Today, my puppy rocked out her run near Alamo Creek with some Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, Young Folks and more. We were able to run about 1.5 miles before she had to go potty. Such a good puppy!
Sigh. It was bittersweet to see the Frontier sign standing on the Las Vegas Strip. Last fall, I used video of the casino’s implosion in one of my newscasts. Closing down the Frontier marked the end of an era. It was part of a time when Vegas was an adult playground and legends like Sinatra, Newton and Elvis ruled the Strip. All good things…
Like the evolution of Sin City, I’m also learning about what I can and can’t do with my body at age 30.
Despite my crazy work hours, I’m still finding time to stay active and balanced. I try to fit in sun salutations and breathing exercises before work. On my weekends, I go running on the bike trail behind our house. Sometimes, I manage to sync up my weekends with the freestyle schedule at Vacaville Ice Sports.
I noticed it’s also taking me longer to recover from physical activity. There are days when my leg muscles remind me I’m no longer a teenager. In high school, I used to be able eat a meal before hoping on the ice. Now, I need at least 2 hours between eating and exercise. Or else, I feel bloated and nauseous. Plus, it kinda hurts to fall. At least, it hurts a little more than what I remember from my time on the ice….more than a decade ago.
I’m also feeling some of the physical strain from work. I spend hours at my workstation: typing up stories, mouse-clicking on video and letting my back stiffen under the pressure to break news and beat the competition. Sometimes it feels like a Goofy-sized stopwatch is sitting on my shoulders as I race to finish my teases and headlines before showtime. And those crazy work hours? I’m lucky when I can fall asleep in the daytime and catch 6 hours of sleep. Still, I’m still happy to be doing my dream job in my home state. I think exercising outside of the newsroom helps me stay sane and works out any aggression I have left over from whatever.
Oh yeah.
I also did something pretty stupid with my yoga practice back in Kansas. This time last year, I was in a plank position and I felt a tweak in my left shoulder blade. Then I kept going with the asana. I spent the last 12 months with a sore shoulder blade and back. It felt like I had a hot dog-shape lump wedged between my shoulder blade and spine. I thought I could tough it out, like how I treated twisted ankles and bruises during my skating days. I figured more yoga, stretching and loving massages from the hubby would straighten everything out.
It’s been a year and I think Mark’s hands are sore. He recommended I check out a chiropractor. I found a chiro practice that also used massage therapy. The doctor took some X-rays and found evidence of my Pathfinder-flipping days. Apparently, my neck curves in a different direction from a normal one. He said that’s consistent with a bad car accident injury. He also showed me signs of my skating days. I have a hip bone that’s turned inward severely. He said it’s probably from all the thousands of times I fell on the ice. My coaches once said I’d learn something from all those falls and I guess my body took away a souvenir from the experience.
So, after the last few weeks of back cracking and adjustments, my hot dog-shaped lump has shrunk and I’m not feeling a tweak in my shoulder blade when I do my yoga practice.
I think I can still play as hard, but I have to take care of my body.
Now, who wants to race me on the ice?
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