DIY & A Loss

A shot of a juvenile, migrant Stonechat. I spent a wonderful hour with this confiding youngster. As is often the case with juveniles, it let me get within photographic distance, which is a real treat.

Ok, so the last couple of weeks have been a bit out of the ordinary. I skipped the gym/pool on Friday 30th Sept. We had this exceptionally still, warm weather (~29 deg C) for a good 5 days and I needed to take advantage of it to get some household maintenance done. So, last Friday through to Tuesday was spent preparing and then re-sealing and painting the porch door frame and concrete surround. Hopefully, that will sort out the damp issues I was getting inside the porch.

The other reason for missing the gym was because the muscles through my pelvis have been really sore/inflamed. They've still not settled down and I took it very easy on them at the gym yesterday.

The DIY was exercise enough and I tried to make sure that I didn't overdo it or get hyper-focused. All too often, I get into a state where I completely tune out from my body/needs and concentrate solely on the job in hand. This often leads to a 'crash' afterwards and a need for days of recovery. This time, I think I just about got the balance right - making sure I took breaks and 'tuned out' regularly from the job.

On Tuesday evening I heard that my Granny had died. It had been expected but even so, these things tend to throw me. I skipped my pottery class that evening (term started the previous Tuesday).

It's been a funny old week since then. I guess that's the way things are with bereavement. It tends to produce a sense of unreality and difficulty in processing normal daily life. I keep thinking about next week - the funeral - and wondering if I'll cope ok. Generally, I've felt a bit tired and the gym yesterday was a little more arduous than normal.

Essentially, I did the usual gym set but left out the step-ups and kept the weight lower on the leg press (10 reps 41kg; 10 reps 48kg). I also managed to snap my blue theraband doing the hip abduction/adduction/extensions, which is annoying. I'm not sure where I'll get another one. I felt tired out through the afternoon/evening and had the usual mild strains through my trunk/legs. However, the right upper thigh/front of hip problem wasn't aggravated yesterday, which made a very welcome change!

I'll be at the funeral next Friday so no gym session next week. It feels now as though my mind/focus is fixed upon that point in time and the next few days are all 'leading up to' then.

Post Script Sunday 9/10/2011: Watched the Xfactor last night (Link). Completely blown away by Craig Colton - what a voice and what a great guy. Gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it and brings tears to my eyes. Definitely the winner.