Tuesday 20 January 2009

Muscles, Obama and things like that.

I've been a bit lax again with regards to this blog. One of the main reasons is that I haven't been able to do any training cos of my chest/shoulder/whatever the hell it is.

I went in last week and saw Scott for an hour and he gave me some new excercises that would hopefully antagonise my chest area less than the previous. Oddly I immediately felt a little better. Maybe I just needed to get some hormones flowing or something. I still couldn't run though as I've left my stupid running shoes in Aarhus and I can't afford new ones just now.. bad time to go broke.

Still, I had an appointment with the physio today, which was interesting. It's one of the few sessions that I wish could last longer. Half an hour just isn't enough. It's not that it's particularly comfortable or relaxing, but there's not a lot of things more satisfying that having someone who knows what they're doing moving your muscles around and going "Oooh.." quite a lot - not only because you feel vindicated after months of moaning and being met with looks that say "Oh come on, it's not that bad."

Claire Tricks, as she is brilliantly named, was quite surprised at how knackered the area in question is. She thinks I may have torn a muscle round there, and sympathised heavily. There were a couple of moments where I thought I might cry, kind of, one particular prod causing me to swear quite loudly in a voice that could been that of a 6 year old who works on a building site. She's taped my shoulder up - I have to leave the tape on for 3 or 4 days - and is hoping that'll help but thinks I may need an MRI to check it out properly.

So it's not a heart attack anyway, which is nice. And it actually is getting less painful, which means I'm taking less painkiller, which means I'm not feeling so dark and down all the time, which is even nicer.

On the down side I can't swim for a bit, or at least not anything strenuous, which is not so nice. But I can get back into the other training, especially once I get my shoes situation sorted out.

Anyway, Barack Obama is due to be inaugurated at around 5 today, which I shall avidly be watching. It really could be the start of a new age of this cracked century. You get the feeling he really could lead the change that the world needs so desperately right now.

To be simplistic - it's been 8 long years of thick-headed, greed fuelled anti-peace and dread, and change can't come fast enough. It's a very exciting time, even despite all the lethargic and cynical qualities of the way we've found ourselves conducting our lives. In a world of shock, fear, desperate indignities and epidemic helplessness, it's possible something good may arise, and from a most unlikely place. At the risk of sounding patronising, if there's one brilliant upside to America's famous and infamous 'gung ho' reputation, it's that if this spirit is allied to rational, compassionate ideas, then maybe we could be seeing the beginning of a more benign juggernaut that, rather than blundering unstoppably into wars and other awful misjudgements, might instead bash a hole in all that and bring reason and compassion with it.

Well, anyway, I hope so. It's not too late yet.

Though it's geting that way for me. I have to get the last of the wallpaper in the hall and the bathroom down, so I'm off.

If anyone has £150,000 lying about and needs some investment advice, I've got a great idea.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry - aint got £ 150 never mind £ 150000 !!!
Anyway nice to know you're feeling a little more positive. My hubby pulled a muscle in his chest a few years ago after trying to ride his nephew's mountain bike up a very steep hill!! Did'nt know anything about it unitil the middle of the next morning when he rolled out of bed in absolute agony clutching his chest. We ended up dialing 999 suspecting a heart attack! It was in fact a pulled muscle which took a couple of months to heal (probably due to his age). Sounds similar to your recent injury.

You probably do need to take it easy for a while, however, the lack of running shoes is no excuse not to run, trainers are quite adequate you know !!!! A little gentle training is better than none at all, and it's not 'All or Nothing' as the late, great Mr Marriot would say! Moderation is the key - well you did want to know our thoughts !!

Keep up the optimism - only 18 weeks to go !!!

Anonymous said...

Hey - it's not 'Portable Sunshine' is it !!!!

The Understudy said...

Hmmm, Obama.

Well I'd like to think that it's all dandy, we're all going to be smelling of flowers by next Monday, and group hugging by next Tuesday, but I fear America is not ready to give up the agenda they have so actively entertained the world with for so many years.

I did watch the speech and I have to admit it was moving, but there was a deep sense in my gut that this is a dupe of global proportions. A country that has switched from sociopathic to narcissitic leader more than once, to me, isn't going to suddenly bring a utopia into reality. A system as corrupt as that would surely not allow it? Would it??

I dearly hope that I am just being a cynical old bitch but when I see people raving about a dawn of a new age, on mass, then I start to shit my pants. Too many people are convinced, too many people who normally pay little attention to the media have been starkly drawn in by such an intricate campaign. For someone who spoke a large amount about the financial crisis, the guy surely was not too concerned about the amount of money lavished on the inauguration (something like $125 million I believe).

Please let me be a cynical old bitch, please!!

Get back to running, this is off topic and it's caused me to rant.

How dare I.

Chest all better?