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What a week… I hardly know where to begin… 

We started the week with a lovely long walk early Sunday morning and then The Captain made us a nice breakfast… omelets with lots of veggies and ham, and some ruby grapefruit alongside. I love these Texas grapefruits.  They are so flavorful and so juicy, too.

I have to admit it felt pretty good to get back on track food-wise after all the birthday week indulgences.

And on Monday we got back on the strength training bandwagon too.  I have been reading some good articles from Nia Shanks lately, and one of them, about how to put together a workout when you don’t really feel like it, really hit home with me.  I know I need to be strength training regularly and I was quite enjoying it for several months… but little break I took has become extended to a few weeks now and for some reason I just can’t face going back to the same program.
 
So, I put together a very condensed one based on Nia’s advice, that hits 3 major muscle groups and can be done in 15 minutes.  That will be my re-intro for a couple of weeks and then I will reassess.  I am thinking it is better than doing nothing, and yet doesn’t wipe me out for other types of exercise during my day.

On Monday morning I had a really odd and somewhat disconcerting thing happen to me.  As I was sitting at my computer, reading some email, an odd and ragged shape suddenly appeared in the vision of my right eye.  It flashed on and off for about half an hour… and I felt a wee bit nauseous.  It scared me a bit but it was too early to call my doctor’s office and it did eventually go away so I kind of forgot about it.

So we carried on and both did the new strength routine that morning before showering and going out for breakfast.  Then  we did a new hike along the waterfront for almost 2 hours.  I was quite hungry for lunch by the time we got home.

On Tuesday morning I was determined to get out for a run before the forecasted rain started to fall.  I drank my Fermented L-Glutamine and then we had a light breakfast, waited almost an hour, and then headed out.  I had a chance to wear  a new pair of running capris from Fit Plus Wear – more to come about them – and thoroughly enjoyed the speedy 5 km.

When we got in, I drank a couple of glasses of water and then made us a smoothie to drink while we stretched.  These premade mixes by d’vida are sensational – more to come about that too – and I was kinda sorry we had shared one!  MMMM…. so good.

After showers we headed out to do some errands in the car. For some reason both of my feet cramped up as I tried to slip on my shoes to go out.  My toes were so tightly cramped that it hurt to stand on them. But I ate some mustard and took some deep breathes to relax, and that eased the cramps almost immediately.  Then  I drank some more water and had a dose of Natural Calm, too.  Eventually I could put on some flip flops, so off we went.  I noticed that my legs felt really heavy for the next few hours.

One of the errands we did was to trade in one of our digital cable tv boxes for a HD PVR. Whoaaaa!  Does this new little gadget make tv a better experience or what? The only reason I like cable tv at all is for the live sporting events it offers because most of the other things I would watch are not on at good times. Now I have recording capabilities!  Hurray for modern technology.  And The Captain is happy too because I am not talking about getting rid of the cable tv anymore!

Then, later that afternoon, I saw something on my computer about a person experiencing eye trouble - a detached retina - and I recalled my experience from the morning before and realized this was the eye that had the retina surgery a couple of years back, so I called my doctor’s office, and spoke with his awesome receptionist.  This woman is so helpful all the time… and she very nicely told me there is nothing they could do for me there but that my husband should take me to the emergency ward at a particular hospital because they have the best neurologists and opthomologists on call there.  She said ‘don’t ignore it… go’.

So, we did. And I was lucky that it was not a very busy day at that emergency ward. I saw a doctor after about an hour’s wait.  A very nice man, I thought, and we talked about what had happened to me.  He told me I shouldn’t feel silly for coming to the emergency ward and that my doc’s assistant had given me good advice. Eye problems should not be ignored.  He had me draw the shape I had seen and describe it in detail. Then he repeated it all back to me to make sure he had understood what I told him. 

Then he said I did not have anything wrong with my eye, but what I had experienced was called a Visual Migraine.    Apparently, not all Migraines come with headaches.   He couldn’t tell me why it happened or what might have caused it, or even if I might ever have another episode.  But he did say that I was lucky that there had been no headache, and that people find it helpful to lay down and sleep if they can, as normally they wake up and the symptoms are gone.  Weird, and somewhat upsetting, but better, I think, than having a serious eye problem.

After we got home and got dinner, I realized my legs had normalized and felt good again.  Perhaps the long hike and the run were too close together?  Perhaps I need to try some new running shoes.

The rest of the week has been somewhat less exciting, thankfully… more strength workouts, more walking, more good eats and today, we are headed to play some tennis after breakfast.  Then we are having lunch out…. fresh shucked oysters on a patio overlooking the Inner Harbour. It is a gorgeous day so I need to get out there!

Here are some of the great reads I came across this week:

• 10 Mistakes Women Make in the Gym at T Nation

• Can I Love My Body And Still Want to Change It? at Journey of a Dreamer

• Pilates for Runners: 6  Exercises to Do at Home at Mommy Run Fast

• The 9 Biggest Reasons to Embrace Solo Running at Run to the Finish

• 4 Foods to Help You Sleep at Brad Gouthro Fitness

Do you have any experience with Migraines? 

Are you an oysters fan?