It's a 5K Kind of Day

You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Well over the weekend- I took a big shot; entering myself and father in a 5k race. 
On this particular day though, it was crazy hot! 100 degrees fahrenheit to be exact.  Within the first half mile, people who looked like legit runners were dropping like flies; I, at least waited until the first mile to drop and take a breather from the insane heat. 
I wasn't able to run as much as I would have liked partly due to the heat but probably mostly because I just plain wasn't up to 3 miles! But hey, it was a shot I wanted and needed to eventually take it. Now I know the race/ run atmosphere and I know what I need to work on.  After our long trek we completed our 5k in 52 minutes 39 seconds.  I bet I could have reached 52 minutes if I hadn't decided to puke before the last 200 yards. Bad decision, huh?
But I think experience only helps you to reach your ambition with sucess.

One Mile at a Time

It's not the distance that matters, it's the journey.

But man that was a nice view to be seeing while I trotted 2.01 miles!  But before you get all excited, I deffinitly had to do a little bit of walking in between miles. But hey, 2.01 is 2.01 and I'll take it.

The week previously, I was running a mile straight.  But after three days of that my ankles were in major pain; so much that it stopped me running for a week.  This might be partially due to the fact that the shoes I'm running in aren't "real tennis-shoes" oops. Guess I need to switch over to the chunk of rubber.. I should probably work on changing that.  Probably within this week or else my ankles might not be too thrilled.

Oh, and Dad, stay home next time and don't spy on me!

Don't Stop

In a few weeks I'm going to be starting college classes at FSCJ.  One of my classes will be Personal Wellness.  My first thought is that they will have us in class and talk about how bad we are eating and more we need to exercise and how lazy we are.  So, the last few days I've been trying to not only do my regular at home workouts but going to the gym, also. I figured getting "ahead of the game" (well, ahead for me) might be a plus for my sake.

A couple days ago when I went to the gym I ran on the treadmill for .25 miles. Walked .5 miles. And repeated three times.  Today, I biked 1 mile in 5 1/2 minutes.  Running was another story.  I intended to reach .25 miles and either walk or just stop after that but I realized I wasn't actually tired. So .25 turned into a half mile and again, I felt pretty good and didn't have the excuse of feeling drained so why stop there?  One beautiful mile and a 15 minute timed run later, I finished todays workout.
  I call that a job well done for today.

Obstacles Galore

"Bad is never good until worse happens. "

The joint and knee pain has gone away! But, of course something else took its place. 
For about a week now I've been having issues with my blood preasure getting too low.  I was put on Fludrocortisone to help keep it up. But taking that came with its own problems. giving me some side-effects. After having it back up to my normal numbers I decreased a little on the Fludrocortisone and I don't think my body appreciated that too much seeing it's getting low again.  Right now, I am experiencing blackouts and dizziness along with some headaches and the "normal" nausea.  I continue to work with my weights and am proud to announce that I have moved from 2 8lb weights to 2 10lb weights!  As soon as some of this dizziness goes away I hope to be back up and running.  I knew there were going to be obstacles impeding my way to my goal but slowing me down is different then stopping me.

I KNEEd Activity!

It has been difficult the last week staying off my knee.  I still continued with other things like arm weights and stretching; but I still wasn't content that I couldn't do anything else.  I find this odd seeing that I went a year and a half without doing anything and was ok. Yet again, I didn't really have a choice!
I'm excited to hopefully ease into more activity and maybe some light jogging to get my knee use to the feel of movement again. I'm also happy that because of focusing more on my stretching- my flexibility has improved immensely.  My arm weights are gonna well also. I've almost mastered my 8 lb weights (16lbs total) and am hoping to move to some heavier weights soon.
I'm still a little apprehensive about doing too much with my knee too soon; but, I have to try again some times!

Pain, Pain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day...

I was hoping the pain in my knee would have been gone by now; or even start to show some improvements, but it hasn't.  I've kept my leg pretty straight and tight the last few days, trying to isolate it; hoping it will heal quickly.   I probably need to start stretching it or try use the bicycle for a few minutes and let it try and slowly regain its normal movement.  All I know is that I need to get back to training.
 Other joints still continue to bother me a little and sometimes even refuse to operate correctly.  Just today, while decorating a cake my fingers all of a sudden cramped up and stuck straight out like pins.  I couldn't for the life of me move them or bend them.  It's definitely time to get rid of these dreadful steroids that are causing so much difficulty!
Even though I can't do much with my legs right now, I'm still trying to exercise my arms.  Every little bit of muscle is going to help me with my training; and I can definitely use it! I look forward to start my training back up and hopefully, the pain will just go away.

Complaining Solves Nothing

I despise complaining.   That's why writing this is difficult; because all I have to say is how badly my joints are hurting. But I realized that I not only need to write about the good going on during my training, but the bad too.
So here it goes. My knees feel like they are going to give out any minute and my ankles feel like they are going to break.  I am dying to get out and do something, so what training I've done so far won't be completely wasted; but even walking is too painful right now.  The reason for my muscle and joint pain is all from my lovely steroids that I am trying to slowly ween off. I should have been done with these things over a year ago when I finished chemo!
  Thankfully, I am now pretty certain that I didn't actually hurt my knee. And that doing physical activity won't actually harm it, just hurt.  But if this pain doesn't go away soon, I don't think I can handle not training. I might just have to suck it up and go!
So now that I have written about my aches and pains, it's time to train and focus on the good and how I can still train instead of focusing on what I can't do at the momment. 

Breaking It Up

Today wasn't my best day; for running or my general feeling.  I am currently trying to ween off a steroid and got cut off by 1/3 of the dose; and I can tell my body is missing those extra 15 milligrams a day!   Until some of these side-effects like occasional dizziness random muscle aches and more nausea, I may have to schedule more of my training around the exercise bike, at least until my body gets use to this new dosage.

Despite this, I went out and ran.  I didn't get as far as I hoped and ran .41 miles. After a few minutes of walking I went back to do another .12 until my left knee started to bother me.  I'm not sure if I just needed to stretch  more or possibly pulled it, but for right now I am going to just keep an eye on it.  I was a little let down that I had only ran 3/4 a mile; but then I came to the realization that I couldn't have done most of that less than a week ago. I just need to keep my head up and keep my eye on the prize and brake those 24 miles up into sections. 
 The marathon is over 8 months away.  Technically, to be able to run all 24 miles by February, I would need to be able to gain 3 miles a month.  But, to be reasonable I will only make this months goal 2 miles.  By the end of June I WILL be at, at least 2 miles. No questions asked.

I'm Feeling Some Results

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.

While I sit here on my rest day and think about my run yesterday and how badly I wanted to quit before reaching the finish line. I recognize that I'm no longer hurting from the run; but just feeling the effects of not quiting. 
 I woke up with sore, stiff ankles as a result from the other day; but it is worth the discomfort as it will only last a short while.  To be able to say that I went from only being able to run a quarter mile to a mile in about a week and a half I think is pretty good. But that's just my thoughts. 
Although I am sore and stiff I am looking forward to my next run. Probably not to beat my mile just yet, but to stay consistent and let my body get use to something it hasn't done in over two years!

What's in Your Head?

It is your attitude at the beginning of a task that determines success or failure.

If you tell yourself you can or can't do something- chances are that is what the outcome will be.  I didn't really feel like training today but knew if I got that in my head I would give less effort.  While running today, I tried to push positive thoughts in my head. My dad and I kept moving the finish line a little further everytime we met "the end."  Eventually, our finish line was 0.66 miles!  After walking a little ways  we finished our day with another 0.37, giving us a total of 1.03 miles for our run today.

Putting positive thoughts in your head gives you successful outcomes with anything. I can already see and feel the difference in my running in just 10 short days. Now, I just need to do is keep this going until February.  Only 25.99 miles left to go!

Just Keep Moving

When we set a goal there's always going to be something along the way that causes difficulty. That's why they're called goals- because you have to work for it.

For a few months now I've been on a medicine-Hydrortisone.  I have to take it multiple times a day because my adrenal glands stopped producing cortisone. If I miss enough doses my body will go into adrenal shock.  Recently, it has started to show its side-effects leaving my joints and muscles aching; but the marathon isn't going to wait for me- I have to keep going.  Some days I will run better or farther than other runs and other days I won't do as well as I hoped. But at least I was out and tried.

On Memorial Day my Dad and I competed in the Amazing Race event. You went from clue to clue performing the different challenges it calls for.  This was my first real game/ workout event in several years; so I was excited!  Although the tasks weren't extreme physical activities it still felt great to be out and doing something semi-normal to what I've been accustomed to years before. 

I now know that I am capable of more that I knew. This just means I have to keep pushing even if I don't see the results I want or results in general.

Starting From Scratch

When you try to explain to someone that you can't run a half mile without resting AND put the word "marathon" in the same sentence; it can cause some confusion. 
     
I've already seen minute changes in my distance and overall feeling in my legs when I run. When I first tried running just months after I finished chemo running was painful. Every step/stride was like someone was hitting my head with a pot. The feeling was so awkward, not only in my head but my legs too. They felt like they were going to break at any momment!  But now, I don't have that and that, is just another good outcome I've overcome and can look past now.

 I can now run .13 miles, walk for a few seconds and run another .13 miles.  Compared to when I first started- that's improvement and I'll take it!  The neuropathy in my feet still remains, therefore; causing difficulting in walking much less running. Thankfully, my walking has gotten a lot better, but it's still deffinitly an issue that I wish could be elminated. I also can't wear "real" tennis shoes.  Since they're so bulky, (well, to me) all they result in is more difficulty in running and the occasional trip to the ground.  I've had the numbness in my feet for two years now and don't really remember what it feels like to have feeling in my feet. But I guess what you don't know (or in this case, remember) won't hurt you!

Its Now or Never

Today I officially started my first "training day." I am so fired up to start this and am excited to begin this journey!

  All I can say is "wow. I have a lot of work to do! And when I finish this run in February it's going to feel amazing."  I started off on the elliptical. After 5 minutes my legs were already aching, but I kept going until I hit at least 10 minutes.  After this, and a little dizziness I knew not to push it too much the first day. I moved on and did a few leg weights and ended the gym trip with a mile on the bike.

I left the gym satisfied with what I did but came to the realization of how hard I am going to have to work in order to accomplish this massive task I have undertaken.   Tonight, I am going to keep working on my flexibility and arm weights. And hopefully, not wake up in the morning completely sore!

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
-Isaiah 40:29

The Ultimate Challenge

Last night, while on a walk with my Dad, we started talking about the "good old days" and all the victories we use to have in our many sports and competitions. I miss being able to participate in the physical activites and really wanted to change that. It made me remember just how much I missed being able to be active and immerse myself in whatever activity -physical or not- pleased me.  Weeks previously, I had been thinking about the changes and goals I want to set and then, my Dad gave me the Ultimate Challenge.  "Lets run a marrathon in February."