Life Past 30

Lately, I have been having bouts of nostalgia and feeling like I want to be 16 again.  That was a great for me, although it was not a great time for many people here at that time.  The city was dealing with a highly elevated crime rate with people being killed almost every night.  Back then, I was two years away from being a legal adult and making my own decisions and I loved it.  Life was still good when I turned 18, got my first tattoo, danced the night away at a club for the first time, and enlisted in the Marine Corps.  Fourteen years later, I am sometimes amazed at how those early days seem like yesterday to me.

I love being 32 and feel stronger, mentally and physically, than I did after becoming a Marine.  I have always heard that the “thirties” is the decade where you find yourself and mold yourself into what you want to be.  Since 2006, I have learned it is also the time when little things have more importance and you give more thought to your actions and behavior.  Although perpetually impatient, I am calmer than my 21 year old self.  I am still learning that wisdom comes from life experiences, both good and bad, and how you deal with them.  I even find myself telling my daughter the same things my mother used to say to me.

Regaling my daughter with stories of my childhood and early adulthood give me great pleasure because it enables me to share my memories of a different era with her.  Every day, I try to make her youth as enjoyable or better than mine was.  Watching her grow into young woman is the best thing I could ask for.  This growing up thing is pretty cool.

For the past week or so, I have added a few extras to my usual meals.  I feel guilty, but I have not been able to stop myself.  Sure, I will start training again in December, but the “bad stuff” has been so delicious.  My usual diet consists of brown rice, lean turkey breast, lots of fish, some shrimp, tofu, pasta, potatoes, and dark green vegetables.  Spinach is my favorite and has completely replaced lettuce in my salads for the past two years.  You can imagine how angry I was when spinach was recalled a little while ago.  I was forced to eat Romaine lettuce instead, but at least it is dark green and has more nutrients than lettuce.

Now, back to my recent unhealthy munches.  I have been snacking on chocolate, chips, and even had a few brownies.  The funny thing is I enjoyed every bite, crunch, and chew while feeling horribly guilty at the same time.  Is that even possible?  Apparently it is and I have proof.  When I went to the grocery store tonight, I bought a box of brownies that contains 6 packs (12 brownies total) for a $1.39.  I convinced myself that I would not have one until tomorrow while at work.  Well, I can tell you THAT plan did not work out well.  I had one pack because the creamy texture of the brownies was just too much to resist at that moment.

I believe this latest snack attack is the result of me wanting to run and not being able to.  When I was training regularly, it was a rarity for me to crave any kind of junk food, but I would indulge in chocolate every now and then.  The healthy lunch of steamed green beans and cod I had today made me proud.  I did not even look at the french fries that were laid out in all their golden splendor.  As of now, the junk fest ends.

For the past two days, I have been on a roll with crocheting some small, wearable crocheted items.  The first one, completed on Wednesday, is a white scarf trimmed in yarn that alternates from off-white to black.  The second is a belt that can be worn with almost anything casual or business-related.  It seems my desire for crocheting has increased as the temperatures have dropped in the area.  It is obviously the result of me having to brave the brisk, cold winds of my commute.  This weekend shall bring to fruition a warm and fuzzy afghan.

The weather this morning was cold, yet mild because the wind gusts were mild.  Luckily, I have not been in pain, even with the cold temps and that is good thing.  Osteo Bi-Flex is proving to be a wonderful supplement.  As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, the happier I become because the time for regular training is also drawing near.  I will have four days off next week (!!) and plan on training and crocheting as much as possible.  I doubt I will overeat, but I will have a second helping of turkey.  I love those birds!  The road is calling me and my feet cannot wait to pound the pavement.  I feel great and look forward to loading lots of fresh air into my lungs.

Here are the pictures of what I made:

I finally finished making the scarf I started.  The great finale happened at lunch time and wasn’t I the happiest person for about 10 minutes!  It will be worn this evening to help me battle the frigid cold that has descended upon the area in recent days.  Although I have been taking the Osteo Bi-Flex tablets every day, I have been experiencing pain in both my knees, but that is only due to the arthritis.  During the day, I sit right beside a large window that gives me a view of one of the Metro stations and part of the sky.  I was freezing today and the heat is not exactly doing its job.  Right now, the sky is looking quite creepy and some flat, well organized clouds have moved in.  Could that be snow?  I hope. 

Now, as far as my knees go, they are almost normal.  The operative word here is “almost”.  If it was not for the cold temperatures, they would not hurt at all.  The only thing I can do is keep moving throughout the day and make sure I keep them warm.  It might also help if my desk was not so close to the window.  As soon as I get home, I am going to put on my sweatpants and set the heat at 90 degrees for at least 30 minutes, then lower it.  This is coming from someone who does not like a lot of heat, but I must make an exception today.  I’m cold!

I must rescind the “Worst Morning” award given to yesterday’s morning rush hour.  THIS morning was the worst, but crocheting helped me deal with it.  As I progressed in making the scarf I plan on wearing out of here this evening, I stopped caring about the traffic and was happy to have the seat beside me remain empty all the way to the downtown area.  Not one person interrupted me while I crocheted and my ears were not assailed by the screaming of young children.  Don’t get me wrong, I love children, but I cannot tolerate uncontrolled outbursts and fits.  That is just one reason why I do not go to Chuck E. Cheese’s.  Overall, the bus was very quiet and that is always a great thing.   

I woke up in a great mood this morning because, for the first time in a long time, I was able to snag 9 hours of sleep last night.  I honestly cannot recall the last time I was able to do that.  I stayed away from the computer when I got home and was not tempted in the least to log on.  Feeling good as I write this post, my mind is racing with thoughts of running again.  December 1st will be here before I know it and the prospect of hitting the pavement and clearing my head is so welcoming.  I have been perusing a few sites that sell workout clothing and found a few items that will be perfect for running in the cold.  The shoes I wore during the marathon still have a lot of miles on them, but I plan on buying another pair soon.  With the number of miles I plan on running, the new shoes will come in handy.  Now, if only I could find a way to fast forward through the next couple of weeks. 

As I have written before, the bus is the mode of transportation I use to get to and from work during the week.  Normally, the ride is uneventful and relatively quick, however, this morning was the worst of all.  Sure, it could get worse, but since I cannot see into the future, it holds the record for the worst morning on the bus.  First, I had to stand in the cold among many other people who were waiting to get on the bus.  After boarding and finding a seat, I, along with everyone else, had the displeasure of having to sit in traffic for 20 minutes before finally being able to get across the bridge.  I would not normally get upset over this, but I left the house a little earlier than usual and feel my time was wasted.  Reaching the bridge has become somewhat of a problem in recent days due to the increased amount of traffic.  The lower gas prices have been luring people back into their cars and since they have hit road, morning rush hour has been a nightmare. 

Learning to be patient is a daily battle for me and some days are worse than others.  However, I do not see a logical reason for drivers to take so long to press the gas pedal when the light turns green.  How hard is it for someone to accelerate their car when they see a green light.  There is nothing mesmerizing about a green light, but I could be wrong.  Were it not for those “slow ones”, the traffic flow just might improve a bit.  I think that is asking too much of them, especially since most of them are preoccupied with something else when they should be watching the road…and the lights.  I will be crocheting on the bus tomorrow, you know, just in case there’s a 30 minute delay in traffic.  Now I wish the gas prices were above $3 a gallon.   

Normally, I am a very busy person who has a problem with sitting down too long.  The only time sitting for a while does not bother me is when I am blogging and surfing the net or crocheting a project.  My parents used to have to tell me to walk instead of running to get from one place to another.  In school, teachers used to tell me to slow down and that I moved too fast.  I could never understand why everyone was always telling me to move a little slower.  Now I know why.

Since running the marathon, I have been taking things one day at a time and not forcing myself to do more than I feel I can handle.  It is taking some time getting used to because used to doing something all the time, but at the same time, it is allowing me to be able to enjoy things more.  In past, distant and recent, I always placed time restrictions on almost everything I did, including getting ready to see a movie and going to dinner with my family.  To me, completing any task as quickly and efficiently as possible was my goal.  I understand why slowing down a little is so important.

I am taking a break and now learning to savor moments a little more and enjoy my life experiences without feeling weighed down by thoughts of what I have to do next.  Honestly, the slower pace I have been working on has eased some tension, however, I still have those urges to race to the next task.  Surely, with more practice, I will be able to master it, but who knows for how long.  That is a question that can be answered only with the passing of time.

It must be the constant rain we have been having here, but I am feeling all of my 32 years today.  Some may say that is not a long time, but tell that to my knees.  It has been raining here since last night and has not let up.  Since this morning, my knees have been swollen, I have been in a slight fog, and the only thing on my mind is the weekend.  Even Osteo Bi-Flex could not fully tackle the pain today.  It must be the weather because I was feeling great yesterday and had lots of energy.

Over the years, I always heard people talk about how one’s body starts to reveal everything that has been done to it as you grow older.  I used think they were loopy or just making things up.  Boy, was I wrong!  I am now fully convinced they were telling the truth as I have spoken with many other people since then who have told me the same thing.

On days like today, it is as if my body reminds me of the crazy stunts I pulled when I was in school and the military.  One of those stunts was when I jumped out of my second story window at the barracks in Okinawa to escape “field day”, a weekly cleaning of the common areas and private rooms of the barracks.  I usually got stuck with stripping and buffing the floors because I made a mistake of doing a good job the first time.  The window was the only way escape since the building was on an unofficial lock down until the cleaning was done.  I can only imagine the damage that jump did to my joints.

Aside from everything written above, I believe some of the pain I have been feeling today can be attributed to my body healing from the stress of running the marathon.  Every now and then when I reach to pick something up from the floor, I feel a slight tinge of pain in my back, but some gentle stretching takes care of that.  I have a date with my pillow and will be turning in soon.  Hopefully the rain will be gone tomorrow so I can feel better.

You’ve heard it before.  It has been written and talked about in all forms of media over the years.  People who have sedentary jobs have been warned they are twice as likely to gain weight if they work in an office and remain seated for most of the day.  Snacking while sitting at your desk can also contribute to what I call ”Office Ass” because the gluteus is usually the first part of the body that starts to grow without exercise.  It kind of sneaks up on you until one day you put on your favorite pair of jeans find they’re a lot more snug than usual or cannot be zipped up.  Sitting at a desk all day never bothered me in my 20s because I exercised regularly, but after I had knee surgery, I was forced to slow down.  As I got closer to 30, I became more active when I noticed some weight gain.  At a former job, I used to work out at the gym during my lunch breaks or run around the business complex.  Now that I am in my 30s and know my metabolism will gradually slow down as I get older, I am fighting OA every chance I get.  When I’m at my desk, I perform leg lifts, then I get up to do lunges and squats and walk around the building at least twice a day at a fast pace.  My profession requires me to be at my desk for hours, but that does not mean I have to succumb to OA.  If you have a desk job, don’t fall victim to OA, just fight it. 

I used to love winter and the snow that usually accompanied it.  The blizzard of 1982 is my favorite memory because the snow came up to my knees and my mom and I used to throw snowballs at each other.  When I was younger, extreme winter conditions did not bother me as I always hoped for lots of snow.  Now, I dread winter because the cold sometimes finds a way to seep into my body and settle there.  I am sure this is partly due to the high activity levels I maintained throughout my childhood, during my time on active duty, and aging.  I am not that old, but I have learned that everything physical thing you do in your youth has a way of catching up to you as you get older.

Until last year, winters had been brutal to my knees, caused them to stiffen often, and made walking up and down the stairs difficult and painful.  Osteo Bi-Flex has helped me out a lot and taken away the pain, however, I am curious to see how it will help me deal with this year’s cold temperatures.  It has been slightly cold here for the past two days and I have not had any pain, except for when I sprinted for the bus yesterday, and have been able to use stairs without any problems.  If all goes well, I will be ice skating again.