After a pause comes exercise

And it did! Saturday was my "day off" again; Sunday I merely took a walk and did some household work (which to be honest can be quite good as a workout too, depending on what you do and how you do it), Monday I took a brisk and long walk and combined it with grocery shopping. After that, I Carried Heavy Things. I don't mean to, but I seldom manage to pack only what I need. I always add something extra, just in case. Often, I do need it, but not always, and it invariably leads to my bag being, well, heavy.
Tuesday was the time for another long walk, some part of it uphill. But Wednesday, oh, Wednesday brought good things! I had the chance to go for a run with mother, and we ran first for about fifteen minutes, took a very brief stop, and then for five or ten more before I had to concede that maybe I should be careful with my left knee after all. I walked for a while, until mother had turned around and began jogging back, after which we ran for I have no idea how long. All in all we ran for more than thirty minutes, and though my lungs are not on par with my muscles, it still felt very refreshing and good. And I can be fast, too, when I sprint! After this I did just a few crunches, back exercises and some core, nothing much really.

We topped that off with a swim (yes, a swim - an old limestone quarry where once, in a busy summer's day, you might see one or two other families there, and you probably knew them, but now... there's space for three hundred cars (supposedly...), toilets, recycling stations... well, while it's good these facilities do exist, I would gladly smack the blogger over the head who made this place public. Well, that person, and the one who mentioned it in a radio programme, and in a magazine, and there probably was some idiot on tv, too... But, on the twelfth of September, there was only us. A bit chilly, but lovely and refreshing.

Today, Thursday, saw a bit of an interesting event. Mother and I decided to go kayaking. We decided on a good route that would take about two hours altogether, maybe a little more, and then set out. We went out on the east coast of Gotland, and had wind blowing from land, out to sea. It was, at times, fairly hard and steady. This made for some interesting waves and, in places, some very interesting currents. Nothing too tricky or especially scary, though, but still, it was rather harder going than expected, and even I was glad for the tailwind when we paddled back after a sandwich on land. It turned out the outgoing journey took a bit more time than expected, a delightful detour some short distance up a small brook took some time too, and when we returned, it was clear I was not going to be able to go to the shooting range, where I had been offered to have a go at a rifle and moving targets. But, it was a great day nevertheless and I feel most pleasantly tired. I hope this means I shall sleep better tonight than I have lately!
I prefer long lazy swells to the smaller cocky waves we had most of the time today. It just feels so nice to speed across them. The smaller waves make balancing harder, which of course gives you more work for your muscles, but still.

Kayaking is a very nice thing to do, but one is a fool if one believes it is all about arm strengt. Yes, arm strength does play a part, but if you use only your arms, you will tire in no time at all! You should endeavour to use your shoulders (always roll them back, don't hunch!) and even your torso! Tighten your stomach, straighten your back and don't forget to use your legs for balance - but don't stiffen up too much, or you'll lose your balance that much easier. Having some kind of strength in your fingers is recommended, too, and if you didn't think one has muscles in the hand, then I strongly advice you on taking a wee look on a schematic over the muscles in the human body. Which, by the way, should give anyone an excellent view of how everything is connected, and everything affects something else!


This little post should also point out that doing something else now and then is nothing bad. Deviate from your usual training regime. Take a day with looong walks, or let moving house count as strengthening training. I didn't just let go, I picked it up again despite taking it easy for a few days. And I took the chance of doing something completely different (kayaking) from what I can normally do, which puts everything in perspective - I practice other things, therefore I have muscles that allow me to do this other thing as well! Try something new now and then, either for finding a whole new thing, or just for a detour into unknown lands. It gives new energy to continue with what you're already doing, or, it may spur you on to keep going.

Forest jaunt with nice company

I have found that, since a few years, the worst of my muscle pains comes not the day after, but about one and a half day after. However, this time it was because I forgot to shower in cold water right after iaido. That helps to get the blood to carry away the leftovers from the muscles, which helps to avoid muscle pains.

Today, thus, was consequently a day of feeling a bit stiff and rather pleased with myself that I did. Eating got a bit jumbled, with breakfast being lunch; that is, late, and dinner therefore came early. After that it was time for a jaunt out in the forest. I had company, who is rather unfit (but working on it; has strength but not yet stamina, since it's not been too long since said person finally got the right cockatil of medicines to combat their asthma), so I was literally jogging in circles a lot of the time, doubling back along forest trails. We started out with the asphalt road before heading up into the quarry and the forest. All in all it was about forty minutes of running, perhaps fifty, with a few minor pauses for walking here or there where the trail was too tricky. Afterwards I did a rather short and easy set of crunches, core, back and shoulder excercises, and then, stretching. And showering in cold water (well, at first, then I had some that was a bit warmer).
It was particularily nice having someone to occasionally chat to, and to help said person keep going and not stopping, as is so easy to do when one despairs of ever getting some kind of constitution back!

My left knee was beginning to act up about thirty minutes into the jaunt, so I walked downhill (it's a rather long and uneven stretch) and took it easy for a couple of minutes, until I could jog on flat ground again. It doesn't hurt very bad, but as I have said - I am going to take it easy for quite a while so as not to sink this ship before it's left port. It's been many many years since I could run fast and far.

As to the blog name, "Fleet feet, pointy ears", it partly has a nice ring to it and of course also stuff behind it. I feel so joyous being able to run again, and I don't run with a thumping motion, but even when running quite slow, I seem to float along, looking quite fleet despite the speed. And, of course, if you look at the famous works of the nowadays well-known John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the elves there are known for running fast and far and light. They even walk on top of snow - something which caused me great joy when a decade ago I saw the movie version of "The Fellowship of the Ring", that they had incorporated. Note how the character of Legolas runs in those movies - lightly, on the balls of his feet rather than heavily and lumbering on his heels! So, like an elf with pointy ears, I run, and I run best when I am in a forest on a winding path.

Perhaps on Sunday I will tell you a bit more about why I am so careful about starting out slow, and why I couldn't run for so very long. Until then, run easy, run smooth, run careful and run joyful!

Exercises for efficient recovery

I had to remind myself that I am still working on building strength today, or I would have gone on a run. But I felt a bit stiff from yesterday's iaido, and decided to let my body rest from that kind of exertion. Instead, I went through a thirty (or a little more, possibly, timekeeping isn't one of my strong points) minute program of stretching and strengthening exercises, because I know that is a weak point with me. I tend to describe myself as being "as limber as a fridge". This is not a very good thing.

One should strive to balance strength, stamina and flexibility. Without the last, you are in a very real danger to hurt yourself. I am aware that the last is my weak point, and therefore, working on for today's excercises felt like a very good idea, no matter how unwilling I may be to sit still in various positions and count my breaths.

It loosened stiff muscles, had me feel a lot more limber afterwards, and did, actually, work to make me feel refreshed. Thus, very good.

Nothing exciting regarding eating today, except that I had fresh berries from the brambles outside for my morning yoghurt. Dinner was leftovers after lunch, that is, lots of white thick rice (sushi rice, without the fancy name, more or less) with wakame spicing and some sesame seeds, and an omelette with leek, mozzarella cheese, tomato and some sweet pepper. Wicked tasty.

I have a bit of trouble sleeping well. I may wake up and get up, but I inevitably feel lethargic and sleepy until afternoon, evening-time, no matter what I do (Well, I haven't had two cups of tea in the morning yet, maybe that might help). Come nightfall, though, I manage to perk up and have the energy to read and do things. I'm going to experiment with vitamin B-pills, and have soothing tea in the evening time, but honestly, it could be anything.
It does seem, however, that a movie or an episode of "Doctor Who" (or "Torchwood, for that matter) wakes me up, so perhaps I'll have to - oh woe! - watch one every morning for breakfast accompaniment. Worth a try, certainly.

Back to iaido

It was a close call, but I managed to go to iaido practice tonight. It was worth being a little fuzzy in the head after half an anti-anxiety pill.
Wednesdays means beginner's practice, which today, meant two beginners and the rest of us practiced by ourselves. Being sandan (third dan) I occasionally broke off and helped the others, while our sensei took the beginners through the correct way of standing, holding, cutting and so on.

Practice usually starts with twenty minutes of warm-up which segues into strengthening excercises, many of them the same as I do on my own. Then, it is time to get our swords. I am happy to say I did not lag behind or feel exhausted! And, my body is starting to look again like it ought to, and feel. It is especially important I keep my muscles well excercised so that I don't go back to having chronic pains in varius parts of the body.
I do feel something in my left knee, the one with which I have always had the most trouble (probably somewhat due to me breaking that leg in school once, and it not healing for about three months - it was a bad fracture), but such is always the case when I do the koryu kata (old, historical style iai) of the Chuden level. They do put a lot more strain on the left leg, and it doesn't feel any worse than after any half-long amount of time during which I have not done them.

I have been doing iaido for... well, it's more than eight years now. It very nearly never fails to make me feel more centered, secure, happy, calm, cleansed and energetic. If in doubt, do iaido. I could never excercise or train just "because", I need a proper reason for which the results of such training would be beneficial. And for me, that is iaido. Whatever I do that strengthens my body (and mind!) it directly affects my iaido in a positive manner. There could be no better incentive, for me.

Also, because I like it, I jogged home from the bus. Not far, but still.

Eating has not been anything out of the ordinary today. A vegetarian schschszhcnitzel and rice with maize, peas and sweet pepper was the dinner, and I had a dark ryebread sandwich with sausage, cheese and sweet pepper after practice (and two small pieces of chocolate, to reward myself for facing the horrors of the commuter trains).

Film accompaniment

I was in half a mind to run today, but at the last moment decided against it. I've been sitting still for most of the day; such is the life of studying. I'd forgotten.

Regardless, I put on "The Chronicles of Riddick" and let that rather well-muscled main character inspire me. Why not, after all?
I had the timer on 20 minutes, but I think I will change that to 30 the next time. I kept going until I got lazy after 35 minutes. I focused mainly on my arms, my stomach and my back, but threw in a few exercises for the legs too. I think I will start again with the old habit of doing easy ups and downs while I am brushing my teeth. It's such an annoyance to be able to do only one thing at such times, anyway.

I felt a bit of after-exercise muscle pains after yesterday's session, though nothing in the legs. That felt good, so for my back exercises I did every exercise with more than twenty repetitions, and for crunches, 15+15 three times. I also carefully cut two times ten cuts with a bokuto (wooden sword), and while my grip is good, I believe I shall have to do that a lot more. I feel I really need to change the way I cut - I want my shoulder to heal one day, and for that, I need to be able to cut without it "falling" forward while I do so. It's an easy mistake to make when you have a heavy sword, and if you're not careful it will be the natural way of cutting, which isn't very good at all (trust me and my injured right shoulder on that).

Eating today was a yoghurt bowl, the bulgur and sauce mix, pasta with crême fraiche, and fried mushrooms, squash (mmm, tasty!), pepper and bacon, some (unfried) salad, and after my little session I had a small bowl of yoghurt with just a few seeds and nuts in it. I also had quite a few pieces of dark chocolate, and drank the last of the unsweetened juice.
I seem to drink more water than I am used to, which is always good. Water cleanses the body!

I have not been sleeping well, but my herbal tea didn't make any change yesterday. I suppose it's got to do with external troubles then, for otherwise, I tend to sleep very well when I practice regularily.

Finding new tracks

I just returned from having a thirty-minute blast of a time running. I couldn't force myself to go by train to iaido practice, sadly enough, but I took a small breather out behind the garden today, and found to my satisfaction a nearly overgrown path (which I suspect is merely a dead end) and that the field nearest to the trees has no fence. Consequently, I figured I'd run around it for a while, but then I grew curious - where does that road lead, anyway? To a riding school as it turned out, but there were paths too, and I took a random one which at first seemed well trodden, then became almost overgrown, and then seemed more used again. It lead upwards, upwards on a hill covered in shrubbery and trees, probably rather untouched since the trees didn't look very desirable for use as building material. Then I found out which paths lead to dead ends and eventually found a quarry I had seen on a map, where I had a lot of fun jumping between stones and cliffs. And finding someone's old discarded clothes, but they were several sizes too large, unfortunately.

The last part of the jaunt was unfortunately on asphalt, and my right leg, again, felt gradually more and more stiff, although less so than on Friday.

Then I did a few crunches, now fifteen in a row instead of twelve (times... two, I think, every time going from fifteen straight crunches directly into another fifteen side-to-side crunches before doing something else), some stuff with my red band for my shoulders, and a bit for my back. Nothing much, just keeping it up and doing a little more than I really felt like doing - that is a good thing, I have found, to do juuust a few exercises more, before giving in. Not giving in at once is important.

I have thus found a good path for running that is not all asphalt, but, it remains to be seen how good it will be later in autumn, and in winter. My socks are hanging up to dry, not that I minded a lot, but it's a bother if everything gets too muddy.

Eating was as per usual my bowl of yoghurt, with sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and some green raisins added to the usual mix. They will also become a staple ingredient.
Then I had lunch and dinner consisting of a gorgeously tasty mix of fried squash, leek, tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet pepper, haricots verts, tomato sauce, taco spices etcetera, and bulgur. It was so tasty I didn't mind having it twice. Possibly I ate too much, just because I liked it so much...

After my running, I've had some of that wicked tasty crisp bread with some butter on it. I'm thinking of having an apple and a spoon of yoghurt or somesuch, too. I usually eat far better after I've been out and about, but I ate fairly soon before I ran, so I don't feel the need to do so this time.


Running in terrain is far more fun than just eating up miles on a road. It's more challenging, the scenery is better, there are less people and you can always find a new random path. And I don't forbid myself to stop occasionally, either. I just don't stay stopped, and I never walk more than I absolutely have to. I rather prefer to very slowly jog, instead, if the terrain requires I slow down. Besides, I'm out to run, with fleet feet, so why stand still and catch my breath?

Two days in one post

In the interests of my knees, which I am still more cautious than happy about their willingess to work, I took the Saturday off from excercises and running. I admit I could have done some excercises, but a many-hour trip for several bags of groceries was all the excercise I felt up for (mentally especially). I ate well as per usual, but tried a Billy's Pan Pizza - they're supposed to be less filled with icky additives than is usual in such items, and I am careful to always keep something at home which can be made ready and eaten in about five to ten minutes. I know well how I need to eat every three to four hours, with no exception, but sometimes one cannot account for a late train, changes in plans and so on. And I do nearly always lug around a sandwich - but only nearly; after all, it is not always one expects to be away for very long, is it?
Anyway. I have not eaten such a thing for... well... near on ten years, I believe. Unfortunately, I didn't find it very tasty. So I'll stick with powder-soup for a while yet, if I'm all out of vegetables and such.

I find that music sometimes merely annoys me when I am doing something else. So I turned to a trusty remedy, that is, audiobooks. http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/ have a large selection of "classics" read by happy amateurs, to a varying degree of success (I couldn't stand the book by lord Dunsany I most wanted to hear, for example, read as it was by someone with abominable accent and bad reading skills), but for those unwilling to purchase audiobooks, it is an excellent webpage.
Audiobooks are useful for many of the things I do. Today, "Pride and Prejudice" (call me girly if you like, it's an entertaining read) accompanied my excercises. I set the timer for 20 minutes, as I find I can hardly fit all the excercises I want into fifteen minutes, but continued long after it had beeped. I estimate it to have been half an hour to about 35 minutes. I did a bit of an allround choice of training. Variations of crunches, back-lifts, work with my red elastic string to strengthen my shoulders, something for my legs and jogging in place. It felt good and I did not feel the tiredness in my legs that I had yesterday. However, the stiffness in the right lower leg makes itself heard when I've been trotting around for a while.

Even though it was late, I managed to get going with training. I think this is a testament to the importance of perseverance. Fifteen minutes a day became twenty, and suddenly I find I hardly need to remind myself to take the time for it. Make it easily accomplished, make it a habit, and then, when it's pretty much ingrained in your everyday routine, add to it a little at a time.
I COULD go the hard way and just go all-out at once. I know myself well enough to know I have the willpower for it. But I prefer going easy on myself after my various illnesses. Better I regain my appetite for excercise, than find it a chore! And it is such an appetite, once whet. The joys of feeling one's body grow stronger, to feel muscles in places you didn't know you could have them, to see posture and gait improve... it really is a wonderful reward. I admire myself, in a not self-centered way, but in a self-loving way, and that is as it should be. If I do not love me, then, really, I shouldn't look to others to do it for me.

For food, I have deviated but little. I added a nectarine to the half apple I used for my morning yoghurt, lightly fried some leek, squash, sweet pepper and mushrooms and added to what became both lunch and dinner with the aforementioned pasta sauce, to which I cooked fresh pasta. Nothing exciting there, eh. I had a bout of chocolate-eating, 86% dark, several squares and with a sideorder of small mints, but chocolate isn't candy, it's kind of like light and oxygen and water and such, wouldn't you agree?
For a late snack I had some wicked tasty crisp bread that has a lot of different seeds in it, with cream cheese and salad on it. I have also been drinking a probiotic juice during the day, wich is about as sweet as I can take it.

I must be honest and say that I think today's intake has been a bit on the excessive side if my physical activity is to be considered - I have been painting and not moving outside much at all, but a hungry pointy-ear is not a happy one. I don't need to worry about gaining weight in the wrong way, rather, I NEED to gain weight, since it will amount to me gaining muscles, which is rather a goal of mine.