Frank Shorter, You're My Hero!

My goal has always been to slow down as slowly as possible. - Frank Shorter

Isn't that a great way to look at it?  Frank, you're my hero!  They're gonna have to drag me off, kicking and screaming.

But sometimes, I let Them get hold of me after all.  You know, life's vagaries.  Aging body parts.  The wrong food.  Family crises.  Work crises.  Injuries.  Distractions.

My spring half marathon came and went - without me.  I stepped down to the 5K, but, by golly, I ran the whole thing.  So I had a victory.  I'm trying to ramp up my running again, but it seems I'm suffering with ITBS (illiotibial band syndrome) AND a piriformis issue, both on the right side.  That leg has been somewhat tight and apparently weak for months, and now it's showing its true colors.  I tried strengthening exercises, and they helped a little, but just not enough.

For the past few weeks I've had a terrible time with stairs, in both directions.  I finally sat down and really LISTENED to the old bod, and it said, STRETCH ME!  So I started doing Those Stretches, and they helped almost immediately.  I'll just have to be persistent.  I didn't run this morning, but I should be able to get out by Thursday.

So maybe They won't get me too soon, after all.  I'm running from Them as fast I can, and trying to slow down as slowly as possible.

Finally Human Again...I Think

After nearly four weeks of suffering from the effects of a sinus infection, I may actually be functional again.  I don't remember a sinus infection that exhaused me for so long after starting antibiotics, and I'm the Queen of Sinusitis!  I don't mind being SICK, but I do mind being nominally well, but exhausted and still blowing STUFF out of my head and coughing like mad.

The previous post gives the early chronology of this particular round of sinusitis  After the initial euphoria at feeling somewhat better, I seemed to slip backward some, and I was just so TIRED all the time.  Over the weekend, I was able to accomplish some things around the house, but I'd have to stop and rest, and by late afternoon, I was DONE.  Nothing else was going to happen except for coughing and nose blowing.  Monday I felt pretty good, and got some things accomplished in the evening, but on Tuesday, I hit the wall around 2:00 in the afternoon and went home.  I struggled to stay awake driving home, and had The Boy drive me to dinner because I was hungry but couldn't do anything about it.  I fell asleep in the car coming and going, and could hardly drag myself to bed.

Once I had my pajamas on and was IN bed, however, I couldn't go to sleep.  My brain was racing in circles and wouldn't let me relax.  Maybe I should have had The Boy drive me around for a while, like we used to do with The Girl to get her to sleep.  Hmmmmm...  I hadn't thought of that before.  I'll have to file that one away to try some other day.

But after all that, today I feel pretty good, and I feel ready to get back into physical activity.

My running has gone all to heck, so I expect I'll have to walk the Mini Marathon.  It is what it is.  I'll just have to adjust my expectations once again.  One of these years I WILL get all my training in.

But not THIS year.  Oh well.  You do the best you can with what you've got, and this year, I ain't got much!

I'm Sick and Tired of...

...being sick and tired!

Last week, all I wanted to do after coming home was curl up in a ball and veg out, so I did.  Friday, I sneezed several times.  Saturday, I woke up with a sore throat and thought, "Oh, boy.  Here we go."  Sunday, more of the same, with coughing fits.  Oh, how I love sinus infections!

NOT. 

Monday, I went to the doctor and she prescribed antibiotics.  YAY!  I filled the script, went home, coughed a lot, and crashed.  Tuesday, I remained crashed and coughing.  Yesterday, I worked, coughed a lot, went home, coughed some more, and crashed.

Today, I worked, came home, and crashed, but not as hard.  And not as much coughing, but its power and persistence still takes me by surprise.  I've been able to put away some of the clean laundry. 

SOME of it. 

Everything else on my list looks like too much effort.  UGH.

The good news is I'm getting better.  I'm also getting antsy.  I want to DO something, but I don't have the oomph to do much, and if I do too much, I know I'll just be sick longer.

And my training program looks less and less possible as time slips away and I lie here and do NOTHING.  But I know training is no good if I'm not well enough.  If I have to, I'll just WALK the half marathon.  I've done it before.  But I don't want to!

Patience, patience, patience. 

But it's so HARD.

Mental Strength?

"I constantly remind myself that resting takes confidence.  Anyone can train like a mad man, but to embrace rest and to allow all the hard training to come out takes mental strength." - Ryan Hall

Well, this week, I must be really mentally strong!  Monday morning I ran 2 miles, and I could have been running in a sea of mud - just slogging along.  I hadn't slept enough, so I was tired and "hungry" all day and ate too much.

Tuesday I cross-trained - Pilates and aerobics.  I did some laundry.  Nothing spectacular.

Wednesday, I should have run again, but I made the executive decision to switch to the other alarm and stayed in bed another hour and a half - HEAVEN!  I didn't go for a walk at lunchtime.  I had a headache.  Meh.  When I got home, I went straight upstairs to bed.  I didn't go to sleep right away, but I sat and read a magazine.  No laundry.  No housework of any kind.  I just vegged out for a couple of hours then went to sleep.  Such decadence!!!

Yesterday, I got up early and ran three miles.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  It was easy.  It flowed.  I kept thinking, "I'm going too fast.  I have to slow down."  When I got home and checked my splits, I was right.  The second mile was a minute and five seconds faster than the first mile.  The third mile was thirty-two seconds faster than the second mile.

And yes, I was faster than my target training pace for the week.

Oops.

But for the first time in a month, running was effortless.  I'd been feeling as if I were running uphill in all directions, but yesterday, going uphill was easy, and there was the sweet tug of gravity on the downhill side.

This morning I cross-trained, didn't walk at noon, and vegged out again after getting home.  Oh, the mental strength I exhibited!

The plan for the morning is six to eight miles.

We'll see how that works out tomorrow.

I'm So TIRED of Hospitals!

I've had my fill of hospitals this year.  That Man's mother spent some time in one off and on before she passed.  That Man himself found himself undergoing open heart surgery for a birth defect (a bicuspid valve that should have been tricuspid).  My mom made a few trips to the hospital and then passed.  I went (outupatient) during the week of Thanksgiving for the infamous festive colonoscopy, and a mammogram on Black Friday.

I thought it was late enough in the year that I would finally be safe.

Uh, no.

My dad has lymphoma - a non-Hodgkins type.  He has blood tests every three to six months, and when the numbers get to a certain level, it's time for a round of chemo.

This is one of those times.  Friday, Dad went to the IU Medical Center for the first of four weekly infusions.  I got a call in the middle of the afternoon. He needed me to take him home after I got off work - he'd had a reaction to the medicine.

And what a reaction!

When I got there (after frantically calling friends to see who might be available to help me shuttle his car back to his apartment), he was pale, his speech was slurred, his blood pressure was way down, his temperature was way up, and he was so weak he couldn't sit up well.  Frightening!

Long story short, they gave him two units of blood, and suddenly he decided that lying down was uncomfortable, he wanted the Fox News channel turned on, and started ordering me around.

We left the hospital aroun 12:30 a.m., with me following him home.  HE DROVE HIMSELF HOME.  What the heck?  I didn't get home until after 2:00 a.m., and I hit the sack around 2:40 a.m.

Yes, he's mega-tired (but he's ALWAYS like that after a round of chemo!), but he's up and out and going and doing.  I was barely functional on Saturday, and there's nothing (physically!) wrong with me besides sleep deprivation.

Sunday, he drove himself to church and sang in a men's chorus Christmas concert.  I skipped church, did a miniscule amount of Christmas shopping, and watched the wretched Indianapolis Colts football game at Baltimore.  I did a little laundry, too, but that consisted of throwing some clothes in the washer or dryer, and heading back to the couch to watch the game.  Dad did better than I did!

Only three more infusions to go!

Here's a link to some information about his specific type of lymphoma:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000588.htm

Thanksgiving Lessons Learned - WARNING: May be TMI

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year - the first time in about 5 years, what with Mom in an extended care facility and not being able/willing to go out anywhere.

We'd had Thanksgiving dinner at our house for several years, and I have a notebook of schedules and lists telling me exactly what to do when for the entire week preceding the event, so I was ready, right?

Well.

As I indicated in my previous post, I added a new festive touch to the week by scheduling a full colonoscopy on that Monday. That was okay, right? That's my scheduled Monday off.  No big deal - just my doctor celebrating the fact that I turned 55 in September. Oh, goodie.

So Sunday, I had to "prep" for Monday. That means you eat NOTHING all day, and take these nasty pills, then later start drinking this nasty concoction - a half gallon of it! UGH. And I couldn't GO anywhere. Well, except the bathroom. FUN. So, the first day of Turkey Day activities came and went with nothing accomplished except my personal cleanout.

I got through all that, and The Great Day arrives. O. M. G. They knock you out! Then you get to sleep it off after you get home. Then you eat like a crazy person because you haven't eaten anything for about 40 hours. So another day down the drain with nothing accomplished.

I worked both Tuesday and Wednesday, so I only had the evenings to clean up the house (oh my - how did it get that way???) and make the food that didn't have to be made on Thanksgiving itself. I was getting worried!

But Thanksgiving came, and I pulled it off. The food was good, the house looked fine, the company was great, and everyone had a good time. But I learned my lesson, and I learned it well enought to print in big letters across the week of Thanksgiving in next year's calendar - NO MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS THIS WEEK!

It's That Time of the Year - UGH

Fall is, is many ways, my favorite time of the year.  The summer humidity is gone, the trees get those amazing colors, and there's my birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving to look forward to.

However...

This is ALSO the season when I do all those annual medical things.  UGH.  And the older I get, the more of them there are!

It used to be that I'd go to the doctor, get my checkup "down under," get my birth control prescription, and that was that.

Now it seems that every 5 or 10 years, there's something new added to the mix.

First it was steroidal nasal spray for a new dust allergy.  Then mammograms, flu shots, and the latest indignity, the festive colonoscopy.  I have to spend the entire day before making sure the system is completely clear and empty.  There is, of course, only one way to do that, and that involves, among other things, eating no solid food and staying close to the bathroom. 

I can't even go to the appointment privately.  Oh, no, that would be too dignified.  I have to have someone there with me because they'll knock me out and someone (either That Man or The Boy) has to drive me home.  Once I'm home, I'm supposed to "take it easy" the rest of the day (translation:  I won't be worth a hill of beans and will probably sleep until time for bed, at which time I will be wide awake and ready to party, so to speak).

And of course, I made the mistake of scheduling this fabulous family activity the week of Thanksgiving, the day I'm supposed to bake pies and put the turkey into a cooler to thaw.  What was I thinking???

And, to top off the week, I'll be spending Black Friday at the hospital once again, getting a mammogram.  At least that takes less than an hour and I can drive myself home.

I guess I should be thankful that we are able to monitor our health so closely.  Maybe that will be part of our grace for Thanksgiving dinner - thank God for regular health checkups!

(UGH!)