Whirlwinds, Wipeouts and Wine…coloured lips

ermagawd.

Seriously. 

I have no idea what happened to the last few weeks.  In two short weeks I was in 5 Canadian provinces and 2 American States…and now I am beginning a two and a half week stint at home and I couldn’t be happier.

So what has happened in the last 1.5 weeks…well…lots, silly!   Time to debrief on the whirlwind…

I went to Minneapolis and it was lovely.  The temps were amazing–with the Saturday of that weekend hitting the 70′s…or 21 degrees celsius.  I had horrible shopping luck (spend $15 on myself–bought some pantyhose from Nordstrom’s Rack), but got to enjoy an awesome afternoon of Vikings football and then the Bruce Springsteen show, which was 3 hours of amazingness…even if it was slightly evangelical at times.

Coming home from that trip was a bit of a drag.  The nice Minnesota weather did not follow us home.  Rather it was a snowy, sloppy mess thanks to a massive weekend blizzard.  Another part of that “drag” was the fact that, upon arriving at home, I had to unpack and repack for my trip to Ottawa.

Ottawa was exhausting, life affirming and a bit annoying.  My mild sleeplessness that presented itself in Minneapolis continued and worsened while in Ottawa as did my eating habits, thus leaving me feeling quite crappy and annoyed that my mind and body were not cooperating with me.  It was life affirming in that, well, I got to see some lovely friends, celebrate Diwali, hit an amazing spa called Le Nordik, and even impressed President and VP of my work.  I managed to sneak in two 3-mile runs–all of which felt horrible.

Aside from the brief downtime at the spa in Ottawa (though technically it was in Quebec), I was going from the moment I decided to stop tossing and turning in my bed in sleepless frustration til I got home and tossed in turned to ever so briefly fall asleep.  Even upon flying home from Ottawa, I had a commitment– my lovely friend C’s bachelorette dinner (in lieu of a party), which started the moment my plane landed. 

Saturday came and I was pretty useless most of the day.  Then I got my hair and make up done for the wedding. Needless to say, I took risks in my make up and my dress/shoe choice–but I so loved it and for a change, didn’t really care what others thought.  I strutted into that wedding like I owned the place–and it felt damn great.

Me all gussied up for the wedding!

Know what else was great? The wedding.  Everyone looked so good, the venue, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, was fantastic, the snacks and cocktails were great and continuously flowed, and my friend and her man got married in a wonderful, short, but beautiful ceremony.  I think what I liked most is that it felt like a gala party, that also happened to be a wedding.  Plus, since it was small, you actually got to spend some quality time with the bride and groom–a definite plus if you ask me.

Sunday…well…Sunday I was feeling like death due to sleep deprivation.  I ended up going to the after party for the wedding and not getting home until 4am-ish. lol.   Not the wisest idea for someone who hasn’t slept properly in weeks…especially since I had drunk a bit at the wedding which wreaks even greater havoc on my sleep.  I almost would’ve taken a hangover over a sleep deprived night….that’s how wiped out I was.

wipeout–so messy

Oh and speaking of wipe outs–guess who wiped out en route to Starbucks for a much-needed holiday caffeine hit? yep…me.  I now have massive bruises on my knees, scuffed up boots and dirty jeans…though–it could have been worse–I could have ripped a hole in them.

****

So I never actually finished this post yesterday–so I am doing so this morning–my epic wipeout led me to have massively painful and swollen knees by the time I found myself at the gym.  I managed to run a mile before the discomfort and slight pain set in to a point where I could not continue.   I then walked for another 35 minutes or so followed by 15 minutes on the stationary bike.  I am hoping for much better progress tonight when it comes to project PR Princess as that running won’t do itself!

Much luv,

Leesah

Popped

Holy crap muffins!  Yes…I did write that weird statement because I sorta feel like it reflects how I am feeling–soft like a muffin and sorta crappy….

It’s so funny too….  Yesterday morning my day started with a real bit of pep in my step.  I really did feel just as my blog post had said–bubbly!

Somehow, though, throughout the day, my mood became less than bubbly.  Boo.  The bubble had popped and all of a sudden, I felt horribly run down…

My muscles/body started to ache…I felt like I had just ran a marathon after not sleeping for a day or two…and my mood and energy continued to tailspin after some frustrating moments at work (gah! I hope I am not getting sick–I can’t afford to get sick with all of this travel I have left in my travel marathon!)

Then I made a mistake in scheduling and may have pissed off a friend of mine for having to back out of some plans we had made when I was all migrainey (and thus not with it exactly) a few weeks ago–which made me feel bad and then my workout was just a waste of time.  My just show up theory, which works a majority of the time, was not going to work today.  This is when I decided to break  out some potato chips for a late dinner–not the smartest move and I feel a wee bit guilty…but they were delicious and, remarkably, my weight has not gone up as per the usual when I eat meals high in carbs and salt.

I still have a residue of meh-ness from yesterday.  To try and remedy this so that I’m ready for my weekend in Minnie I decided to try and pep myself in the best ways  I know how, while being kind to myself too.  Today I wore a new blouse and blazer from J. Crew (yes–I had another personal shopping appointment while I was in Edmonton–bad Leesah).  The colours are amazing and make me feel rather put together which is good on a meh day when I have external meetings and otherwise feel completely not together).   

I have also decided to keep it low key for the rest of the day when it comes to my workout plans.  I’m bowing out of cross fit and aiming to do a slow but steady run at the gym just to burn a few calories and do something that is somewhat comfortable (vs cross fit which is all about pushing you out of your comfort zone).  Plus, by going to my gym, I’m giving myself an extra hour of time, which I will use to help tidy up for my brother’s big poker party that he’s having while he house sits (hence why I also had chips in the house to eat for dinner yesterday) and pack for my weekend away in the Minnie-Apple.

I must say, however, it feels weird to be ”kind” to myself.  Normally, when I get into these moods, especially when I’m sort of beginning a heavier fitness regimen, I beat myself up when my body/mood/motivation aren’t working and I just force myself/torture myself, until I just get it done.  I’m eager to see the results of this approach. 

What do you all do when you begin to feel run down, meh, stressed, etc?  Anyone have any tips to share?

Love Leesah