Friday, October 30, 2009

Take 9 asprin every day and call me in four weeks

That was the verdict from the doctor today. I went in because my knee/ankle/back (which I don't remember injuring so I think it just didn't want to miss out on the fun) are getting worse instead of better. Got a bunch of x-rays, got manipulated and manhandled, got told that nothing is really seriously wrong (which I knew--I figure as long as I can move everything, it must be o.k.). He wants me to do physical therapy three times a week (we'll see how long that lasts, depending on what my insurance will cover), take 600 mg of ibuprofen three times a day, stop running already dammit, and come back in four weeks if I'm not on the mend.

In the meantime, registration for Iron Girl 2010 is next week, opening November 3 at 9 a.m. Anyone want to join me?

Oooh, and pretty bike: http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/10/cusa/model-0RW95C.html I want it in the white/red color!

Friday, October 23, 2009

OMG I LOVE CANDY!

Yesterday when I was buying my $80 worth of Halloween candy I was thinking what a shame it is that the assorted bags of "fun size" candy aren't available year round. I was thinking of how that would be a HEALTHY thing - that if you have a craving for a Snickers you could have just a small one and not buy a whole candy bar.

Today - I am sitting next to an enormous fish bowl filled with assorted candy and I am thinking "THANK GOD this doesn't happen year round!!" That, and "I LOVE CANDY!!!" I just ate a mini Twix. OK - two. Sigh. This was after I already ate two mini Kit Kats and a mini Twix less than an hour ago. OTOH, I have in my desk drawer several pieces of candy from LAST Halloween that I never ate. Out of sight out of mind really works. Now, I suspect that if it was Twix and Kit Kats they would have been eaten - but it is Skittles and Laffy taffy and stuff. No - I am wrong. There are two Nestles bars and a package of Whoppers. OK - out of sight, etc... Luckily the candy bowl is actually BEHIND me. I have only dipped in when I have had to go to the file cabinets.

All that being said - I love Halloween candy. Katie and I were discussing the fine line you walk deciding when to buy the Halloween candy, so it won't all be eaten before the main event. I bought yesterday, not because I thought it was the right date but because I was concerned that I wouldn't have the money closer to Halloween to be able to afford the candy that I would need to buy. It just occurred to me that I didn't get any Nutrageous. Those are one of my favorite candy bars that I only eat at Halloween. I may need to get some... Sigh.

So, I took a mental health day off yesterday. It was good. I went to the post office, got a precription filled, ran a few small errands, FINALLY made apple butter (no applesauce this year since I have some still from last year), and did laundry. It was a nice day. The apple butter doesn't seem as good as normal. Too much sugar? Too many spices? It has an odd underlaying flavor that I didn't care for - almost like the apples weren't as good as normal. Too tart? Bitter? Something. Of course, this was tasting it hot off of a spoon, but it may be just fine cold on toast. I am going to give little jars to co-workers for Christmas, and slightly bigger ones to my Why Catholic group.

So between Sarah and my boss I have decided NOT to wait until my next annual appointment to talk to my doctor about my breathing. I tried calling for an appointment a bit ago but the office is closed for lunch. Who closes for lunch? Anyway, I strongly suspect that what is happening isn't long term serious (i.e. emphasyma, congestive heart failure, etc.) however, it is possible that there IS fluid in or around my lungs left over from my sickness this past spring, and it ISN'T getting any better or going away. If it IS something that is in/on my lungs, then getting it dried up is probably something that should happen sooner rather than later. Ugh.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Long time no blog

So I took the last five or six weeks off of exercising. At that point, anytime I'd try to do anything, I'd end up making my ankle and knee even worse than they were, so I figured that only time was going to heal these problems. I'm still not entirely healed--by the end of each day my leg aches, but the pain isn't sharp except for when I land wrong when I'm walking. Yesterday I decided enough was enough and I went for a walk, only it turned out to be more of a run/jog. Wwalking hurts more and is deadly boring. I did my usual route around campus (3.4 miles) in just over 42 minutes, which doesn't completely suck given that I walked almost half of the route and kept the running to a slow jog. I ached worse than usual last night, but don't have any ill effects today, so I don't think I reinjured myself. I'm going to take today as a rest day and try again tomorrow. My heart rate was higher than it used to be on this same route, but I guess that's to be expected after taking so much time off of exercising. It felt good to be out and moving again.

During all of this time off of exercising I also didn't weigh myself at all. I was scared to see how much I was gaining, and I felt like such a lazy slug that I figured my weight would reflect that. But it turns out my weight is roughly the same as it was before--I was 146.8 this morning. I'm pretty sure some of that was gaining fat and losing muscle, but at least I'm not starting off again as badly as I thought I might be.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Not the boss of ME

I always jokingly tell my boss that she is not the boss of me. I have discovered today that I am not the boss of me either!!! It doesn't matter how many times I tell myself to do good things, I just don't listen to me. It isn't until the ME of me decides to do something that it actually happens - and let me tell you... the ME of me is VERY LAZY!!! You hear people talk about internal arguments - I seriously have both sides arguing. I need to make my id be more submissive!

My back and knees have been REALLY bothering me lately. I think it must be the weather change. Ususally, my knee pain hurts mostly on the first one or two bends of an activity (i.e. going up or down the stairs) but lately they have been hurting pretty continuously. Last night when I was in the bathtub (so, laying on my back, completely supported) I was testing at what point I feel the pain in my knee. It didn't stop hurting the whole time I was bending it. It is still mostly my left knee - but my right one chimes in now and then too. AND - insult to injury - today the muscles on the back of my knee are slightly sore from me doing all of the leg lifts in the bathtub last night. 8-)

I haven't weighed myself since last Tuesday - but I am still feeling vaguely queasy. I ordered pizza for dinner last night (thin and crispy crust with grilled chicken and green peppers... I have to start ordering it with more sauce, less cheese, but that seems just wrong to me) and THAT I am sure was the source of waking up at 3am sick to my stomach. I just don't do well with fat!

I made up a big bag of the trail mix that we made at camp last weekend and have been eating that as a snack for the past week - almonds, raisins, plain cheerios and chocolate chips. It really is the perfect snack - sweet, crunchy, chewy, and substantial - and also the type of food that you really just don't WANT to pig out on. I scoop it out in 1/2 cup portions, and that really is a little too much. Psychologically that is GOOD for me. I am much better off having a little bit left over than feeling like I want more when I finish. If I feel like I want more, I WILL go home and eat the rest of the batch.

Exercise has not happened. Just yoga. And thus back to the I don't listen to me statement - I need to figure out how to make myself do what I don't want to do... Sigh.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I seem to be usurping Amy's posts, so someone else should post soon

and get me out of top spot so I won't be stuck here all week again. I have now stuck with exercising for a whole week and two days. I took off Friday and Saturday -- Friday I didn't have time and Saturday I didn't have the opportunity. I worked my ability up on the treadmill from one to two miles by Wednesday, but on Thursday I simply couldn't manage the two and a half -- I had to slow it down to a walk. I think I was trying to raise distance AND speed AND level all at once all week, and it was too much. So it's a good thing I took those two days off. On Sunday Daniel came home early enough that I could go out for a run on the road, and it wasn't fast but I did actually keep the "run" going (it was more of a bouncy plod, but it didn't qualify as a walk).

Yesterday I just did a mile on the treadmill -- at a higher speed and about the same level as last week -- and it felt pretty good, and then I did elliptical for the rest of my cardio time. Today I managed four miles on the treadmill. I started slower and at only level 2 (short hills and not that steep) and increased the speed gradually for a while, and then by the fourth mile I still felt like I had some energy left so I pushed it up steeply to a 6 mph pace, then back to 5.4 for the middle half of the mile, then up to 6.5 for the last quarter because I was THAT bored. That's the trouble with treadmills. If I hadn't had Buffy going I never would have finished.

Saturday is the 5k. I'm going to do a short run and then elliptical tomorrow, then a longer run on Thursday, and then take Friday off. My goal this weekend is simply to finish -- fast is WAY out of the question. I think I need to steal Daniel's Galloway book and find a goal and start training for it his way -- even though the treadmill is very dull, running is more fun than elliptical because the goals are a lot more obvious. "Distance" actually means something when you run.

I measured my waist this weekend (significantly up from the last time I measured, I believe) so maybe I can watch that change. My weight isn't changing (159 today), but then my diet isn't great right now. I can't get excited about counting calories.

No heart attack for me!

Thank goodness! Camping was pretty fun this weekend. The weather - for the most part - was beautiful. It was hot/humid Friday night - and the wildlife sounded like a jungle - but a heavy rain storm came through at midnight and continued off and on all night (I know because I was awake). It petered out just at dawn. It was then overcast and drizzley until about 10 or 11 am, when it cleared up and was pretty for the rest of the day. It began to get chilly towards sunset and by the time we went to bed it was just over 40 degrees. The next morning was foggy and still cold, but by the time we were loading the cars and getting ready to go it had cleared up to be a beautiful sunny fall day.

The exercise was fairly minimal, and so didn't kill me. We did two walks on Saturday to the river - which was no more than a 1/4 of a mile from our camp. It was pseudo hilly - but only one walk back to our camp had us go up the full steep hill. That I did very slowly under the guise of helping one poor trailing girl. Much to my relief, her back was hurting her too. 8-) My breathing wasn't too bad at any point. The worst part was walking from the parking lot to the camping area when we first arrived - that was .44 miles (I did Map My Run to find that). That probably wouldn't have been too bad except it was in the dark, up-hill, and on a very uneven surface, with our stuff. And it was hot and humid. The return trip on Sunday wasn't as bad since it was daylight, downhill, and much cooler. But - my arm on Monday was sore from dragging my bag through the gravel. Poor Lydia, who I was walking with that day, sat down in the middle of the road when we were almost to the parking lot to rest. I had carried her sleeping bag for her on Friday - I don't know why I didn't on Sunday. I think I must have had something else in that hand - but I can't think what.

Then I locked my keys in my trunk and Katie had to rescue us.

While we were waiting we walked around the camp some more, and down to the stream again. The walk was very nice - but my back started bothering me. Not the part caused by weak abs, but the point on my lower left hip, just at my pelvic bone, that first started hurting when we went to Disney two years ago. It hurt for MONTHS after that trip, and still hurts when I am loading the dishwasher. (I think that is because of the semi-bent position I stand in to do that.) I have discovered that a forward bend, or any stretch where you broaden the muscles across your hips, relieves the pain immediately, but only as long as you are in that stretched position. As soon as I stand back up it hurts again. I don't know if that is a muscle or nerve problem. I am inclined to think it is a muscle spasam, because you can feel the knot where it is, but it could also be spasaming and knotting there because a nerve is being pressed funny. I don't know. I thought about getting a professional massage done - but haven't yet. I have a friend from yoga who gave me her husband's card. He does shiatsu massages. Maybe I will call him.

Anyway - my weight was up AGAIN today. Another new high. However, I have been sick to my stomach all day, so maybe I will have lost it by tomorrow. 8-)

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Back on the exercise wagon

It took six weeks, but I am FINALLY back to exercising after our return home. The scary numbers on the scale were apparently not a rude enough awakening; it was the increasing back pain from kneeling in church that did me in at last! Daniel and I both came out of church complaining this week, and he gently reminded me that a pain in the back means the back is doing the work that the abs are supposed to be doing. So on Monday morning I called the gym and found, to my surprise, that they most certainly did have an opening for three spots THAT DAY (no procrastinating for me!!) and one every day this week -- though today is a little later than I prefer and tomorrow is only for 45 minutes. But it's something every day.

The first day back I ran a mile on the treadmill (with a .2 mile warmup and the same cooldown) and then did 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by crunches and push-ups. I could only get through 75 crunches before my abs gave out -- wasn't it just six months ago I said that I didn't need that 200 crunches website? And I managed ten pushups in one set, and six in the next, and had to call it quits. I'm lifting more weight with less muscle. Ugh.

Yesterday I was astounded to find that my legs didn't ache, so I ran a mile and a half on the treadmill (at .1 mph faster) and did 30 minutes again on the elliptical. I'm keeping the levels easy but planning to increase them gradually. But I tried to do crunches and even two burned horribly, so I figured I should take a day off muscle work. Today I will try again. I will also aim for two miles on the treadmill, though time limitations will force my 30 minutes on the elliptical down a bit. I have a 5k to run a week from Saturday, so that gives me not much time to get back up to three miles! I would like to try for three miles THIS Saturday, since I have three days off from the gym (Friday is too busy, and Saturday and Sunday they don't really have childcare) and I need to try running on the road. There is a 5k across the street this weekend -- maybe I should be enrolling in that!! -- but I'd rather embarrass myself a little less publicly before next weekend.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

No Excuses Day One - FAIL

So, as I am sure you all know, I have been JUST HORRIBLE about exercise this year. I have been doing my weekly yoga class like clockwork - but other than that I could probably name EVERY exercise event in the past calendar year from memory because there have been so few. I did some MINOR walking off and on during the spring. I took Davey for two short walks daily for two weeks in the summer. I went swimming once and did two sessions of water aerobics in August. I was doing weekly water aerobics in January - but none since Sarah's birthday party. THAT IS IT. I have been a big slug.

So this past weekend Sarah and I went to Girl Scout camp to check out the spider situation (and luckily, the road situation - spiders are fine, road is NOT). I was pathetically out of breath before I got 10 feet from the car. OK - maybe 10 yards... but we were doing NOTHING and I was huffing and puffing like the fat old lady I am! Sarah pointed out to me that if I were to have a heart attack she wouldn't be able to help me because we were too far from anything. I don't think it is LIKELY that I would have a heart attack. My heart rate seemed perfectly reasonable - but my lung capacity is absolutely nill. I have been noticing (and I think I have commented on it before) that I have been having a difficult time breathing for about six months now. No - difficult time breathing isn't quite right... I have been finding myself out of breath at unexpected times; in the shower, getting out of bed, when I am kneeling in church, etc. I have been paying more attention and I have noticed that I have developed this habit of holding my breath for no apparent reason. I know we all pause while breathing - it isn't a constant in out, in out. It is usually in out pause in out pause. OR - in yoga (and maybe this is more normal) you are supposed to pause on the inhale - in pause out, in pause out. Is that what you all do? Check for me because I am curious. My current habit is in out pause. My pauses are getting longer I think. Or I am more aware of my pauses now. I find myself gasping sometimes - or - as I said, out of breath.

So, I decided I have five days (this was Sunday night when I was smoking my knees, I am really beginning to question my sanity. Seriously.) to get myself in shape for Conowingo. This was going to involve five sessions at the gym walking UPHILL on the treadmill. Yesterday being day one. I knew I wouldn't be able to go during the day since I was doing payroll, so I would go afterwards. I ended up (and this was NOT because anything is better than working out!) staying at work until about 10:30pm. I didn't go to the gym. I ate a late dinner and went to bed at about 12:45. That wasn't enough wind down time because I lay in bed having - not a panic attack - but stress symptoms until close to 2am. I SHOULD have just gotten up and walked! That probably would have helped.

So - my plan for today is to go to the gym after my morning meeting. Oh - I just found out that is cancelled. Well - my PLAN is to go to the gym today. Maybe I will do that now... And then I want to do a make up session of yoga tonight - but that is at 7:45pm and I may not still be around for it. I wouldn't get home until 9:45 or so. I don't know how I feel about two late nights.

OK - My plan is to NOT have a heart attack at Girl Scout camp. I haven't quite decided how that will happen...