Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I could never be a gymnast

Yesterday, on my last day of "vacation," I decided to use the paint I'd bought for the guest room to paint the stairwell and upstairs hall. I decided I don't like the color for a bedroom but I didn't want to waste it and the stairwell walls are as nasty as the rest of the walls were when I moved in.

dun dun duuuuunn...























Things were going pretty well until I realized, as I was standing on a chair at about the same location I was standing to take that picture, that my balance is worse than I thought. After wobbling and suffering a pseudo heart attack, I decided I'm enlisting help for the parts I can't reach safely. So, to recap: I'll risk cutting off my toes to remove a mirror and a broken face to replace a bathroom faucet, but when it comes to self home repairs, I draw the line at falling down a flight of 18 steps to my death at the risk of having a half-painted stairwell.

Ever since I've had dizziness off-and-on, I've been skeptical of the original diagnosis of an inner-ear condition. However, recent events make me think there may be something to it and I didn't really feel like testing it out yesterday.

During Insanity workouts, there are two exercises that I just can't do because I fall over every time:  
suicide drills and hit the floor. Basically, you go quickly back-and-forth sideways and touch the floor in between. And "hit the floor," I do.


















I also have almost fallen over in the shower a few times lately, just standing there, and when I was home for Christmas I realized that while hugging my family members, I get the feeling like we're falling over but the other person doesn't. So so strange. I have absolutely no idea if there's anything I can do about it so for now I'll just avoid reaching over the steps and replace any floor-hitting with other exercises.

Speaking of exercises, I've formulated a running plan for 2013. First of all, I won't be paying to run any races. I've decided that this year I will focus on the house and working on getting out of debt. (so if anyone has a treadmill they're looking to give away, pick me!) Therefore, I'm going to train for and run my own race. No, I'm not joking. It won't be nearly as fun but I'm still reaching for that half marathon PR and to get speedier. Also, because why not, I want to be able to do a 10-minute plank this year. As far as other goals, I am going to train Pippi to balance things on her head.

I'm under no illusions that she'll be able to do this. One or
two treats is all I'll ask.























To be honest, I have no clue how many miles I ran in 2012. I had a goal of 700 miles and then I un-signed up for DailyMile and quit tracking them. Also, my goal of doing a pull-up got shattered when I got rid of my gym membership bought my own house with no room for a pull-up bar. But then again, I think "bought my own house" trumps "do one pull-up".

Here's to 2013!


8 comments:

  1. one of mine is to do a 5 min. plank!

    your other resolution should be to take a trip to NYC!

    Also, the only race i'm doing is the NYC marathon. And maybe a half as a training run sometime. but that's it. And no watch running for me until July. Which shouldn't be hard, as i currently have no idea where it is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm pretty sure most people would be in danger of falling down stairs balanced like that! I'm glad you decided to play it safe. As for the other dizzy spells, maybe it's time to go back to the doctor...a different doctor who can give you more answers or ways to combat it. Didn't one tell you that it would be cured if you gained weight? Why not pack on the pounds over the winter just to test it out :)

    Also, I would like instructions on how to teach a dog to balance things on their head. I bet Mike would love to try that with Bungee.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Smart move to stop painting:) There are plenty of virtual races going around with prizes. You should sign up for some of those:) I will probably have a couple on my blog too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. There is no running police that will come find you, but in general you have to be in an actual race to count something as a PR.
    like my half PR is 2:16 even though I've run 13.1 in training in 1:52.

    10 min plank sounds bad ass! you'll have abs of steel :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dude I'm a little worried about your dizziness. What was your inner ear diagnosis as I don't remember?

    Also, our goals are pretty much the same for 2013! SO FUN! Ehmm not. I'm still doing Chicago though, I neeed at least one epic adventure to look forward to.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wait the 10 minute plank thing is for real? Sorry I honestly thought it was a joke! Is that even physically possible? So ignorant of core work over here.

    Do a virtual race like Kari's virtual mile and then we can all play!

    And seriously I second the second opinion thing. Doctors can be wrong!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I used to get dizzy spells too (turns out I was just pregnant haha, so that was an easy diagnosis!) but they are the worst! I'm sorry to hear yours are returning!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't think I have the attention span for a 10 minute plank. I get bored after one minute. I'll spot something shiny and forget I'm supposed to be planking.

    ReplyDelete