Still on the injured list.
This winter has been one injury after another. Not enough to totally sideline me with any of them, but certainly enough to get my attention.
Not all of it has had to do with skiing, either.
Of course, there was the tailbone-bashing fall about a month and a half ago. It's over and gone. Then there was the flailing-arms-shoulder strain (Simone says rotator cuff, she could be right). It's getting a lot better, but it still annoys.
On Valentine's Day, I fell down the stairs. Not once, but twice. Specifically, I was wearing a new pair of dress shoes and coming down the stairs from the upstairs bedrooms and slipped on that damned wall-to-wall (stair-to-stair?) carpet that I haven't yanked out yet. Fell flat on one of my ass cheeks, got back up, and then slipped down a few more steps and fell on the same place again. Skinned my elbow and massively bruised the ass.
This wasn't just any ol' bruise, either. It's across the whole damn cheek and is bigger than my entire hand. I couldn't see it at first because my mirrors in the house are too high up for that and it's below where I can easily see. I finally got a look at it the other day and now I can't stop looking at it - it's ridiculous. I actually worried wondering if you can get a blod clot if the bruise is bad enough. It's strange, too - all this seeing my own behind makes me more aware than I ever was about how much all the skiing has impacted my body. It was hard to see the difference because I haven't really lost a lot of weight or lost five dress sizes or anything. I also don't wear super-tight clothes (as anyone who knows me can verify) so it wasn't readily apparent, but my body is getting much more toned. It's obvious around the hips and the upper thighs, but my tummy is still bigger than I'd like - because all the exercise I'm getting is with my legs and yes, my butt (when I'm not falling on it). When you live alone and nobody's looking at your body on a regular basis, it's easy to lose track when things start changing (for the better or worse).
I've said it before - skiing really doesn't feel like exercise to me - in a good way. I go out there, and I know I'm having to use my leg muscles a lot (and boy can I feel it sometimes, especially at the end of a day), but it's not like, say, bike riding where I'm continually conscious of working. Skiing is fun for me, and even when it's icy or really wet and I'm having to fight to stay up and going where I want to and know that I'm fighting, I still am enjoying myself. The only thing that comes close to it is inline skating, and that is something where I haven't found a good place to go where I'm not doing hill work all the time - that makes it feel a lot more like work.
Not sure if it's because I'm doing it wrong, but I can tell I'm exercising different areas of my legs depending on the conditions. When it's really icy, I'm working hard around the knees and calves. All that heavy granular powder is fun, but my thighs and butt feel like they've been beaten. Maybe it's time for me to take some lessons and be sure I'm doing it right, but I like that I'm not just getting big thighs (the way I sometimes feel when I've been riding my bike a lot) - I seem to be exercising in multiple areas.
With all that in mind (and hopefully not injuring myself anymore), I look forward to making a few more changes in how I approach my diet and concentrating on getting some abs work done on a regular basis.
Tomorrow's Wednesday - already. Strange. Sometimes time feels like it's dragging, and then I wake up and it's next week. *sigh*
Not all of it has had to do with skiing, either.
Of course, there was the tailbone-bashing fall about a month and a half ago. It's over and gone. Then there was the flailing-arms-shoulder strain (Simone says rotator cuff, she could be right). It's getting a lot better, but it still annoys.
On Valentine's Day, I fell down the stairs. Not once, but twice. Specifically, I was wearing a new pair of dress shoes and coming down the stairs from the upstairs bedrooms and slipped on that damned wall-to-wall (stair-to-stair?) carpet that I haven't yanked out yet. Fell flat on one of my ass cheeks, got back up, and then slipped down a few more steps and fell on the same place again. Skinned my elbow and massively bruised the ass.
This wasn't just any ol' bruise, either. It's across the whole damn cheek and is bigger than my entire hand. I couldn't see it at first because my mirrors in the house are too high up for that and it's below where I can easily see. I finally got a look at it the other day and now I can't stop looking at it - it's ridiculous. I actually worried wondering if you can get a blod clot if the bruise is bad enough. It's strange, too - all this seeing my own behind makes me more aware than I ever was about how much all the skiing has impacted my body. It was hard to see the difference because I haven't really lost a lot of weight or lost five dress sizes or anything. I also don't wear super-tight clothes (as anyone who knows me can verify) so it wasn't readily apparent, but my body is getting much more toned. It's obvious around the hips and the upper thighs, but my tummy is still bigger than I'd like - because all the exercise I'm getting is with my legs and yes, my butt (when I'm not falling on it). When you live alone and nobody's looking at your body on a regular basis, it's easy to lose track when things start changing (for the better or worse).
I've said it before - skiing really doesn't feel like exercise to me - in a good way. I go out there, and I know I'm having to use my leg muscles a lot (and boy can I feel it sometimes, especially at the end of a day), but it's not like, say, bike riding where I'm continually conscious of working. Skiing is fun for me, and even when it's icy or really wet and I'm having to fight to stay up and going where I want to and know that I'm fighting, I still am enjoying myself. The only thing that comes close to it is inline skating, and that is something where I haven't found a good place to go where I'm not doing hill work all the time - that makes it feel a lot more like work.
Not sure if it's because I'm doing it wrong, but I can tell I'm exercising different areas of my legs depending on the conditions. When it's really icy, I'm working hard around the knees and calves. All that heavy granular powder is fun, but my thighs and butt feel like they've been beaten. Maybe it's time for me to take some lessons and be sure I'm doing it right, but I like that I'm not just getting big thighs (the way I sometimes feel when I've been riding my bike a lot) - I seem to be exercising in multiple areas.
With all that in mind (and hopefully not injuring myself anymore), I look forward to making a few more changes in how I approach my diet and concentrating on getting some abs work done on a regular basis.
Tomorrow's Wednesday - already. Strange. Sometimes time feels like it's dragging, and then I wake up and it's next week. *sigh*