Jayniana Jones

Following along. I'm glad I didn't miss your marathon. I worried I wouldn't get to cheer you on. Jitters for the marathon run make sense considering it's all new, but regardless what your time is, you did it. However, I'm going to argue with you for a second about this being the only (perfect) time for you to train for and run a marathon. Totally not true. There are plenty of chances if you want there to be. It's more about making it a priority than letting external circumstances control you. Happy training.

Following along this round. I'm glad to read about your kayak because the thought of you being completely out of the water and not on a boat felt strange somehow.

Thanks. See you on the next challenge. Thanks. Hopefully, you get time to do some art projects with your students. Thanks. See you in the next round. Have you run your marathon yet?

My vacation was nice. I didn't relax as much as I had intended because I'm a mover more than a be still kind of person. So I explored as much of the park as I could despite my slow walking pace and limited mobility. The park we were at had an astronomy center on a hillside that was perfect for yoga during the day. A breeze blew steady and kept the bugs away. It was super quiet and we couldn't hear traffic or people. It kind of reminded my of my childhood days of growing up in the country. It was super easy to quiet my mind there and I wish I could've stayed there forever. Here's my link to my next quest: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/89335-jayniana-jones-and-the-100-day-yoga-party/

PARTY TIME!!!! Hooray! I'm in the party zone for the next 100 days. I know 100 days of partying could be a bit excessive in the real world, but in my imagination parties can happen for the next 100 days. In truth, I created the title because my other idea, "Jayniana Jones, her final 100 days," sounded too depressing. Anyways, the party zone is because today is day 265 of my daily yoga streak which means I'm only 100 days from reaching 365 days in a row. Some of the obstacles I overcame in my first 265 days included an ACL repair knee surgery (I actually woke at 4:00am to do yoga the day of my surgery), family emergencies, tendonitis in my ankle bad enough I wasn't able to stand on my foot for 8 weeks without immense pain (it's almost better), and a very jammed pack schedule, which a few times I had almost forgotten the yoga streak and pulled myself out of bed to do a yoga session. This is the longest I've stuck with any fitness related goal and I feel compelled to continue to see how long I can keep it going. Day 365 is my next reward milestone. For this challenge here are my goals: Keep my yoga streak going. I'm worried about messing up because my crazy schedule is going to get worst. My mom has an incurable form of ovarian cancer and sadly every few weeks she is unable to do more and more things. I'm on call whenever my parents need help and, of course, bringing the teens over on a regular basis to visit. Resume ACL rehab. I had to put the rehab on hold until I could get my ankle/foot pain under control. As of Friday, I got permission to slowly increase my activity. I managed a mile walk today with minimal inflammation so, hopefully, in a few more days I'll be normal. Normal activity level is 5 days per week. Review Nerd Academy. Since the Nerd Academy updates wiped out my quests, I decided it was a good time to review the course material and make some tweaks on my eating habits. I've been eating junk in response to emotions and stressors and I need to stop. I'm not sure of the best way to evaluate this or what kind of goal to place on it. I'm thinking it may be a daily review or somehow trying to catch myself in the act. Writing fiction 10 minutes a day. This one is to rebuild the habit. I've been avoiding my rewrite and figure since the streak goal is working for yoga, I may be able to apply it to my writing. Once I'm actually at the computer working on my writing I don't often move away for at least an hour. It's the starting that I struggle with. I set things up so that I can work on my writing from my computer, iPad, or good ol' fashioned notebook. Add to my art journal. Sadly, last round my art journal didn't get as much attention as I wanted it too. I'm teaching myself watercolor, but my art journal doesn't need to be limited to watercolor. The point is to do a fun activity just for me. This round I'd like to make an entry at least three times a week. Anything from a tiny painting to a full page will be fine. At least I took my paints out to practice. So that's the plan this round. Hopefully, life doesn't get too out of control. I would love it if every day felt like a party this time so that I don't have to stumble through things.

Following along. I think your goals are good ones to help you with the transition. Have fun!

Nice work on your goals. I'm impressed by the running one. Maybe for your strength section next round you need something like dragon weights?

Congrats on your job! I'm mindfully doing a happy dance for you. I'm wondering if mindfulness is possible with a classroom of students. Maybe you'll have to teach them some breathing techniques to help them and you refocus. I hope the next few weeks go smoothly for you as you adjust to your new routine.

Man! Talk about shattering all my fantasies of becoming more flexible in my 40's than I was in my 20's. Guess I better enjoy my last year in my 30's while I can still touch my toes... some of the time.

Thought I'd pop over and see how things are doing. I hope this week is going well for you. I'll be praying that you get some more bonus zzzz's.

I don't know where the week went. I thought having one teen to homeschool while the other is in virtual school would be easier. However, I should know better. When the word "virtual" is mixed with school it means Mom gets to put on her good old helpdesk hat and solve computer issues. My hubby repairs tech for a living and we met while we both worked at the helpdesk in college so I'm not a slouch in techie knowledge, I just have other things I'd rather do. The ever-optimist that I am though is certain that things will get better because they have to. So maybe in October I'll really be down to teaching one??? Time will tell. My ankle tendons are feeling better in general. I've been as careful as I can this week because we are doing a five-day camping trip starting tomorrow (or Saturday) and I want my pain to be gone or very small. Originally, we had an elaborate three-week vacation to Utah planned that involved lots of really cool hikes. Now our trip is about a four-hour drive from here since I'm an outdoorsy girl and it doesn't make sense to drive all that way to watch everyone else do the "epic" hikes. It's probably for the better because my mom isn't doing well and the news keeps getting worse. My yoga streak continues despite the fact that I still can't use my left leg. Today was day 255. For some reason, I couldn't go as deep into poses as usual. I think some of it may have been because my pain level was higher too. My art got attention this week. I've put one of my paintings that made me smile into this post. I've been experimenting with the watercolors to see what would happen if I tried... and the results are informative but not interesting for viewers to look at. Yesterday, I played with markers and did a decoration for my daughter's door. She's really into superheroes and has her door plastered with nearly every superhero logo she can think of (she drew each one herself). I felt like she needed one for her. It's been bugging me for weeks, so I started creating and two hours later I had one that has a comic book feel. It worked but since it has her name and I told her I'd keep her name off the forums, I can't post it. It was fun to do, though. Buddy's training is coming along. I've logged time every day this week. I look forward to when I can work with him outside in longer bursts. Right now the sessions are pretty short but we're practicing. I think he knows I'm frustrated with my leg because he presses against me and stays close by most of the day. The next few days I'm in vacation mode. It'll be nice to have a break from expectations (other than my daily yoga streak) and our crazy routine. Since I can't hike much, I'll actually be forced to unwind, relax, and enjoy sitting on the beach or at camp. It's funny that I fantasize about being still but usually on vacations I'm constantly on the go because there is so much to do and see. I think my family may appreciate the change this round.

Yoga breathe!! Easier said than done. Good luck on the interview. If you got the job, would you need to pick up some extra teaching certifications along the way?

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Sending hugs your way.

Catching up on my reading... Awesome time for the Rebel Run considering you've only been on land for a few weeks. I love seeing the pictures of where you've been running. Around here if I ran early in the morning or late in the evening, I'd have to run faster than the mosquito swarms because that is the time of day when they are the most hungry (we live in very close proximity to swamp/creek bottoms). What fun would perfection be? Sounds like you'll have a new challenge for the next round. The other items shaped up quite nicely. Resistance bands are a nice substitute when you're moving around a bunch. One of the things I've found handy with them is moving super slow with lots of tension mimics the weights. However, once you've found your landing spot for good, you may want to get dumbbells. We have a set that has a way to increase weight by adding individual plates as your lifting strength increases. It doesn't take up as much space which is nice.

Well, I didn't succeed at thoroughly embarrassing them. However, I got them a few times and watching them get flustered was amusing.

Weekly update: I overestimated what I could do this last week. I ended up with more driving and waiting than I expected. The teens' school also started up and I found a large portion of my spare time spent teaching and getting myself a bit more organized. I'm not super organized by nature so it takes a while to get into the flow of things. Here's the status: My yoga streak continues. Today is day number 251. If I did my math correctly, I'll be starting the last 100 days to reach 365 days in a row for my yoga streak on the next challenge round. That's crazy to get my head around. When I started I didn't think I'd make it as far as I did. Buddy's training was daily. I'm finding the more I work with him the calmer he's getting. Or maybe it's I'm more confident in my ability to handle him. Rehab: I'm putting the care of my ankle first so I didn't do the rehab exercises this week that the therapist assigned. Instead, after some research on Thursday, I decided to pretend my ankle was broken. I kept it elevated, iced, took Ibuprofen on a strict schedule, and walked only when necessary. This may have been a really good idea on my part because this evening it's feeling lots better. My art journal sadly didn't receive much attention this week. I worked two days on one small painting. It was a cup of hot chocolate it looks like a cup but isn't very interesting. This week, I'm going to schedule the daily art time and set a timer to create. The Artist's Way goal received 3 entries out of 7. I need to rethink my goal because the ideas in the book take a lot of time to implement. I may need to abbreviate it a bit because at the moment I'm struggling to keep up with my other tasks let alone this one. My calendar is pretty full at the moment, so I think I need to either slow it down or drop it. My goal this week is to decide what I want to do. By the way, the name for my new brace finally came to me: Buzz (named after the astronaut, not the Toy Story character).

If I could, I'd lend you my good leg. Also, this is not speaking from experience but gathering insight from some triathletes I've talked to about competing, I've heard part of the competition is all about what goes on in your head. I'm assuming a marathon would be much the same because you need to keep your mind focused on running and not let the negativity seep in. It's okay to be frustrated with yourself during training but cut yourself a little slack because it's a marathon, not a sprint. (Sorry, I couldn't resist throwing that cliche in.) You've got time, you are still committed, and you'll do your best on race day. It's all you can do.

I totally love the colors of your painting. It looks like it was fun to do. I don't think it's fair to say you aren't being productive. Making jams and canning produce is very time-consuming. While it isn't exercise it isn't exactly a super fun task. That alone should count for bonus activity points in my opinion. I hope you're having a good weekend.

I've been reading from afar (okay from my email) and finally have a chance to type a response. Congrats on completing the Rebel Run. I loved the pictures. I'm assuming the dogs were your running companions. I hope your hubby is doing better. It's a struggle when our other half goes down and it's hard not to let it affect other things we do. I hope you have fun on your run tomorrow. May the weather be cooperative. By the way, I'm loving the dog pics but I feel a little unbalanced because I don't see any art project pictures. Any remedies in the near future. Hee hee.

The strangest thing happened this morning. I met with my surgeon today to find out the progress on my ACL. Everything is healing beautifully. He asked me how my physical therapy is going. I explained to him about the tendonitis in my foot. He nodded as I described what I've been doing. Then he smiled and said, "Great! I'd prefer you take things slower anyways so if your foot slows you down that's perfect." He explained recovery need to move slower since it's my second time around because we don't want to do this again. Apparently, it'll be another seven months yet before I'm cleared for all activity. In the meantime, the slower I go the better the healing. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one. Having a doctor tell me it's great I'm having problems walking isn't exactly what you want to hear. My foot is getting better. I pretty much walk only when I need to and keep it elevated when not in use. It's well k-taped. The swelling is receding slow but sure. I can stand for awhile without pain which is progress. I'm hoping it'll be 100% within the week, but I've been hoping that every week. My yoga streak is still going. Today I completed day 248. My other goals are mostly on target. I don't have my sheet in front of me, but I think my art journal is needing attention. Tomorrow the teens are having friends over for a sleepover so I'll have the evening to putter with my stuff or embarrass the teens. Hmm, embarrassing the teens that could be fun... does that count as art?

Thanks for the words of support and encouragement. I tried to show off Buddy's skills off leash with my son watching. Unfortunately, Buddy had a memory lapse on his commands and was distracted by long grass. My son, being the helpful teen he is, suggested that I practice when no one is watching first (which I had been). We had a good laugh about it. So much for me being a dog training extraordinaire. Haha. I know this is going to sound odd, but I make myself feel a bit lazy too. I've been pondering how I could implement a similar kind of thing into other parts of my life (specifically my career transition). My yoga streak is the only thing that I have gotten out of bed to complete otherwise if I forget my other goals I rationalize on why it's okay to miss a day. It could be because the number got bigger than I imagined it would. My hubby suggested it may be that I don't have huge expectations for it and so I'm more focused on what I need when I start the practice rather than being militant with myself. Thanks. I'll confess the positive attitude is a struggle. I've indulged in a few pity parties over the last few days. Luckily (?), there's so much chaos around me that sometimes I'm forced to shift from falling apart and venting my concerns to pretending to be happy for my teens' sakes because they need something other than grown-up fears. Thanks.

Hmm. I think I need a cake and couch day.

Just peeking in. I hope your brother recovers as quickly and easily as possible. It sounds like you've been super busy. I loved the pictures of your trip. It made me wish I could go. For your tight hamstrings, you may want to try some seated forward folds and standing bends in yoga. I've found doing them daily helps gain and maintain flexibility (missing more than a day puts my hamstrings and hips back to being inflexible). You don't have to hold them more than a minute. As for the hips, there are quite a few yoga hip openers that can also help (happy baby and pigeon pose come to mind). Before my surgery, I usually worked yoga poses into my cool down. It may help ease some of your discomfort. Be careful with twisty poses though because if you see a chiropractor twisting deeply often undoes the adjustments they make. That's experience talking.

I hope you got time in for your run and yoga today.

Before I head off to sleep, I thought I'd post my most recent watercolor painting. The original size is 5" x 8".