Patience; the new endurance sport.

Log entry, Day 11:  At first it hurt when I tensed up my stomach muscles and they'd spasm at night if I stretched or flexed my feet.  Now it hurts if I relax them and let my belly hang heavy.  So at least I can start sucking in my gut again. I used to think my sit up routine didn't really did any (cosmetic) good; but after nearly 2 weeks without them, I can say with confidence that they make a difference. At first I just looked like I was 5 months pregnant, but as the swelling subsides I just look like I have a round little pot belly.  

I'm getting more healed every day AND Sego lilys were blooming everywhere in the foothills! The morning was calm, I could see clearly now the rain is gone.....all the way across Utah Valley and the stillness of the Utah Lake.  I walk/hiked really fast uphill taking the South side Bonneville Shoreline trail above Provo Canyon. The whole time I was thinking of the guy they arrested up there yesterday near squaw peak (naked and in the middle of a psychotic episode).  So glad I was not the one to discover him.  But today, even the creeping fear of sometimes of quasi-city perimeter wilderness (where the homeless sometimes camp) couldn't ruin my morning.  I have perfected the art of 'starting again' from ground zero (fitness wise).  I am no longer afraid of injury, or lost momentum, or the nagging thought that my hamstring might snap.  I know what to do in the face of minor adversity.  I have practice!   I am now the queen of moderation and patience (hear that marathon gods, I'mma comin').

Spent 60 minutes cranking 9 on the elliptical. It's a great work out. I've been watching all these old movies from the 60's and realized what is wrong with every American man between the ages of 60-80. All these movies glorify the rebellious, free spirit, rule breaking Maverick and the perils and stupidity of being subject to authority, rules and fear. Slow Hand Luke, Vanishing Point, Dr. strange love. It explains so much about my father I never understood. Especially vanishing point. It basically spells out how he'd rather die than slow down or keep the rules. Which is exactly how my Dad died--doing his own thing at 100 mph right into a wall. Lots of time spent on the treadmill, elliptical and in bed has allowed me time to catch up on my old movie fetish. I've come to realize how powerful the media has been over time in shaping the American conscious and attitude since who know how long. It shaped it, more than it was a reflection of it I think. Anyway, enough about running...... After working out, my sweat cooled as I ran around putting everyone to bed and doing the dishes. I got a chill from being wet and suddenly craved sitting in the warm tub more than I could possibly explain (it is my all time favorite activity while I own a body on this earth ). But I was prohibited from soaking for 3 weeks. Thats the longest Ive been without a bath in 7 years. I take one at least every day. So I taped up my sutures with really good waterproof tagaderm bandages and sat carefully into the water. The bandages worked, and I sat back and disappeared into its warmth. It felt so good and made me so happy, involuntary tears of gratitude filled my eyes. NOTHING in this word feels better than deep, warm, still water to sink your tired, chilled body into.

I have a new international college basketball athlete boy living at home for 4-5 months. Cramps my style a little to use my work out room knowing I can't take off my shirt or fart too loud (TMI? Sorry, no one's reading my blog anyway). But he is tall to reach tall cupboards and can carry in all my groceries from Costco.  Plus he also plays forward and golee and will run drills with my girl before her Varsity soccer try outs, and BB drills w/ my son before Freshman BB try outs this summer.

On today's Elliptical Classic Film menu was a revisiting of The Deer Hunter; Sad and depressing as always. Interesting side note: Though I don't prefer blond men (they age badly and generally have bad skin unless tan), but Christopher Walkin is pretty good-looking before all the 'nam horror of the film begins. I forgot about that. Plus he won my heart in the 90's doing the best version of SNL's "The Continental".  I always will love Robert DeNiro, though I can't forgive him for Meet the Fockers, etAl.

 For future reference, this is how I convert to miles when I elliptical:  stride length is approximately 28 ¼ inches (2.356 feet). Therefore, it will take approximately 2241 strides to equal 1 mile. To convert the number of stride to miles, take the number of strides on the display and divide by 2241.

I worked out so hard and fast it made me dry heave. The good news is I can sneeze and cough without pain now. By next week I should be pretty much back to normal. It will be nice to run, the elliptical is killing me. If you work it right, it is HARD work.

I ended up going walk-jogging twice today. I wish I had time to do this everyday. It sounds insane to do two work outs a day, but it is so much more palatable to do two shorter work outs in the am and the pm than one big one. Got a big weekend coming lots of soccer and basketball coming my way. I'm gonna see Cath and her girls on Sunday! So excited to see my girlie . I haven't seen her since she kicked out 50 k on her birthday and I got to drag her down for about 12 k of it. I have missed running with her. We postulated that we have approximately 500 hours of talking to catch up (since that's roughly the number of hours we would have spent running together these past 2 years. We used to run for 4 hours on a Saturday, and then stand outside the house talking for another 20 minutes. Man I miss Road therapy, and I miss my running friends.