Posts tagged Adapt
Arizona Adventure – 3 Month Update
9October 14, 2012
It’s been 3 months since we took off on our Arizona Adventure. If you’ve been following me here along with Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter you pretty much know how things are going but I figured I’d give you an “official” update and share with you some random things we’ve found out along the way.
Holy sand storms. It may sound crazy but I had no idea about sand storms until we received an alert the first day we arrived. It never entered my mind. For the first month we had warnings almost everyday and sure enough we had a sand storm everyday. The weird thing is these sand storms arrive about the same time everyday, which is mid afternoon. I guess this has to do with atmospheric pressures. As for the flash flood watches, ha! I laugh because we never see rain. I’m not trying to make light of flash floods because indeed, they do occur. However, during our time here I believe we’ve seen rain twice. Not complaining about that. I’m loving the sunshine. The sunsets and night time skies are the best I’ve ever seen.
The snowbirds have started to land. From my understanding they take over much of our area. Guess we will see how that goes and time our visits to the store and eating out accordingly.
In no way does it feel like October. Blame it on the weather or our whirlwind of the past few months. It’s crazy to think that we’ve got to start Christmas shopping soon!
The animals seem indifferent to the heat. I thought they’d love it but that’s not the case. Now that it’s cooled down a bit they are enjoying the weather even more and I’m sure they’ll appreciate it through the winter.
Allergy season exists out here too. We’ve experienced this first hand with Jax asthma. Come to find out my co-worker’s child also started with allergy issues at the same time. Over the past month Jax asthma has progressively gotten worse, to the point we’ve started him on an inhaler. (Yes, our cat is on an inhaler.) Thankfully he’s responding to treatment.
Waiting in line at Walmart takes just as long as it did in Louisiana In other words, a LONG time. I’m not talking 10 minutes but more like a half an hour. Seriously. Since Walmart does price matching everyone takes advantage, which in turn makes the check out process that long. I have yet to go through a check out where no one requested a price match. I have yet to take part in this craziness and tend to drive 10 extra minutes to head to another Walmart that is less busy.
I’m loving that we live so close to a Sprouts and Trader Joe’s. Both are more natural grocery stores so it’s excellent to have so many options at hand.
We have gone from a democratic state to a republican state. Every political sign and ad you see is republican. But you can bet we’ve registered to vote. I will say no more about this and leave it at that.
Thanks to social media and the sport of running I’ve met some pretty rad people in our short time here. In the past D and I tended to keep to ourselves, but one of my goals for this adventure was to reach out and meet new people. I think we’ve been quite successful.
We absolutely love where we live. We love that we’re in the suburbs but it’s decently populated with easy access to stores/restaurants. No matter what direction I run I see mountains and they make me smile every time. Unfortunately though, my drive to work takes 30 minutes each way and all of our friends live on the opposite side of the city. Bummer, but we still love the area where we live and at this point see ourselves staying put during our time here in Arizona.
There seems to be an overabundance of yard sales in our area at all times. In addition they post their signage in interesting ways, such as placing boxes in random locations. I have a feeling this has to do with some random law about posting signs, but we find it quite interesting.
I’ve been bitten by the race running bug pretty badly. With so many races to choose from and the ability to run through the winter without dealing with snow. I’ve had a lack of races over the past couple years for several reasons, so I’m in Heaven. I’ve already completed one, am ready for the next month’s race, and have already signed up for the next half marathon (more to come about that Wednesday!) Now, if I could just have an unlimited income to register for them all. Any brands want to sponsor me? =)
Running is way harder than I expected out here. The first month was hell. It has gotten better but I still feel like I have a long way to go.
We’ve successfully started adventuring and hope to do even more as the time goes on.
I don’t think there’s a Arizonian accent, but people definitely notice my midwestern accent and continuously ask where I’m from.
The price of gas is comparable to our hometown in Ohio. Even better, the cheapest gas we’ve found in Phoenix is the gas station that’s closest to us, right up the street. Just another positive point about our location. This definitely helps with the amount of gas I using driving back and forth to work. The station also serves as my pit stop on long runs too. Bonus!
We have yet to find our dream jobs, but the good news is that we both have jobs. With that being said, D is playing with an established band, heading to the studio soon to record, and is making some decent strides toward his dream. As for me, I’m still trucking along. Although I would love to work in social media/marketing in some way I’m still not 100% sure what my dream job is, but everyday I think I’m getting just a little closer. In the meantime we’re surviving. It won’t be easy, but going after your dreams rarely is.
Keep Smiling and Be Grateful =)
Old Injuries. New Challenges.
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I’m sure anyone that is my age has had their share of injuries, whether sport-related or normal day-to-day injuries. I’m no different. Although I haven’t had many injuries per se, I’ve had one that has definitely affected my life.
Back when I was in 6th grade, in 1994, I joined our school’s ski club. We would take weekly weekend trips to 1 of 2 nearby ski “resorts”. I use the term lightly because they aren’t anything special. If you want to hit the slopes, it’s something, but nothing special. Although located in the snowbelt they have a hard time covering the slopes in snow and rely heavily on the snow machines, which tend to product more ice than snow. Skiing proved to be quite a challenge for me. I had a history of riding horses but that was the extent of my athletic ability. As you will see from the pictures, I was a bit chunky as a kid. This didn’t help my endeavor much. Unfortunately, due to icy conditions, poor functioning of my rental equipment, and my lack of athletic ability, I suffered a broken right femur. Yes, femur. The largest bone in my body. Broken clear in half.
Due to the immediate contraction of the muscle upon fracturing and the age I was at the time, a pin was drilled into my knee, I was set in traction for a month, and then placed in a body cast. The traction allowed the muscles to relax and stretch, while allowing the femur to heal.
After a month in traction I was taken down and placed in a body cast for another month. The cast was my entire right leg, around my waist, up to my chest.
If you’d like to read in more detail about my broken leg experience, check out this blog post.
I consider myself as having a full recovery from my accident. I’m fairly happy with the function of my body. However, over the past several years, as I’ve taken up running, I have found more challenges along the way.
- I don’t have the full flexibility of my right leg as I do with my left.
- Like so many people that have had fractures I can feel weather changes before they arrive. Although there is no longer any hardware located in my leg I have residual pain in the area.
- I have found to have significant pain and swelling in specific areas around my knee, especially when adding mileage and even worse if done at a fast rate.
- Along with pain I also tend to overcompensate, in other aspects (especially when tired), which then can throw my entire stride off, making further discomfort.
- Something else that has reared it’s ugly head over the past 2 years is discomfort is my piriformis muscle. Per wikipedia the piriformis muscle laterally rotates the extended thigh and abducts the flexed thigh. Abduction of the flexed thigh is important in the action of walking because it shifts the body weight to the opposite side of the foot being lifted, which keeps us from falling. Although I’ve had this addressed through a doctor they’ve never officially said it was Piriformis Syndrome. However, with further research I think this is the case.
Thankfully I have been able to keep this issue in check through stretches/massage and have not had to resort to medications (other than the random NSAID). However, I’m interested to see if my conditions, especially piriformis-related, will be exacerbated with not only adding more biking to my workouts, but also the position in which I have to sit. I foresee this being a challenge, but as with everything, I’m ready for the challenge and look forward to overcoming it.
So what previous injuries have you had that affect you to this day? What has helped you overcome them?
Keep Smiling and Be Grateful =)
Adapt And Overcome
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I’ve had my Tri bike for several days now. I’m still enjoying the excitement of owning a new bike. ‘Sparky’ is currently being housed in our dining room. I find that everytime I walk by him I want to hop on, and oftentimes do. I know this excitement will more than likely fade, but I am enjoying it now. Not to mention, by hopping on, my body is adjusting to the fit of the bike.
I knew there’d be an adjustment in riding a Tri bike versus what I was used to. But I must admit, I think it’s going to be a larger adjustment than I originally thought. Mind you it’s been several weeks since I’ve ridden my bike since I’ve been targeting 5Ks. However, with the Tri bike I feel like I’m so out of shape. I’m tiring easier and my legs are sore the next day. I attribute this to the different geometry of the bike.
So it looks like I have a bit of a challenge on my hands. But, if I learned anything from D being in the Marines, I must Adapt and Overcome. I’ve never let an obstacle stop me before and this is no different (with the exception of doing pushups. I can’t do a pushup to save my life, no matter how hard or long I’ve tried. Any helpful hints on doing them are greatly appreciated!)
Be Grateful and Keep Smiling =)
