Chesire: Mad skills but where the heck is my supersuit?

[Chesire]

I feel like I've spent a lot of time the last few months building my alter-ego's awesomeness, which is definitely great and necessary, but ultimately not as much fun.  Yay, I do the dishes right after dinner!  And I drink lot of water!  Good stuff but not .... exciting.  So let's focus on super stuff this time.

 

 

 

Finally!  I feel ready to work on actual skills, not just basic strength building.  

 

First skill:  I "lost" my pull-up ability when I developed a shoulder recruitment imbalance, and gee whiz, now that I'm activating the right muscles more, I can't do one again.    I will slowly work my way through to this again, but with body awareness, movement prep, and follow up stretching. 

 

Second skill:  Also shoulder related.  Grumble grumble been effecting so many things grumble.  I'm starting arm balance work by taking on crow pose.  I want control in this before I move on to super stuff like handstands. 

 

Third skill:  A continuation from previous and probably on going for a  looooong time.  Two different running goals of getting back to sub 30min 5K (or better), and run a 10K without time goals to begin with.  I see alternating interval training and long runs in my future. 

 

Long term skill goals:  muscle up, human flag, handstands, maybe a parkour class or an aerial skills class, running super fast and far.

 

https://i.gifer.com/37sf.g

 

My alter-ego's attire has been jeans and Ts for a while now.  I need to feel better than that, so time to upgrade.   But!...

 

 

This super-suit can't restrict me in any way during my usual activities, or maybe add to risk.  Also money, and fitting rooms are closed. 

 

Therefore I will be shopping in my current wardrobe to find things that are more put together than the usual grubbing attire, with an eye to shapes and styles that work for me so I know what to look for when I can go out.   Or maybe what patterns to buy and plan for when I can effectively go fabric shopping if I can't find what I want (usual problem.)

 

The related challenge is that I've been slow to get to my exercising and then I have to walk the dog, and I'm still not leaving the house for work, so by the time I shower, why bother?  I will rectify this by having one glass of water, then one cup of coffee while hopefully checking in here, and then getting my sweat on first thing in the morning.  And if I can't walk the dog in this suit then it doesn't fit my needs. 

 

 

Back to alter-ego

https://i.gifer.c

 

She's done a great job keeping my going, so the things my AE will keep at are;

 

• food tracking for calorie tracking for knowledge and to make sure I keep an eye on a few nutrient goals.
• tackle a few house projects, looking at painting radiator covers to start
• budget track and plan
• play in the garden

 

 

[Dusk]

Ooo, cool skills! Snazzy yet practical outfits! Superhero identities! Sounds fun  following!

[Chesire]

I learned an  interesting mindset technique that I'm giving a shot.  Instead of having a list of things that I "have" to do, switch it to things I promise myself to do.  If nothing else, I like the gentler tone of it.

 

currently super suit upgrades involve revisiting my jewelry box.  It had been a long time since I opened that.  Why bother, when you are stuck at home?  Cuz it makes me feel good, that's why.

[Chesire]

I did it!  I ran 10k!  That's been a stretch goal for a loooooonnnng time.

[Mr.Six]

4 hours ago, Chesire said:

I did it!  I ran 10k!  That's been a stretch goal for a loooooonnnng time.

Well done!

[Chesire]

I also made headway on house projects.  I painted the three worst radiators, the three that were going from black to white.   Follow through for the win!  Only seven more to go, but they are all shades of off white or almond, so hopefully a little less challenging.

[Chesire]

Official fitness plan is

• strength, one day is focus on solid basics, one is crow pose work, and one is back with an eye to pull up capacity
• running, one day steady 30min run,  one long run, one intervals
• stretching at least three nights
• shoulder stabilizing starts all strength work, and shoulder mobility on opposite days

 

[Chesire]

I did my pull up progression strength yesterday and my shoulder doesn't hurt today!  I think I fixed it for reals!  Lots of scap retraction and very assisted pull ups were in the mix.  I am beyond excited I can do stuff again.

 

And then today's run.  I did not want to run before I went, did not want to do it when I was half way through, and had to drag myself to the end of it.  But I did it.  I didn't have enough water earlier in the day and I think I might not have eaten enough yesterday.

 

Got to see my little soon-to-be godson on Sunday.  He's such a smiley little monster and at three months is on the verge of rolling over.  I think he is just determined to keep up with his sisters already and needs to move, like, now.  Also, found out the girls in question are starting language classes next year.  One chose Spanish which I'm rusty on but figure I could keep up with an 11 year old new to the language in a conversation, and the other is taking Latin!  😍  My last Latin class may have been..... uh 20, holy crap, years ago, but I should be able to finally make use of my degree 🤣

[Chesire]

And I forgot, we opened up the family cottage/cabin/camp for the summer.  Usually it's a pretty good crew of people to get all the furniture resettled* inside and on the porch, and water on, dock put in, etc, but this time it was only three of us.  MrC, his dad,and me. 

 

I got to do the whole furniture resettling and prepping all the indoor stuff by myself; usually there are several other women there helping with the indoor stuff.  2 things;

• first I was able to almost all of it by myself.  Strength work for the win!  (everything but the one trundle bed that will pop on at the merest bump.  Needed help so it didn't pop up into the glass door.) 
• second it was so much easier by myself.  I didn't realize how much I hold back on what I can actually do because the other women can be sensitive in that weird backwards, crab bucket way.  Like I'm making them feel bad because I can do these things.  Uh, what?  It's always been easier to imply I need some assistance than deal with the emotional game.  So next time, screw that.  Imma just do ma thing.
• oh, and a third thing.  If any nerds are near Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, we only have a bring drinks or snacks to share to buy your hang out time.

 

*The women of the elder generation in charge somehow think that stacking the furniture and covering it in sheets of plastic will keep mice out.  ?  Not based on the seed stashes I saw, and have seen every year.

[Chesire]

 

MrC gave me a fun gift for our 9th anniversary.  He only plays any video games at all because I want the company, and i don't even play that much, so this is pretty cute.

 

 

[Chesire]

What would you call a cocktail that isn't truly virgin because there is a little bit of liquor in it for the flavor, but not the usual main liquor?  Cuz I discovered I like not-quite-virgin margaritas just fine with out the tequila as long as I get the rest of the goodies, including triple sec.  I think it's really about the salted rim.  Either way, it fills the want just fine and I'm successfully limiting alcohol

[Chesire]

Yesterday was poorly planned.  I figured on doing strength later in the day, completely forgetting I had a blood donation late morning.  No heavy lifting after that, and that includes lifting myself.   Today is a running day.  Maybe.  Might be a walking day after yesterday.

 

I've been doing pretty well supersuit-wise.  I've put effort in to attire most days, not just defaulting to t-shirts and jeans/shorts.  Doing so has definitely helped me feel better about myself.  And I've made a point to change out of grubby clothes if I've been wearing them for grubby projects. 

 

I think I'm going to track down a part-time job.  A little more money always helps, and I can foresee us wanting to get out of the house a bit this summer $$.  Also having something I need to schedule around will help me be more aware of my time and more effective about doing what I need or want to do.  Too much time without many specific demands on it is apparently a difficult thing for me to work with.  Let's see what I can find.

[Chesire]

Crow pose is coming along.  I'm using GMB as  a starting point.  I successfully balanced for like 5 seconds, and only fell on my head once.

[Chesire]

Last weekend was super productive!  We tackled a project I've been wanting to do for a long time.  We painted the home office, ceiling to baseboards, and new molding around the ceiling.  The last people to do it clearly bought paint off a markdown rack and slapped it on just enough to be the color, but the previous color still showed so it looked weirdly dirty.  And the ceiling.  🤢  A smoker lived here, so yuck.  But now everything is clean and fresh and not smelly on humid days!

[Chesire]

There will be some rearranging of life this week.  I start work on Tues, and if I want to get my usual workouts and walk the dog in beforehand, I need to get up pretty early.  I don't mind strength work at the end of the day, but not running.  Also, I think I will be switching when my recovery days fall so I can ease up on morning stress.  But if something needs to give, it will be my stuff that falls off, not the sidekick's time.

 

Also it's going to be possibly dangerously hot and humid the next few days, so that leads to early morning workouts too. 

 

I need to make a foray into mindfulness again.  I think the Nike Run app has a meditation run or two, so that can easily be worked into the run days that are just about getting out there and being there.  Note to self:  maybe make this part of the next challenge specifically.

 

Off to go get my work-world supersuit lined up.  It may be a customer service job, but I like that sort of thing, usually.  And it's in a nice fabric and yarn store, so I get to practice avoiding temptation.   

[Waanie]

Congrats on finding a job so quickly .

On 5/18/2021 at 11:52 PM, Chesire said:

second it was so much easier by myself.  I didn't realize how much I hold back on what I can actually do because the other women can be sensitive in that weird backwards, crab bucket way.  Like I'm making them feel bad because I can do these things.  Uh, what?  It's always been easier to imply I need some assistance than deal with the emotional game.  So next time, screw that.  Imma just do ma thing.

I find this weird as well, and it totally depends on the group whether strength is encouraged or not. I'm currently in a bubble where physical fitness (strength, endurance, etc) is seen as a positive trait that each individual can work on on their own, and all the boyfriends/husbands appreciate that they don't have to do all the heavy jobs on their own. On the other hand, I've also encountered men that somehow need to be stronger than all women, but those are seen as toxic in my group of friends and family. I've never encountered women being so jealous of strength that people are holding themselves back though. How does that work?

[Chesire]

13 hours ago, Waanie said:

I've never encountered women being so jealous of strength that people are holding themselves back though. How does that work?

I know!  I think it's training to not hurt someone's feelings, among other things like they are the elder generation and I started out by trying to not upset them years ago.  Oh, lord the weird, backwards insulting tones of "wow, your strong!"  Like that's a bad thing!   LOL So, my own doing apparently.

 

[Waanie]

12 hours ago, Chesire said:

I know!  I think it's training to not hurt someone's feelings, among other things like they are the elder generation and I started out by trying to not upset them years ago.  Oh, lord the weird, backwards insulting tones of "wow, your strong!"  Like that's a bad thing!   LOL So, my own doing apparently.

 

That sounds annoying, but liveable. Strong is convenient for everyone .

[Chesire]

On 6/8/2021 at 4:43 AM, Waanie said:

Congrats on finding a job so quickly .

And this was luck, timing, and friendship   A friend mentioned she was looking to hire a part-timer to me, and I said "pick me!"  I've worked for her before in a different business, so I already know her quirks.

[Chesire]

And to finish out this challenge....  I level up!  Today I become a godmother to my nephew!  Good thing I've been working the supersuit angle, so I know what I have and what fits