A Merry Mile of Mary

Static stretching
Dynamic stretching
Attempted to figure out cadence counts

Shameless plug for my Mcgill 3 exercises for back and core strength.
1st lap: x20 neutral spine crunch hold c/4 lamaze counts for each rep – deep breathing as PAX counted the reps. x20 merkins in cadence.
2nd lap: x20 side plank hold c/4 lamaze counts for each rep – deep breathing as PAX counted the reps. X10 diamond merkins in cadence.
3rd lap: x20 bird-dog hold c/4 lamaze counts for each rep – deep breathing as PAX counted the reps. X15 wide arm merkins in cadence.
4th lap: mosey around the track

Oh-yeah! Indian plank holds with x5-6 merkins; PAX at the end completed the merkins whilst the rest held plank: Q started on the wrong end of the line but smoothly delegated the next reps to @Wall-E.

Q’s long-winded speech about 2 points (wasn’t necessarily planning on sharing the 1st one)

1. It sucks getting old. Thanks for the support of this group and motivating me to get out and get after it in the gloom. I can’t do the things I used to do and I’m not where I used to be, but that doesn’t mean I am unable to be the best version of myself. Thanks guys for leaving me better off than when you found me. You rock!

2. Kids have feelings and emotions too. They are valid. Leading my parenting decision-making with traits such as empathy, understanding, and respect, is a much better process than asking my kids to ‘jump’ and expecting them to ask me “how high?” I lost my temper with my 7 year old son yesterday. At the time I thought he had not listened to me; I thought he had not bothered to get his shoes ready for school. I raised my voice, talked about how frustrating it was when he doesn’t listen to me, and expected him to take it all in stride and do better. It took me finding the lost shoe inside the coats that DAD had moved to make me take a step back and realize I was being an ass. My kid did what he was supposed to do and because he couldn’t give me an answer immediately, and have everything exactly as I needed it, I laid into him. That was unfair and I made amends with him for losing my temper. Even if he hadn’t been in the right, and he was doing something that he should not be doing, it’s unfair of me (an adult) to expect him to be able to handle each and every situation as I do. He doesn’t have the same reasoning skills, understanding, or reality that I do. He wants to play and chase monsters, and tell me stories about his Pokemon. All of these are valid and important to him. He lives in his own little 7-yr-old world and I need to meet him where he is at, and provide him the same respect, understanding, and empathy that I would show to any adult. @Shugah talked a while back about respecting yourself and supporting yourself in times of failure like you would be supportive of a friend. I think the main consensus from that COT was that if any of us talked to our friends the way we talked to ourselves in times of stress, we wouldn’t have any friends. If my boss talked to me the way I talk to my kids sometimes, I would be finding a new job that very same day. It was nice to have the support again from this group to hear that we all lose it sometimes. It’s also nice to know I can do better and be better for my kids. I will continue to fail at times, but I will also continue to seek to do better.

Thanks for listening to my TED talk.