"Like an eagle, I will soar above the clouds."

I'm back, again. I've been rather busy these past three weeks, and the blogging kinda stopped as a result. There's a lot that has gone on, and, yet, much of it isn't easy to capture or describe here. Suffice it to say, I've been occupied and running all over the place. Of course, for those of you who know me, you know that this is my favorite state of affairs. The busier I am, the happier and more efficient I am. To that end, these past two months have been really amazing. I've had the time and pleasure to catch up with friends and family, making every moment count. I've even gotten some sleep. Surprising, I know. Don't worry, I'm still a night owl. Probably always will be one, but I digress. In a recent conversation with one of my friends, I was reflecting on my own happiness, commenting on its source and suddenness. I'm usually a happy person, but, recently, it's really taken off and powered me through some of my toughest moments. My hip has been really bad recently, leading to serious doubts on my part that I will ever recover, but I'm hanging in there. I tried to play volleyball last week, and that turned out to be a terrible choice. I haven't felt the same since, but I'm hoping that the anti-inflammatories will start working again. They seem to have less and less of an impact, which makes me think it's about time to return to the doctors. As I often remark, "Oh goody." Otherwise, there's not too much to remark about here.

I hope to write a longer, more interesting post next time.

Meanwhile, if you're reading this blog and we haven't spoken in a while, let me know that you follow me. I've been surprised by certain people telling me that they follow me and that they've really enjoyed hearing about my journey. If you haven't yet told me, please do. I'd love to know more about the kind of people who read this so that I can post more interesting stuff.

Until then, un beso.

A

"What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger, Stand A Little Taller"

So far, 2012 has been full of surprises. For one, I actually grew a half inch. I know what you're thinking, "Alyse, you are insanely tall now!" I know this because I had the same thought. Going from 5 feet and 2.5 inches to 5 feet 3 inches is a HUGE step. That puts me in the almost normal height category, right? Insanity. After not growing for 15 years, I suddenly grew. While most of the statements above were made to make you laugh, it is pretty strange. I have to believe that the running and the weight loss have somehow helped me to stand taller or something like that, but, whatever the cause, it's still pretty neat from a mental image perspective. In particular, it is cool that it happened during what has become a very weird period of my journey toward health. On the one hand, I am reinvigorated. On the other hand, I am exhausted. A lot of friends have called to ask about the status of my hip injury and others have asked when we are going to run our next 5K together. I say that I'm exhausted because, while I love the attention and compassion, it is sometimes really tiring to explain what I'm going through. It's not like pretty much anything else I've ever experienced before. It's intense, unpredictable, debilitating, disheartening, ... yada yada yada. The best way to explain it is to say that, on a good day, it feels like lactic acid has built up in my inner thigh/groin and the outside of my hip. On a bad day, it just depends. It's been so bad sometimes that I am unable to walk, lift my leg, or do anything putting pressure on the hip. Other times, it may just be certain positions that hurt, but walking is okay. Really, the unpredictability is a big part of the burden. While discussing my options for birthright trips I might take this summer, the concept of an outdoors focus came up, and I immediately rejected the idea, mainly because I have no idea if my hip can handle that. These days, it has really been behaving itself. I worked out on Monday night, focusing my energy on a 5K on the elliptical and some arm exercises/lifts. I had originally intended to stay on the elliptical for a bit longer than a 5K, but I could kind of feel like my leg was going to hate me the following day...so I stopped. Sometimes, I wonder if I stop myself short because I'm listening to my body or because I'm listening to my brain. It's hard, at this point, to tell whether my physical limitations are causing me to be reasonably cautious OR whether my mentality is causing me to be overly fearful of what I will feel like post-exercise if I continue. In any case, I'm trying to keep my head in the game and to take baby steps toward recovery. This week has truly been a good one, and I hope to go back to the gym tomorrow. Gotta get in shape for all of the trips I'm planning on taking this year.

That's all for now.

Besito,
A