SunSeeker

This challenge is a complete bust as I feel like I've spent every free moment on the internet researching medical stuff. Hopefully, the discussion I have with my doctor on Monday to go over my options will be a satisfactory one. There are other options besides surgery and I hope she is open to discussing them. My condition is not life-threatening in anyway. If she only recommends surgery then I will seek another opinion. My brother and I did go backpacking down in the Red River Gorge area in Kentucky this past weekend. We had not backpacked here before and it came highly recommended by a friend of his. We did the Swift Camp Creek Trail out and back. Only like 16 miles total, but we took our time and just enjoyed each others company, the trail and the wilderness around us. We had two beautiful campsites right next to the creek. One campsite even had Fred Flintstone chairs made of rocks around the fire pit. They were actually very comfortable. The trail was rated a 10 out of 10 for difficulty, but I didn't think it was all that hard. Ratings are all relative though, so I usually take them with a grain of salt. There was some elevation to be gained, but nothing that went on and on and on. We saw a rock bridge, a couple small waterfalls and followed the babbling creek almost the entire time. I heard a lot of wildlife around our tents the first night, but the only real siting we had was a wild turkey on the side of the road when we were driving away. We heard a lot of birds, crickets and other small things though. I'd definitely go back to this area to check out some of the other trails. Oh, we did get hit by the remnants of Hurricane Nate starting on Saturday night. There was just a steady rain, no wind or lightening. Made for great sleeping with the rain falling on the tent. We had to pack up in the rain; however, we were just hiking out to the truck. I don't mind packing up a wet tent as much when I'm headed back to civilization. The hike out was a bit slippery in spots as many leaves have fallen. Between the wet leaves, rocks, roots and mud, the trail was a bit challenging to stay upright. We took our time and made it out safely with no falls. Great weekend with my brother!

Hi Zeroh13, Thanks for checking in. So many test, but still not sure of the final recommendation from the doctor. I go back on Monday to discuss my options. I feel like I've spent the last two weeks researching everything on the web and feel much calmer and ready to have this discussion with her. What did we do before the internet?!?!?

Friday thru Sunday Quest 1 - Stretching: I did deep breathing exercises every day over the weekend. I'm not sure when my surgery is going to be, but deep breathing is recommended and it helps calm my spirit. I'm going to count it as it is what I need at the moment. 10/28 Quest 3 - Daily activity: camping. I packed, set up camp, chopped firewood, hiked and walked all over and basically had an awesome time with my husband. Absolutely fabulous weekend. One of my favorite moments was sitting by the little lake by the campground in the morning and watching the sun bounce off the ripples made by the breeze. It reminded me of fireflies. 13/28 Quest 2 - New Trails: Scioto Trails State Park. We hiked most of the trails of the park. A couple were so overgrown that we could begin to follow them. My favorite was a climb up to a ridge where we had a nice view of the surrounding forest. There were a wonderful tree stump big enough that we could sit down and enjoy the morning. 2/4

Thanks dayzee84. We had a fabulous weekend. Wonderful weather at a fabulous little state park.

Thursday -- 9/28 Quest 1 -- Stretching: Did do it. Just having trouble focusing on anything after what my doctor told me on Wednesday. 7/28 Quest 3 -- Daily Activity: Walked to the store for some groceries and walked to have lunch and walked some more. Walking is how I am coping. 10/28 Quest 2 -- New Trails: My husband and I are going camping at a state park this weekend that we've only visited once before. It has many trails and I hope to spend quite a bit of time on them this weekend! My brother was able to get next weekend off work and we are headed to the Red River Gorge area in Kentucky for an easy backpacking trip. I haven't hiked in either area and I am excited to explore. 1/4

Wednesday -- 9/27 Quest 1 - Stretching: I seriously didn't want to do any yoga today, but I made myself get out the mat. I did day two of the 30 day challenge on doyouyoga.com. It had something about stress relief in the name and I was really stressed about a doctor's appointment I had at noon. I couldn't keep my mind on the mat to save my life, but I made it through the practice today. 7/28 I found out at noon that there is a high probability that I will have to have major surgery soon. I have to go in for another test next Tuesday to give the doctor a better picture. Even though the doctor says I should be feeling terrible, I feel fine. So what was just a routine annual physical has turned out not to be so routine. I feel scared, anxious and totally stressed. Quest 3 - Daily Activity: Once I got home from the doctors, I had so much nervous energy raging inside of me. I really wanted to hit a punching bag or something, but I don't have access to one. So I just went walking. Walking always helps calm my mind. So I walked. After dinner, my husband went with me for another shorter walk. 9/28

Tuesday -- 9/26 Quest 1 -- Stretching: I have been very tense the past couple of days, so I chose a restorative yoga session this morning. I chose day one of the 30 day challenge from doyouyoga.com. I really enjoyed my time on the mat today. It moved slow enough to allow me to breath into the poses. Sometimes they move so fast that they are several poses ahead of me while I try to get into one. I'm a yoga mess, but I am trying very hard to just accept where I am currently. The instructor suggested we pick a mantra to focus our attention on our breath. I chose "relax the shoulders". I'm so tense and stressed right now that my shoulders want to stay by my ears. Oh and not one downward facing dog! Haha 6/28 Quest 3 -- Daily Activity: once again I did an evening walk. Besides an actual hike, this is my favorite activity. I'm afraid I'm not being very adventurous so far on this quest. I need to work on that! 8/28

That's awesome! I don't work, so I do the majority of the cooking. My husband helps on the weekend which I really appreciate.

Have you thought about setting your step goal to beating yesterday's step count until you feel comfortable at 5000 again? Are you working on a specific craft project? I'd be interested in hearing about it, if you'd like to share.

This made me smile. I love that your husband is helping to keep you accountable. Is your husband helping with the meal prep? That would be totally awesome! Sorry to hear about your toddler. I'm wishing y'all restful nights for the upcoming week.

Monday -- 9/25 Quest 1 -- Stretching: Did a beginners yoga routine in the morning while doing loads and loads of vacation laundry. I rock some power poses like Warrior. I have pretty good balance on poses like tree pose although I can't get my foot above my knee. I've never been fond of downward facing dog. I try to breathe my way into anything that involves a forward fold. And my knee still doesn't like child's pose although after the yoga, I was able to ease into child's pose. Still debating whether to get the cortisone shot the doctor recommends on Monday..... 5/28 Quest 2 -- New trail: I didn't hike any trails today, but we are going car camping this weekend at a local state park. It has several trails I have not hiked and I'm looking forward to hiking them this weekend. 1/4 Quest 3 -- Daily Activity: After finishing the loads and loads of vacation laundry, I just wanted to get outside and take a walk. In my neighborhood, I see many people walking in the evening and most exchange a brief greeting. I walked to a small local park which has a nice walking path around the perimeter of the park. The place is always busy in the evening with kids and adults playing soccer, basketball and around the playground (I like the swings although I didn't swing this evening). They have several ball diamonds there, but I've never seen anyone playing baseball or softball (I just realized that). My neighborhood is pretty diverse and I hear several different languages. It is wonderful to experience this friendly atmosphere after watching the nightly news. I do need to start my allergy medicine in the morning as I'm allergic to fall. Such a beautiful time of year, but it kills my head. 7/28

I explored a bit of a new trail this past week, but I have three more weeks to explore some trails in my area. Not as exciting as the mountains of the Smokies, but wonderful in their own way. I met a young couple this year hiking the entire AT with a little one. Last I heard they were still out there walking the mountains and the little one is loving it. I hope your little one comes to love the backcountry. It is always a joy to see them out enjoying nature. Thanks Hazard!

I’m back from vacation. Even though it didn’t go as planned, I had a great time. It was an extended family vacation and the two people that I thought would be hiking with me weren’t able to hike. Seriously bummed about that. I was looking forward to sharing some of my favorite hikes in the park with them, but another time (hopefully). I get plenty of time to hike on my own, so I decided not to go out on my own this trip. Instead I choose to spend time with family. Quest 1: Stretching – Hmmmmm….. I started out strong with this quest, by starting my mornings with some sun salutations and additional stretches on the back deck of where we were staying. But as the week wore on and the mornings were a bit chilly, I opted to join my husband in the hot tub on our back deck instead of stretching. Oopsie. So, a poor showing so far in this category. Now that I’m home, I’ll get back to my stretching. 4/28 Quest 2: New Trails – Mark, my husband, decided to go on a short hike with me and since he doesn’t like much elevation change, I choose to do a small portion of the 16 mile Old Settlers Trail located in the Greenbrier section of the park. It was a new trail for me and the elevation and description of the trail looked like a good fit for my husband. It was nice and easy with no boulders or steep sections and at this time of year the creek crossings were very simple rock hops. We hiked out until he was ready to turn around and hiked back. On the way back, we spotted a young bear watching us. He wasn’t very big, but did look big enough that we didn’t need to worry about the location of mama bear (we looked for her anyway). The Smokies and Shenandoah National Park are the only places I’ve hiked where black bears don’t just turn tail and run from humans. This guy just stood there watching us as we watched him. He must have found a good patch of berries or something, because he was very reluctant to leave. He was very close to the side of the trail that we needed to walk down and he was making us a bit uncomfortable. I finally banged two hiking poles together and he meandered off from his delicious lunch. I am sure he came right back after we went on our way. It was a great way to spend the morning of our anniversary. 1/4 Quest 3: Daily activity – This was a little tougher than I thought it would be while on vacations. Without the hiking and with the sedentary lifestyles of the family with us, I had to take several long walks in the evenings around the resort to meet this goal. There were a couple of highlights though. On Sunday, I took everyone to one of my favorite quiet places near the resort. It’s in the Greenbrier section of the park at the second parking area from the main road. At the end of the parking area, there is a small trail that goes down to a wonderful creek. The creek is full of boulders to play on, trees to hang a hammock and a small gravel beach to just hang out. I’ve been here often and I enjoyed sharing it with my family. We had a rock skipping contest which I lost, chased butterflies, enjoyed the sights and sounds of a bubbling brook and climbed around on the boulders. It was like being kids again. This was probably my favorite part of the vacation. Another highlight was an evening walk Mark and I took around the closed golf course at the resort. The trees are wonderful especially the sycamore and willow trees. They are given space to themselves and allowed to grow without crowding by other trees. So gorgeous! I had a short conversation with a squirrel hanging out in a tree (I like talking to squirrels even though it sounds like they are giving me a scolding in return). We also saw several deer and a huge flock of geese hanging out on the course. It was a nice walk and the course is beautiful. I did have a couple of days with no activity whatsoever. This seems inconceivable, but it is what it is. 6/28 I have 20 more days to bring up my sagging scores.

Thanks, Elastigirl! I've hiked over 1,100 miles total in two long section hikes with just over 1,000 left to go. It's a great place for an adventure. I have some beautiful states left in New England! I will get back there some day.

Huh, I always wondered why I couldn't get back to my toes. I can do knee push-ups all day (well not really), but haven't been able to get back to the toes. Thanks for having the push-up quest, so that I could learn this little fact and I'll switch to step push-ups. When I was in the Army so many moons ago, they "helped" us get better at doing push-ups, by making us do them repeatedly throughout the day. Drop and give me 20! Good luck on your challenge Echocheanic.

Hello Hazard, Thanks for the input, it is greatly appreciated. @Hazard Quest 1: The stretching routine. I will be hitting the mat after I say goodbye to my husband in the morning and first thing in the morning on those days he is off -- I started this a few weeks ago and it is working well. I will make it part of my daily routine -- no breakfast until complete (I love to eat, so it's a great motivator). I usually select one of the many on-line yoga videos available when I'm at home. While on vacation, I will start my day with a series of sun salutations plus a series of other poses/stretches I will have listed that I'd like to work on. The Great Courses Plus website has a class on the Essentials of Tai Chi and Qigong that I am interested in taking. I don't know much about these practices and want to see if they are a fit for me. Quest 3: Daily activity. I know this is a really vague quest. At the beginning of the week, I will have a plan of what those activities will be and will have them on my calendar. Some are weather dependent and/or other people dependent, so if they are to get cancelled, I will go for a long walk/bike ride around the neighborhood/park or hit the elliptical/stair climber/treadmill or break out the jump rope. I like to do a lot of different things and I didn't want to box myself into one activity. I'm already doing the daily yoga and I wanted to try and incorporate some fun stuff into my day. If I find this isn't working, I will adjust my quest to get 10,000 steps a day which I already try to do on a daily basis. I like coming here and updating my daily counters which are set at 0/28 right now. I find it quite satisfying to update it in my thread. WhirlwindShep suggested Habitica and I am going to check that out as well. It looks quite fun!

I went out to their website and it looks like something I'd really enjoy. Thanks for the suggestion, WhirlwindShep!

Thanks Wobbegong! For some reason, just having the challenge written out and visible helps me. The camaraderie of fellow members on my thread and of those I follow are wonderful. It is nice to have people just pop in with a comment now and then and if I start to "disappear" just give me a nudge and tell me I'm a slacker....repeatedly if needed. I plan to update daily although while on vacation next week it may be spotty and the updates short. The place we are staying outside of Gatlinburg has horrid connection...those beautiful mountains wreck havoc on my signal. I need to look at my Great Smoky Mountains trail map and select a trail I haven't done before. I love the mountains and can't wait to climb some mountains!

The Wander Society has piqued my interest. I'm looking forward to following your journey.

I'm drawn to your challenge. What about the conventions make you want to curl up under a blanket? I'm an extreme introvert and while I enjoy being around people, the encounters make me feel extremely exhausted. My tendency is to curl up and sleep, but I find that getting out in nature by myself is what re-energizes me. It can be anything from hiking to hanging out by a creek. I am sending you best wishes in building yourself a better habitat. Good luck on your challenge! I look forward to following your journey.

Love your name RagingHibiscus! Beautiful and Tough! I also have a hiking quest and I look forward to hearing about your hikes. Do you have a specific body workout routine in mind? I need concrete plans when it comes to working out or I just meander about without doing anything constructive. Good luck with your challenge and I look forward to following your journey.

I love notebooks! I hope you find the perfect one for your positive thoughts. Good luck on your journey!

Have Adventures Now! I need accountability. I seriously have horrible self-discipline. In the couple of challenges I did with Nerd Fitness awhile back (like 4 years ago), I found that I did the things I said I would do. Since then, I have slid back into my old ways. Unless I am preparing for a backpacking trip, I let any old excuse give me a pass. I have come to the rebellion several times with the intention of starting up the challenges again, but the dates didn’t work with my calendar. Well enough excuses I say! I will start back with this challenge even thought I will be on vacation the first week! I have an overuse injury (Plica syndrome in my knee) from a 637 mile hike I did on the Appalachian Trail earlier this spring. I am still nursing this injury, but the doctor said I can do whatever I want unless it hurts. If it hurts, stop! Therefore, my goals this challenge are taking the knee into consideration and I will be starting slow. My main goal: Have Adventures Now!! I’m tired of my main fitness goals being tied to training for a backpacking trip of some sort. I’ll still have backpacking trips, of course, because that’s the best kind of adventure for me; but, I want to have smaller adventures all the time! Quest 1: Spend quality time on the mat every day! Whether it be a yoga session, simply stretching or Tai Chi. Amount of time is not the goal, but working on hitting the mat every day even while on vacation. This needs to be a lifelong quest for me, but I have a love/hate relationship with the mat. I know that stretching makes me better able to have fun adventures, but I am oh so stiff and feel like I totally suck at it. My heart tells me to approach the mat with love and accept where my body is currently, but my brain tells me that I should be able to reach the stupid floor already. 0/28 Quest 2: Hike new trails! My hiking routine has gotten into a rut. I go to the same trail all the time because it is so close to the house. I want to break out of this rut by exploring 4 new trails during this challenge. I’m very excited about this quest. I have so many trails to choose from. So, pack a lunch, grab my camera, strap on my day pack and hit new trails. 0/4 Quest 3: Be active every day! This can be anything from a work out to pickleball to jumping rope to disc golf to working on my cartwheels to getting my 10,000 steps to geocaching… The list of possibilities is endless. Just get up and do something active. Think like a kid again, just go out and have some fun. The hikes from quest 2 will count, but the stretching for quest 1 does not. 0/28 So, this is my challenge. I have chosen not to have a diet quest this challenge. I do need to lose about 10 to 15 pounds, but my weight doesn’t stop me from having adventures. What do you think of my challenge? To easy? To hard? Or just right? Haha. What fun adventure ideas do you have that would fulfill quest 3?

Hi Hazard. I've done a couple challenges about 4 years or so ago. Should I start here or just go into one of the guilds?

Oopsie. Sorry.