Manarelle tries everything

[Manarelle]

And of course, just as things hit a new high, I get sick and can't do diddly. Sinus and lung congestion set in yesterday, and I slept all day today. Thinking this is going to be a recovery week, then get back to it next week.  Ah, life... 

[Pyralis]

Get well soon! I know it sucks but when this is over you will probably feel better than before and now take time to relax  

[Briniel]

aah no Get well soon!!

[UnquietBones]

16 hours ago, Manarelle said:

And of course, just as things hit a new high, I get sick and can't do diddly. Sinus and lung congestion set in yesterday, and I slept all day today. Thinking this is going to be a recovery week, then get back to it next week.  Ah, life... 

 

I hope you feel better soon! We've got another round of sickness going through work here as well, tis the season for it I guess.

[NightWatcher13]

I've heard from multiple sources that I need to watch Zootopia ASAP, I need to hurry up and do that 'cause it looks adorable.

Challenge looks like a good idea, especially taking it easy on the stressed joint. Sorry you're not feeling well, I hope you feel better soon. Don't know if it's a factor in your problem right now, but I know my allergies have been acting up a lot this year :/ Antihistamines FTW, and at least it's some extra time to let your body heal, right? Right? (That's what I tell myself at least when that happens)

[Manarelle]

Thanks for the well wishes! I am feeling better, after 3 days of... not... I'll spare you the details. While I still can't do much in the way of strenuous activity without coughing and gasping for breath, I am getting back to stretching and looking forward to picking up heavy things again. 

 

11 hours ago, NightWatcher13 said:

I've heard from multiple sources that I need to watch Zootopia ASAP, I need to hurry up and do that 'cause it looks adorable.

Challenge looks like a good idea, especially taking it easy on the stressed joint. Sorry you're not feeling well, I hope you feel better soon. Don't know if it's a factor in your problem right now, but I know my allergies have been acting up a lot this year :/ Antihistamines FTW, and at least it's some extra time to let your body heal, right? Right? (That's what I tell myself at least when that happens)

 

Zootopia is a pretty awesome movie. They paid a lot of attention to detail, and it wasn't the typical "I can see the end coming from a mile away" Disney movie. I'd highly recommend it (of course). I'm quite lucky in that I don't have heavy allergies; this was the direct cause of the gentleman picking up a 2-year-old germ bomb and not washing his everything afterwards. We had a long talk about that this week... 

 

And yes, I am a big fan of adequate rest, moreso as I get older. 

[Briniel]

Ugh, sorry you felt so yucky, and more so since it was somewhat preventable. Glad you're feeling better. Take the weekend to recharge and then rock this next week

[Manarelle]

Week 2 recap:

1. Not-train: Back to just walking, but only missed 1 prediction. 
2. Walk the rail: Still just about halfway. Didn't lose any of this in my sickness (thank goodness). 
3. Rest and return: Had to give myself 3 days to rest from illness. Literally - one of those days I think I slept 18 hours of the day. But feeling much better now! Unfortunately, I lost all of my shoulder strength - can barely do a 2 second negative pull now. Back to training, sigh. 

No progress on the skirt yet (I know, I know!), but overall, barring the illness, I think I'm hanging in there. Aiming to join the over 1k club on hollow holds/archups tomorrow, knock on wood. Go NF Firefly!

 

 

[Manarelle]

"Hey, my class website is down today for maintenance! Since I can't work on homework, I'll finally get around to that darn skirt pattern!"

 

"Hmmm... going by measurements on the pattern, I'm a size 16 in the waist, and 20 in the hips. Okay. Well, going by finished measurements, size 16 looks about right, we'll give that a go!"

 

/cuts out pattern

/pulls out scrap fabric

/cuts pattern pieces out

/hauls everything downstairs and sets up

/sew, sew, iron, iron, pleat, pleat, iron, sew, fold, snip, (times lots)

 

"Ta da! Mock-up skirt finished! No zipper, but I'll just pull it on and see how it fits..."

 

So apparently, it's been so long since I sewed - and sewed for myself, not for others - that I kept the habit of cutting out the pattern pieces to the largest size, and totally forgot the habit of folding them back and only cutting out the size you need. So yeah, size 22 skirt? Doesn't fit so well. I am not smart. 

 

 

This is why you always make a mock-up with junker fabric first.... Ah, well. 

[Pyralis]

Lol! Don't worry! Tried sewing a few years ago and I did some stupid things, like removing the seams from something I sewed together the wrong way, then sewed it together the same way again  I also sew a little hood mock-up from junker fabric. My cat was very happy about it. Not. But I gave up in the end and 2 months ago threw away the last horrible leftovers from my sad tries to sew medieval pants.

 

Think it's amazing if you can sew and make/understand paper patterns. All the possibilities and stuff you can make! 

[Manarelle]

On a slightly more upbeat note, I went to parkour class today with @Genryo, and had a fantastic time! Got some good practice time in on the basic vaults, QMs, and rolls (still landing on my shoulders wrong though!), and got to try new rail work and cat jumps! The cat jumps were awesome to both do and watch: it truly looked like Peter Parker landing on a wall and preparing to spider-climb up it. Only after class was over did I realize I didn't worry once about whether my arms would be able to support me in the different moves - definite improvement over the first class I stepped into.  Here's to progress without realizing it!

 

[Manarelle]

You know you're addicted to working out when you think "Oh, no! I'm late for my evening walk! Wait... does parkour count as a workout?" 

 

DUH. 

[Manarelle]

A slightly late Week 3 recap:

1. Not-train: I actually managed to hit a few predictions while running. Mind you, some of them were "neither foot will hit that," but still!
2. Walk the rail: Both days I went for a walk, it was raining. No rail practice.
3. Rest and return: Rested up from heinous sickness, and still giving my shoulder some extra care.

No further work on the skirt, other than to note the pattern is workable. This might be a fail, as schoolwork has picked up significantly. 

 

HOWEVER!!! The things I'm working on for this challenge are definitely paying off! At walking speed, I was able to hit my approach to obstacles 99% of the time in class (to be fair, the one time I missed was when someone made my start laughing, but still). My shoulders are equally sore, and I had no limitations in that vein during class. I also noticed that my cat jumps were much stronger, and I was catching myself with bent arms before lowering to cat hang. Yay progress!

[Jonesy]

I hope the heinous sickness is gone!

 

Sounds like you are making progress. Props for walking in the rain.  

[PixieKitten]

Whoohooo! I'm so mad at myself for not checking out your challenge earlier, after all the support you've been throwing my way! I LOVE ZOOTOPIA SO MUCH!!! And I'm so jealous that you have a local parkour class... There's no such thing in the UK, I think? Nothing near me, I know that much >_> It's great that you've been noticing progress after resting and being ill!

As for sewing a skirt.. Yeah I tried that once. Though I did like the result, I decided it was too much bother for me. I'll stick to model horse rugs and doggy bandanas... and maybe a browband cover for the horse. Maybe.

 

Way to go on EVERYTHING!!

 

[Manarelle]

This week was... odd. I couldn't get the motivation to do much, and ended up taking 2 days in a row off of working out. When I do work out, I feel strong and capable, and am still pushing PRs, but when I'm not working out, I feel old, tired, and like I'm not really making much difference, so why bother?

 

I have a tendency to only learn things on a general level. I find something new, get far enough to get a good idea on how it works, and then call that good enough and move on to the next exciting new thing. Perhaps I've hit that stage with working out - I've tried HIIT, running, bodyweight exercises, and now parkour, and I feel like I have a decent grasp of all of them, so the urge to move on is growing. I have very little motivation to combat the boringness of grinding or maintenance. Not sure how to fix that.

 

Week 4 recap.

1. Not-train: 99% hit rate on walking. Still very low when running.
2. Walk the rail: Can consistently hit just over halfway, which is, technically, 50 ft, and my challenge goal. However, I hit that point by week 2 and have not improved considerably since then. Will look for a different way to add balance work for the next challenge. 
3. Rest and return: The should is still a little stiff, but is getting considerably better. Working on various strengthening exercises instead of attempting pull-ups; will continue this next round. 

Life goal/ Sewing: Fail on this one. I did try out the pattern, and I do like it, but I misjudged the time requirements for this class. For now, I have time to maintain working out, two gardens, and school, and that's about it outside of work. I will not be talking a class this fall, however, so I will add this to my challenges then. 

 

Added goal: Bent-arm hangs up from 6 seconds to 7. (whee...)

Overall, not bad. I kept working on stuff, and my parkour improved. I just kinda wish it were more impressive-looking. 

 

 

See ya next time!