My New Year’s Goals (Resolutions)

Happy New Year blog world! I hope everything went for you all in 2012, and I hope you have an even better 2013. I mentioned in my previous blog that I don’t normally do resolutions. If I think of a goal I want to accomplish I don’t wait for the new year to start. Do it now! I only have two things (at the moment) that I want to accomplish this year. I’m sure I’ll think of other things along the way. I’ve already mentioned some of the things I want to work on.

1. Continue progressing on my elliptical. I made a goal back in March 2012 that I wanted to do a full mile with no breaks. Ha! What was I thinking. Then again, that was before my back had four giant knots. I also said I wanted to do 2 miles in one session. That’s still do-able I think, but it would wear me out. My legs don’t seem to have the endurance they once had.

So, my goal is to finish 1/2 mile with no breaks by summer, and then we’ll go from there.

2. I want to consistently use my walker. I’ve said this before, but I think I’ll be able to do it this time. My back has an absolutely mess for years, but since I’ve been going to the chiropractor, I’ve regained some of my abilities. I still need to work of anxiety issues and my fear of falling, but I am determined this time.

3. Continue with my stretching routine in the mornings and in the evenings. This has really helped my flexibility, even more now that my hips are actually straight.

And that’s about it. The hardest one for me is going to be the walker. I have started on this goal, and it's been going OK. My fear of falling is making my legs tense up, so my legs are sore today. But I’ll take it a minute at a time. I just have to remind myself that no one is watching me or paying attention to what I’m doing, they’re concentrating on what they’re doing. And I have to remind myself I won’t die if I fall.

If you’ve got goals, go ahead and post them in the reply section. You can do it!

New Year’s Eve Mileage Monday

Stay tuned for my New Year’s resolution post. I’m not a big New Year’s resolutions type of person. If I think of a goal I want to accomplish, I don’t wait for New Years. I have already started one of my goals, and it’s been up and down so far. I’ll get into that tomorrow though. Here are some more pictures from the virtual walk site.

Mile 500 (Elliptical for .5 mile)                                      Mile 501 (Elliptical for 1 mile)

                      

Mile 502 (Elliptical for 1 mile)                                       Mile 502.8 Elliptical for .8 mile)

                      

Mile 503.2 (Elliptical for .5 mile)                                    Mile 503.4 (Elliptical for .2 mile)

                      

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Have a great new year! Keep moving!

Holiday Mileage Monday

I hope everyone is having a great holiday so far. It’s been nice and quiet, and we’re finally enjoying some cooler weather. We’ve been having highs in the 60s and 70s, and the lows have been in the 30s and sometimes 20s. Brrrr. Mountains are covered in snow, and it’s very pretty.

Here’s some pictures from the virtual walk.

Mile 494.4 (elliptical for 1)                                       Mile 495.4 (elliptical for 1)

                 

Mile 496.4 (elliptical for 1)                                       Mile 497.4 (elliptical for 1)

                  

Mile 498.4 (elliptical for 1)                                       Mile 499.4 (elliptical for 1)

                 

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Have some hot chocolate to stay warm! Give yourself a treat for the holiday. Keep moving!

Mileage Monday and The Hobbit

My husband and I did in fact see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey over the weekend. We saw it on the XD screen in 3D. It was great! I don’t remember the term they gave, but they also showed it in a fast frame rate than normal. I'm not sure if that’s what it was, but something was “off” in the way it was filmed.

If you’ve ever watched crime stories on Dateline or what have you, they’ll sometimes do a re-enactment scene. Sometimes those scenes seem to cheesily (I know it’s not a word, but it fits) filmed. The movie felt like that to me. It just seemed off. I’ll have to rent it when it comes out on Netflix to see if the faster frame rate thing was the culprit. Loved the movie in general though.

Since I skipped Mileage Monday last week, I’ll do two mileage posts this week, one Monday and one Wednesday. We’ll see what other things I can come up with to talk about. Still moving alone well on the virtual walk. Making progress on the elliptical also. I’m now able to do two sets of 500 revolutions. I break the last 600 revs into 300 rev chunks. That seems to be working well.

Haven’t done anything yet with the walker, but that will start very soon. I find myself procrastinating. I hate procrastination. So, today’s the day I’ll start. Slow for now, and then we’ll go from there. I am hyper alert when I’m anxious. For example, when we were walking from the car to the movie theater, everything seemed louder. I noticed where everyone was, and could tell how far people were behind me. The louder things are, the greater chances my jump reflex kicks in. So, my plan is to put on my headphones and play Matchbox Twenty and walk around. That way doors opening, and cars driving past won’t startle me. It’s a start.

Now that I’ve posted this for all to see I have to do it right? Right.

Here are the pictures for the day.

Mile 488.2 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                   Mile 489 (elliptical for .7 mile)

                    

Mile 489.4 (elliptical for .5 mile)                                 Mile 490.4 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                    

Mile 491.4 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                   Mile 492.4 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                     

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving!

Trust Issues

This weekend just flew by. Not a whole lot going on. Had my back adjusted again yesterday, and I feel all shiny and new again. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the first time, but things were definitely out of whack again. Things shifted too. I had knots on the right side of my back instead of the left. Basically everything that was out of whack on the left side last time was out of whack on the right side this time.

He actually said I had a rib out of place. I asked “Wouldn’t I have felt that? Wouldn’t that hurt?”. He said it sometimes happens when you sneeze or cough harshly, or when you shift around while you sleep. It doesn’t always hurt when it happens. My guess is it happened in the middle of the night. I tend to jerk around a lot. I’ll wake up thinking I’m falling out of bed, and then freak out. I roll over roughly a lot too which is a good time to things to shift.

Anyway, things are good, and I plan to go back in another three to four weeks to keep it that way. I was feeling some pain again when I went in, but it's better now.

There was a bit of awkwardness, but only on my part, since I’m paranoid. Not paranoid…I don’t know what the right word is. Untrusting is more like it. I don't think anyone is out to get me ore anything, but I tend to ward off other people helping me. When we go out, I hold onto my husband’s arm. I’m used to it, and it’s what I prefer. When someone else helps me in that way, I panic. It’s my own mind playing tricks on me, and I need to get used to other people helping me like that.

Anyway, my husband had an appointment (with the same dr.) at the same time I did, so he helped me to the first room (with a roller table that I could be on all day if I was allowed. It’s a table with some sort of roller that massages up and down your back, and it feels sooooo good.). When my timer dinged, the doctor came in, and he helped me to the second room. Normally I feel strange when another person helps, but this wasn’t too bad. I was a little unstable, but still fine.

Got my back adjusted, and had the “stim” (tens unit) on for about five minutes. When my timer dinged this time, the assistant came in to help me. Now she’s a super nice lady, but she’s also tiny. She’s about 5 foot 4 maybe, and very small. I felt like I could crush her with my pinky. She helped me out to the other room, but I was very slow, unsteady, and unsure of myself. Then she let go! Luckily we were beside a wall, so I held on there for dear life. She didn’t know, she was just setting up the chair for me to sit in. I don’t think I gave anything away, but I had myself a nice little anxiety attack.

Made it to the chair and all was fine again. Got the heat treatment for 5 minutes, and then I was done. Thankfully the doctor helped me out to the waiting room where I waited for my husband to finish.

All this tells me I need to relax, have other people help me more often, and to trust that they know what they're doing. What’s the worst that can happen? I fall and have to get my back fixed again. Oh darn. I have to trust people more I guess. I have a certain attitude when it comes to people helping me. I’m not sexist in the least, but I do feel more comfortable when men help me. I just think they’re stronger, and would be able to help me up if I did fall.

So, things I need to work on:

1. Trust others to help me.

2. Trust myself to show myself what I am capable of.

3. Trust my own body to do what it needs to do in a falling situation.

4. Practice (again) walking with my walker.

I believe if I practice with my walker, my confidence will go up in these situations. Because it’s only a matter of time when someone other than my husband will help me out again. I need to be prepared for it.

Well, where did all that come from? This was going to be a mile Monday post, but look at that. I had myself a mind dump of sorts.

Mileage Monday

Another Monday. Make it a good week everyone. Going to make this short and sweet, since I don’t know what else to say.

Mile 484.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                Mile 485 (elliptical for .5 mile)

                  

Mile 485.6 (elliptical for .5 mile)                               Mile 486 (elliptical for .5 mile)

                  

Mile 486.8 (elliptical for .7 mile)                               Mile 487.2 (elliptical for .5 mile)

                  

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving!

Mileage Monday Update

I feel like I can do a lot more now that my back is fixed. I feel a lot straighter on the elliptical, and I don’t ache at all on it any more. My legs still need breaks, but my back is now not an issue.

I’ve taken the last week or two off from strength training, and will get back at that this week. I should probably ask the chiropractor how much I should lift during my strength training. Might be a good idea. I’m going to drop down to my 5 pound weights this week, and see how that feels.

In the meantime, here are some more pictures from the virtual walk site. Just passed through Hayers Gap, VA today. Now I'm on my way to Rosedale, VA which is about 14 miles away.

Mile 484.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)                              Mile 485 (elliptical for .5 mile)

               

Mile 485.6 (elliptical for .5 mile)                             Mile 486 (elliptical for .5 mile)

               

Mile 486.8 (elliptical for .7)                                    Mile 487.2 (elliptical for .5 mile)

               

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving!

Found the Solution

I believe I have found a solution to a lot of my problems. Obviously cerebral palsy cannot be cured, however, the problems that go along with them can be somewhat fixed. How? Well, for me, it’s going to the chiropractor. My appointment was on Thursday, but I wanted to wait a few days just be sure. I believe the “jerk move” problem is now gone. Whatever is left over is just some confidence issues, and I’m working on that.

I’ll describe it this way. Have you ever been watching television for a while, and when you turn it off, you think to yourself “wow, that was really loud.”? You don’t realize the TV was too loud until it’s not on any more. That was how my back was. I didn’t realize how uncomfortable I had been for a very long time. I just figured it was normal to be that achy and uncomfortable with cerebral palsy. I ached doing every little thing (even putting my hair into a pony tail was painful). I just didn’t really realize it until I saw the chiropractor.

                      

Let me just say, my back was a wreck. I always knew my neck was a mess, but my lower back was tilted and cock-eyed also. The doctor said I had some scoliosis, but it wasn’t anything to be worried about. I was also very tight and had a lot of muscle knots. Now I didn’t see myself, but my husband was in the room with me. While I was face down on the table, my right hip was a lot higher off the table than my left. As soon as he did a few pops, I was even. I immediately felt my lower back relax, and it felt good.

The middle of my back is fine, but it was out of alignment also. Few pops there, and it was straight. My shoulders and neck were the culprits of most of my discomfort. He adjusted my upper back while I was still face down on the table, and again it felt great. I think that was when he really got an idea of how tight I was up through the shoulders. He gave my husband a look of surprise apparently because I was so tight. Turned over on my back and that’s when the magic happened.

My neck is curved to my left and because of that, I get shooting aches (not really painful) down my arms every now and then. I get the same thing down my legs because of my lower back issue. Due to my cerebral palsy, it’s difficult for me to relax. Muscles and tendons were tight, and the doctor did a great job of loosening it all up. Then, kerpop! My neck got adjusted, and I just melted. All I good do was squeak out a “thank you” and then relaxed. He did the other side, and got another loud kerpop. My husband heard that one from where he was sitting. It was loud.

He also put “stims” on my upper back. It’s basically a tens unit and had me lay back down for a few minutes to let that do some work. Felt like a lot of needles massaging my shoulders and neck. After that, he brought me out for an ultra sonic treatment, which is basically heat therapy. That felt really good too.

And then it was over. He said to come in whenever I felt I needed to. Which is good. The chiropractor we saw near Seattle always told me to come in a certain amount of days in a week (at least in the beginning). So, my plan is to go once a month. In Seattle I think I went about once every three weeks. I may have to go back in sooner, at least in the beginning, but my goal is to get in there once a month. And whenever we go on vacation I’ll go in a few days before we leave.

I’m now able to sit up straight without any pain in my lower back. I can put my hair up with no pain in my neck and shoulders. I can bend over without groaning. I can stand up from the couch without groaning. I have to keep telling myself to stand up straight. That doesn’t hurt any more. I was constantly bent at the waist when I was standing.

So yes, big improvements. I do feel a bit achy in my upper back and shoulders, but heat should help that. I’m going to try to make it another week, and then go in I think. The chiropractor I saw was very nice. He is helpful and knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t try to up-sell you at all which I appreciate.

I keep laughing at myself throughout the day when I can do things that normally cause me discomfort. I can now sit cross legged without my left hip aching. My left hip has been giving me problems for a while now, and it’s fixed. It might not be for everyone, whether you have cerebral palsy or not, but for me the chiropractor is a huge deal. Yeah!

If you happen to live in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, Indio areas) and you have a back issue, check out The Spine and Sport Clinic. I saw Dr. Patrick Van Loon. I highly recommend it and him.

The Return of the “Jerk Move”

What is this “jerk move”? I sort of tried to explain it back in February, which was the last time it happened. It’s hard to explain. It feels like the hinges on my legs need oiling. They won’t swing fluidly. When that happens, my body jerks (my legs bend suddenly) and then I can go again for a little bit. I feel very unsteady and unstable. I have no control over when it happens. I actually “sat down forcefully” (i.e. fell) on the couch and on the toilet a few times in the last several days. Took me by surprise. I said to myself “OK, I guess I’ll sit now”.

I’m treating myself to a chiropractor appointment tomorrow afternoon. My husband has been having back issues lately, and he's found a really good chiropractor. So, I’m going to see if that makes a difference. I love chiropractors. I used to see one every 2 or 3 weeks when we lived in Washington State. It actually helped quite a bit back then, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Is this jerk move hip related, neck related (my neck is curved funky, and is always out of whack), or is it related to the colder weather? I’m actually thinking it’s related to the colder weather. Every time these strings of days happens, it’s during the colder months. Last time it happened, it was in February. I also had it happen in Monterey during our trip in late March. It was fairly cold in Monterey when we were there.

I know of a lot of people with cerebral palsy that have more problems when it’s cold. They have a harder time getting around, are a lot more stiff, and have more frequent falls. I was lucky to have grown up in Miami, where it’s almost always warm. We did have days though where it was cold, and when I look back, I do remember having a harder time on those days. I’d fall more during school, especially if I needed to go outside. My high school had separate buildings for each subject. My senior year had me going up and down the stairs after every class (well, I think I had two on the same floor in a row). Up for one class, down and in the other building the next, and so on. So during the cooler months, I had to go outside. I do remember falling more often my senior year. Even fell down the stairs that year (I kicked my own foot and fell, that wasn’t due to being cold).

Right now I’ve stolen my husband’s hoodie and am keeping warm for now. I plan on getting on the elliptical later today. I have no goal in mind for that, just to keep moving. I did half a mile on Monday because I felt unsteady. I wasn’t going to fall off of it (I don’t even think it’s possible for me to fall off of it), but I didn’t feel comfortable at all.

These are the days I take them one at a time and just do what I can. I try not to beat myself up in the process.

Stay warm and keep moving!

Keep Chugging Along

I’m changing my workout routine a bit I think. I need to find some good upper back and neck stretches since those are my tightest areas lately. I‘m going to drop down to two days a week for my strength training and see if that eases things up a bit. Still keeping up with the elliptical. That seems to be the best thing to get the kinks out of my upper back and neck.

This time of year is always a blessing and a curse for me. It’s finally starting to cool down (I don’t think we have temps over 85 this week), but it also means my body is going to stiffen up more. I love the cooler weather, but my body does not. It’s really tough to get my legs moving when they’re cold. It’s 6:45 AM right now and 35 degrees. Supposed to get to 77 for a high today. Woohoo, but will my legs move? We’ll force them to. I plan on doing a mile today on the elliptical, so that should help for a while.

Here’s some more catch-up pictures from the virtual walk site.

Mile 478.6 (elliptical for .5 mile)                                  Mile 479.2 (elliptical for .5 mile)

                     

Mile 481 (elliptical for .8 mile)                                      Mile 482 (elliptical for 1 mile)

                      

Mile 482.4 (elliptical for .5 mile)                                   Mile 483.6 (elliptical for .6 mile)

                      

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving! Gotta stay warm! Hardest part is getting started.

Sharing A Link To A Blog

Rather than fumbling with words about how I feel about the turn-out of the election, I'm going to share a link to Tina Matsunaga's blog. She pretty muuch summed it all up.

I really do hope that the next four years go quickly and further damage to this country can be avoided. I'm rolling with the punches, but it's tough today.

Here's the blog post for you all to read. If I Am Wrong.

Mileage Monday!

Let’s keep it rollin’!

Mile 474.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)                                   Mile 475 (elliptical for .5 mile)

                     

Mile 476 (elliptical for 1)                                              Mile 477 (elliptical for 1)

                     

Mile 477.6 (elliptical for .5 mile)                                   Mile 478.2 (elliptical for .5 mile

                     

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Cars, cars everywhere! Love all the trees too.

The mileage I’m at now (501 miles) I’ve passed through another town. This time it was Meadowview, VA in Washington County. I’m currently 4.59 miles from Hayers Gap, VA also in Washington county.

Keep moving!

500 Miles Accomplished!

Well, it’s taken me about four and a half years to go 500 miles on the virtual walk site. But I’ve made it…and I’m still in Virginia. Apparently I have another 200 miles of walking in Virginia. There have been some pretty cool pictures along the way.

The big 500 was hit on Wednesday, where I only did half a mile due to a twinge in my right ankle. It’s fine now though. So the picture for mile 500? Here it is.

Mile 500 (elliptical for .5)

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

I like how the telephone pole (or some kind of pole) is right in the center of the picture. Looks like a nice looking house over there.

I think I’ve done this before but it’s been a while. Here’s a line graph of where I am for the state of VA.

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

And for the entire country.

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

These miles have been racked up with my first elliptical, second elliptical (NordicTrac A.C.T.), and the Walk at Home DVDs by Leslie Sansone. Going to continue with the elliptical and the DVDs for the foreseeable future. I enjoy them both.

Here’s to the next 100 miles. Let’s see how long it takes me.

Keep moving!