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pink background with speech bubble Sam’s 24 things in 2024 and her failing report card! Yikes!
fitness · goals

Sam’s 24 things in 2024 and her failing report card! Yikes!

Sam B2 Comments

So apparently there were 24 things I wanted to do in 2024. Have I done any of them? Let’s find out. I have a sneaking suspicion it won’t be good news. It’s been a bit of wild, busy, and demanding year even by my standards.

On the upside there are 22 days left in the year. As long as I’ve done them 2 of them, I could do 1 a day and still make it. Since I don’t remember what sorts of things they are, that may or may not be possible.

*Checks list*

NOT POSSIBLE.

Here’s my list:

  1. Go canoe camping. ✔️

Update: It was late in the season (October!) but Sarah and I finally made it to Algonquin. Off to a good start with this list thing! 😊

Canoe camping in Algonquin in October

2. Spend some time Snipe racing. ❌

Update: Didn’t happen. No one got out very much and when we did it was for serious racing and Sarah raced with Jeff. Part of the challenge is getting up to the lake in time after work and then there’s wind conditions. Next year? Will need a change in attitude and a commitment to going out whatever the conditions. 😞

3. Go bike-packing. ❌

Update: We planned a bike-packing trip on the Simcoe loop trail but work and life got in the way. Instead, we cut the trip short and went car camping with bikes. Next year? Might need to commit to doing it with other people in order to get out the door, or take time off work to make it happen. 😞

4. Hike a section or more of the Bruce Trail. ❌

Update: Didn’t happen. Too busy. See above strategies. Next year! 😞

5. Swim in the Great Lakes. ❌

Update: Didn’t happen. Too busy. Next year! 😞

6. Winter yurt camping. ❌

Update: Didn’t happen. Too busy. Next year! (There’s a theme here.) 😞

7. Do more vegan Mondays. ❓ 😊

Update: I did a lot more vegan eating but not necessarily on Mondays. I’m okay with that.

8. Try a new class a month at the gym. ❌

Update: Didn’t happen. Too busy. Next year! 😞

9. Spend more time at the beach. ❌

Update: Didn’t happen. Too busy. Next year! 😞

10. Read two books a month. ✔️

Update: Finally a thing I did! 😊

11. Do something, anything, even if it’s just giving money, to see that we don’t elect a conservative federal government and reelect a conservative provincial government. ❌

Update: I’m still trying to figure out what if anything I can do. 😞

12. Get a matching tattoo with my youngest child. ❌

Update: My fave tattoo artist is too busy and we both have busy schedules. Maybe the bearded dragon moment has passed though Lizzy is still with us. 😞

Lizzy with a raspberry

13. Go to church more often. ❌

Update: Weekends are a busy blur of activity and when we’re home I tend to clean, Zwift, and eat French toast. Next year?  Honestly it might be a post-Dean thing. 😞

14. Practice lane swimming. ❌

Update: Didn’t happen. Too busy. Next year! 😞

15. Dance! ❌

Update: Didn’t happen. Too busy. I did sign up with a local dance studio but Tuesday night is the only night they have classes and I’m Zwift racing on Tuesdays. Next year! 😞

16. Do more things with my adult kids. (Kids, you’ve been warned.) ✔️

Success! So many weekends with kids. So much fun.  Thanks family. 😊

17. Sneak lots of mini-adventures into my year. You don’t need a week or even a weekend to do something fun and adventurous. ✔️

Success! Lots of weekend and weeknight adventures. 😊

18. Play more games, host games nights with friends. ❓

Update: Does one games might count? Well,  we are playing lots of games with our favorite ten year old, and with my adult kids. 😊

Azul and Quirkle

19. Buy less stuff/get rid of stuff. ❓

Update: Well, yes, but there are no more people living in the house and more stuff. It feels like a never ending battle.

20. Eat more vegetables. ❓

Update: The Good Food dinners help with veggies. I’m still bad with the whole veggies at breakfast time idea and lunch on campus is a mixed bag. Overall, it’s a work in progress. I read an article the other day about a woman who aims to eat a lot of different veggies at every meal. She writes, “Usually, my goal for every meal is to get 10 different fruits and vegetables in.” Goals? 😐

21. Ride outside more often. ❌

Update: I’m still struggling to find people to ride with in Guelph, especially in the evenings or before work. I’m not fast enough to ride with most of the local bike clubs on my road bike. And lots of the trail riding people have schedules that are more flexible than mine. I need to work this out. Wish me luck. 😞

22. Ride some of the bike rally. ❌

Update: Oh, the bike rally. I’m not sure I’m up for the full thing, but the one day ride is the ride out of Toronto and that’s one of the most difficult days. I like the middle bit the best. No riding out of Toronto or into Montreal. I’ll try to sort it out this year. And at the very least I’ll make some charitable donations. I’ve also been doing the Parkinson’s Ride and will definitely keep that up. 😐

23. Keep the house more ready for guests. Also, invite more guests. ❌

Update: See the opening comment about it being a ridiculously busy and demanding year. I can’t even keep track of all the work and family changes. It’s been a lot. And when I get busy the house is a place it shows. But next summer I want to do more backyard entertaining, and for friends who don’t mind the chaos and mess, there’s always room. (See you in August Catherine!) 😐

24. Have a fun 60th birthday party, which will include lots of the bloggers, feminist philosophers, Guelph friends, and friends of the blog.  ✔️

Update: A terrific time was had by all. 😊 See here and here and here! And photo at the end of the post.

Reflections

I’ve been mulling over this list all day. I never meant it as a “must do” list or even a list of goals. Instead, it was supposed to be a fun list of possibilities, of things I’d like to do. I thought it might be fun to have a lost.

Did I have a lot of fun this year? Yes. Are there some fun things I’m not getting to? Yes to that too.

Some things I didn’t get to are about logistics, about making things happen–like sailing and riding outside and the bike rally. Others are things I want to do but there is no one else in the nearby family is keen–beaches, dancing, and great lake swimming fall into category.

Others are more chore and duty like–eat more veggies and vegan Mondays and getting rid of stuff fall into that list.

Also, 24 is a lot of things!

Anyway,  it was an ambitious list.  Life got in the way. I’m going to try to learn some lessons and move on.

What do you do with your unmet goals or ambitions? I might be more specific next year. Check out my 2025 post.

fitness

June Reflections and July Aspirations: Gratitude, Fitness, and Adventures

Sam B

My friend Todd just wrote about making July a month of healthy choices.

He’s focusing on gratitude, fitness, and wellness. I like that.  I’m going to keep up with my daily habit tracker, but I’m going to add two things to my daily list,  gratitude and reading.

Today, for example, I’m grateful for excellent international conferences, vacations in exciting places (Rome and Iceland), and for being at home with my mum and Cheddar the dog and sleeping in my own bed.

I want to add in some riding goals too, besides every day riding. I need to get back to longer distances and more time on the bike. I miss it!

But also since it’s now July, a quick June summary is due. It’s not all good.

I failed at not shopping! What happened? A new bathing suit happened. A smart wool bra happened. And then there was the stuff that arrived on back order. Try again in July? On it.

I’m behind with my riding goals,  863.5 km so far this year. Some years I manage 5000 km. Some years it’s 3000 km. This year I might need to scale down to 2000 km.

We did have a fun weekend riding bikes and camping in Awenda Provincial Park. We rode our bikes to the beach in the park and then for a ways on the Tiny Rail Trail which starts close to the park. What a great park. We’ll definitely go back.

I only finished one book in June and reviewed it here. There are six others in progress though.

I did go to my first international conference since the pandemic and walk lots and lots in Rome.  See here and here. That felt big and important. I loved it!

I’m at workout number 217 for 2024. My last workout in June was in Iceland.

We missed Pride but a rainbow followed us around the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. 🌈

Also, Yay! We hiked to a hot stream in Iceland and my knees made it! That’s June in a wrap.

fitness

Sam’s monthly check in: Well, July was a blur…

Sam B1 Comment

Like most academics I’m shocked and surprised that is August. How did that happen? Yikes!

August is like the Sunday of summer

August is when I realize I haven’t started all the writing projects I thought I’d make slow but steady progress on over the summer and that I’m teaching a grad seminar in a few weeks in addition to deaning. It’ll all be fine. I’ll get it all done. But the sense of endless summer weeks stretching out ahead of me are gone.

This summer had a slow pandemic-related start in terms of getting to do all the warm weather outdoorsy things I like to do. Like, I’m finally going canoe camping but next week but August is a bit late for my first time out paddling.

Also, I’ve got to say, this year, 2020, the year that started for us worrying about the youngest child and Australian bush fires and has been a blur of Covid-19 ever since, has turned me from a low grade worry wart to a full on ‘anxious about all the people in my life’ sort of parent. I want to give August a stern talking to.

A stern talking to the month of August. Be quiet and behave.

July did see me getting outside more on my bike. In fact, July’s fitness highlights were all bike related. I loved weekends of ice cream rides at Sarah’s farm which included outdoor, physically distant visits with friends. I also loved riding and racing on Zwift where I’ve joined Team TFC.

Here’s the team guidelines which I like and seem to be held to:

  1. TFC is a close knit community so all riders should be ready to help and give advice to all members.
  2. Be passionate about the team and support team mates wherever possible.
  3. All riders should work towards a common goal of trying to improve the team
  4. Respect other riders on the platform.
  5. Respect the ride and ride leader especially if it is another group ride.
  6. In a group ride be ready to help riders who may be struggling.
  7. Remember that the idea of racing is to improve so give 100% every race.
  8. Enjoy the time on the platform whether that is a ride, race, workout or a social spin.

I’ve also started getting outside for work visits with coworkers. Wherever possible I’m trying to do things outside. I’m nervous about the winter ahead.

I’ve also been feeling kind of weepy about missing the bike rally and riding with big groups of people. You can make me feel better by sponsoring me in the virtual rally.

I’m trying not to live to much in memories of things I did close up with lots of other people in years past and in anticipation of doing those things again in the future, but sometimes I let myself indulge.

In that spirit, here’s some photos from rides in years past.

Photos from the Friends for Life Bike Rally in years past

Finally, I don’t know where things stand with my knee replacement. I don’t know if things have gotten better or if I’ve just gotten used to it but the good news is that it isn’t getting worse. I also don’t know if in light of COVID-19 it’s been delayed at all.

Stay tuned!

accessibility · aging · inclusiveness · injury · weight loss

Sam is checking in for February, #monthlycheckin, cw: mention of weight loss

Sam B4 Comments

Good news!

My knee survived a week in Europe with many days of mega steps. I paid a lot of attention to how it felt, wore the knee brace sometimes but not at others, took anti inflammatory medication regularly, and stretched lots. Sarah helped lots too.

Now that I’m back home physiotherapy continues, massage therapy continues, personal training continues, and I’m back to my bike on the trainer, bike commutes, and dog walks. All of that counts, except the massages, on my quest to workout 219 times in 2019.

I’m so happy to see all the hard work paying off.

Next up: NYC 5 Boro Bike Tour in May.

After that, lots and lots of training before our 10 day bike tour of Newfoundland in June.

Bad news!

Weight loss is hard. (We all know this.) You might think that if you had a serious medical reason to lose weight, then you’d do it. But your body doesn’t know your motives. It doesn’t care what your intentions are. It’s super hard.

Wish me luck.

monthly check in

Sam’s monthly check-in: What’s up, what’s down, the August version (CW: some discussion of weight loss)

Sam B4 Comments

Sam’s bitmoji (a white woman with blond short hair and glasses and lipstick) wearing a purple sleeveless tank top, with arms spread wide saying, “I got this.”

What’s up: I feel like I’m making progress with my knee. In a way I’m not sure why. Sometimes I think I might just be getting used to the new limits on my life but I don’t think that’s it. I think it actually hurts less. And that’s good news. I’m still working on it lots (physio!) but I’m also getting outside, riding my bike, going on long hikes and feeling okay about things.

I’m following the very strong recommendation of several knee surgeons that I lose weight and I’m actually seeing a doctor for an evidence based approach to weight loss. He’s a young guy, from a fitness background first before medical school, and he follows the approach of Yoni Freedhoff whose book I reviewed here. There’s no magic to it. I’m using My Fitness Pal and tracking all the things. I’ve lost some weight. Lots more to go. I know the real trick will be keeping it off if I want to be a weight loss unicorn. I’m going to see if I rebrand, in my own mind at least, constant vigilance as paying attention. And it’s good that I don’t mind tracking things.

Since I posted in July, I’ve completed the 1 day version of the Friends for Life Bike Rally. See Sam and Sarah’s first metric century of the summer. That was a huge mood boost. I was so happy to be on my bike again. And Sarah and I visited Jeff on the boat for our 2nd biking and boating adventure. It was fun on the boat, but the biking not so much. See Biking and boating round two: Sam has a great day on the boat.

Other than that I’m lifting weights at the gym, sometimes alone, sometimes with a personal trainer who is helping with knee rehab (hi Meg!) and sometimes with my son Miles who is going to university here this year. I’m also going on longer, hillier dog hikes being careful to remember my knee brace.

Also, on the upside of life, Sarah and I have been Snipe racing. We didn’t capsize, drown, or crash into any other boats. Yes, we were last but we kept the other boats in sight and stayed a safe distance behind as we learn to sail. Learning through racing. It’s a thing. See Sam and Sarah’s first night of snipe racing!

What’s down: I want to ride my bike! But when? Where? With whom? ARGH! I hate riding on my own but I have a horrible schedule. And now with losing the evening light opportunities are pretty much limited to weekends. I think I’ll plan a birthday bike ride for Saturday, September 1st. (My birthday is actually the day before but that’ll be a night for a family BBQ in the backyard and cake.) 54 km for 54 years?