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1977
I bought my first music in 1975 with money of my own. That was just four 45rpm records and I don’t recall my next purchase. I just remember I bought the second Captain and Tenille album and maybe that was my first one? I’m not totally sure.
It was probably more like 1977 when I started to become a more proper music fan. By this time I was doing a bit of babysitting and earning my own money so control of my listening habits was shifting to what might be expected when one is nearly a teenager.
Another thing that may or may not have any influence is that we moved from Atlanta to Charlotte at the end of 1976. I think my understanding of the world really increased during this time period so it may be a by-product of my recognition of what was happening in the world. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence due to my age at the time.
I return to The Eagles again thanks to the song New Kid in Town, which I think must have resonated with me. Not that I was really listening closely to lyrics then but I was a new kid so it seemed an apt song. Another song that I strongly remember was Year of the Cat by Al Stewart.
Weirdly I got really attached to the song You Light up My Life by Debby Boone. It was hugely popular for many weeks so it was easy to get a bit obsessed. This was one of those songs that I liked then but I am rather indifferent to now. I wasn’t a religious person then so I guess it didn’t really have lasting power. I didn’t see it as religious at the time though, so I guess something about it reached me.
It was in 1977 I was listening to a local pop music station. That summer they sponsored a reading program where if you read a certain number of books they would give you six singles. I don’t recall the reading but I was taken to the station to get my records and I have a vague memory of standing in line with all the other teens. I got my records and I think I still have them today. I can’t recall all of them but I think one was Low Down by Boz Scaggs and Best of my Love by the Emotions. The one I remember the best was Undercover Angel by Alan O’Day. When I find my old records I will have to figure out the other three songs. Everyone got a different set of singles so it was all a random sort of thing.
I carried on doing babysitting jobs in the neighborhood and so continued to have some spending money. It was around this time I bought the first album that influenced me in any big way and it was not even a regular album but a compilation. Love Songs by the Beatles was released in late 1977 and I bought it because I liked some of the Beatles songs I heard on the radio. This was my entry point to becoming a Beatles fan. I used to listen that album all the time and it still is a sentimental favorite of mine even though it’s not one of their proper records. I think I must have the album still for that reason. Well, I think I brought it to Australia but those records are packed away in the closet at the moment. It would still be a few years before I came to know the proper albums by the group in any way.
The Bee Gees hit it big in 1977 too, with the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, a movie I still have never seen even though it’s supposed to be a good one. I have seen a few bits here and there when it’s replayed on tv but just have never watched it. The music, on the other hand is still pretty prominent in my memory. I already liked some of the Bee Gees music at this time although their shift to disco music was a bit of a surprise as it was a quite different from songs from their early days. That said I think they had a couple records before this that were already moving into this style. I have never owned this album but I do have the songs that were popular on a compilation album somewhere. Well, I don’t think I still have the vinyl so maybe I don’t own it now.
This was also the year that Billy Joel became a big thing. The album The Stranger was everywhere and these songs were also being played constantly. Just the Way You Are was the biggest song but I latched onto She’s Always a Woman at the time instead. I think some of the songs got played so much I was a bit tired of it. These days I can appreciate it all much more than I did then, and maybe I will actually buy a copy of the album one day. It almost came to pass that I saw him in concert that year but for some reason I didn’t go. I later became a big Billy Joel fan so I do regret that I didn’t go then since it’s unlikely I will be able to afford a ticket even if I am in the right place at the right time.
Which leads me to considering my first concert, Shaun Cassidy. To be honest I don’t recall much of his music but I think the concert was that year and he was popular and my mom took me and I enjoyed it. Most of his music was cover songs and I did like the songs a lot. But Shaun Cassidy wasn’t my main teen idol. Instead it was Andy Gibb, who I loved and I would have seen a concert by him had the opportunity happened. His album Flowing Rivers was really good and I think even now it stands up a bit on the few occasions when I’ve tried to listen to it. Of course, some of the songs were written or co-written by his older brother Barry, who was able to pen a popular song himself. I will point out that the other idol from that time period was Leif Garret and I never liked his music and I didn’t care much for him either.
I should also add the album Frampton Comes Alive at this point. While I wasn’t a huge fan at the time, I did like some of the songs and I have come to appreciate how great the music was on that record. Funnily enough that’s the only record I know Frampton for and I’d guess that’s the case for many of us. This was a record that was popular with the neighbor girls I hung out with early on when we lived in NC. They were also big fans of Kiss, a band that I’ve never liked much although there are a couple of songs that are okay. I was just never a fan and most of the time these days I am as likely to change the radio station when they are on. I can’t recall if they had an album that year or not but there was a lot of fandom right then so I guess there must have been. Maybe I will look it up. Well it seem there was an album plus a live album that year so it makes sense they were so popular.
There was one other album that was really big that year which I will write about separately as it is a major album with major influence in my musical tastes.
I’m sure there’s heaps more from that year I’m forgetting right now. Until I started putting all this down, I don’t think I realised how much of the music of that year had been such a part of my life.
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Officially cancelled
Yesterday I finally got a notice from the airline saying my flight from Perth was totally cancelled. They had previously advised the flight had been shifted but there was no way to cancel online so I waited. This time I was able to do a cancel while on the computer (but not in the app). So my flights have been cancelled all around and hopefully my refund will come through in the next few weeks. Obviously it’s too early to consider rescheduling but I imagine it will be at least six months and quite possibly next year before I travel now.
I must admit it’s quite a relief to have that done now. Not that I had any intention of travelling at this point but I was dreading having to contact the airline directly because I’m sure it would have been a long wait.
I worked yesterday with my client for a few hours. It’s a hard thing for most of us to deal with all the changes but for someone with intellectual disabilities, it’s so much more difficult. I suspect that my work will end up being suspended at some point because he doesn’t require any contact support and activities are quite limited. Plus there are three carers and support happens almost every day. So many people to be coming and going from his parent’s house where is currently staying while this stuff is going on. We ended up going to nearby Whiteman Park for a bit of a walk because I knew the trail wouldn’t be an issue for people. In fact, I almost never see people on the trail. We did get to see quite a few kangaroos along the way and they looked really neat as there were probably dozens of them in the fields we passed.
Today I did what I hope will be the weekly shopping. I tried to get enough things to avoid any other trips to the supermarket for the time being. The shops weren’t too bad when I first went out as schools were just getting out and people were there yet. Thursday night is a late night shopping thing here so it does get busy later in the afternoon. Anyway, I got more things this week than last but not all I needed. Trying to find hand sanitiser or wipes was impossible. The only reason I have any of that is because Lego Lover has such OCD issues that I’d bought some a while back. One pack is in the car and is starting to fall apart after being in the heat so much. I suspect it may dry out before it’s finished. I’m glad to have it so I can wipe down shopping carts and clean thing when I get back to the car.
This evening the Scientist and I went into Perth so he could get his computer from his office. He also got a couple extra monitors to use at home. In the office he uses four but it’s been just one at home and that slows things down a lot. I think the home office is going to be all monitors before long as it’s not a bit room and the monitors are decent sized. When we went to town, we had to wait for a bit for 6pm to roll around so we could park in front of his building. We went over to King’s Park nearby and had a short stroll to kill some time and it was a nice late afternoon sun shining over the city. I took a few photos along the way. And just to reiterate that our days are getting shorter, it was pretty much dark when we started home. I’m going to miss daylight soon. :(
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Strange times
This isn’t the first time I’ve thought this but it is a weird time for us.
As of midday yesterday, the pool and library closed along with all dine-in establishments being forced to do take away or close. I had to go out for a short time yesterday to get something from the markets and I noticed that some people were “dining in”. I’m not sure how all this works in the food court areas and this was sort of in that category. Not a lot of people but there were people.
I had scheduled an appointment with my doctor for last Friday a few weeks ago and then later got an SMS suggesting I could have telephone consults if I needed since I am considered high risk due to my diabetes. Last week I called up and asked for that appointment to be changed to a telephone consult. The lady I spoke to assured me it had been changed after going away a couple of times. So I was waiting on Friday for that call to come through and it didn’t. I normally don’t have to wait long to get in so this seemed unusual. But due to current events I thought maybe things were really behind schedule for some reason. After an hour and a half I finally phoned them to find out what was happening. The first person I spoke to said I didn’t have a telephone consult listed there. She kept putting me on hold and coming back and eventually another staff person got on the phone and abruptly said I had a did not attend on my record for that day’s appointment. I don’t know what she new beforehand but I went on to explain and she practically growled at me to ask who I spoke to and that never got resolved because I didn’t know for sure. Eventually I had to reschedule for today and I asked her to take the notation off my record but it didn’t happen. Today my doctor called me even ahead of time and we got everything sorted out quickly enough. I mentioned this issue to her and she apologised which didn’t happen before. I had to go later to pick up a blood test form and some prescriptions and stopped at the mail box to find a letter from them admonishing me for not attending…even though I spoke to someone soon afterwards. I made a point of having this removed from my record. I was told I wasn’t charged for it but the point was I didn’t want my record to show anything of the sort when I did nothing wrong. I can just hope it finally got done this time.
I ended up going to the pharmacy to get my prescription filled. I accidentally gave more of them to fill than was needed but I guess it doesn’t hurt to get them a bit early. I had to get a higher dose of Nexium as I’ve been having a nighttime cough for a few months now. It sometimes wakes me up so it’s become rather troublesome, especially since it also wakes up the Scientist. I also left my prescriptions at the pharmacy and plan to call ahead the next time so I can avoid having to hang out there for too long in the near future.
It was quite a warm day, maybe even hot at times. But I decided to try to get a bike ride in during the afternoon and that sort of worked out well. I decided on the cycle path along the new highway since it is nice and wide and has a good turning around point when it crosses one of the local roads. It gives me about an hour of riding and that’s exactly what I needed. I started out and all was going well. I had a good speed going and wasn’t struggling too much getting up hills. But when I got close to my turn around point something in the air started messing with my head, literally. I don’t tend to have too much trouble with seasonal allergies in autumn but something was really getting to me and I got that creepy, crawly feeling on my head that I get when I’m affected. I did make it to my turn-around point and took a scheduled break for water and to recover slightly. I still wasn’t feeling too terrible. The ride back went less well. I was okay for a while but by the halfway point I found my heart rate had gotten to 183 without a lot of effort. I took another break, which I planned to drink water but stayed a bit longer so my heart rate would go down a bit. My last stop also lasted a bit long but it was planned to rehydrate again. I was feeling kind of bad by the time I got home. It wasn’t the worst ride but it wasn’t nice either. Anyway, now I’ve got to be wary of pollen going out now. I did take an anti-histamine which seems to have cleared my head for now.
When I got home, the Scientist and I did our tai chi sword and fan routines before doing a tai chi set a the times we’d normally be at our class. The Scientist had organised with our instructor and other classmates to do it together but apart at the same time. It went fairly well aside from the glaring sun when we started. :)
Tomorrow I have to go out again for my job as a carer. I get to take my client to the doctor as he needs a referral letter. I’m hoping that’s sorted out quickly and easily. I’m not sure what I’ll do with him after that but we will work it out later.
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Music in the early years
I was thinking about how I might write about influences on my musical tastes and I will do the album thing but it seems useful to think about the beginnings of my musical tastes.
I don’t really recall having much interest in music when I was very young. That said, I was a big fan of Glen Campbell when I was quite young. I don’t even know what songs I liked at the time as the ones that I mostly recall are some from the mid-70s or so.
I imagine a lot of my music knowledge was centered around what my parents listened to at the time. There was a lot of Charley Pride at my house. My mom was a big fan of it so we heard a lot of his records playing. Olivia Newton John was also quite popular although it was a bit later. I suppose we heard a lot more country music back then. But I did hear pop music too. When I was in third grade I remember the “song” The Streak by Ray Stevens was a thing. Of course I guess that was more from the country side of things too. That song reminds me of a girl named Paris in my class at school who used to sing that a lot for a time. Hmm…I just know there’s a lot of pop music I know when I hear it on the radio. At the very least we heard it in the car.
It wasn’t until the mid-70s I started to take a more active interest in music. I guess it was probably 1975 to be exact. That summer my cousins and grandfather came down to visit us for a week or so. This was when my aunt had the baby she gave up for adoption (even though we were all told it had died)…the one who I connected with a year ago on Ancestry.
Some where along this time I bought my first 45 rpm records. There were four of them at the time although I don’t know if I recall all of them. I still have them somewhere in the house but have nothing to play them on. The big one is Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain and Tenille. It was hugely popular during that summer and my cousin and I both loved the song a lot and sang it all the time while she visited. Even after she’d gone we started writing letters to each other and quoting lines from the song. I think sometimes before this I’d been to Pennsylvania and the big song was Donny Osmond singing Go Away Little Girl. Not sure which year but probably the year before, I guess. I didn’t have the record though. That song is still a favorite, mainly for sentimental reasons. It still reminds me of my cousin, who died many years ago from ovarian cancer.
Another of those records was Calypso by John Denver. I just liked the sound of the song and that has always been my favorite song by John Denver. But I was a fan of some of his other music too. I guess country music played a bigger role than I realized before.
The third single was Afternoon Delight by Starland Vocal Band…which upon reflection was a country group, I think. Funny, I never thought I liked country music all that much but I guess I did have some roots in that area for a while.
I can’t remember what the fourth single was right now. I will have to figure it out later.
To carry on the country theme, I used to like a lot of Eagles songs from their earlier years. I know they were more country rock but it’s still connected. I have pretty much always liked their music but it was only a few years ago that I bought a collection of their music. I guess that’s one of those groups I liked to listen to but I wasn’t compelled to have my own copy. There were lots of groups like that. I guess the reason this came to me was my parents were in a bowling league sometime in the mid-70s and these songs were playing a lot in the background there. We kids used to run around while the adults bowled. I do have ideas of getting a couple of proper albums one day in the future.
Elton John was another artist I heard a lot of back in those days. My parents had the single Daniel which got played a lot in our house. Funnily enough that’s not one that I heard very often these days but it does take me back to those years. But I also remember the era when he sang Don’t Go Breaking My Heart with Kiki Dee really well. That was a radio play thing so I guess I must have heard it in the car a lot. I don’t have any of his albums either although I do hope to get a couple of them one day. Or maybe a compilation.
Neil Young’s Heart of Gold is my favorite song by him and I know it’s almost completely a nostalgic choice. Oddly I remember hearing this played across the street at our neighbor’s house. They had a son who was a year or two older than me and a daughter who was quite a bit younger. My brothers and I were playing there one day and that song was on. I honestly don’t remember much else about that day aside from the song and the fact we were in the son’s bedroom for a time.
I was also just reminded of Helen Reddy from that era too. My parents had at least one of here albums and it was played a lot. Funny to thing we were listening to an Australian at the time (not to mentioned Olivia Newton John). I remember the song I am Woman being really big for a long time. Kind of funny also to think this feminist song got played so much back then considering how non-feminist my mom has become in more recent years.
I was just reminded of The Association as a group from my earlier years. My family had best friends from when we lived in Pennsylvania. They moved to Atlanta around the same time as a us and we lived in the same apartments. Back in PA were were neighbors in an upstairs/downstairs apartment or duplex so of thing. Anyway, we were close with their family all the years I was growing up. I spent the night there many times and I remember hearing the Association music being played. I think Never My Love was the most prominent but I am sure there were plenty of others.
I guess the last music I will mention is probably one of the earlier records I knew. My parents had a copy of the first Beatles album released in the US. It didn’t have a cover from the point I recall it and I think it was mentioned at some time that we kids destroyed it. It may well have been me, in fact. The Beatles will get a look-in at some point of sharing although I haven’t quite worked out which album. So there is definitely some pop music I remember from way back although I wouldn’t say it made me a Beatles fan at a young age.
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Double Nickels
This is what my cousin called turning 55. I hadn’t thought of this before but maybe it’s because I’ve been away from nickels for too long. :) She is only five months older than me so we reach these milestones close together. Anyway, yesterday was my 55th birthday. I guess I am another year older and wiser. At least I hope so.
It was a low-key kind of day in the end. The Scientist has been working many extra hours the past week for a project that’s about to be demo’ed. Still, he managed to take some time off in the late-afternoon and evening. He made a lovely cake for me, complete with my name and strawberries. It was very yummy. For dinner we had takeout food from an Ethiopian place we hadn’t visited for quite a while. My favorite thing there is a sampler of five different vegetarian foods with two injera pancakes. It was the first thing I’d tried from there and I still get it because it’s just too hard to decide on a single thing.
I spent the day playing Animal Crossing, for the most part. I was really getting into it and have built up quite a bit of my little island now. But I have lots to go. I have heard stories of people fast-forwarding time to get things done more quickly but I honestly don’t see the fun in that at all. I learned my younger brother’s family is also playing so maybe we can connect and visit each others’ islands…
It’s weird to think I’m on the climb towards sixty now.
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Dragging a bit
I’ve had a couple days where I’ve been dragging my heels a bit. The current environment is quite stressful, of course, and life doesn’t go on as usual. On Wednesday I wasn’t able to go to the pool or gym with my client and he had already gone on a bike ride in the morning. I ended up getting no exercise with him since it would have been pointless trying to get him out for a walk. Also trying to get him to understand that we can’t do normal things is a bit tricky right now.
I didn’t exercise at all the past few days, so effectively I missed three days of exercise. I could have gone out on my bike yesterday but I just couldn’t motivate myself to go out. Today, I forced myself to go to the pool and had a good swim in the end. It was really quiet there even though it was a warm-hot day with hot easterly winds. I was the only one doing laps for the first twenty minutes there. There were a few others that came during the hour I was there but only one of us per lane and a family in the non-lap lane.
I had a bit of a boost to mental health yesterday due to a new Animal Crossing game being released on the Nintendo Switch. This series is one of my all-time favorites and it was nice to sit down as a family while I started my new town.
I’ve also been inspired by something my brother did on Facebook where he posted a cover of an album that influenced your musical taste every day for ten days with no other information. I’m thinking of doing that here instead but I plan to write about it instead.
I haven’t done anything about my airline ticket as yet. Since there’s no change I’ll be travelling I guess it doesn’t matter too much right now. My idea is to shift my travel dates to later this year or next year instead. Not sure I really want to travel to the US late in the year with elections going on but I will consider it if it works out, I guess. I also have a sim card for AT&T that won’t be getting used now. I hope I can do something to allow use of it later on but I think these things expire within a few months.
Meanwhile I was rather horrified that the brand new first Costco went ahead with its grand opening on Thursday. People lined up around the store twice and it was a jungle there from what I saw from video footage on the news. And it’s still crazy there today. Even if I were interested, I wouldn’t think of going there at this point. Sigh.
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Life interrupted
It was just a matter of time but I am definitely not travelling now. I discovered by accident that my flight from Perth to Tokyo has been cancelled. Oddly I haven’t had any direct communication about this even though no time was wasted telling me the aircraft had changed not long ago. It’s only that first flight but I’m sure others will follow. The government here has stepped up warnings to advise do not travel. To be sure I’d already pretty much ruled out going anywhere anyway. I feel safer staying here than being back home.
I saw today that the “curve” here in Western Australia is looking pretty good compared to other places. Hopefully that will continue to be the case. Schools here are still open but many activities have been cancelled.
I am still working. My client needs to have regular support. Unfortunately the activities we do will have to be curtailed. I’m trying to figure out how to use that time while avoiding going out too much. The only alternatives I can figure out so far are going for a walk or bike ride (him riding, me walking). Last week we went to the gym and pool but it was a nightmare trying to keep things clean at the gym. The pool wasn’t so bad but it’s too crowded at the time we go so that’s not a practical activity right now. It’s going to be a monumental task getting any understanding of the situation by him. On the other hand, I’m sure it will be better for him that I am not going to be away for five weeks too. One of the other carers was supposed to be going to Europe in late May but those plans have also been wiped out.
Lego Lover and I went to Fremantle to see the cruise liner Queen Mary 2 as it departed. on Saturday. We got there and the quay was pretty empty. Rain was threatening and most of the people there were fishing. We found out about 45 minutes after departure time that Cunard had cancelled the itinerary and about 700 people were stranded here. I assume those passengers had arrangements to get home handled and that the ship was supposed to have left yesterday afternoon. We ended up driving back in the rain that night.
I’m still trying to keep up regular exercise. I went for a walk on Sunday and barely made it back before dark. I’d thought about riding my bike but was a bit worried about getting stuck riding in the rain. I don’t feel too comfortable riding on wet pathways so chose to walk instead. If it started to rain, I could always call the Scientist and ask him to pick me up. I’ve still been swimming a few times a week too. The pool is nearly deserted in early afternoon before schools let out so I can keep away from other people easily. The rains are supposed to have stopped for now so bike riding might be on the cards again, especially if the winds stay reasonably calm.
Grocery shopping has turned into a survival sport. Not that I’ve taken part exactly. I’ve had to get a couple things from the shops this week and saw that lots more shelves were empty. I know this is the case all around. Toilet paper is still quite scarce. The shops introduced an early hour for disabled and seniors but I heard the first day didn’t go well. The customers had to line up for ages and shelves were empty even when they got there. Keep in mind the stores are closed at night around here so the restocking should have been done overnight. Of course our local store doesn’t get toilet paper until 10am so that doesn’t work very well anyway.
The Scientist has been working from home this week. He did have to go in Monday but came home early and brought his fern back so it doesn’t die. The company hasn’t made it official yet but he and the other programmers have already taken that step and can now avoid the bus trip in.
Not a lot else happening at the moment.
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Travel or not
It’s still a month and a day until I’m supposed to travel so lots can happen before then. But as time passes it’s looking more like I will have to reschedule my plans. Even if I go, my ideas of doing a bit of road trip travel to see some of my family and friends may not be feasible either. It’s a bit hard to get excited when plans look like they are being dashed so quickly.
Then there are two scenarios that are worrisome for me. One is that I do go but get stranded there. I’m pretty sure we are handling the virus better here than back home and I think there’s a very strong possibility I could be quarantined there. I love my family but not sure I could cope for many extra weeks there. The other one that is rather firmly in the back of my mind is that I contract the virus myself and end up quarantined even before I go.
It’s still too early to make a decision but it’s not looking good. My hope are that any change to plans turn into a postponement of travel although I’m unsure when that would be. Maybe later in the year? As it is, the exchange rate with the US dollar is really poor right now…of course most of my visits home have been accompanied by this same situation. Maybe it’s a good way to avoid spending money?
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Travel
I’m going home next month for a visit after almost 2.5 years away. I organised my flights back in January, before all the covid-19 stuff began to dominate headlines. Fortunately I got my travel insurance before the cut-off so should be covered for any issues related should they occur. Well, hopefully not. As time goes on, of course, the chances of a change of plans becomes greater. It’s still weeks away so I will watch and wait to see how things go.
I’m travelling via Tokyo on ANA airlines, which now flies to Perth. This nicely breaks my trip into more reasonable flight lengths. I also discovered the seat space is far great with this airline than most others. I’m hoping to be less uncomfortable after flying this time. I have an 8 hour layover in Tokyo, all during the day so I really hope I’m able to sleep on what is essentially a red-eye flight. I’ll be flying in to San Francisco instead of LAX, which I’m hoping is beneficial. At the least it will be a change of scenery for me. On the way back I travel through Houston and end up with 18 hours in Tokyo. I’m planning to stay at a capsule hotel just to see what it’s like. The worst part on this leg of the trip is I have to disembark, collect my luggage then travel from Haneda Airport to Narita on my own. I’m sure it will be fine but I will be glad to get that over with. It will certainly be a different experience for me.
Anyway, now I’ve written this, I wonder if I will have to postpone my plans. Time will tell…
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Exercise
I’m still doing my exercise pretty regularly although I did force myself to take a break for a couple of days. Not so much for a needed break as to break up the perfect run of days on the activity app on my watch. It works really well to encourage me to keep moving but I find it really hard to get long runs and then have them broken.
Last Monday I went to the pool to practice my swimming and it all went terribly wrong. Almost nothing was working for me. I felt sluggish and I couldn’t breathe properly and my arm motions were wrong and I couldn’t make it to the end of the 25m lane without stopping…just a bad day at the pool. Then Tuesday I went for my lesson and it went much better. This week I worked on my breathing and I think I got a lot out of it. The adult classes are tailored to what you want/need to learn that was my goal. And there were only two of us that week so we got a lot of time with the teacher.
Since then I’ve been to the pool three times. Two were at my local pool and I practiced on my own both times, managing to swim a full 1000m for each swim. I did have to stop between each lap but I didn’t tire out so quickly and I seem to be getting the breathing a lot better now. I also was given a couple of tips by another person using the pool about my arm movement, which I think helped. Tomorrow I might work on the arm movement a bit more. My other pool time was as a carer with my client, who goes most Wednesdays. I didn’t swim a whole lot but did get in a few laps that went surprisingly easily. I think that helped me regain the confidence lost on Monday. I don’t count the lesson since I had the teacher there the whole time.
Yesterday I wasn’t able to get to the pool due to other commitments so I went out for a bike ride after dinner. I think it had been well over a week since I’d been on my bike and it was great to get out again for a decent ride. I was worried my muscles would have started to weaken but I seemed to do just fine in the end. It wasn’t my fastest ride but I felt I was pretty steady and I didn’t struggle so much riding up hills this time. Maybe that was due to the swimming?
Last night my gluteal muscles were really feeling the exercise. I wasn’t in pain but I was a bit sore. Even today I’m still a bit sore, mostly on my bottom. I think my gluteal muscles are getting the most benefit from my recent exercise…lol. I’m going to swim this afternoon, hopefully before the pool gets crowded after school time. Maybe I can work out some of the soreness while there.