Waanie's battle log

[Waanie]

This time around I could not come up with some nice goals for the 5-week challenge, so I'm starting a battle log. This year I would like to have some more stability than in the last few years, but who knows what will happen. Last year ended not so well with a covid-infection, so January was mostly dedicated to getting back in the game. Now that I'm better again, I have space for other stuff.

 

Some of my goals for this year are:

• 5 chin-ups in a set (currently at 2)
• 2x BW deadlift (currently probably around 1.5x)
• be comfortable in a bridge/wheel pose
• weight below 62kg (currently 64-65)
• get rid of the boxes in the attic

 

Realistically, my mental health will go up and down a few times during the year, and the plan is to push when I'm feeling well and maintain when feeling off. I want to try to go to the gym 3 times per week, currently aiming at 2 times body control classes (handbalancing, stuff in rings, etc) and 1 strength training class. On top of that, I want to maintain my bike-commuting and regular walks.

 

Other things I want to do more of:

• Hiking
• Eating protein
• Experiment with vegan food
• Playing the clarinet
• Using my bullet journal
• Coming around here

[Waanie]

Today was a good day .

 

Workout this morning:

A1 deadlift 5x5 @70kg

A2 pallof press 5x 5/5 @25kg

B1 rolling negative pistol squats 5x5/5

B2 assisted dips 5x5

C1 walking lunges 4x5/5 @14kg

C2 ring rows 4x8

 

I also did some chores, cooked a nice traybake with homemade hummus with my partner and did yoga in the evening. I even prepared overnight oats for breakfast and the meat-substitute that comes in bags of powder .

 

Planning-wise, next week will be plenty of busy, so I don't expect to do much more than just go through the workouts and some general biking and walking.

[Waanie]

Monday was busy with a long day at work and orchestra rehearsal in the evening. We are rehearsing for the remembrance for a big strike during WWII that started in my hometown and spread to the rest of the country. The music is beautiful, although of course very sad as well. Yesterday the violinist for "Schindler's list" came over to rehearse with us; it sounded really beautiful and haunting.

 

Tuesday Because @KB Girl and her husband are having vacation, there were no group lessons. I decided to also skip the program for body control and instead joined a guy who was doing leg day. Today was my first day doing front squats (40kg, and pause front squats with 35kg) and rack pulls (upper half of deadlift, 80kg with one set of 100kg). We rounded it out with KB single leg deadlifts and calve raises. All in all I found it very funny, but I wouldn't train like that all the time. I also squatted with a belt for the first time, and holy cow it makes a huge difference in bracing at the bottom. Bracing is so much easier with a belt, and I feel so much stronger!

[Waanie]

Wednesday is always my day off, and I tend to be very active. Today was no exception, so I got in about 17k steps between my chores and hike and furthermore did strength training in the evening.

Spoiler

A1. ring rows 5x5
A2. kettlebell deadlifts 5x8 @40kg

B1. inclined pushups 5x8
B2. step ups 5x4/4 @8kg

C1. reverse lunges 5x4/4 @25 kg
C2. kettlebell rows 5x7/7 @10kg

All in all, I'm happy with today even though I did not do everything on my todo list.

[Jackdaw]

Hey! Wow, these are interesting goals. Wish you all the best and good luck!

 

On 2/15/2023 at 4:37 AM, Waanie said:

I also squatted with a belt for the first time, and holy cow it makes a huge difference in bracing at the bottom. Bracing is so much easier with a belt, and I feel so much stronger!

Oh really, is it good for a beginner? I've hurt myself recently, because my bracing suck 😕 I still can't get it right. 

 

Is it hard to learn how to play clarinet? It seems so cool, to play in an orchestra! 

 

When do you plan your next hike?

[Waanie]

1 hour ago, XBlackWidowX said:

Hey! Wow, these are interesting goals. Wish you all the best and good luck!

Thanks .

 

 

1 hour ago, XBlackWidowX said:

Oh really, is it good for a beginner? I've hurt myself recently, because my bracing suck 😕 I still can't get it right. 

I think you should learn how to brace properly first before using a belt. The cue that seems to work well for many people is to think about blowing up a balloon. On your breath out, your belly will probably expand a little and there's a lot more pressure behind it. I tend to lightly brace automatically everywhere, and could already properly brace when I started lifting. What helps me most during squats (without belt) is to consciously breath out when going back up. The only thing the belt then does is to give me enough resistance to push against it harder.

 

1 hour ago, XBlackWidowX said:

Is it hard to learn how to play clarinet? It seems so cool, to play in an orchestra! 

I guess it depends on how good you want to get? I think it's much easier than many other instruments, and slightly harder than e.g. the saxophone. The nice thing about the clarinet is that there is always room for one more in a wind orchestra, so you don't have to be great when joining. I love the sound of a clarinet, and don't mind the sound of a badly played clarinet too much . I mostly do it for fun, and I really like the orchestra I'm playing in .

 

1 hour ago, XBlackWidowX said:

When do you plan your next hike?

Wednesday if the weather is good! I have no idea yet where and how far, but Wednesday is a nice time for hiking for me.

[Waanie]

Thursday and Friday were days where I was mostly busy with work and relaxed in the evening. I kinda committed to running 2 miles on June 1st, so I will start training for that as well . I have plenty of time to be able to run 20 minutes, but starting training sooner rather than later might be good.

 

Saturday morning I went to body control class, which was a bit boring:

Spoiler

Parallettes

3x10 swings

5x5 inclined push-ups

5x15s forward lean <- I made these too heavy 😕

3xmax swings

 

Rings

3x8 scapular shrugs

5x3 muscle-up progression (rows with false grip + transition to above the rings)

5x5 assisted pull-ups

 

We also got groceries, but no meal for next week will be experimental .

[NightWatcher13]

On 2/12/2023 at 9:48 AM, Waanie said:

Coming around here

I've been struggling with that too 😅

On 2/12/2023 at 9:48 AM, Waanie said:

Experiment with vegan food

Oh sweet! Me too, we'll have to share recipes!

 

Sometimes the challenge structure doesn't necessarily work with where you are, I think overall the Battle Log structure works better when you're trying to get your feet back under you. And it seems like you're doing a good job at that too  

[Waanie]

16 hours ago, NightWatcher13 said:

Oh sweet! Me too, we'll have to share recipes!

Nice! Do you have any favourite websites for recipes? I often use "Pick up limes", but I would like to have some more variety again. I often find that recipes online are a lot of work, not balanced in protein/vegetables or use uncommon ingredients.

 

16 hours ago, NightWatcher13 said:

Sometimes the challenge structure doesn't necessarily work with where you are, I think overall the Battle Log structure works better when you're trying to get your feet back under you. And it seems like you're doing a good job at that too  

Thanks! I think I mostly got my feet under myself, but just want to settle and use this routine for a while. I don't think I have the space to really do anything more than I'm currently doing, which is fine.

[Waanie]

Saturday afternoon I did my first run, 4x1 minute running with 2 minute breaks. It's not a lot, but I have started.

Sunday was quiet and relaxed. We played a board game, baked some muffins and that was basically it.

Monday I did a ton of biking to work and to orchestra, as is usual on Mondays. My clarinet playing was not great, but at least I went.

Tuesday In the morning we went to the vet to make a plan for decreasing the 5 types of meds she is taking, and how to go forward from here. They can still not find what is wrong with her, just that she's not well and does better when on all the meds she's using.  Hopefully she'll also do well on fewer meds. In the evening, I went to body control class, which was a lot of fun but also heavy on the shoulders. I did 1-1-2-1-1 chin-ups during the training, and that was after 2 other pulling exercises . Afterwards I also went for my second run, again 4x1 minute with 2 minute breaks. I think this time is convenient for running, since I'm wearing my exercise clothes anyway and class on Tuesday is not too late.

 

The thing I struggle most with currently is managing my energy levels. I'm not sure where the (mental) tiredness is coming from, but it is annoying. It might be that it I plan to do too much and then also do too much even without completing my todo list, or something else. I'm also struggling a little that I'm losing contact with friends because nobody takes the initiative and everyone moved away, and I don't know if I'm just okay with that or if I want to do something about it. I currently have a rich social life with going to the gym, orchestra and fantastic colleagues, so maybe it's okay like this as well.

[NightWatcher13]

On 2/22/2023 at 3:57 AM, Waanie said:

Nice! Do you have any favourite websites for recipes? I often use "Pick up limes", but I would like to have some more variety again. I often find that recipes online are a lot of work, not balanced in protein/vegetables or use uncommon ingredients.

Budget Bytes has some good options and does a good job of keeping prices low and I use them a lot for individual recipes or snack pack ideas. I've mostly been using Mealime for the last year and change for my actual meal planning since the app will also make a grocery list for you and can take your preferences and make a meal plan for you instead of having to pick individual meals each week. Both are omnivorous, but with a decent vegetarian/vegan selection and you can tell Mealime to only show veggie options  Most of the options on there have a decent amount of protein too (This burrito bowl is one of my favorite recipes I've probably made 1-2x/mo since I tried it, and the only non-vegan ingredient is the cheese that can easily be dropped)

ETA Mealime link

[Jackdaw]

Congrats about starting running! It's always the hardest part to start something. 

 

Great that Sunday was so relaxing! I love muffins :3 Share some with me, haha! 

 

I see you have quite many activities, no wonder you are tired. The thing that really helped me is Wim Hof Method. I am never tired after I started with that. 

 

I've been moving around for most of my adult life and I can tell it is very hard to keep contact after people part their ways, but if you have a very strong bond and both sides stay engaged, it is possible. 

[Waanie]

13 hours ago, NightWatcher13 said:

Budget Bytes has some good options and does a good job of keeping prices low and I use them a lot for individual recipes or snack pack ideas. I've mostly been using Mealime for the last year and change for my actual meal planning since the app will also make a grocery list for you and can take your preferences and make a meal plan for you instead of having to pick individual meals each week. Both are omnivorous, but with a decent vegetarian/vegan selection and you can tell Mealime to only show veggie options  Most of the options on there have a decent amount of protein too (This burrito bowl is one of my favorite recipes I've probably made 1-2x/mo since I tried it, and the only non-vegan ingredient is the cheese that can easily be dropped)

ETA Mealime link

Oh, I totally forgot about budget bytes! And that burrito bowl looks delicious, although avocados are ridicoulously expensive over here. I will check out mealime for the Wed-Fri run next week . Also, I just love burrito bowls and they are so versatile! Tomorrow I'm going to try this oven-baked risotto  with dill from pick up limes .

 

3 hours ago, XBlackWidowX said:

Congrats about starting running! It's always the hardest part to start something. 

 

Great that Sunday was so relaxing! I love muffins :3 Share some with me, haha! 

 

I see you have quite many activities, no wonder you are tired. The thing that really helped me is Wim Hof Method. I am never tired after I started with that. 

 

I've been moving around for most of my adult life and I can tell it is very hard to keep contact after people part their ways, but if you have a very strong bond and both sides stay engaged, it is possible. 

Thanks! I actually found that weeks 2-4 are the most difficult, that's where I usually stop running . Anyway, it's true that it's no wonder that I'm tired with my current weekly schedule, I'm just jealous of people who can do all these things and have energy left over. I have autism, so I have to plan out my energy and ALWAYS be careful to not go over my energy budget. It's annoying and I hate always to be conscious of my weekly plan, but without it I just burn out. Even doctors don't seem to understand that even I can have a normal conversation with them, I'm still limited in certain ways. Most days, I've come to peace with it, but some days I just can't and I'm upset and all. I feel lucky that I've found a position at work where people understand my limitations and make full use of my strong sides, and that I have 8 weeks of vacation per year to take some time for myself. I'm VERY sceptical of any type of meditation though, since the methods I tried led to depressive and intrusive thoughts, including the sessions that were overseen by my psychologist at the time. Just going for a walk with some music is fine if I'm mentally okay-ish, but I'm one of those groups that meditation is contra-indicated for.

[Waanie]

Rant regarding injury:

Spoiler

My shoulders and neck are acting up again, so I'm dizzy a lot and I can barely move my neck enough to safely drive a car. Somehow this always happens in the weeks that I do a lot of hanging during training, but the trainer says that it's unlikely a response to training. I know that my first 1.5 days after training I didn't feel any problems, but somehow the problems are always there if I overdo the volume on hanging (even if i do it at RPE 6) and not there if I barely do any hanging that week. Yesterday I texted the trainer to ask if today's training would have hanging in there so that I could skip if so, but I got the answer to just come and that if there would be hanging I would get substitutions. So I did show up this morning. It turned out that the first 40 minutes were indeed hanging stuff in the rings (rows, muscle up prep, pull ups). To be fair, I did get an alternative program that was focused on pistol squat progressions that were more or less fine, although a bit boring because the intern has difficulty programming something interesting for my strength-level and I also had to adapt because the exercises were too hard. I did join at the handstand-section of training, although I needed modifications for the frog-move as well. When my muscles cooled down, I got severely dizzy again and my neck just hurt a lot. I don't seem to be able to lift my right arm above 135 degrees as well, and my neck mobility has tanked even further than this morning.

 

Mentally, I'm just a mess right now. I go to the gym to feel better, not to get worse, and the trainers know that at least to a certain degree. After the Wednesday training I always feel better if the usual trainer is there, the Tuesday training is usually fine as well, it's mostly the Saturday training that ranges from okay to crying all day long. I want to get stronger and actually ACHIEVE something at body control class, since I generally like the kind of movement we're doing there. However, the crying all day long afterwards is not okay even though I totally blame myself and my mental space. About 9 months ago I decided to only do stength training for a while because I felt too weak for body control, but now that I can do chin-ups and trying to join body control classes again, I'm still feeling too weak because on Saturdays I have to ALWAYS ask for adaptations on the adaptations.

 

In conclusion, I'm not sure what my exact problem is that causes me to cry between 11AM and now already, and what to do with the training I'm doing. Going to additional strength training instead of body control is also not really an option, since my evenings are already really busy and on Sunday it's "bring your kids to the gym"-day.

 

[Jackdaw]

12 hours ago, Waanie said:

Thanks! I actually found that weeks 2-4 are the most difficult, that's where I usually stop running . Anyway, it's true that it's no wonder that I'm tired with my current weekly schedule, I'm just jealous of people who can do all these things and have energy left over. I have autism, so I have to plan out my energy and ALWAYS be careful to not go over my energy budget. It's annoying and I hate always to be conscious of my weekly plan, but without it I just burn out. Even doctors don't seem to understand that even I can have a normal conversation with them, I'm still limited in certain ways. Most days, I've come to peace with it, but some days I just can't and I'm upset and all. I feel lucky that I've found a position at work where people understand my limitations and make full use of my strong sides, and that I have 8 weeks of vacation per year to take some time for myself. I'm VERY sceptical of any type of meditation though, since the methods I tried led to depressive and intrusive thoughts, including the sessions that were overseen by my psychologist at the time. Just going for a walk with some music is fine if I'm mentally okay-ish, but I'm one of those groups that meditation is contra-indicated for.

 

Ah, I see! Then I'll cheer you on when the 2nd week begins! 😛

 

It takes some time to learn how to manage yourself and your energy levels, I think you're already doing great by being aware of all of that! 8 week vacation is surely helpful. Wim Hof is not a meditation, it's breathwork and cold therapy, you can be totally doing it and thinking about your grocery list or whatever. But ok, I feel like I am such a preacher, I am sorry! ^^' It's just helping me so much, so I want to share it with others.

 

 

11 hours ago, Waanie said:

My shoulders and neck are acting up again, so I'm dizzy a lot and I can barely move my neck enough to safely drive a car.

 

I think you should stop with your workouts for some time. I did keep on training when my back started being uncomfortable and that's how I got so f*ucked up. A short break is better than a long break. 

I am sorry you feel so bad recently. Is crying somehow related to your training? Maybe it'd be a good idea to see your psychologist and talk about it?

 

Wow, you're working out with the rings! Gymnastic rings, right? That's like a far away dream for me. You don't have to give yourself so much pressure, you're already awesome! 

 

What is body control class? I tried to google it, but didn't find any answers.

[Waanie]

5 hours ago, XBlackWidowX said:

Ah, I see! Then I'll cheer you on when the 2nd week begins! 😛

I already skipped week 2, day 1 yesterday . I was just not up for it yesterday.

 

5 hours ago, XBlackWidowX said:

It takes some time to learn how to manage yourself and your energy levels, I think you're already doing great by being aware of all of that! 8 week vacation is surely helpful. Wim Hof is not a meditation, it's breathwork and cold therapy, you can be totally doing it and thinking about your grocery list or whatever. But ok, I feel like I am such a preacher, I am sorry! ^^' It's just helping me so much, so I want to share it with others.

No problem! I have looked at it before and decided it was not for me. I definitely do not have the energy levels to start something new either!

 

5 hours ago, XBlackWidowX said:

I think you should stop with your workouts for some time. I did keep on training when my back started being uncomfortable and that's how I got so f*ucked up. A short break is better than a long break. 

I am sorry you feel so bad recently. Is crying somehow related to your training? Maybe it'd be a good idea to see your psychologist and talk about it?

 

Wow, you're working out with the rings! Gymnastic rings, right? That's like a far away dream for me. You don't have to give yourself so much pressure, you're already awesome! 

 

What is body control class? I tried to google it, but didn't find any answers.

Body control class is basically a combination of gymnastic rings, parallettes, some animal form-walks and similar kind of movement. Basically doing low-impact cool stuff . I know that I'm not a very weak person, especially for a woman, but I'm often too weak for the scaled back version of the Saturday training, so I have to ask for a scaled back version of the scaled back version, which is frustrating. I also cannot go as hard as I'd like since then my neck acts up again, so in the beginning I had to say "no" a lot when being pushed and now it feels like the intern just lets me do my exercises without too much feedback one way or another. I've concluded in the past that we were just not a good match, but if I want to exercise in group class on Thursday or Saturday, I'm stuck with him. I'm now considering to train on Saturday on my own and focus on powerlifting-movements, since that's relatively easy to program for myself.

 

Anyway, I agree that I should back off with training for now until my neck doesn't hurt again (it feels worse again today). Unfortunately my psychologist moved away a few years ago, but I'm pretty sure that the crying comes from the combination of PMS, neck-pain, tiredness and the feeling of not being good enough to participate in training (and wondering if I'm too picky or interpret the situation wrongly and hence whether I'm a reasonable person). On Wednesdays I almost always come back from the gym in a better mood, on Tuesday that is hit or miss, and on Saturday it's looking more and more like a miss.

[Waanie]

Okay, now that I have cooled down a bit, here an update of the last week:

Wednesday had nice weather, so after clarinet lesson I went for a hike. I had totally forgotten my hiking boots, and I learned that my normal shoes are not really suitable for hiking in the forest. Oh well, so I learned. In the evening KB Girl was ill, so her husband gave the strength training. There was a notable difference in both the programming and the amount of talking we did, but it was alright.

Thursday I went on my 3rd run, again 4x1 minute. I really didn't want to run, but in the end it wasn't so bad.

Friday my neck hurt a lot when I got up. I did bike to work even though the weather was poor! The main reason to bike was that I didn't think I could drive safely with my limited neck-mobility, but it still counts .

Satuday was a drama, see above. I skipped my run.

[Jackdaw]

On 2/26/2023 at 4:06 PM, Waanie said:

Body control class is basically a combination of gymnastic rings, parallettes, some animal form-walks and similar kind of movement. Basically doing low-impact cool stuff . I know that I'm not a very weak person, especially for a woman, but I'm often too weak for the scaled back version of the Saturday training, so I have to ask for a scaled back version of the scaled back version, which is frustrating. I also cannot go as hard as I'd like since then my neck acts up again, so in the beginning I had to say "no" a lot when being pushed and now it feels like the intern just lets me do my exercises without too much feedback one way or another. I've concluded in the past that we were just not a good match, but if I want to exercise in group class on Thursday or Saturday, I'm stuck with him. I'm now considering to train on Saturday on my own and focus on powerlifting-movements, since that's relatively easy to program for myself.

 

Anyway, I agree that I should back off with training for now until my neck doesn't hurt again (it feels worse again today). Unfortunately my psychologist moved away a few years ago, but I'm pretty sure that the crying comes from the combination of PMS, neck-pain, tiredness and the feeling of not being good enough to participate in training (and wondering if I'm too picky or interpret the situation wrongly and hence whether I'm a reasonable person). On Wednesdays I almost always come back from the gym in a better mood, on Tuesday that is hit or miss, and on Saturday it's looking more and more like a miss.

 

Seems cool! I was thinking about this type of exercise if weight lifting doesn't work for me. What do you think, is it less likely to get injured in body control than in weight lifting?

 

The root of all my problems is feeling I am not good enough, so I feel for you. It's really hard to deal with it. 

Sometimes I also feel depressed when I feel physically unwell and it took me a while to figure it out that my bad mental state is caused by a bad physical condition. Another reason to take it easy this week!

 

I think you really need a good break and relax, don't work out until the pain fades away. And maybe see a doctor to check if it is not something serious. 

 

Are you off on Saturdays? Maybe more free time makes you overthink stuff and that's why a bad mood. 

 

The last week was quite productive! Wish you a fast recovery so you can keep on grinding!

[Waanie]

On 2/27/2023 at 11:36 AM, XBlackWidowX said:

Seems cool! I was thinking about this type of exercise if weight lifting doesn't work for me. What do you think, is it less likely to get injured in body control than in weight lifting?

It is cool! I think the chance on injury is slightly higher than with weightlifting because the volume per muscle group is higher, and if your bracing is not in order then you'll likely get injured no matter what sports your practicing (even yoga!).

 

On 2/27/2023 at 11:36 AM, XBlackWidowX said:

The root of all my problems is feeling I am not good enough, so I feel for you. It's really hard to deal with it. 

Sometimes I also feel depressed when I feel physically unwell and it took me a while to figure it out that my bad mental state is caused by a bad physical condition. Another reason to take it easy this week!

 

I think you really need a good break and relax, don't work out until the pain fades away. And maybe see a doctor to check if it is not something serious. 

 

Are you off on Saturdays? Maybe more free time makes you overthink stuff and that's why a bad mood. 

Yup, on the days that I'm unwell physically, whether it's from injury or PMS, I deal with more anxiety. I will take a break for now, maybe do only a bit of running and bike-commuting. Definitely no hanging or things where I have to move my neck a lot!

 

On 2/27/2023 at 11:36 AM, XBlackWidowX said:

The last week was quite productive! Wish you a fast recovery so you can keep on grinding!

Thanks! I'm kinda hoping that that amount of exercise can become my standard week, but we'll see if that's doable .

[Jupiter]

Hey, Waanie, how are you doing?

[Jackdaw]

How is it going?

[Waanie]

On 3/24/2023 at 3:06 AM, Jupiter said:

Hey, Waanie, how are you doing?

On 4/2/2023 at 3:07 AM, XBlackWidowX said:

How is it going?

 

Well, I've been busy until I took a week off work, when I ended up ill. I'm almost better now, but still have a lingering cold.

 

Fitness-wise I don't have a lot to mention, except that I've obviously not worked out for a while now. I've started with short walks again, which seem to be fine, but I don't want to overdo anything and end up taking longer to recover.

 

Playing the clarinet is going much better: I decided to go to our concert last week even though I was a little ill. I paid for that in the days afterwards, but it was totally worth it. We accompanied a choir and a few solists in a show that commemorated the biggest strike of WWII in western Europe. It started 80 years ago in my home-town, and we played in the same building as where it all started. It was beautiful. The interesting thing is that almost no one has ever heard of these strikes, not even the people in this town.

 

Meanwhile, our new boardgame "Frosthaven" arrived as well. It is awesome and huge and we're playing it a lot .

[Jackdaw]

On 4/12/2023 at 9:52 PM, Waanie said:

I've started with short walks again, which seem to be fine, but I don't want to overdo anything and end up taking longer to recover.

A very smart decision!

 

On 4/12/2023 at 9:52 PM, Waanie said:

We accompanied a choir and a few solists in a show that commemorated the biggest strike of WWII in western Europe. It started 80 years ago in my home-town, and we played in the same building as where it all started. It was beautiful. The interesting thing is that almost no one has ever heard of these strikes, not even the people in this town.

That's really interesting. I really like history. Which country? Well, most people are not so much into such things, so they don't know and far away places always seem much more interesting than our our hometowns, right? xD

[Alanna]

I missed the start of your Battle Log while I was taking an NF break - following  . Hope you feel recover from the last of the illness soon! I hate getting ill during a holiday. 

[Waanie]

On 4/16/2023 at 4:00 AM, XBlackWidowX said:

That's really interesting. I really like history. Which country? Well, most people are not so much into such things, so they don't know and far away places always seem much more interesting than our our hometowns, right? xD

It was quite interesting! I live in The Netherlands, and our history is mostly focused on the west of the country instead of where I live. It's interesting to see some of the history of our hometown .

 

On 4/16/2023 at 10:23 AM, Alanna said:

I missed the start of your Battle Log while I was taking an NF break - following  . Hope you feel recover from the last of the illness soon! I hate getting ill during a holiday. 

It took almost 2 weeks to fully recover, which was very annoying... I must say that it was also the reason that I took my next NF break shortly after being back.