MasterOfCows becomes MasterOfFitness

[CourtnieMarie]

13 minutes ago, MasterOfCows said:

CAMPING TOMORROW!!!

 

I'm very excited.  I need the break.  Been going all out for what seems like forever, but has really only been like 3 weeks.

woohoo! we're swapping places as i need to come off my "eat and track everything" kick. so hopefully i can pick up your slack while you enjoy some campfire treats!!

[karinajean]

enjoy your camping!!! I hope you like your sleeping pads. we have a system where we use a tiny foam pad covered by an air mattress. it packs small but it's not amazingly comfortable. but it's always worth it because I'm not at home!

[MasterOfCows]

Camping was pretty great.  The site ended up being a little more populated than we like, but it was nice.

 

New tent and sleeping pads were amazeballs.  It rained Thursday and nothing got wet!!  This is huge compared to the old tent where the floor would always get wet (even with a ground tarp).  I am also the fish champion, though I didn't catch anything very big, and our inflatable raft had a hole in it... so we had to fix that first.

Outside of that first night, the weather was awesome.  We also ate and drank all the things.  ALL THE THINGS.  We ran out of booze and candy.  I would have thought that three 24 packs + 60 oz of rum would be enough for 3 people for 4.5 days, but apparently we are total boozehounds/high functioning alcoholics.

 

This weekend I'm doing my first overnight backpack - it's not a "real" backpack because we're staying in a backcountry hut, so I don't have to pack a tent and shit, but it should be fun even if the weather is supposed to be a bit rainy and cold.

[CourtnieMarie]

your camping trip sounds like so much funnnn!! i wanna go through all that rum and soda. and candy. <3 did you make anything fun for meal food or cook up the fish?

 

and overnight hike with a backcountry hut sounds perfect! you're gunna have a blast per usual.

[MasterOfCows]

Meals were pretty standard... we tried a giant pizza calzone thing the first night, which was delicious, but the crust ended up all stuck to the tinfoil, so we mostly just ate the inside with forks haha.  I think it would work better if it was pre-cooked entirely and then you just had to heat it up.  We did soft tacos/quesadillas which were great, chill and of course giant hot dogs!

 

2 of the fish weren't worth keeping.  The other might have been enough for a snack, but we'd already eaten, so we just let it go.

 

YAAASSS!! We leave tomorrow morning.  Which reminds me I should check the bear advisories.  There's been a giant crop of berries here this year, and the bears have been way more active in certain places than usual.

[Nymeria]

I'm glad the camping was so awesome!   I'm also impressed that you can just use sleeping pads.  I learned that I need to use an air mattress if I wanted to feel comfortable enough to sleep.  And yeah.  Wow.  That's a lot of booze!    I hope the overnight backpacking went well.  

[karinajean]

so what kind of camping mats did you use? did you say earlier? I know thermarest, but which version?

[MasterOfCows]

Thermarest NeoAir Camper: https://www.atmosphere.ca/categories/gear-by-activity/camp-hike/sleeping-mats-accessories/air-pad/product/therm-a-rest-neoair-camper-mattress-large-332051128.html

 

We both got the large for a little extra width (and The Buddy(tm) needed the extra length) - They are honestly comfortable as fuck.  I'm a side sleeper, so my hips and shoulders get sore and numb if there's not enough support.  I had no issues whatsoever over 4 nights.  We previously had a queen size Coleman air mattress with a pillow top, and these are more comfortable hands down.  

Backpacking.  Well, it was an adventure.  Destination was Bow Hut which is on the edge of the Wapta Glacier and underneath the Vulture Glacier.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wapta_Icefield

It's about 8-8.5 km each way from Bow Lake.  Elevation gain is only 430m or so, but the majority comes right at the end.  There is a big boulder bridging a gorge to cross, 3 big rockslides to scramble over, and 4 (maybe 5) stream crossings.  I knew none of the details.

 

The day started out a little rainy, but the nice misty kind of rain that keeps you from getting too hot (but also makes rocks slippery).  The real weather kicked in right as we were making the final approach to the hut - aka the hardest part.  It poured on us.  It ice-pelleted us.  There was lightning (which was terrifying, but it wasn't like there was anywhere to go hide).  The marked stream crossings were not usable (rocks covered by raging water from all the rain), so we spent a lot of time trying to find crossings that weren't obviously unsafe.  We did finally get to the hut, cold and grumpy and wet.  Everything of mine was soaked (except my sleeping bag) - I did have a garbage bag to put my clothes in, which I should have done before we even left, but when the real weather hit, it didn't make sense to stop and try to get everything organized.  I'll definitely plastic wrap things ahead of time in the future.  Fortunately the hut had a common room and a sleeping room, and the common room had drying racks over the wood stove for drying things.  The hut was full so there were a bunch of random people there.  Bunks slept 5 at each slot.  The mattresses hurt my hips and shoulders, and I should have brought earplugs, but it was OK.

The next day we got up, my popliteus and calf on the left leg was just killing me, I couldn't walk without a significant limp.  One of our group is a physio though, so she helped release it which made a world of difference.  Most of our stuff was dry (except the very toes of my shoes) and the very bottom of my pack.  Then we wandered over to the glacier, took a bunch of pictures, climbed a tiny mountain called The Onion (it was only about 330 m more elevation than the hut), had lunch and started back down - the stream crossings were much easier on the way back!  We did see what we at first thought was a wolverine, but now we're thinking it was probably a big hoary marmot.  It was a little overcast and a tiny bit rainy, but very nice overall, until we got back to the lake and it started pouring again.

No gym yesterday or today, because I don't want my knee to act up again before basketball tomorrow.  I've got all the DOMS in all sorts of places, including my quads, which are hardly ever sore.

 

 

[CourtnieMarie]

that sounds like one hell of an adventure!! geez. but maybe overnight hiking can only be improved from this point on?

 

i am intrigued by your sleeping pads now that i know we sleep the same way (obviously) and have the same hip/shoulder issues when there isn't enough support.

[MasterOfCows]

I (so far) can't say enough good things about them.  I would wait for a sale though - at least here they are pretty expensive, I think they were $135 each regular?

[karinajean]

Love the backpacking info, but sorry you were hurt and wet! Thanks for the pad review, we are using a thermarest z lite pad with an rei self inflating pad that I bought 2nd hand on top. It's a lot it we are car camping.

Sent from my iPhone while riding a unicorn through the cosmos.

[MasterOfCows]

So I've made a physio appointment to see what exactly is making the muscles in the back of my knee freak out so much.  BUT my physio is on mat leave, so I have to train a new guy on how my stupid body works, and I waited too long, so now I have to get a new assessment done as well.  I'm hoping it will just be the single appointment, he'll figure out what imbalances or whatever are causing my issues, give me some new exercises and done, but we'll see.

 

I'm really liking the weights program I smooshed together for myself, although I haven't been able to be as consistent as I should be to see a lot of progress so far.  I'm getting really close to matching pre-surgery PRs on the bulgarian split squats!!  And I've hit a ton of volume PRs.

 

Still need to tighten up on the diet front a bit I think though.  We'll see what the weekend weights and measurements look like.

[MasterOfCows]

So... I have to take a step back on my weights program for a bit on the lower body, just when I was starting to get in pre-surgery PR territory. New physio doesn't want me doing any single leg work for reasons I don't entirely understand.  Left glute/hip (most recent surgery side) is substantially weaker than right.  He sent me home with stretches and two exercises.  I've already been doing all those stretches fairly regularly.  The exercises as well, though they are slightly different than what I'd been doing.  I'll give him a fair shake, he doesn't know me or my history as well as previous PT did, but I'm not going to go back week after week for stuff I already know.

Most recent weights/measurements... still not making that much damn sense, but data is data.  Although I may just really suck at measuring.

Sept. 5/16 (changes are from July 31)

Weight 162.2 (+2.6)

Left calf: 13.75 (+.25)

Right calf: 13.75 (+.25)

Left thigh: 21.5 (+1)

Right thigh: 22 (+1)

Hips: 39.25 (+.25)

Flexed waist: 34 (same)

Relaxed waist: 35.5 (-.5)

Natural waist: 31 (+.5)

Underbust: 33 (same)

Overbust: 36 (same)

Left bicep flexed: 12 (same)

Left bicep relaxed: 11 (same)

Right bicep flexed: 12 (same)

Right bicep relaxed: 11 (same)

 

[MasterOfCows]

Other things heard at my PT appointment:

 

"That is the worst ankle mobility I've ever seen"

"I'm feeling some laxity in your MCL"

"Maybe your soleus is stronger than your gastrocnemius"

"Wow those quads are tight"

"Yep, we're going to needle all of that.  It's just a mess back there"

 

[MasterOfCows]

And now no lower body weights allowed.

 

Plus the next instalment of things heard at my PT appointment: MoC: "It is quite unpleasant when you push on my bones like that." (he was digging his thumbs into the bones of the joint on either side of the knee cap)  PT: "Does that hurt?  It shouldn't.  Maybe your tibia is irritated?"

 

things just keep getting better and better.

[karinajean]

OH NO.

sorry, so sorry. I'm glad you're getting it all sorted though. I hope it's an easy fix, like more needles please?

Sent from my iPhone while riding a unicorn through the cosmos.

[MasterOfCows]

I was hoping for "this is probably what's causing it, so do this"  so far I haven't gotten that.  I might go and see a different one next week while he's on vacation.

 

I've also been getting some killer medial knee pain periodically - like bad enough that it wakes me up at night.  It's not correlated to any particular activity or even level of activity.  Seriously it woke me up at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning after basically just doing some housework and Netflix bingeing on Saturday.

 

I'm debating phoning my surgeon to see if it's something to actually worry about, or just something I've got to put up with.

[karinajean]

if this was either of my knees I would write it off to the cadaver ligaments and say I was being haunted. but if I recall correctly you are autograft, right? so, I guess thankfully you can rule that out.

 

you should call your surgeon! (but maybe don't tell him / her about my ghost theory.)

[MasterOfCows]

Nope the haunted theory totally doesn't apply here.  I just wonder if I'm being a total nervous nelly about all of this... my surgeon is so awesome I don't want to bug him for nothing, you know?

[karinajean]

24 minutes ago, MasterOfCows said:

Nope the haunted theory totally doesn't apply here.  I just wonder if I'm being a total nervous nelly about all of this... my surgeon is so awesome I don't want to bug him for nothing, you know?

 

reframe, reframe! your surgeon is so awesome, and cares so much about your success with these surgeries! he would want you to not be in pain. you should call.

[MasterOfCows]

I did. Appointment in November.

 

In other news... I have an ouchie.  Spoilered for giant picture.

 

Spoiler

 

 

[MasterOfCows]

I haven't been making it to the gym much lately.  Work schedule is very hectic, lots and lots of travelling.  But I have been putting in pretty regular 30 min sessions on the stationary bike and doing my PT.  Weight's been steadily creeping up, so I just re-started calorie counting again today.  I think I've got too much of a "fuck it, I'm busy/stressed" mentality right now to rely on diet common sense, so structure it is.

 

[karinajean]

work schedules being hectic are my general fitness kryponite. expecially traveling! but, the bike is really good, well done!!!

[MasterOfCows]

Been awhile.

 

Long story short, we had an animal health situation where I took on a large amount of the responsibility from the industry side.  It was frantic, stressful, emotionally draining, and extremely challenging - and my "normal" work didn't go away.  The disease investigation is actually still ongoing, but the pace is much more manageable.  I still had basketball but that was pretty much the only activity I could make time for.  I gave zero fucks about what or how much I was eating and drinking.  I gained 17 lbs, and over 2" on my waist by the beginning of January.

 

I've actually only been regularly back at the gym for about a month now.  

Numbers are coming back up to what they were.

Lost 9 of those 17 lbs and 1" from the waist as of the end of March.  No calorie counting, I don't have that much willpower to spare at the moment.

But I'm going to Australia in about a month and I know I won't be in the shape I was when I bought that bathing suit.  I'm actually having mild anxiety about it, which my brain knows is kind of dumb - but I started the whole "fitness" thing after seeing a pic of myself in a bathing suit from a trip to Hawaii, and work is going to get very busy again starting the middle of April.

 

The issues I was having with my left leg are almost entirely sorted.  Then I started getting low back pain from excessively tight glutes.  That is ongoing, but I've mostly figured out how to manage it.   Had another followup with my surgeon.  He's using sister and I as case studies for a larger study they are running regarding ACL & ALL repairs that we weren't eligible for (me because my ACL tears weren't acute and her for some other reason I don't remember), so he wants us to come back again in a year just for fun.  Everything looks good, he's very pleased.  The medial knee pain I was having is due to staple that isn't quite where it's supposed to be, but it's manageable, so I'm going to leave it alone unless it gets worse.

 

I'm adding another night of basketball after we get back from AUS.  I think the knees are ready.  It's the rest of the body that might not be.

 

That's about it.  I probably won't be around super regularly, but thought I should check in

 

[CourtnieMarie]

OH HIIIII!! so excited to see your face around here

 

what a hectic time for you though. i hope you don't beat yourself up too much about the weight gain. you were dealing with and living life. i have so many things to say about body positivity and bathing suits but i don't want to bog you down  i'll just say that bodies are beautiful, food babies are beautiful, body fluff is beautiful. a trip to AUSTRALIA (squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!) should absolutely NOT be brought down by the size/shape your body is now.

 

okay, that's all i'll say! if you want more fb msg me! i've been trying my best in recent months to create happiness with whatever my body wants to do, even after i nom a bag of reese's eggs

 

<3!!!