Too much "fun having" and feeling it.

The last three weeks have been a little frustrating for me as far as losing weight.  The first week and a half I dropped some weight pretty fast, and now I seem to be hovering within 2 pounds up or down.  Still about 10 pounds away from where I want to be.  I haven't been able to exercise as much as I had planned, due to several unforeseen "incident" injuries (first the bruised heels from my ski touring incident, then a stiff neck for 5 days from a stressful Friday at work which was thankfully relieved by a couple of acupuncture sessions with Master Lu, then a skiing injury where I probably should have fallen but thankfully did not, because I probably would have either broken my nose or torn my shoulder).  Thankfully my injuries due to incidents are because I am so active and having what some might say is a little "too much" fun.

my dad (left) and his brother, ca. 1946.

family resemblance ~ I think I am definitely a "Berkel".

I "nearly fell" skiing last Tuesday, and really couldn't do much of anything for the next couple of days.  I was skiing groomed runs pretty fast and got one ski caught up in the heavy, wet snow.  I got twisted around to one direction, then corrected to the other direction (all while standing on one foot) and pulled all of the muscles in one hip and across my lower back.  Well, when I say as a result that I couldn't do much of anything, I still took the dogs for short walks in the neighborhood, and I still went to Girls on the Run on Thursday; I just wasn't as active as I would have liked to have been.  My hip and back were just hurting me so much, and then my stomach started hurting because I was eating so much Ibuprofen.  By Friday, I was able to go on a short hike with the dogs, and gained some elevation, but not really able to run the downhill.  On Saturday I did an interval run in Liberty Park which was tough (the first interval workout of the season is always a tough one) and my speeds were a lot faster than I would have anticipated.  They were right on par with where I was about 5 months ago after Wasatch 100.

My hip and back were definitely sore come Saturday evening.  So today (Sunday) I did an easy 5 mile run in the neighborhood with the dogs just to try and stay loose and burn a few calories.  Artie definitely doesn't like running on a leash on the pavement.  About 51 minutes into the run I was nearly dragging her down the sidewalk by her leash.  The last few minutes of the run were a struggle for her.  Both dogs are napping happily now.

My back is still a bit stiff, but feeling a little better day to day.  Hopefully with the next few weeks I can get back on track and exercise a bit more and drop these last few pounds.  Until the injuries happened, I was actually feeling quite a lot fitter and healthier.  Hopefully I can get back to losing 2 pounds per week like I had planned.

This Friday was also my dad's birthday (RIP).  He would have been 73.  It's hard for me to believe that 10 years ago we were up at Soldier Hollow watching the Olympic Nordic Skiing races, and at Park City watching the men's Giant Slalom, and also at the Olympic Park watching the men's Skeleton competitions. The nordic skiing was a highlight, because we befriended some German fans who turned out to be the dads of some of the girls racing, and they gave us their tickets into the stadium (we had general admission tickets to the course) and we got to watch the women's skate relay sprint finish.  My dad was in his element when we were watching those events.  What a great memory.  Bittersweet.