Under pressure

Ouch. My butt is sore, my core is sore from keeping it in tight when skating, plus my pain from falling and generally working my legs out. Stairs aren't my friend and neither is getting up from a seated position. I know it will all go away and in time, it won't hurt as much as my muscles get stronger. Even my upper body is sore - I think that was from my second fall when my body tried to brace itself.

A new thing that developed today was a pain behind my knee from where my pads were a bit tight on my legs. I purchased them over a year ago and since I've gained weight they weren't fitting the best. One of the derby guys was there and they showed me what he does to extend the velcro so I'll definitely be attempting that before the next fresh meat session starts in early February.

I left out in my post yesterday about Neil coming out to support me. He was amazing - every time I stopped to get a drink he offered encouragement and tips on what he was seeing me do. He tightened my laces when I was too unstable to bend over and do it myself. When I wanted to stop or was scared to do the falling drills, he gave me a pep talk that got me going again.

Today was a nice recovery day. I put a few copper highlights in since I've been getting bored with my hair. Instead of my usual strip it down and put a new colour on top, I just jazzed it up with some bright slices. I couldn't really do the back so I might have to head to a pro to get a few more put in. I haven't had anyone else colour my hair since last May when I went to see my parents in Newfoundland. It was a nice treat but since then I've mostly been doing all over colour.

I met up with a friend for lunch in St.Thomas, discovering that the county roads were crap - partially covered with gusts / blowing snow. I decided it was going to be too stressful for me to take the trek to Strathroy for a birthday party in the afternoon.

For dinner I cooked up a corned beef brisket in the pressure cooker. Last time I used it, I knew there was an issue with one of the emergency pressure valves. It has a slow leak so it's impossible for the main valve where the rocker sits to come up to full strength to warrant having the rocker put on. As it was coming up to a boil, I started thinking of ways to rig it so I didn't have to stand there with my finger on it for 40 minutes as the meat cooked. I got a safety pin, a stick of gum and a bobbi pin and rigged up something to keep the emergency valve closed. Okay, not really, but I did a MacGyver style set up to keep it all together.

It was delicious, despite the fact that I discovered I don't enjoy roasted brussel sprouts, just the boiled kind. Good thing I made roasted cauliflower sprinkled with parmesan to save the side situation for my meal. I had about 1/4 cup of the Knorr Sidekick I made for Neil as well, since I wanted to save a good bit of the cauliflower for tomorrow's lunch.

I'm hoping to get to bed at a decent hour so that I can wake up early (and alert) enough to try some exercise in the morning. Maybe a light bit of cardio or perhaps some body weight resistance exercises to get my balance and strength up. We'll see how it goes but I need to get a routine in place soon or else I'm going to die when I officially start as a freshie in just over two weeks.