Tippy Toes and Tantrums

Self Medicating with Reruns and Cake

The upside of not watching much television is that shows in syndication are new to me. Instead of waiting for my favorite show once a week, with summers off, I get to watch it two or more times a day, not including frequent weekend marathons. The downside is that I've spent the past few weeks addicted to The Big Bang Theory.

I'm feeling kind of blah lately, maybe from the heel pain, the fact that I ate a good portion of a cake this weekend, or that during a certain time of month, I just want to either take a nap or kill somebody (in a justifiable homicide kind of way), but this explains why I want to curl up under the warm covers and watch sitcom reruns. 

My heel healing is working! But when I wear a pair of shoes with less adequate support or do exercises that leave my right foot unbalanced, it hurts again. When I complained about the dorky look of tennis shoes with jeans that I am sporting nearly 24/7, it was suggested I suck it up and buy granny shoes. The term granny shoes wasn't used, but when I heard "extra support," I remembered my nonnie's love for old lady Naturalizer shoes, which was fine because she was an old lady, but I am firmly in denial.

The double velcro version is called the Leisure Strap, while the single velcro version is called the Pleasure Strap. This is not a joke. Think about that the next time you see an old lady wearing them.

  

Boots may be sexy, but the one that I wear to bed challenges that thought. 

I'm bringing sexy back, triple pleasure strapped

But it works, even though I ordered a size too big and am too cheap to order a smaller one. 

I baked the best cake EVER, just because the p's (Pinterest and period) made me want a cake. I cannot remember the last time I baked a cake - it's been well over 10 years - and I even had to buy the pans. I should note that I buy cupcakes and cakes for my kids' birthdays, in case anyone was pitying them for growing up without frosting. My secret recipe: Duncan Hines butter cake mix, chocolate ganache for the center, and chocolate buttercream for the outside. Step aside Martha Stewart expectations, I had a coupon for a free cake mix. Free tastes awesome. The downside is that jeans a size smaller arrived in the mail this week, but after the cake, I'm going to wait before trying them on. 

Daily Workout Setback Due to Foot Pain

I haven't been on the treadmill and it shows. It's so bad that I can't feel below my knees, probably because I've been sitting in the same position, with a laptop on my...lap (painfully redundant), and I should really move.

I last used the treadmill the morning before we left for Tahoe. I'd been having pain in my right foot, but I decided to stretch more and ignore it, mostly because I had no other plan. It hurt like I stepped on a Lego, but while I was on the treadmill, it was fine, as long as I didn't slow down. If I ran, then walked, I hobbled. It hasn't been pretty, and it sounded just as ugly because I didn't hold the pain in. I whined.

But I wasn't ready to give up. I walked in Tahoe, we played in the snow, and when we returned home, I worked out with the resistance band, and I cleaned out the garage, but I didn't get on the treadmill and I miss it.

The bad news is that I have (self diagnosed!) planter fasciitis. The good news is that it's improved so much following the advice of Dr. Internet. Since, I've wearing supportive shoes all the time, except for bed, and even in the shower at home. If you've never tried shaving your legs while wearing Crocs, don't. I wore tennis shoes out to dinner twice this weekend, which felt like I gave up and announced it to the world in the form of Nike running shoes worn with jeans and a cashmere sweater. Just wait until the orthopedic band and shoe inserts arrive this week.

Better stretching and supportive shoes have lessened the Lego feeling. It's still there, but it's improved enough that I'm getting back on the treadmill. Which is great because I feel like crap.

Update: I did it! The first nine minutes weren't great, but I went really slowly and by minute 10, I was feeling awesome.

Reality is a Frumpy Lands' End Sweatshirt

Today I got low in my clothing reserves, where most of my wardrobe is in the hamper instead of my dresser. All of my usual long sleeve shirts were dirty, leaving me with a grey sweatshirt from Lands' End. I bought it a few weeks ago after looking at this photo, where it appears kind of silken and dressed up.

But then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror while wearing it, and here's what I really looked like:

I am a fashion disaster.

A Successful Start to the Rebuilding Year

This morning, I woke with a headache, which soon turned into a blinding migraine that hurt even in my teeth. But still, I made it to the gym. For the past month, I have worked out every day, and I wasn't about to let a migraine break my streak. I am the Cal Ripken Jr. of my garage treadmill.

I've belonged to a gym for years, and I attended regularly, but when I started with a personal training in October, I found out that a water workout does not build the strength to lift in the workout room. This moved me out of the water and upstairs, to the giant room with all the machines and sweaty people. I'm pretty pleased with the amount of strength I've built up in the past few months. You may not know it to look at me, but I am strong enough to kill you, which was my goal. My goal wasn't to kill you, per se, but to be ready for the zombie apocalypse that Rocket promises is coming. And I'm feeling pretty ready.

I'd been kicking around the idea of a treadmill, hoping that post-remodel, there would be a nice, out of the way place for one in the house, but that wasn't going to happen. Late, on the night after Thanksgiving, I decided I was ready for a treadmill that wasn't a clothes hanger, even if this meant working out in the garage and dropping the dream of getting two cars in there. With two minutes to spare on Black Friday, I ordered a treadmill at a screaming deal. I was ready to go...but unfortunately, it took a month for the treadmill to arrive. (The delay was due to either laziness or an attempted shake down by the local delivery company, but the treadmill company handled it all so well, that I loved them before stepping foot on my treadmill.)

The treadmill arrived the day before Christmas, and I was too busy to try it, then I got sick Christmas night and was wiped out for days. Suddenly, it was Jan. 2, and I was finally ready to roll, I mean run. I shouldn't say roll because my fear is that I stumble, hit the treadmill deck, then shoot off the back, much like my middle sister did TWICE at my parents' house. I've used the treadmill almost every day since. On the days I don't, it's because I've used the one at the gym. (The gym treadmill has a TV that I either love or feel motion sick from watching, it all depends on the day. Also, I secretly race the people around me at the gym. I can now take most old people. Most. Not all.)

The treadmill and other zombie apocalypse prep was not a New Year's resolution. What was a resolution of sorts was my word of the year - strive - but truly, within days of proclaiming strive the focus point of my year, a new, better word kept popping up in my head: rebuild. This year is about tearing down the old, weak parts, and rebuilding something better to replace it. This has been a great month and a great start, even when there were set backs (literally, property set backs) with the house remodel plans, migraines or another special time of the month that made me want to curl up in bed and eat chocolate ice cream (which I did, after I did my time on the treadmill), a heavy workload, and various other issues, all the things that would normally wear me down and make me feel sour, didn't. I made a conscious decision to be more positive, and it's worked. It hasn't work every moment of every hour, but overall, I feel more upbeat.

I'm kinda sad to see January go. It was a good time.