Can't Kenpo :\

Day 41 (Sat, Jan 28). Was supposed to do  Kenpo, but was too tired after the PD swim and etc. So postponed to Sun :). Breakfast: 4 eggs, Snack: Vegetarian rice, Lunch: Chicken and fishball noodles, Dinner: Poached chicken, cucumber, satay, Dessert: Ice kacang :D

Day 42 (Sun, Jan 29). Did 42 minutes of Kenpo, had to skip the last 16 minutes to grab a bite before going to Cheras. Oh boy, it was tough. Tougher than normal. My entire body is achy and sore. It's probably that triple MMR jab I got the other day. I did the best I could. :p Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Chicken soup with minced pork, liver and veggies, Snack: Fish jerky, Dinner: Jun Kee yee sang, roast duck, pork, chicken, tofu, egg, veg, Dessert: 2 cookies, small piece choc.

Days 39 & 40. Yoga & BONK :\

Day 39 (Jan 26 Thu). Yoga was the usual good stuff. I managed plough for the first time - touched the floor with my tippy toes and didn't break my neck :). Even attempted crane for a bit. I don't know when I'm going to be able to do that half moon and twisting half moon pose. Hopefully by Day 90...  Breakfast 4 eggs, Lunch: Steak (rare) and salad, Dinner: Poached chicken salad.

Day 40 (Jan 27 Fri). Today was the day I ran out of steam. I attribute that to not eating properly or on time all day (fasting blood test lor). I can't think of a more killer combo than 'Legs & Back' followed by Ab Ripper. I went all out with the pull ups - I'd do my max reps unassisted then a few more assisted. Started feeling light-headed halfway through :p. Pull ups/chin ups (what's the diff?) take a lot outa me. Since they involve so much core, by the time Ab Ripper came along I was half-dead. I did as much as I could, which wasn't very much and collapsed in a sodden steaming heap when Tony yelled 'DONE'. Breakfast: none (fasting for blood test), Lunch: 4 eggs, Snack: small chicken salad, 2 cookies, piece of brownie, half egg sandwich, Dinner: Chicken soup with minced pork, eggs, liver and veggies.

Alp called to let me know he was on Day 2 of P90X and he was crazy excited about how tough the workouts were, especially Ab Ripper. Enthusiasm is infectious  :D

Days 37 & 38: Plyo & Back & Biceps plus the usual AB RIPPER :D

Day 37 Plyometrics was procrastinated upon until 9 pm. I just wasn't sure if I should even do it, because I didn't want to aggravate the plantar fasciitis (which seems to be diminishing gradually, I think in large part due to my modified sleep position). After weighing the pros ('will feel awesome', 'need the workout', 'need to check the X in Workout Manager') and the cons ('possibly worsen pf'), I decided to go for it. Carefully. According to the ortho doc, my history of taking corticosteroids has predisposed me to these kinds of maladies. The steroids deteriorate the fat pads (natural cushion) at the bottom of my feet, and also age the sinew, ligaments, etc (probably includes plantar fascia). I still think my body can heal and maybe reverse some of this aging. We'll see. I managed to do plyo without getting nauseous this time. And I think I'm getting the hang of Rock Star Hops too. And I'm grateful my knees are still somehow not hurting too badly, allowing me to get deeper into the lunges and squats. Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: A. ruth's beef stew, cabbage, Snack: pineapple tart, mandarin orange, Dinner: lontong, char chee yoke, kow yoke, herbal chicken, Supper: 4 eggs.

Day 38: Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper. I dragged my elliptical machine into the bathroom so I could rest my foot on it for assisted pull ups. (The pull up bar is installed at the bathroom door :D). So I managed to get a couple more reps in today, rather than being done at 4. I hadn't gotten around to getting/buying more weights yet, but managed to find a decent burn with the 2.5 kgs. The 15 minute Ab Ripper is still my favorite part of P90X. I worked my way up to more than 300 moves now, and when I hit 339, I'll modify some of them to make them tougher! Right now I'm doing the easiest versions of all the moves hehe. Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Sushi Tei (nearly ate a cockroach leg yikes), Snack: 3 eggs, fish jerky, sweet meat, popcorn, Dinner: poached chicken and soup, snack: 2 cookies.

Day 36: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps PLUS Ab Ripper

Day 35 was X-stretch or Rest, and it being CNY eve, I was busy making food, so decided to 'Rest'.

Today, I managed to squeeze in the workout between a huge CNY lunch and even bigger CNY dinner. To say I'm proud of this accomplishment is an understatement :D. Mama actually joined me for 10 minutes before she changed her mind and lay down for a nap instead. Papa, he didn't even try. zzzzzz :p

I didn't have my worksheet to record stuff or to refer to how I did previously, so I just went as hard as I could. I started out awesomely, with 8 slow full push ups. I was surprised I could do them. I felt strong! Then it kinda went downhill from there. The push ups literally brought me to my knees. :)

This was my best Ab Ripper yet. I managed 303 'reps'! That's about 30 of each move. I was waiting for Pfifer Scissors to kick my butt, but it really wasn't so bad today. Maybe the CNY carbo-loading helped. Maybe Ma & Pa's gentle snores behind me motivated me.

Day 34: Kenpo

The more I do Kenpo, the more I want to take up some kinda martial arts training. I want to know what it feels like to throw a 'real' punch that makes contact with a solid object, instead of jabbing at an imaginary villain throughout my workout. I want to know if all those blocks that I'm doing can indeed block an attacker's blows.   Hopefully Coach will agree to be my punching bag so I can act out all my violent tendencies :D

Today after my Kung Kung's birthday dinner, the entire clan hung out at Kung Kung & Po Po's house. This was when I found out that my lil' bro Justin can do a one-hand-stand. That's balancing the entire weight of the body on one hand placed on the floor. Oh my. Apparently he picked it up while on his break dancing craze some years ago. I didn't even know he does anything physical. The most physical I've seen him is demolishing zombies in multi player online games. I also made some progress on my new year resolution to do a hand stand, thanks to everyone's support and advice. Justin showed me how to do it against a wall, and Pa explained the how-to in detail.

Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Chicken soup with minced pork, liver & veg, Dinner: restaurant food pork ribs, wings, veggies, tofu and a prawn, Supper: 4 eggs.

Day 33: Legs & Back + Ab Ripper :D

I don't always feel motivated to start the workouts, but I know I always feel pretty awesome by the end of them, so I remind myself of that, and press the 'Play' button for the vid. What also helps get me in the I-wanna-bring-it frame of mind is putting on my exercise attire, which comprises a sports bra top and short tights. Then I do a couple of those Arnold Schwarzenegger poses (like the one below), and admire my little budding biceps, and wallah, I'm ready to go! Being able to make out a teeny hint of my abs is somehow ridiculously motivating to me, so I narcissistically ogle my tummy in the mirror throughout the workout. Embarrassing but true and hey, whatever it takes right? :p   

I ran out of steam towards the end of Legs & Back. Those chin ups are so very tiring and become harder and harder to do properly. At the point it's only 3-4 'till failure' (maximum reps). Making lots of unladylike grunting sounds helps me get in the last one. I took a little honey before continuing on to Ab Ripper and that boosted my energy enough to survive the 15 minutes. I realize that as I get stronger, I also tend to increase the intensity of the moves without being prodded to do so, instead of just going through the motions. It's a good feeling to discover that about myself. I never thought I had the discipline to workout by myself! I still can't do much of Pfifer Scissors. That's the hardest move in Ab Ripper, especially following an hour of Legs & Back. 

Breakfast: 4 eggs, Snack: 4 eggs, Lunch: Chicken soup with minced pork, liver, veggies, Snack: 1 pc love letter, Dinner: Huge chicken and pine nut salad, Supper: 3 eggs. I decided I'm just going to eat as many eggs as I like, and let's see how that affects my cholesterol levels in my blood test next month. I'm sure it would be better if I were also running every day like I used to. I think I'll dust off my pseudotrainer to get more cardio in.

Day 32: Yoga XXX

I am slowly but surely getting a little more flexible each time Yoga comes along. When I first started I could barely touch my toes. Now I can wrap my fingers around my feet! I find that breathing through the pain helps deepen the stretch.

And I am stronger too, so I can hold better form for longer. For the first time today I managed part of half moon, but still can't do the twisting half moon. It feels great not to be falling over all the time hehe. Also attempted bridge for a couple seconds.

I'm really liking how the workouts are planned. They don't haphazardly mix workouts up in the name of 'muscle confusion', but it's done in a way that gives the various body parts a break while working out others. So I know I can go all out (or in Tony's words "Bring It") every day.

Breakfast: 4 soft boiled eggs, Lunch: Steak 'n eggs and salad, Snack: 2 eggs, Dinner: Chicken and pine nut salad, chicken soup, Supper: 6 sticks Satay, coconut.

Day 31: Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper

I couldn't figure out why my legs were so sore today, especially my thighs. Then I remembered. Ahhh. Plyometrics yesterday. Actually it's been a while since my legs felt any soreness. I hope I can start running again in the next month or two. The cardio from running is unmatched, and my legs get so strong.

So today with Back & Biceps plus Ab Ripper, my legs got a rest. The 2.5 kg weights are starting to be too light. I don't really want to buy weights though. They cost too much. I also realized today that I can't really do five chin ups properly, like I thought I could. It's more like three. This is because my pull up bar is not installed high enough for me to get my feet off the ground when hanging with arms extended. So those five chin ups don't count because I do them from a standing position. Oh well. I did manage 30+ of these pseudo-chin ups over the course of the workout. My right shoulder started to hurt though :\

Ab Ripper, I'm lovin it!!! My core is getting stronger! Makes me want to do even more. I envision the day that I will be able to do the full set of Pfifer Scissors without pausing. And with my legs straight.

Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Poached chicken and soup, Snack: Cookie, more chicken and soup, Dinner: Poached chicken salad with pine nuts, Dessert: Love letters, Supper: 4 eggs.

I weighed myself today and was a little surprised and semi-disappointed to see my weight is still 45 kg (100 lb). I thought I would be heavier by now. I guess I am not eating enough. Gonna have to step it up!

Days 27-30 Uh Oh? :p

Day 27 was supposed to be Yoga X, but all I managed was a couple of sun salutations. Too busy! Trail run morning followed by drive to PD for a weekend quadruple birthday bash of my pals Syerol, Cynthia, Pui San and Rupert. I did kayak a bit, swim 1 km, and performed strenuous massages for 2 hours instead of Yoga X. Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: chicken soup with minced pork and veg, snack: fish jerky, sweet meat, Dinner: rice, egg tofu, mix veg, Snack: 3 eggs.

Day 28 was to be X Stretch or Rest. Guess what I did? hehe. Again too busy doing support car escort for the return bike trip PD-KL. Then too knackered to do much else. Breakfast: 4 eggs, Snack: sweet meat, fish jerky, Lunch: Poached chicken, Snack: rice cracker, Dinner: Chicken soup.

Day 29: Finally saw some action with Chest, Shoulders & Triceps PLUS Ab Ripper. The previous Recovery Week really had me hungry to start the next Set. So I gave it my all. I did as many pushups as I could - until failure (which didn't take long - oh about 8 semi-full pushups). My arms were shaking from exhaustion after each rep. I didn't manage a single one arm balance push up. By golly, that's gonna be a tough one. After all that punishment, I was actually glad to do Ab Ripper! Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Chicken salad with avocado, Dinner: poached chicken, satay.

Day 30 (today): Plyometrics! My shoulders felt sore from yesterdays workout, and I was looking forward to Plyo today. I am a bit concerned that all the jumping would aggravate my plantar fasciitis. We'll see. Good thing was today, my knees hardly hurt! So I was able to go deeper in the lunges, squats and all that involved knee bending. Which is most of it hehe. My enthusiasm resulted in me going a wee much more intense than I have done previously. In the Jump Knee Tucks, which in my opinion are the hardest thing in Plyo, I felt my heartrate soar and had to 'pause' to let it come back down. Seeing stars! Saw even more stars doing the Rock Star Hop :p . Got a bit dizzy and nauseous. wow that rarely ever happens, cuz I don't push hard enough to get ill haha. Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Chicken avocado salad, Snack: fish jerky, Dinner: Chicken soup with minced pork, eggs, veggies, Dessert: Choc chip cookies. I can't believe I ate those cookies. I just kept eating them. I was hungry after that huge dinner, I'm hungry now!

Oh ya, today being Day 30, I took the Day 30 pics of front and back in various poses. I can definitely see my shoulder and arm muscles have gotten bigger and more defined. I know my abs have too, but they're not showing up in the pics. Where are the pics? You're just gonna have to wait till Day 90 to see them hee hee.

Day 26: More Core!

I only managed two thirds of Core Synergistics today as I spent way too much time making a batch of organic low sugar pineapple tarts for this weekend's quadruple birthday bash. Still it felt really good, because I remembered the routine, and could get right down to da bidnez. I gave it my all in the Staggered Hand Stacked Foot Push Ups. I didn't go deep, because I wanted more reps, and I wasn't doing them on my knees. I was so pleased that I got 20 push ups in! When I started, I couldn't do more than 5!

Although at the end of that I felt a little nauseous. The pineapple tart that I sampled for quality control still tasted quite good the 'second time round' :p

I rushed off to Bukit Jalil for my Total Immersion Level 2 swim class - the last of eight classes. Will blog about that later. It's been an amazing experience so far and I'm happy with where I am right now.

Breakfast: 4 eggs, Snack: Fish Jerky, Lunch: Chicken soup with minced pork & liver & veggies, Snack: Sardines, Pineapple tart. Snack: sweet meat, Dinner: Fish porridge, poached chicken.

Day 25: X Stretchhhhhh

Oh my, I am so grateful for X Stretch. I walked quite a bit today, and although I double-soled my Adidas Jawpaws, my heel hurted with the plantar fasciitis. I'm glad I could stretch my calves and feet, and not have to jump about at all in today's workout.

I'm most definitely getting a wee bit more flexible every time I stretch. It helps to 'breathe through the discomfort'. I feel shaky doing Camel and haven't managed to complete the pose yet. Same with Plough. That may come with time. When that happens, I'll post a pic!

Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Poached chicken, Snack: Boiled chickpeas, Snack: Rice crackers, Snack: Scrambled eggs; Dinner: chicken soup with minced pork, liver & veggies.

Day 24: Killed Kenpo

I'm a procrastinator, which is bad. I'm also slightly obssessive-compulsive, which is also bad. Except when it comes to P90X. The nice thing about P90X is that there's this neat MsExcel schedule that you check daily. This is very good for OCD afflicted me, because I MUST place that 'X' in the box for that day's workout. So, how I procrastinate also, I will still make sure I do the workout just so I can complete the 'X' for that day. Fortunately, I love the pain and heavy breathing that comes with the workouts, and usually look forward to them. :)

For today's Kenpo I wasn't trying to procrastinate. I sat down on bed, put my hand into my sock to turn it outside-in, decided to do a big ol' stretch.... and promptly dozed off! WTH! I woke up an hour later with my hand still in the sock. Haiz...

What kinda person falls asleep while turning out a sock?

By that time I was hungry, so I had some chicken soup first.

I finally started Kenpo at 6 pm. I do it in front of the mirror and compare with the vid to try get the same nice form. This Kenpo is really growing on me as I get the hang of it. As I do those hooks, uppercuts, jabs, hammers, blocks and kicks, I feel the dormant animal inside me activating. I look in the mirror and instead of seeing a skinny middle-aged woman throwing wimpy punches, I picture a tough wiry-muscled Xena shattering an attacker's jaw and crushing a couple knee caps. It's very good for my psyche, helps with the bad memory of being attacked in my student days. I think Kenpo gets me in the frame of mind for self-defense. Now all I need is Coach to be my practice punching bag :D.

Ate the usual: Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Chicken soup with minced pork and veggies, Snack: Honey Oat bar, Dinner: Big poached chicken and avocado salad, raw apple cider vinegar & raw honey with cold pressed extra virgin olive oil dressing. Dessert: Ais Krim Potong (no more sugar after this - just finishing leftover stock from the last guests who stayed with me). Need to eat more - still stuck at 45 kg.

Day 23: Core Synergistics

My calves are still sore from Sunday, so I was at first 'glad' for Core Synergistics because it doesn't involve much jumping about (from what I remembered from a preview). Well, soon enough into the workout I wasn't feeling very 'glad'. That was probably around the part where Tony was barking out orders for the 'banana rolls'. Ouchhhh. I doggedly stuck with it, pausing at parts to catch up, and focussing on form as best as I could. I had a lot of trouble with 'Low Lateral Skaters', my knees hurt so I couldn't get low down. I really am hoping this arthritis goes away as I get better, healthier and stronger.

Breakfast: 4 eggs, Snack: Fish jerky, Lunch: Poached chicken with white rice, Snack: Fish jerky and fruit, Snack: 2 eggs, Dinner: chicken soup with minced pork & veg + egg, PLUS medium chicken avocado salad. Dessert: about 1/2 C durian.

Day 22: 'Recovery' Week Starts!

I looked through this week's schedule (Week 4) and realized there's no Ab Ripper! Upon consultation with my coach, I found out this is Recovery Week. I'm going to say 'Recovery' Week. Because it doesn't mean I won't be doing anything. On the contrary, I know it's going to be crazy tough because there's 'Core Synergistics' twice this week.

Yoga X was exactly what I needed today after yesterday's run. Lots of stretching - the Downward Dogs are great for plantar fasciitis. I still don't know how any normal human can do Half Moon and Reverse Half Moon. Still, I try my best! I fall over a lot. I'm already getting more flexible - I can touch my toes now!

Breakfast: 4 eggs, Lunch: Chicken soup with minced pork balls and liver plus veggies, Snack: runny eggs, Snack: homemade Oat & Honey bar, Dinner: Monster Salad (see below).

Day 21: Zilch!

Well, after I ran that 12 km in the MPIR (Multi Purpose Insurance Race 2012), I did a bit of stretching, but nothing else. I thought I might do some X-Stretch later in the day, but my plantar fasciitis started acting up big time and I just didn't get round to doing any more.

Day 20: Can Kenpo

'Can' means 'can do', not 'ditch'. :)

After a whole day of sub-optimal food, I felt sluggish and tired, but obediently pushed the 'Play' button for today's Kenpo. I didn't regret this. I've learnt that I start feeling better some time into the workouts, if I wasn't feeling great to begin with. And so I started feeling pretty good right about the part where I was landing hooks and uppercuts on my attacker's face and breaking it. :D

I'm still confused and uncoordinated when it comes to the star blocks 'Up, In, Out, Down'. WTH?

I started to get restless halfway, and impatient for the workout to be over. I continued, focussing on my form in the mirror and admiring my abs helped the time pass quicker hehe. I feel like a million bucks now!

Breakfast: four eggs; Lunch: poached chicken with with rice (suboptimal because too much carb); Snack: too many choc chip cookies (I was freezing and shivering); Snack: Soup with rice noodles, veg and egg; Dinner: Monster salad with poached chicken and half avocado.

Day 19: Auuuugggggghhhh!

Since I may have OCD, I just had to do the rest of Yoga X before I could check the box in the Master Schedule for yesterday. Even though it was already 7 pm and I was tired from the day's (mostly unproductive) activities. So I struggled through yoga. And of course there's today's Legs & Back + Ab Ripper to contend with. So I struggled through that too. This time I did away with bands and used the pull up bar that I installed last week. And I acquired a set of 2.5 kg weights from Mama, so that got added to the workout, replacing the 1.5 kg weights.

Today was just one of those days. I gritted my teeth and just got through it. I only smiled a couple times at Tony's jokes. On top of it, my knees hurt today. The lunges were hell. Knee pain = inflammation = not good = body need more care.

I haven't taken the best care of my body as I should be - past three nights slept very late, and the past two days not eating very good foods. Breakfast was poached chicken with white rice, snack was some jackfruit, lunch was beef balls and tripe in soup, snack was a homemade oat bar, dinner was a huge salad with poached chicken and half avocado. Scrumptious. And popcorn for dessert.

Tomorrow is Kenpo, which should be muuuch better. :)

Day 18: Life Gets in The Way of Yoga X

I had planned a busy day so intended on a morning Yoga X before leaving the house. The air was toxic today from the painting (the apartment complex is being painted for the next three months. THREE months!!). I started coughing about 15 minutes into the workout and decided to stop, and continue at my parents' house later in the day. Which I somewhat did for another 30 minutes. Then I had to eat dinner and go for Total Immersion swim class. So there you go, I managed half of Yoga X today. Maybe I'll do the rest tomorrow, maybe I won't. How do you folks deal with missing a day?

Let's see, breakfast was chicken soup with lots of chicken and lettuce, lunch was poached chicken with steamed rice and cucumber slices, same for snack. Dinner was more chicken soup. Snack was satay - not a good idea right before swimming because I kept belching during my swim, but hey I was hungry! Supper was a HUGE bowl of rice porridge with fish and pork. I put down close to 1 kg of that stuff. Good stuff.

Muaks!

Day 17: Damn you Fifer Scissors!

I see I'm not the only one who hates Fifer Scissors, evidenced by the hits that the Google search 'Fifer Scissors'  (or Pfeiffer Scissors) turns up!

Shoulders & Arms, followed by Ab Ripper. I need to get more weights. All I have are 1.5kg dumbells. I don't like using the resistance band - it's 15 lb! I can't do 15lb! Last week I tried the Deep Swimmers Press with the band, and nearly broke my shoulder. Ok, it didn't break, but something started to hurt. Weights are so expensive though. I'm going to have to figure something out because as dinky as my arms are, they're capable of  lifting more than 1.5kg. I'm not getting full satisfaction from this workout because I am not feeling The Burn. I feel a little sumthin sumthin from doing as many reps as possible but it's minimal. I always look forward to Side Tri-Raises. Makes me happy that I can knock out 20 of those.

Which is why I am glad for Ab Ripper. Now that's a tough workout. When I first started, I managed 210 moves, now I'm up to 267. Pfeiffer Scissors are horrible (22) while the rest are doable. I have the toughest time with the V-Up/Roll Up Combos. Mason Twists are my favorite part.

I ate okay today. Breakfast: 4 poached eggs with sea salt, Snack: Chicken soup with fresh meatballs and lettuce, Lunch: more chicken soup, Snack: Poached chicken and some rambutans, Snack: Pork floss and some honey, Dinner: Chicken soup with lots of chicken, a handful of rice vermicelli and kai lan. I'm feeling peckish again so may snack before bed (Dang it's 9.30 pm already).

Pushing it with Plyometrics

I love Plyometrics. It gets my heart rate going, though so far it hasn't hit MHR as it has during my long runs. I really should wear my heart rate monitor though, so that I can keep track of my ticker.

My favorite Plyo move at the moment is the Airborne Heismann that has me leaping from one imaginary monster truck tire to the other next to it. I mostly like it cuz it doesn't hurt my knees. Arthritis sux sometimes!

My least favorite move is the Rock Star Hop, which I find extremely difficult to execute. And all the other moves that involve squatting or lunging... which in Plyo, is all that you get! Ouch. :p. (For a review of all the moves in Plyo, check out Charles Lloyd Fitness.)

These knees of mine have good days and bad. Today was an okay day, so I'm happy. I got drenched with sweat, felt the 'Burn' and embraced it!

I did a Pull Up!

I am proud to announce that I have CRUSHED my New Year Resolution to successfully execute one (1) pull up by the end of 2012.

Thank you. Thank you.

Sometimes I surprise even myself. :p

Today, Day 15 of P90X, I had use of a pull up bar for the first time. (I'd been using those resistance bands

Brand new year, Brand new Gracie!

Just gonna hammer out a quickie post so I can get to bed asap. I've been ruminating my joint ideas of journalling my P90X transformation-to-be (I know I know, I'm a ridiculously optimistic gal) PLUS committing to a daily post for 2012.

So I thought 'Gracie, why not do a daily post on your P90X transformation?'. Thus here you have 'P90X Does Gracie!' which shall chronicle my daily P90X exploits. Brilliant. :D

Not sure if I will succeed at either, but we'll see and reassess a few months down the road. I have a poor track record of updating my 10+ blogs haha! (But I think I'm getting better!)

I'm actually on Day 14 of the P90X, so I'll backdate the posts on how I started out... some time next week. ;)

For those of you who know me, you'll know I've struggled with chronic illness for most of my life. 2011 was a year of Ups (did my first of several triathlons woohoo) and Downs (frequent relapses, failure to wean off the hydrocortisone). (Read more at Grace's Tribulations)

BUT, I have now been off the steroids for 37 days and feel in the best physical shape of my life. It's such a wonderful thing, to be able to run, bike, swim and do any physical activity, really, and not be limited by illness. I've discovered the sheer joy of running long and have been exploring the trails in the forest reserve behind my apartment complex. I'm curious to see what Grace's body can do, how far she can go!

Happy New Year!