Shortest … entry… EVER…. sorry for lack of updates the past few days… between trying to get ready for this and dealing with my car crisis, I didn’t get to ‘finish up’ this blog pre-basic the way I wanted to. But heck, you go with the punches, right? You do what you gotta do!

My brother and a friend of mine have agreed to try and update this page for me via telephone if necessary, depending on my computer access!! They are swell folks and I’ll send you messages from The Big Mega.

Take care and thanks for joining me along this journey! It’s been a wild ride of 18 months but I’m ready for the next 12!  I almost want to say it’s going to be sort of like a vacation but I know it won’t be. It will however, be a change from everything I’ve been through the past two years. Can’t wait for this and my little warrior spirit will need to come out strong the next 14 weeks!!

byyyye!

What a day. Can I roll with the punches, or what? I take my crappy dodge caliber in for an oil change and I leave with a new freakin’ jeep. I’ve had my caliber since the accident and my hope was to hold onto for a year — until I get posted somewhere — and then get a new one. However, after the oil change it was revealed there was $1700 in work that needs to be done.  And, “it’s so dangerous, we have to get you to sign a paper before you leave because, it’s too dangerous to drive!”

Argh.

How can a three-year old car be ‘too dangerous to drive’??? What a piece of…  opportunity.

After some finangling and a very gracious friend, I’m able to leave the parking lot with a new, safe vehicle that is what I was hoping to get next year… and get it this year, only paying $50 more a month than I was paying for my crappy dodge caliber. And, it’s a standard. My my! I forgot how awesome standards were…

So, just so you understand what stress I am under… I am moving, I am starting basic training, I am about to spend all day tomorrow watching packers pack all my stuff… and I choose within a two hour period to buy a new vehicle.

I’m special that way…

Financially, it’s only $50 and really? After the accident before? I’m all for driving safe vehicles. If $50 more a month is going to put me into a safe vehicle, it’s worth it.

Stress wise? It’s really un-needed…

But ideally? This is a great opportunity that presented itself and sometimes you need to go with life’s little punches. And??? I am not a fate-type person but - I wanted a red, standard… and? That’s exactly what they had. So, we were meant to be together! 

Anyways, it’s 9pm and I just got home from work (and buying a car) and I need to get all my stuff ready for packing tomorrow!

I’ll update tomorrow night… so much going on, all at once.

I wonder how many entries I can come up with that start out with “The Best $$$ I ever spent…”!!?!?!

However, today I really mean it. Back in January I had originally scheduled a running assessement to be done but the accident pushed that back. When I was finally able to run decently, I developed bronchitis. And then I just forgot about following through with it and put it on the back-burner.

When I went to the running store the other day to get the shoes, I thought maybe it would be a good time to get that assessment done. I thought that perhaps if there is something critically wrong with my running technique, it would be great to know ahead of time so I can self-correct and avoid any injuries that could happen.

For 1.5 hours, she assessed everything! Where my feet ‘fall’ during a run, where I lift off, where I land, how I stand and all that fun stuff!  She also looked at my whole body to see how I hold myself as I run which can affect how your feet hit the ground, etc.

She also showed me how to manually manipulate my shins in case of shin splints and that it should be done regularly — not just when it hurts — which is good prevention. She said once I get running and they stretch more naturally, that I won’t need to do it as often.

I mentioned that a lot of people have told me to lengthen my stride when I run because they say I’ll be working less and covering more ground. I asked, “Is that true?”

“Absolutely not.” She said she was glad I asked that and she had me run on the treadmill bare-foot. I learnt two things from this… #1) I like running barefeet and it feels so much easier than with shoes! And, #2) I have near-perfect cadence which is suggested to be 180 steps a minute. I had 178. “Don’t change what you are doing stride-wise, you’re right where you need to be.”

Running wider strides affects your shins, your hips and your knees which will cause pain and discomfort as well as injury if you do it often enough.  If you don’t have the length in your legs, don’t push it! Take smaller, faster strides.

So, I’m happy that at least some of my running technique is ‘good’!

Last year I improved really quickly with my running but then it plateaued. She noted that some of the suggestions she mentioned, will help get me over that plateau. “Your hamstrings and calf muscles are very tight, once you get those loosened up you will see vast improvements with your running.” So, she showed me some ways to do that. She also suggested that about four hours after my workout has ended, to do another set of gentle stretches which will allow the muscles to lengthen a bit more.

She also does a lot of physio and assessments for the military folk here and she mentioned getting ready for the xpress test. “A lot of people get anxious over that and they tense up. Try to not freak yourself out when they do that.” I mentioned I’ve done it before and I know what’s coming up.  “Keep your body loose and relaxed and you’ll increase your chances of succeeding with it!”

Finally, she couldn’t get over the strength of my legs. “You have unbelievable strength in them!” but there was a few muscles that are weakened, that are preventing me from using those strong muscles effectively. It’s like, a weak link… again, she gave me some exercises that wil strengthen the ‘weak link’ muscles that will then allow me to utilise all of the muscles most effectively when running.

Again, more exercises to do for that! I have about six or seven that I should do regularly for my legs, back and the ‘core’ area which will strengthen what is weak. She mentioned I should notice very soon big improvements with the running.

She also mentioned that my strategy for building my muscles with weights and swimming, was the best thing to do after the accident and that most people wouldn’t think to do that while recuperating. “You made the best of a situation you had no choice over”… so, I’m very glad it worked out.

While she went over everything in the 1.5 hours, I would sometimes ask questions or make comments to make sure that I was really grasping what she said. “Have you taken kiniseology classes before?” she asked.

“Um, nope…”

“Well, it sounds like you have… most people don’t ask the kinds of questions you do, you seem to have a grasp about what a muscle does, what it could do and what kind of limitations it could have or — how it can affect others throughout your body. If the army thing doesn’t work out, you should consider a career in physiotherapy! You can see the big picture in the body and most people can’t.”

Wow, what a compliment!  But, no…. more…. school… for me.

Not right now anyways, until I go for my masters later!!

Anyways, I strongly recommend people get a running analysis done. It is expensive — I agree — but if you are serious about running and preventing future injuries, the $110 is well worth it! If it increases my chances of making it through basic (and I believe it will!) it’s the best bang for the buck.

I’ve mentioned a few times how I’ve been a tad on the exhausted side, getting ready for everything. My vitamin C regime appears to have worked and my throat is feeling tonnes better today. This is awesome news, believe me! I’d hate to start training sick. So, this is good!  However, overall I haven’t taken the time to just ‘chill’ and reframe myself before I head off. Yes, a lot of basic training is the physical preparation but mental preparation is just as important. Being in the right mindset when you go, is pretty important. You need to be confident, you need to feel good about your decision and you need to be at a place where you are strong to deal with everything new on your plate.

I’m not there yet — close, but not entirely.  But today, I had an awesome little day. My pre-move inspection went really well and there’s no extra work required for that. Then, a friend I met on a message board who just has recently completed her BMQ and trades training, was passing through town. We had dinner together and chatted about things and she gave some excellent tips!  She also made me feel more at ease about things and just said to give it your best try…  that is something I can definitely do!

By the end of dinner, I couldn’t wait to get going! That was exactly what I needed today to rejuvenate my thoughts and feelings about going today. It’s been such a long journey to get to this point. I’ve never taken my eyes off the goal but as time passes, you sometimes forget or lose sight of the passion that brought you to this point in the first place.  Tonight though, that gap of time closed and I rediscovered my excitment for this journey coming up.  Thanks for the pep talk BK!! Was definitely what I needed and I appreciate that!

This weekend, I’m working on taking time for myself. This is the last weekend until at least late September that I will have ‘free’ and I think it’s time to do something that I will enjoy and relax at the same time. I’ve decided to grab a frisbee and head to the beach for Saturday afternoon with the mutt. I won’t have a chance to see her for a few months which is the hardest thing for me. But, I’ve got a great place for her to stay and I know she will be spoiled and this allows me to go to basic without additional worry. I can’t wait to hurry up and get posted somewhere so that we can get back into tracking and perhaps into search and rescue at some point. It’s just another long-term goal that I need to keep my eyes on!

This upcoming week, I will be working Monday to Wednesday. On Thursday, it’s the packing day. On Friday, I pack my car with what I need the next few months and finally… off to St. Jean I go! This week will go fast and I can’t wait to get there!

Side note: Over the past year or two, I’ve used the occasional foul language on here. Usually I put it in to add some humour to situations or to drive home a point or just because I felt like it. However, now that I am official as a private and I’ve noticed I’m showing up on the google searches more frequently, I’ll be backing down on that. However, I’ve decided to not really censor my old entries. They are what they are but the ones in the future, I’ll watch the language a bit more.

Woke up this morning feeling a bit off and a tad of a sore throat. I’ve been feeling a bit run ragged the past two weeks and haven’t had much of an opportunity to do what I need to be doing. I had to choose between a paycheque and working out sometimes. A hard choice to make when you know in a few weeks, you need to be in tip-top shape. I lost out on a lot of training time the past six to eight months and it’s pretty discouraging. However, I read somewhere the other day that something like, 67% of our course time is in classrooms and I think, 13% is physical stuff. I can’t remember what the exact numbers were or what the other 20% is but I need to just believe that I can do this. I’ve come far and I know there’s still lots of room for improvement… but I’ve done so much this past year, that I never imagined I could do.

I’ve grown.

Faced with these adversities, I know I’ve grown in so many ways. While some of my friends joke that I seem to have the worst luck in the world sometimes, I know that these events happen so that I can learn something from them and maybe one day, the experience will come in handy somewhere! The last year, I’ve really tried to stay positive. With everything that has gone on, I can’t believe I didn’t go insane.

I’m stubborn.

I know that when I get an idea in my head, I need to follow through with it. I need to learn to trust my instincts again and just react instead of thinking things through. I need to just roll with things sometimes and I need to keep on doing what I’m doing. That’s the only way to finish something, right?

I’m determined.

I worked hard this past year. I will continue working harder the upcoming year. Easy as pie, right? Well, maybe it won’t be easy as pie but I will definitely keep being persistent and will keep remaining positive about everything that has been going on.

All of that being said, I can’t write too much more tonight. The pre-move inspection is tomorrow and I have quite a bit of things to do before they come. It’ll be a late night but at least I can sleep in a bit tomorrow (hopefully, depending how late I am up tonight!)… this weekend, regardless of what ‘work’ I have left done, I am doing two things to spoil myself! One, is sleeping in. Two? Going to the beach for the first time in years, and just relaxing in the warm sand and enjoying my one last stab of summer!!

Sorry guys, too much going on to make a decent entry these days. There’s only 24 hours in a day and a lot of those are eaten up by sleeping and work — and leaving a very small amount of time for doing much else. I’ve been trying to get everything done before I go, that needs to be done. Getting bills paid ahead of time or at least organised so my mom can do it for the first month or two that I’m away… getting my stuff sorted and packed to go into storage… buying whatever else I need before basic that I need…. getting stuff out of the storage that I’ll either need at basic or during the next year… a lot of things to think about and do, in a short amount of time.

The base traffic guy has set up the moving and Friday the movers come to do a pre-move inspection to see what I have to get packed. Most of my stuff is in storage so there isn’t much to be moved — it should go nice and quickly.

I also made an appointment for Saturday to have a running analysis done by someone who is certified. It’s an expense I can’t really afford but at the same time, I believe it will be useful throughout basic training. I would like to try and avoid any injuries or soreness by running incorrectly. If she can identify anything in my running gait that will cause discomfort over a long time, it would be good so I can be aware of it and try to self-correct as I run.  I had wanted to do this months ago but I had the bronchitis and couldn’t run for very long at all and then afterwards, just got too busy. I should have made time earlier for this! But, it is what it is! I’m interested to see what they say and will make sure I get an entry up on that.

Finally, before I head off for the night… good news! The “good samaratin” who stole my bag last week (accidently), returned it finally. I was very, very happy about this, trust me!!

Updates to come soon, I promise

Holy crap.

Running out of time, so much to do… this working full-time, working freelance and getting ready for the army stuff, ain’t much fun. I’m looking forward to Saturday, when I can sleep in and trust me! I will most definitely be sleeping in this weekend on both days because it’ll likely be the last time until end of November, that it’ll be possible!

Lots going on… will update more soon!

One of the requirements for women to bring to BMQ is three sports bras. Um… not sure about you but I LOATHE shopping for bras and trying to find a sports bra that doesn’t give you the infamous MONO-BOOB, is near-impossible.

And, if you are an impossible size like I am (larger around the rib-cage but smaller in cup-size), you can NOT find a bra to save your life.

(One thing to remember is that apparently fat people or big people never exercise, therefore, we never need sports bras, swimsuits, exercise tops or shorts or running pants that fit… seriously, honest to God, that is my biggest pet-peeve and I no longer hold back when I go to a ’sports store’ and they do not carry clothing that fit larger women. I usually comment, “Wow, so I guess fat people never exercise? I mean, how could they if they can’t get a pair of pants or a workout top that fits them? No wonder there’s so many fat people…I guess fat-people’s money is no good, eh?!” Okay, I better stop kvetching… but seriously! How can society expect anyone who’s fat to exercise, if we can’t find clothes that fit? Not all of us want to look like total slobs when we work out, some of us are vain and proud you know!)

End rant.

Back to the bra talk. Anyways, I managed to find three bras BARELY. One of them I bought before I went on my PRTC course. I can not for the life of me, remember where I bought it. I think it was probably a zellers which amazes me. It isn’t the best quality but it gives just a hint of mono-boob and it is adjustable both on the straps and in the back with clasps. Normally sports bras you get off the rack, are non-adjustable and therefore, lack support. So, do NOT buy those unless you’re absolutely SURE it will be what you need.

I am satisfied with my Zellers bra but it wasn’t perfect.

No indeed.

But, I found the perfect bra. I went to a specialty bra shop and they happened to have my impossible size!!

And, it also has a rating system of 1-4, for support. Mine is a 3 because they only had the one style at the store. But, the website located here would allow for a greater selection. I’m in a small city so there’s not a great need for sports-bras I guess but more and more retailers are starting to carry them (and for the larger women too, both boob-size and banding size!) which is awesome.

I also purchased it in black and ordered a second bra which has already come in. I would have ordered a third but at $70 a piece? That means I spent $140 this week on TWO bras.

When you pass BMQ and stuff, women are allowed a clothing allowance of approximately $150 a year for the purchase of bras. Obviously it’s something that is needed and since physical training is something mandatory and we need to have good support for the physical jobs we perform.  Later, you will purchase the bras at a store and take the receipt into work (there’s a place you go for this, I don’t know it offhand) and you will be reimbursed for them.

And the best thing about this bra??? NO MONO-BOOB. Honest to God, it’s like a real, normal bra. In fact, my good regular bra was stolen this morning so it looks like this sports-bra will have to pass for my regular bra for the next few months! And, I don’t mind whatsoever!

Other cool, snazzy features? See where that little ‘lacy’ section is up top? That’s actually almost like fishing line, it provides extra support. And, the straps are smooth and silky. It’s adjustable and at the top of the shoulders, there’s extra padding to go over your shoulder bones. (Not a problem for me at the moment, I still have some layers of fat up there but I imagine one day soon, it’ll be an issue!)… and, the back has eyelets/clips which allows you to adjust the band. I should be good-to-go with the band-sizing for another 15-20 pounds of weight loss so it’ll last a while.  Also, there is an extra padding that goes BENEATH the clips between your skin and the eyelets. Most sports bras this normally goes ON TOP which doesn’t do you much good if you’re doing sit-ups. This way, you can’t feel ANYTHING there when you are doing floor work like that and nothing pokes you

Con? I wish there was one more set of adjustable things on the band at the back. This one only gives you two options and I like to have a third for those in-between days where it feels tight/loose. But, overall? I’d give this bra an 8 out of 10 (from the usual 2 out of 10 I traditionally give sports-bras!)

On one last note… I decided to go with the black bras due to the fact that if we’re wearing them every day and getting sweat and dirt and such on them, they’ll look better longer. Nothing more nastier than a grungy white bra!!! So, I have the two decent bras in black and my Zellers-special is a white one. When I lose more weight, I’ll splurge for a smaller black one. I’m good to go for now. I’m hemorrhaging money at the moment.