Welcome To My World!

How I started:
I'm told I was born on a Friday morning at 1:33am, just minutes after the calendar changed from September to October. It was a relatively easy delivery, and I weighed in at 6 pounds 15 ounces. "She's gonna be a tall one," the doctor told my mother when he compared my length to his height-predicting chart. Perhaps 5'10" or so. But the chart was wrong. I'm not tall. On a good day, when my hair is poofed and my Danskos are on, I can pass for 5'4". But my driver's license officially records 5'3". I take after the Polish side of my family...short, stocky, sturdy. Over the years I've embraced that build as much as I've despised it. 

Where I've been:
Stocky build or not, those Polish genes have been good to me as far as health goes, though I have had several surgeries and chronic issues from overuse and/or possibly age-related injuries. I battled tremendous pain from a heel spur in my right foot for about 4 years. (It was the result of my career choice - ultrasound tech standing long hours, concrete floors). Several cortisone shots later, I opted for the long term benefits of surgery. The operation was quick and painful and the recovery was long and tedious. My surgeon said it would never feel 100%, but it was totally worth it. Fast forward 11 years and the same thing happened to my left foot. (Same career, different job). The surgery? No new surgical advances since the previous...still quick and painful, still long and tedious. Still worth it. Just as my foot started settling down, my back went out. I always wondered what that meant...'went out'...and if that was an old man's disease or problem. For me, 'going out' was sort of like a popping feeling which sent immediate, intense pain and spasms wrapping around my lower back and into my hips. The pain was truly unbearable. But I hauled myself out of the shower and into work because I didn't 'look' sick and figured I was too young (and healthy?) to have old man problems like this. I figured a day or two and I'd be right back on track. Eight months later, the MRI confirmed the diagnosis - several bulging discs. Several? That sucked, but at least I had an answer. The next few years were spent dealing with chronic back pain, sometimes tolerable but often unbearable, and mixed with lots of horizontal couch time. 
Chronic pain - whether it's in your back or your feet - can be physically and mentally debilitating. I can see how people become severely depressed and even addicted to medications. Fortunately that didn't happen to me, but I have a new appreciation for those that suffer long term. It sucks. I really can sympathize on some level.



What I've done:
I've been a member of about 10 gyms since I was 15 years old. At 18 years old, I started teaching aerobics at several local YMCAs (and even a synagogue). I stumbled into teaching at the suggestion of my then fitness instructor, Barb. She was awesome and I was lucky to have her selflessly mentor me and teach me everything she knew. When I was about 20 years old, I was taught how to lift weights. I loved it from the start, though I was often intimidated by the big guys in the weight rooms. In 1995 I got my first Trek road bike. It was the smallest men's frame we could find and the colors were pretty. I learned to use clipless pedals and only fell once in the parking lot. In 1999 I joined what I consider to be the best gym EVER. I had no idea that signing my new, yearly membership contract at Better Bodies would literally change my life, but it did in many ways. And all for the better. Some of those stories will come later. Anyway, I became a certified Spinning instructor so I could teach at BB. I was extremely nervous before my first class but was on cloud nine for getting through it. I loved picking out music, burning CDs, and prepping for classes. I continued teaching  there for the next 10 years. I must give credit to the guy who got me through that first class - and many others - who started as my friend and ultimately became my husband. He was hugely instrumental in my success as a Spinning instructor. Then he introduced me to this thing he did called mountainbiking. He got me interested and excited enough to buy a beautiful red Cannondale Jekyl and I even decided to race it once. That's right, once. One looooong, painful, frustrating, muddy race in Hershey, PA. In those 5 miles I decided that mountainbike racing was NOT for me. 

Around that time, I learned about a semi-local place called the velodrome where people race track bikes. Never heard about this track racing stuff before - even though I've religiously watched the summer Olympics since 1984 - so I checked it out. I became enamored, and staying true to my sometimes all-or-nothing behavior, bought a white, Havnoonian , aluminum, 2.2lb frame track bike, a chain whip, and a bunch of gears, took some classes, got a coach, and took up racing almost overnight. I was 32. I loved riding on the track, and even met one of my best friends (Lara) there, but I found the Saturday races tough. These amateur women racers were good! Like the muddy mountainbike race, competition brought out major stress in me in the days leading up to the events. It didn't help that I wasn't super fast and didn't want to risk a catastrophic injury that I knew could happen on a fixed gear bike with no brakes. I still had to get up for work on Monday! 

So now if I'm on a bike, it's usually just my road bike. My beautiful Kuota Kredo. It's a GREAT bike. It's like sitting on a cloud...perfectly fit to me, smooth as silk, and looks awesome, too. I can't imagine any road bike being better for me. 

Where I'm going:
Sometimes I don't know where I'm going as far as fitness is concerned. I try to plan ahead, to lay out a course of action. But more often than not I find myself adjusting those best laid plans. 

I wish I could say I regularly and consistently workout at the gym. But Better Bodies closed a couple years ago, and gym life has never been the same. I miss my old gym friends...they were very much like my family. I saw them more often than my own family! It never will be the same, and I have to get over it and move on. I have been blessed with the most awesome home gym in my basement thanks to my husband. I've got kettlebells, dumbbells, Bosu, bars, a treadmill, a rowing machine, refurbiished Spinning bikes, and even a hula hoop. I love to workout down there, but sometimes it's hard to push myself without others around. No accountability, you know what I mean?

I wish I could say that I love riding my road bike...or any bike for that matter...and that I rush at the chance to do so. But after being off the bike so long due to work commitments, crazy schedules, EMT classes, back issues, sick pets, weekly errands, and any other valid or invalid excuse, I find it stressful to just get on the bike. It's hard keeping up with my fellow riders. I can't do the miles I used to do. I can't go as fast or as far. I get winded. I can't just wing it anymore. Without any practice, I just can't keep up. I'm a little older and a lot less fit than I want to be, and I can't stop thinking that I was in MUCH better shape before my second foot surgery, my bulging discs, and my jobs got in the way.

A year ago I started taking yoga classes on a regular basis. It's a love-hate relationship. They're hard! But they've been truly life-changing. The atmosphere is just the right 'medicine.' My mind is a bit calmer, or at least more accepting of my flaws, and my back pain is 98% gone. We are talking almost NON-EXISTENT!! After years of chronic pain, I see a light at the end of the tunnel...like the 'fitter' me has a chance of reappearing. With a lot of hard work, of course. I also recently signed up for kickboxing classes with the former owner of BB. It's like old times, and I love it! He is a good influence on me. He makes me accountable and that makes me happy.

I was born a Libra, which supposedly means I'm always trying to plan ahead, create structure, and balance my life. The truth is, I'm a complete mess without structure and balance. My parents and my husband can attest to that. I am definitely a work in progress when it comes to those things - learning to accept change and roll with the punches. I'm learning...
I'm hoping to use this blog to document this year's yoga, cycling, kickboxing, and other fitness experiences as well as those crazy balancing acts. Maybe you'll read it and be able to relate. Let me know your thoughts. Especially if they're good thoughts. (Oh, and in case you didn't know, my title is a term we use in ultrasound. We can revisit that later, as I LOVE to talk about anything medical.)

Welcome to my world!