Look Inside to Awaken: September 2021

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

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Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.— Carl Jung

It’s funny how stuff from Carl Jung aligns with Yoga Philosophy, and yet, apparently, despite some Yoga practice, Jung absolutely felt Westerners shouldn’t practice Yoga (there’s a lot of interesting blog posts on the subject, and one that I like its this one here).

Yet the quote above could easily be seen as an interpretation of some of the Yoga Sutras, a very famous set of aphorisms about Yoga that are quite ancient. Ok, I can almost feel your eyes glazing over now. It’s fascinating to me, anyway. I totally agree that becoming clear is about going inward, and Fall moving into Winter is a great time for that.

Getting in scheduled runs
September brought continued trips to mom, although not as many as I thought there would be. Still no scheduled runs, but still running — short running — when I can.

Grade Earned:  A for Effort

Recording my runs
I have veered off course here again . . . seriously, I need to start using my planner again because it helps me to keep focused. It’s a broken record, folks! But hey, I did finally got a haircut, LOL!

Grade Earned: C

Dynamic Warmup
As the mornings get cooler the warmups get more important. I did have one morning recently when it was in the low 50s — yes I did my warmup, but I shivered my way through it and the first half mile or so. Then I was fine.

Grade Earned: A

Foam Rolling
Most days I roll the calves (you can see my video here). Occasionally I do the whole leg. I’ve kind of gotten away from doing things like my back . . . although just last weekend I did do it (and the whole leg).

Grade Earned: A-

There were more treats than normal this month, less running although a fair amount of activity, but I still try to keep it healthy

Nutrition
I actually haven’t weighed myself since before we went to ME. For a while I felt like I’d lost some weight. At least my clothes feel a tiny bit better. Every time I get into a groove with better nutrition it seems I go to my mom — I can’t eat in her dining room, so I have to bring all my food with me. Then I’m too drained when I get back to cook for myself! I still have a couple of pieces of chocolate from ME, but OTOH there’s been some (unphotographed) cake before and after my Yom Kippur fast (it was so good) and then it was Mr. Judy’s birthday recently.

I finally did weigh myself. Definitely higher than it should be but this week in particular we ate out three times and while I’m sure some of that is due to water retention, not all. I’m not gonna stress but I’m also not letting it get away from me.

Grade Earned: B+ (for trying)

Way back at the beginning of the month this short walk around Olana yielded plenty of pretty photos which I never got around to sharing. Never disappoints me. Always something different to see.

Cross Training
Yoga, ST, lots of walking recently. Not a lot of hiking, sadly, it’s been raining so much! We’ve had 40″ (that was a few rains ago) so far this year. I checked Seattle, which has had 20″ so far this year . . .

A fun morning walking with friends & looking at the tugboats

Grade Earned: A+ again for effort

September 2021  gets  . . . 
. . . an A. I’d like to say my mom is doing fine and well settled in. Physically her hip healed up well and she’s using a rollator and steadier on her feet than before her accident. She also has diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart failure, and we haven’t yet been able to really quite balance all that. In addition there are mounting signs of growing mental issues.

September Goals:

  • Run 3 x week. Y. Even 4 times once. The mileage is quite low, but that’s okay.
  • ST 3 x week. Y/N.  I think I hit it most weeks, but last week there was only twice. I meant to do three times but somehow it got away from me on Sunday.
  • A project with a friend. N. Still on hold, but we have gotten together a few times. For fun. She’s just had surgery so it is probably on hold for a while.
  • At least one hike. Y/N. I’m not sure my walk around Olana is really hiking, but it’ll have to do. Just too rainy lately! The tugboat walk was at a local park and could be considered an easy hike.
  • Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. Y. Another fast (this time for Yom Kippur). My clothes feel better, but the weight? Who knows? Well, now I do know.

Which leads me to October Goals:

  • Run 3 x week. I’ve been fairly successful at 3 x week and even squeezed in 4 x week a few times. I have one doctor appointment to take my mom to in October (so far, anyway).
  • ST 3 x week. I’ve mostly managed this lately. I want to keep up with that!
  • Get back to a different course that’s been on hold for a while. I am almost through the reading and videos for this particular course; there’s a lot of homework still to do. But I’m finished with the RRCA course and the First Aid/CPR course so now it’s time to tackle what’s left of this course.
  • At least one hike. October is a pretty time to hike. If it would just stop raining, I really want to get out there more than once — it’s our anniversary, too.
  • At least one real rest day a week. Sometimes when I’m staying at my mom’s it just doesn’t happen because what would be my rest day is spent taking care of her and then driving there or home. I thought our most recent visit would just be social, but I had to take care of some things. I’m definitely trying to get more rest, and sometimes I’ve managed it and other times I’m just too busy carertaking.
  • Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. It’s always a goal, of course. I’ve just been at a plateau at a higher weight than I’d like. I want to continue to try to limit frozen foods (when possible) and maybe it’s time to downsize some portions, too, while I’m not running as much.

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Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner

This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.

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26 thoughts on “Look Inside to Awaken: September 2021”

  1. Well done on your September goals, Judy! Especially that you managed to stick to running three times a week (even four!).
    I weigh myself regularly, too. Clothes are a good way of measuring weight changes, but I like seeing the numbers on the scale.
    Have you managed to get that massage? Or is it still pending? I hope you get to have it soon.

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    1. Funny, we were just talking about the massage. I know lots of people do it, but it’s still something I don’t feel comfortable doing (although I’ll get my hair cut again, soon! It was just me & my hairdresser there).

      I used to be much heavier, and I’m definitely up about 5 lbs right now. So I’ve gone back to more regular weighing; it just helps me, everyone is different.

      Oddly my clothes don’t feel too bad, but I know it’s time to work a bit harder on that.

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  2. Weight is just a number. If you clothes look good, who cares?

    Another good month. You are back to running several times a week.

    I do enjoy the cooler temps but it’s so dark early.

    My goal is to hike more too. I started back last Sunday.

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    1. Unfortunately life just hasn’t been conducive to much hiking for me lately.

      Being a healthy weight is something I do care about. Health isn’t just about getting all the shots & appointments. And for some of us maintaining that healthy weight can be challenging.

      My parents left me a health legacy that isn’t the greatest — by staying active and eating healthy I hope to bypass some of the things they went through.

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    1. As I said to Darlene, it’s important to me to try to hold off all the health problems my parents had, and some of that was absolutely due to poor eating habits. Not the only reason, of course, but it definitely contributed to it.

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  6. I know it must be so hard to keep up with your goals when you’re going to your moms and worrying about her so much, but you’re doing great! Hopefully your mom will continue to improve and things will get a little easier for you soon.

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  8. My eyes aren’t glazing over! Interesting about Jung- I looked at the article you mentioned (tbh I skimmed it) – intriguing viewpoint. ANYWAY… sounds like you’re doing well with your goals, as far as it’s within your control.
    Interesting discussion here about weight- I’m getting that you’re not beating yourself up over how you look, but are just concerned about maintain a weight for health reasons. It’s definitely a tricky balance.
    Good luck with it all this month!.

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    1. The weight thing is always on there because I’ve been overweight for most of my adult life. I’m in a fairly good place but it’s also very easy for me to gain weight. My family tree is full of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia — so yes, I feel eating healthy & maintaining a healthy weight is important. It’s no guarantee, of course, but I also feel better when I eat better. And obviously I do treat myself too. 😊

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  9. I remember studying a lot about jung in all of my psych programs so that is really interesting from that point of view. You had a solid month of training with a lot of demands on you. Cheers to a healthy and happy October

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    1. Those are the daikon radishes. They were good!

      The weird thing was my clothes actually did fit a little better. A lot of it was water weight, but I still need to lose a good 5 pounds.

      Sometimes I really just need the accountability of seeing a number on the scale!

      I live in athleisure though. 🙂

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