Gosh darn, it has been over a month since my last blog post! I do have a couple of excuses. First, my domestic situation has been occupying way too much of my attention and energy, and not in a good way. I am happy to report that things have improved greatly on that front this week, and I look forward to soon putting that source of distraction behind me as we head into summer.

It was a four-barre day in Ballet class last Saturday.

I have also been doing some consulting work. I am a pensioner, and my pension will pay for the basics, but things like restaurant sampling, gyrotonics sessions, 3-4 dance classes a week at Elevation Studios, … add up to some significant added overhead, so I have taken on a statistical consulting gig to generate the income to support my habit. Unfortunately, that requires that I also invest some of that most precious of commodities, my time.

I have also been in a rebuilding mode. When I had my triceps reattached back in September I was put on limited duty for an extended period by my surgeon. In the interest of healing properly I kept myself off the bicycle for 6 months, and also no down dogs in that time frame which restricted my ability to do flow yoga.

Staying off the bike was a big problem. I have found from bitter experience that in order to maintain my weight I need to expend 1000 active calories daily. By my accounting, that translates into a 25 mile bike ride or a 10 mile walk; or any combination of the two with 100 calories allotted per mile of walking and 40 calories/mile on the bike. For me, bicycle riding is a lot more efficient and reliable than walking, and I was gaining at least a half-pound per week.

Cast of the 100th Boobie Trap!

Since I have been back on the bike I have managed to at least stop that trend, and I am now working on reversing it. The downside is that once again, massive expenditures of time are required!

Now for the update! The feet are working better than they have in years, and this past Wednesday I crossed the 15 miles/30,000 steps threshold for the first time in a long time, and I have been averaging about 11 miles/day of walking. That, plus the bike riding, yoga (courtesy of Silver Sneakers), dance, mat Pilates, Gyrotonics, and just plain keeping active, has me feeling pretty good.

I had pulled one of my very deep hamstring/glute muscles back in January, and that hampered me a lot for a long time. Last night, however, when I was at the Fox Coffee House open mic I kept on folding into uttanasana just because it felt so good to be able to fold again. It’s been a while, and it felt real good!

The triceps are coming along, but I have been having a lot of trouble with my left shoulder. When I saw my surgeon a couple of weeks ago I asked him to prescribe physical therapy for the shoulder, so I am now back at Memorial Orthopedic Surgical Group for PT with Jason Smith. Jason successfully herded me through a rotator cuff problem with my right shoulder a year and a half ago, and after just a couple of sessions I am already seeing some improvement. Once again, however, more time is required!