Off the radar

Wow!  What a year this has been.  I did shorter races, coached an athlete through an Ironman, we sold our house, moved, I relocated my massage business and gone through some business growing pains.  It has been, needless to say, a very active year and one of personal growth.  Things are starting to settle down now, but I won't make any promises to catch my blog up like I've promised in the past.  Not that I think my life is just so interesting, but logging it definitely helps me review where I've been and what I've done.  The memory's not so good anymore, never really was all that great anyway.  I'm just simply going to state that I hope that I can resume my blog sometime in the near future.  I mean, we learn things every single day.  Some of them are great lessons and some of them are just, "Oh what a small world" six degrees of separation things.  Nonetheless, someone out there can always benefit from your lessons.  So here I am again...maybe someone will get something out of what I have to report and maybe not.  I'm going to give it a valiant effort, though.

What a week!

What a whirlwind January is turning out to be! In one sense I love it and in another I would like to hit pause to catch my breath. I'm really having to sit down and prioritize things now. I'm always very flattered when people ask me to help them. I've often told myself that when I stop feeling that way, I need to find another line of work. I hope I don't ever need to do that. I doubt I ever will.

I've also had some sort of breakthrough in my own training. I think I've finally made it over the well known 'holiday hump'. I'm feeling good and like I have more energy. Things are coming together and fitting properly. I know the bad workouts really are more of a lesson, but the good ones sure do feel great! This weekend was particularly good. I intended to do a seven to eight mile trail run on Saturday morning and it turned into an almost 11 miler. Sunday morning had another great eight miler around Two Rivers Park. I feel great today and not like I ran 19 miles in the last two days. I feel like I'm coming out of a fog. Those of you who have ever spent a year with just dealing with injury and no energy know exactly what I'm talking about.

Needless to say, 2012 is going to be the year of coming out of the darkness. I'm working on speed and just having fun this year. Who knows what events I might do! Maybe even some strictly swimming events... Nah! That's just crazy talk!

And we're off...

Okay, so the year has gotten off to a pretty good start and I'm getting into a more manageable groove. Things are starting to fall into place, which feels good after the holidays. Not that they were bad, just...just...well, you know...THE HOLIDAYS!

We're wiping the slate clean though and we all get another chance to be better (or what we think would be better) people. I'm here to tell you that I, for one, am definitely out for self improvement. I've been reading about all kinds of things that will help me create a better me. The Bionic woman comes to mind. The amount of information out there is quite overwhelming. When all that information gets crammed into my 'inbox' I'm likely to just either go take a nap to not think about having to read it all (you know there could be some life changing information in there) or just do a mass delete. It definitely has a cycle. It goes something like this: 30 days of napping. One day of a good cry from letting it get so bad, some foul language then followed by mass delete. Repeat.

Actually the number of consecutive days of napping can be anywhere from 30 to 90 days. Who has time for all of this...and spend time with family and friends...and play with pets...and train...and etc... I certainly don't. I kind of like it, though. It makes me feel important and productive. Maybe one day life will slow down enough for me to quit chasing my tail....... Hopefully not anytime soon though. I have a pretty cute tail!

The party's almost over...

It's that time again. 2011 is coming to a close and I don't mind that at all! We've accomplished a lot, but it was not without struggle. No, no. I'll try to stay positive here. Learning opportunities. Lots of learning opportunities and knowledge was gained from those opportunities. Some of that knowledge still hangs in the air with it's purpose yet to be revealed. That will come in time. Patience has been in short supply and every once in awhile a cry of despair from losing patience. Sometimes it was more like a primal scream!

My business opened in July of this year and it is thriving! There are so many positives to owning a business, but you have to be very careful not to let IT own YOU. Sometimes it's so hard to say no. I have learned my limitations the hard way. In fact, I'm still learning. It's usually not until I wake up on a Monday morning and see that I have 8 or 9 clients every day that week with a couple of days that I'm working until 7:00 pm. I usually smack myself in the forehead and promise to not do that again. At least for a month. Then I have to run my cycle. Know thyself and be okay with who and where you are. All we can do is our best and move on.

I try to plan out the next year, but I can't see past the present moment anymore. Someone asked me, "So what do you see for Forever In Training in 2012?". I didn't really know how to answer. I haven't really thought about it. Oh, I have some things that I would like to accomplish. Just trying to figure out the path to take to get there is the hard part and I can't separate the two. I feel paralyzed by those kinds of questions. Almost like a fear comes over me and I ask myself, "What if I never get this figured out? Will I look like a fake? Am I a fake?". I sure hope not. You just have to never be afraid to say the phrase, "I don't know". We are human and there is no possible way of knowing all there is to know about what you do in your life. I guess if I got it figured out I would get bored and go learn something else.

So here I am, unprepared for 2012 and it's okay. I'm just going to try and enjoy my life a little more in the upcoming year and be a kinder more giving person. I hear that heals a wounded heart. I think we could all use a little healing...

Forty and Fabulous!

I turned 40 recently and I am having the absolute best time. No really, I mean it. All these women that I know who are either going through or have gone through the forth decade of their lives have told me it is or was the best time in their lives. You are at the point where you know who you are, what you want and where you're going and you don't give a shit if anyone likes it or not. I've just begun this incredible journey and it has been pretty amazing so far. I've gotten over trying to be something that feels unnatural to me. If it doesn't feel right or good, I'm not doing it. So I've decided not to pay my taxes anymore! Just kidding. Seriously, I feel a strength and a self assuredness I've never known before. I also don't feel it necessary to be a sounding board for people with negative energy anymore. In the past I felt like they needed me. I was doing my part for the greater good. All they were doing was sucking my energy and leaving me depleted. No more!!! This doesn't mean that I'm not going to be a good listener and give people a safe place to vent. We all need that. I'm just not going to give up my precious energy anymore. They can't have it, dammit!!! I'm trying to be more aware and open to what the universe sends my way. I'm paying more attention when someone comes to mind. I call, text or email them. I figure that they popped in there for some reason; even if it's just to say, "Yo...'sup?". It's nice when someone just calls you out of the blue or sends you a note to say they were thinking of you. I called my sister on the way home from dinner last night just to tell her I miss her. Very out of character for me. I'm trying to also rekindle my sense of humor and laugh more. I sort of lost my sense of humor somewhere along the way this year. Too much working and training, not enough life. I was trying to hard to be an interesting person. Now I just want to be grounded and real. Just me, only better. When it's my time to 'renew' (a reference from Logan's Run) I want only to leave my echo of laughter behind and for people to say, "I'm really going to miss her" and smile when they think of me. No, I don't plan on dying anytime soon, but I'm going to get a headstart on enjoying life a lot more and leaving my positive footprint on this Earth.

Everybody needs a little time away...

I heard her say...from somebuuuuuhdaaaaay. That sappy Chicago song is so very true. Everyone needs a break...from...well...whatever. It's easy to get burned out, even on the things you love. My clients need an occasional break from me and my workouts. Even if they don't know it. Even though I encourage them to just take a little time away, most of the time they get forced into a break. They have to go out of town for work or they must clean out a relative's house. No matter how it happens or what they are faced with doing on that "sabbatical" they come back to me in a different state. It's good to see them with a smile on their faces and ready to get back to it.

I need my breaks too. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do for a living! Absolutely adore all of it! I mean how much better can life get when people pay you for what you are so very passionate about? I genuinely care about the welfare of my clients. Dare I say that most of us are what you might call friends? It's a beautiful thing and a lot of good things happen with the work we do together. I put a lot of thought into each and every person's program or massage. That's exactly why I feel like I need to just step away and breathe in my own needs. We must take care of ourselves. Our culture is really screwed up in the fact that we view 'self care' as 'self-ish'. WTH? How is taking care of ourselves being selfish? In most cases my clients understand. Although, sometimes I get the evil eye and that's okay. I've gotten much better about not starting such an announcement with, "I'm sorry, but...". Feeling the need to apologize for everything is fading off in the distance. In fact, a client/friend of mine sent an email to me of a saying. It was:

Apologizing

Does not always

mean that you're

wrong and the other

person is right.

It just means that you

value your relationship more

than your ego

I now use it most of the time to soften a "NO" answer. It seems so harsh to look at someone and just say "NO". I am a work in progress, though. Most everyone is; there is always the opportunity to learn something. Most of us glaze through our days. We are so consumed with going to the grocery store, putting gas in our vehicles, oh...shoot I can't forget to (fill in the blank) that we don't pick up on things that we should. We are too busy texting while driving to look up in time to see the big sign we just missed. Don't worry the universe will take control of your car, run that red light and get you a ticket (or worse...) to get your attention. Something's gotta give and I keep seeing glimmers of hope that may restore my faith in mankind. Maybe one day they will be full blown star bursts and we can really change the world. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, anyway...

Something in the way she moves...

Kinesiology - the study of motion of the human body.

Human movement...it is a mysterious and fascinating thing. To think about how the body is laid out and how everything in it works together can get overwhelming, to say the least. However, it's just plain magical when everything is working correctly and can be sheer Hell if it ain't.

I took a two day seminar weekend before last that could have easily been three days. It was about making muscular corrections, loosening fascia, joint stabilization, muscle facilitation and inhibition, reducing swelling and moving stagnated lymph from an area. That was all mentioned in the first 5 minutes. So I made sure at that point I put my seat belt and helmet on because it was going to be a bumpy ride. Especially when we started talking about anatomy. Whoa! It's been like 12 years since I've gone to that place. It was pretty dusty in there, too. I mean, I'm familiar with major muscles because of common injuries and such, but this was all about insertion and origin. I have some work to do when my head stops spinning.

Chances are you've heard of this subject I'm about to mention. Kinesio Tex Tape. Not KT Tape, not Rock Tape. Kinesio Tex Tape - the original! Even though they all have pretty much the same properties and have the same purposes, they made sure to let us know right off the bat that this is the real deal and the rest are similar.

So I've been taping up some people and just asking for feedback. I've taped a couple of shoulders, a pregnant belly and my own leg. I'm pretty convinced that this is helping facilitate my recovery from my injury. I'm not saying it is the be all and end all, but it goes really well with other forms of therapy to regain balance in the body. With another therapy, like with massage for instance, the practitioner works on the tissue and when she/he is done applies the tape with the same intent they were using while working. It's sort of like an extension of the therapy after the session is over. Pretty cool stuff!

In conclusion I'm totally sold on Kinesio Tex Tape. I think it's pretty great stuff. Will it cure every imbalance overnight? No, but it will definitely speed up your recovery. Besides, most of the time injury is chronic, not acute, because we are a nation full of "full tilt boogie, I haven't got time for the pain" diehards and that means it didn't get that way overnight. We don't want to feel like a bunch of wussies, after all. So grin and bear it, dammit!

NOT! In the end we are all built pretty much the same with a few differences. You must honor your body and it's delicate balance. Be kind to yourselves, believe it or not, you deserve it. Take care of your body, it's the only one ya get!

Until next time, thanks for reading!