limited space.
I’m ok asking for a section of fabric for my comfort. It did feel weird though.
Have you ever had complicated feelings when you assert your needs?
An airplane seatbelt, just sitting there being some indeterminate length but it does not measure your value.
