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Hi! Taking February off was WWEEee --- eeerrdddd! It was necessary, but very strange for me. A quick history -- Terinatum has been gaining momentum with NF since February 2013. She has always felt welcomed here on the forums and is quite happy to come back to the folds of the NF family. She has spent the last 14 months on the injured bench and it has taken a toll on her physically and emotionally. Before she was trail running and working up to a 5k on asphalt (best was 2.4 miles), drinking water like a fish, getting junk for out of her life (lost 96 pounds), cooking for herself (a tiny bit anyway), and enjoying her life as a newly single woman with reasons to smile and feel confident along her path to health and happiness. Then the body got hurt. First it was the feet with bunions now active and fallen arches. The achilles had their say about that. The final piece became a tender heel for unknown reasons and happening at unknown times. So Terinatum did some things to help, even without doctors' help, and she has now: orthotics for her arches, a tiny lift for her right shorter leg, and some exercises to help strengthen the foot and ankle. Terinatum is thankful that this part of the puzzle is mostly solvable. Second came her spine. It was more unstable in a spot she knew to be weak. After many a battle with her PCP (5 months), she got help with it, but not before her hips (likely with the help of the arches) became severely inflamed and her glute muscles stopped supporting her walking. Terinatum could no longer walk on pavement of any kind. She was reduce to a hobble after a mere two blocks on cement and around 3 blocks on asphalt. She was walking on not-yet frozen ground with little difficulty just the week before. It was odd, and scary. But the warm, therapeutic water has been helping her make a bit of progress. While working on her glutes and hip rehab with aquatic therapy, Terinatum went to the pain clinic. After much investigation, she had some answers. Her spine has been deteriorating more than normal, and sooner. Causes? heavy weight, running while heavy, bad posture habits, and several old injuries. She now has osteoarthritis in her spine at two places, a bulging disc, facet disease, and degenerative disc disease. So, now it is time to get relief and build up important muscles so that, hopefully, trail running will again be part of her life. The emotional toll of her medical life was excruciating. After almost 2 years of success, Terinatum was reduced to puddles of tears, balls of anger, and tunnels with no visible light at the end. WTF: why now, why me, why this bad, why, why, why? Why take running from her? She had never fallen in love with any activity, even basketball, like she did with running. It was hard on her to be on the bench. She spent decades on the bench because PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) had forced her to flee life. And now when she wants to be off the bench so bad, she's forced down again. Her earlier successes had not prepared her for this. Nothing had. So how will she motivate herself to get off the bench and do what needs doing, even if it's not hitting the deadlift and running in the woods yet? Meanwhile on the PTSD front, Terinatum had put more rules in place when dealing with her parents. It helped a bit, but not enough. She was starting to wonder what to do next, when an old, trauma memory was recovered unexpectedly. It has thrown Terinatum into a whole new realm of chaos. Now is the time to again mourn the parents she never had, and now the ones she will not have anymore. So for those who know me, that was short! Hahaha Goals for this challenge: 1.) Water! 64 oz daily - measured on MFP using my awesome 3 cup mug I got for Christmas. +2 STR 2.) Cooking at home - 4 out of 7 days per week. Avg. of 3.5 for +3 CON 3.) No sugar junk food - by week 4! No sugar for +3 STA 4.) Stretching each day - calves, quads, hams, med. glutes, piriformis, hip flexors, obliques, and neck. For +2 DEX 5.) Strength exercises - glutes, obliques, transverse abdominals, shoulders, triceps, and feet. For +2 STR 6.) World-building project - continue building the elevation map and get 3 outlines for module stories done. For +1 WIS 7.) Write out and check off daily To-Do lists - at least 4 days per week. Avg. of 3.5 for +2 WIS Alright then! Let's blow this popsicle stand! Good Luck to All Cheers, Teri