Not a Thanksgiving list

Many people blog about the things in life they are thankful for at this time of year. There many such things in my life, but I don't propose to bore you with a list.

My run fell apart in late January or really early February during a run on the Repsol Centre track. I knew when it happened, but I only thought it had been a twinge in my right hamstring and it would get better soonish. Sigh. It hasn't been right since, and my run (such as it was) hasn't been the same since. My massage therapist is regularly astonished at how tight my quads and hams are, along with other stuff.

Somewhere about July my swim fell apart. It's been getting worse and worse. My shoulder has been cranky on a come and go basis. Today was to have been a long swim with buddies. I actually swam maybe 300 m, and not all at once, and certainly not fast. I baked in the hot tub for a really long time, pounding my shoulder and back on one of the jets. That felt really good. (Coffee and breakfast after was lovely!)

I've only been on my road bike a few times this year for short easy rides around the neighbourhood. Some longer rides on the path on my hybrid, but nothing too strenuous. Well, except the time coming back from a race carrying a bunch of camera equipment, climbing the hill out of Fish Creek to the east side of Woodlands. I had to walk up the hill, and at the top felt the need to lie down and relax. My breathing was really hard, almost gasping, I was sweating like a stuck pig, yet my heart rate was much lower than expected, and there was no chest pain. Yes, I reviewed heart attack symptoms. It wasn't that. It was just being feeble, I expect.

With my BRBE training for Ironman I'm feeling a little sad I can't support her on the longer rides and runs. I've had to bail on one run entirely, and be cautious about some others, and the distances are much shorter than I'd like. Still, I've tried to give it some rest, and that doesn't seem to have helped. I've tried to push through, but that is really hard work and feels worse the next day, and it sometimes hurts at the time.

I realize I've come late to fitness, being an adult onset runner, and that's part of the problem. My body was becoming fit at a late age, and at the same time beginning to be affected by age related breakdowns. Or age related slowed recovery. That's happened big time.

None the less, I'm still trying to get out as best I can. As my MIL often said as she struggled with painful arthritis in her hands, "if you don't use them, you lose them." I know winter is coming, I just want to put it off as long as possible.

Unfortunately, for our lovely garden, winter has arrived and temporarily departed, but it's too late for the flowers. I hope the bees are safely tucked in their hive with enough supplies till spring, and they don't get fooled by any chinooks.


The begonia was frozen solid, I suspect.

I'd thought these were lily blossoms that never developed, but Linda thinks they might be seed pods. One of them might appear again. (That's foreshadowing.)

The poppies had come and gone, then this one popped up in the back, just in time for the snow. Poor thing.