Self-quarantine musings...and a book review

I've been losing track of time; it's been hard to tell what day it is anymore. Although I didn't really want too much structure when I retired, because I figured my days would fall into place, and they did, until self-quarantine arrived. Suddenly, no more gym days, forget studio yoga classes, and trips to our cabin - gone from the calendar. Heading out to do something simple like grocery shopping suddenly seemed fraught with danger - with a silent virus and people who might be asymptomatic possibly crossing my path and skipping social distancing, I was more than happy to stay home. Thank goodness for the 365 Mile Challenge! I wasn't really stuck, but hikes became neighborhood walks, since all of Washington became shut down; Olympic National Park closed, Trail Closed signs appeared on the Discovery Route, and the local state parks had barricades in place to keep people out.

When I started looking back through my 365 Mile Challenge Journal, I realized that I hadn't really been stuck at home. I managed to get out and walk 18 days since my last blog post, did my Home Brew workouts provided by Strait Fitness, and I have been riding my spinning bike, to add miles and add some cardio. I've done a couple of virtual yoga sessions via Zoom and Poser YOGA, and I have access to classes on YouTube as well. I've signed up for a course, Yoga Chakra Series in Zambia, by a former teacher at my studio. So, I haven't been sitting around feeling deprived of things to do - I've managed!

One thing that never goes away from my life is reading. Even though the public library is closed, and I've had a stack of books waiting to be returned, I've still been reading every day. I'm part of a book group on Facebook I was introduced to via the 365 Mile Challenge - ReConnect: An Outdoor Women's Book Club. This is a book club with a stated purpose of reading a book a month that focuses on the outdoors and nature, with the intention of "finding common ground among a diverse group of members." This is a visible group on Facebook, so it's definitely findable. Although I'm a little behind, this is my review of the first book.

 Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country, by Pam Houston. Here's my review.

Pam Houston is a writer, a teacher, and the owner of a 120-acre ranch in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Purchased with just 5% down, Houston knew she wanted a place to settle down do after doing a series of (to me) somewhat dangerous things - and living through them. She had just published her first book, Cowboys Are My Weakness in 1992,  had been on a book tour, and had some money. Houston had checked out places in the western states, but settled in Colorado, at 9,000 feet elevation. Her ranch had a history, and still had the house, and a small cemetery with the original owners' graves. The book is a series of essays about living on her ranch for 25 years, the animals that are part of her life, as well as teaching and writing. Whether writing about her early family life and how it shaped her, or her college and grad school work, everything comes back to the ranch. In the Introduction, Pam writes about how she has always felt the responsibility of the ranch to not subdivide, harvest or mine resources, or plant a cell tower in the middle of a field. In the end, she says, while she thought she was taking care of her ranch, it was really taking care of her.

There are five sections: Getting Out; Digging In; Diary of a Fire, Elsewhere; and Deep Creek. Each section contains at least one essay, for example "The Tinnitus of Truth Telling" in Getting Out. Each section also includes a shorter essays, called Ranch Almanac, such as "Stacking Wood." The book is illustrated with photographs. Through her essays, Pam Houston gives readers an intimate look at her life, her ranch, and her relationships with her neighbors, family, and students. She writes in a straightforward style, and this well-written and is easy to read. If you are a lover of the outdoors, this book should be on your list of must reads. I found myself thinking Pam Houston was a brave, determined, and independent woman, and if anyone could take care of her beloved animals at 35 degrees below zero, it would be her.

306.24/365

Mid-Winter Motivation and a Pandemic

What an odd winter. I usually hit a small slump when it's at the tail end of winter. I have trouble motivating myself to go outside when it's damp. Here on the Olympic Peninsula, we don't have really low temperatures and wind chill factors, but we do have humidities that are high, and that kind of cold is bone-chilling. I have bonded with my long underwear, which in the past, would have never left the drawer. I've made it out more days than not.

My philosophy is that I don't really care what I do, but I want to do something most days of the week. I already go to my private studio/gym, Strait Fitness, where Coach Ben is always positive, and has a program for me that takes into consideration my limitations due to injuries, and since I've been working with him, I've largely seen major improvements that are keeping me free of discomfort. Initially I worked with him individually, but now I work in a small group with three other women who are about my age. I am willing to get up a little earlier so I can get my workout done. I love doing deadlifts with the trap bar, and I'm lifting 125 pounds! This makes me very happy, and if you had told me I would be doing pushups, I would have said you were nuts. I also have daily stretches, but Tuesday and Thursday are reserved for the gym.

Another thing I started doing was a class I had tried once and dismissed - Pilates. I had done the very first class month ago, and felt that I was in crunch hell - that class was hard for me, the person who has never really had a great core. Restorative yoga was about all I was doing at Poser Yoga. After a few classes under my belt, I am pretty sure this is going to be my go-to class. The teacher is very knowledgeable, and has her own studio, and I would like to try a month with her there. As for regular yoga, Jenny, the owner and my very favorite yogi, is a very caring person who really makes a huge effort to make things work for everyone. I love the restorative class, and always look forward to going. I enjoy the quiet and the slow breaths, and my favorite part is at the end, when Jenny comes around to give shoulder presses. You can hear her coming, rubbing her hands together to warm the  lavender tea tree essential oil. I've come to associate that scent with yoga. I've been thinking about taking a 200 hour certificate course in how to teach meditation; we'll see.

And then...Pandemic.

It's not a word I associate with my life, but here it is. Living in Washington state, with the first case in the United States, I think we were aware earlier than a lot of people just how deadly this was going to be, and continues to be. Staying at home wasn't all that hard for me, because I like staying home; it was probably one of my retirement goals. The social distancing part, however, was a little more difficult, mostly because it meant I could no longer do my usual activities of resistance training and yoga. These small local business have had to adapt, and they really have.

At  Strait Fitness. Coach Ben has created a personalized workout for me, and I've been doing that twice a week. He did ramp up some of my exercises, so now I'm doing three sets of wall squats for ten seconds, I'm now doing thirty seconds, but I understand the reasoning. He also called to check in, which I really appreciated. My goal is to not lose ground when we can finally go back to the gym.

Poser Yoga started live-streaming classes using Zoom, with a variety of classes and teachers. What I find very interesting is that these classes are being attended by at least 30 students; the size of the studio limits attendance to about eighteen. I've taken a couple of classes that I normally wouldn't have been able to get to, and with a teacher I've wanted to have. I'm only doing one a week, but I'm sure that will be increasing. My goal here is to continue to increase my flexibility and balance.

These two at-home activities take place in a section of the bedroom, where I have mats, weights, a spinning bike, and other pieces of equipment that I've collected (and used sporadically) over time. I'm glad I have this stuff on hand! And I'm still walking, still getting out in fresh air, and adding miles to my 365 Mile Challenge. Washington State's governor, Jay Inslee, has just extended the 'stay-at-home' order through May 4th, so it looks as though I'm going to have plenty of time to get my workouts, my yoga, and my walks in. I'm still looking forward to achieving a double this year.

196.1/365

Weather...

February 12, 2020

It has been an interesting winter. Normally, I think of weather this time of year as blah - the classic PNW grey skies with drizzle. Rain is part of the landscape, to the tune of about 25 inches a year. Port Angeles sits at the foot of the Olympic Mountains, so the town is shielded from southerly winds and sits in the rain shadow. This winter, though, has been different. We've had enough rain so the local ball fields flooded to the point where people were able to take boats out on the new "lake" to paddle around. Usually, this is where kids are playing tee-ball and baseball. The Olympic Discovery Trail had a four-mile section closed along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, due to mudslides, a trail failure due to high winds and high tides which eroded a section of the trail, as well as exposing  ancient bones, thought to be between 500 to 1,000 years old. So, not the usual thing for the area.

The trick to walking this time of year is timing, and basically comes down to how wet do I want to get? Of course, if I were really on it, I would head out the door before rain starts falling, but other things get in the way. I go to the gym twice a week, so that's a priority. Heading to Costco in Sequim, which doesn't seem like a priority, becomes one. And when we get there, and it's sunny,  I hope that sunshines holds, but of course, it does not. This walk turns wet and drippy. My pant legs were soaked, as were my shoes and socks.

Don't think it's all drippy gloom - there are really lovely days to walk here, too. Several days I've walked down on Ediz Hook, where the path has been clear, the skies are blue, and the breezes are brisk. I always find it interesting to look across the inner harbor and look at the town, and marvel at what a narrow strip of land Port Angeles occupies. The Olympic Mountains are the background for town, and depending on the clouds and winds, the peaks may appear - or not. There are things lower down to see, too - feral cats, seals, seagulls, geese, and sea otters. One day we met a man who was walking down to the old A-Frame, a spot that had been where logging trucks unloaded their logs into the harbor to be boomed into big rafts. He told us that his father had worked at the A-Frame, and when he passed away, his ashes were scattered at the site of the now-gone structure - the man liked to come down to say hello to his dad.

There was a time when rain would have derailed any attempt to walk - I just wouldn't have gone outside. I'm not certain when things changed, but they definitely have. Let's see what the next month brings.

86.89/365

Next Time, Grab the Snacks

January 17, 2020

 I've been pretty dedicated to getting out every day, rain or shine, and in January on the Olympic Peninsula, it's a lot of rain. When I look back at the journal where I'm recording my daily walks and mileage, there are quite a few days where we got out between showers, mostly wearing a rain coat, a hoodie, and a hat - I like to be able to see where I'm going, and I need all of those to keep the hood up high enough for good vision! It's also been very chilly. The humidities have been high, low 80/high 70 percentages, and that means temps in the low 40F can be chilling; it's cold. Most of the walks I've taken have been in the neighborhood, leaving from the house, but on Saturday the 11th, we decided walk a section of the Olympic Discovery Trail east of Sequim from Robin Hill Farm to the Railroad Bridge Park and back. This is a section of the trail W and I have walked a few times, and we've ridden it on our tandem, too. I mentally divide the trail into three sections, mostly because there are points where we cross the road. The wind was pretty darn cold, and as we walked east, it seemed as though the trail kept going, and going, and going. My intention had been to walk about a total of four miles, which is a little more than the usual. In the end, by the time we made it to the bridge, we had walked a little over three and a half miles. To say I wasn't looking forward to the walk back to the truck would be an understatement. But the snacks were there, and after a bit of a slowdown in the middle, we made it back - 7.43 miles. Not what I expected to do at all!

The Dungeness River at the Railroad Park Bridge

AND THEN WINTER HAPPENED....

The north Olympic Peninsula is known for the rain, and we just expect that in the winter. Rain gear is common, and using an umbrella might just brand you as a visitor. However, we got nailed by winter, and ended up with 23 inches of snow - and I live near the water, so that is unusual! I made it out one night, on a self-proclaimed rest day, but when I realized it was starting to snow, I headed out the door. I was very focused on getting a mile in, and it was cold, dark, and windy, and as I was checking MapMyWalk for mileage, I suddenly found myself flying through the air and landing with a thud on someone's lawn. I had walked into the curb, and crashed. After picking up my scattered belongings, and ascertaining that nobody saw me, I hurried home to get my knee fixed up. I was very happy to see that both pair of tights were not torn. I did feel kind of dumb, though, and I know that walking and using a phone are not for me. I'm still trying to figure out how people drive and text...

The snow did create a couple of inside days, which to my bemusement drove me a little nuts. That is a new thing. On Thursday I got a ride down to the small gym where I work out twice a week, and was the only one there - private personal training bonus! In the afternoon, W and I determined that the streets around our house were too bad for safe walking, so we drove down to Ediz Hook to walk. There is a designated lane for walking and cycling, but it was basically snow-covered ice, so we headed to the dirt trail between the road and the inner harbor, which was mostly clear. It was a stiff westerly blowing in our faces on the way out, and we could see the clouds rolling in from the west, with a promise of more snow. It was a brisk walk, and my only real complaint was that all of the careful foot placement slowed down my time. I can live with that, because at least I got out. We're looking at rain for the next week plus, so at this point, it's a matter of making sure my raincoat is dried out between walks.

38.43/365

Welcome to the New (Walking) Year

January 1, 2020

For the past almost two years, I've participated in the 365 Mile Challenge. My first year, when I joined in March, 2018, I walked 400 miles, which was astonishing to me. In 2019, I started off strong,  walking every day until the end of March, when the flu knocked me off my feet. After five days off, my walking was sporadic, but I finally got it together and managed to end the year with 500.13 miles, a little short of my original goal of 730 miles, which is called a double. I thought I would feel bad about falling so short of my original goal, but instead I was pleased that I managed to get myself back on the road. When the opportunity came to sign up to participate in the 2020 challenge, I signed up the first day I could.  And I took my first walk today - I'm back!

Why join something such as the 365 Mile Challenge? At the level I joined, it wasn't free, but I have felt it was worth it. My purchase has made the materials we receive available, for example, the tracking sheets which keep me on track - literally. I can see my journey, and I can see when I haven't ventured out. The community on Facebook is amazing; very encouraging, it's nice to see pictures of places I've never been to, and overall a nice group of women to be involved with.

So - today's walk. I'm starting with a regular walk, only this time we did it in reverse. I should mention that my most consistent walking partner is my husband - W. He can get me out the door when I might not want to, and he's always been there as my main support. Anyway, we waited until later in the afternoon because we had been dismantling the holidays, cleaning up, and rearranging furniture. It had been pretty nice in the morning, but of course it was starting to rain as we left the house for the 2.6 mile walk. At one point, it was coming down pretty good, so I was glad for my rain jacket. It began to lighten up, because walking into a westerly blowing rain in your face has the potential to be not as much fun as it could be. When we got home, I checked the app on my phone I've been using to track for two years, and it was backwards - it got the mileage right, but switched my moving time with my stopped time, which completely messed up my pace! I deleted the app in the hopes of startling it into compliance, but instead I lost all of my data from the last two years. Oh well - moving forward!

2.6/365

January 5, 2020

I've kept up the walking streak, so it's 5 days in a row. The weather has been a mixed bag; rain, wind, sort-of-sun, chilly wind. So far, all of my miles have been in the neighborhood right from the front door, so it's time to venture out. Do I love doing the 365 Mile Challenge 2020? That would be an unequivocal YES!

12.51/365