I guess I run now

I was thinking I’d hold off on my inaugural run until the meds were in my system for a couple of weeks at least, but then…I had to know if I could do this.

I tried the C25K program once earlier in the year, did it, survived, but only survived. Game over.

But this morning, I felt like it was time to try again. Rain & wind & my knees screamed down the stairs & down the second stairs to the basement to let the dog out back & back up, but things were different somehow.

Nice build, huh? Am I playing up the suspense too much? Trying to channel Feathers to write this as a fun-to-read post, but I think I’m failing miserably, so back to my voice.

So my plan was to use the ROTC markings on the trail to run .25, walk .25, run .25, & then walk another mile or so out & then walk back. Managed to go a bit beyond the first .25 mile run, but then my ear bud fell out & I heard this old fat lady wheezing right behind me, realized that actually the old fat lady was me, and decided it was time for that walking break. The second .25 run was harder, but not impossible.

Then I did another mile of walk/runs. You know the old, “I’ll walk to that rock, I’ll run to that sign, I’ll walk to that tree, I’ll run to the end of the path.” Got to the two-mile mark when the wind started up. Turned around (wind against me) and ran for what I had decided would be my last run of the day. Walked a few steps after that & that’s when the C25K podcast for week 1 came on.

Now I don’t necessarily believe in signs…if I did, the fact that the wind was at around 22 mph against me, I’d have taken that as a sign to go easy…but I guess I like a challenge some times. Ya know? So I did the first week runs on the way back. Played that game with myself, “okay, just do 4, half the runs & then quit,” “okay, why not do the 5th one so you know you can do more than half,” “okay, once you get the 6th run, there’s no reason not to get the last two.”

& it’s too late to make this long story short now, but…long story short: I walked/ran 4 miles today & I KNOW I can do it again on Sunday. YeeHa!

Food:
Breakfast (thank you moonfairy!): hb egg & 1/2 apple
Lunch (post run): salad with last night’s left over green beans & leftover london broil from two nights ago on top…yum
Dinner (will be): smoked sausage in a tomato sauce with onions, sugar snap peas, asparagus, over whole wheat rotini. Went out to dinner instead: 3/4 cup of a broth soup, few bites of a washed-out salad, 1/2 grilled salmon fillet, 1/2 cup wild rice, a ton of water! Packed the rest of the salmon up to put on my salad tomorrow & yup…forgot to grab it off the table when we left…damn it!

Exercise: 1 hour/4-mile walk/run…hopefully a walk & a sauna with hubby tonight as well. plus a 1-hour beach walk after dinner…cold & windy out there!

HAPPY FRIDAY CHICKS!

One of my food requirements for the W8Challenge is to eat breakfast every day. But that’s not working for me anymore. I have to take my thyroid pill on an empty stomac, in the morning. Read up last night that I have to wait 1 hour after eating to take it & then wait another two hours before eating again…3 hours…that pretty much makes breakfast a no-go since I don’t get up at 7 in the summers (I know, I’m really lucky that way). So for the summer I need to eliminate breakfast from the challenge & find something else to add in its place.

Ideas? So far on my list of must-dos I have 4 pints of water & 1 salad everyday. I’m shooting for healthy habits rather than restrictive stuff, but a “no sweets” or “no junk food” policy might work…most days those would be easy, but they’d keep me from messing up on days when we’re visiting friends or when hubby does the grocery shopping & loses his mind in the junk food aisle. Maybe my third food rule for the W8 should be: do not let hubby shop, hungry or otherwise.

Busy day today. I’ve been trying to help him with his class, have to design an ad for our department for a conference program, and I have my own work to worry about. Going to take a long walk with the dog tonight…my knees are bad today, but I’ve got this crazy desire to throw some runs in there anyway. We’ll see how that goes.

Food yesterday:

no breakfast:
Lunch was 1/2 chicken salad sandwich on whole wheat (we made the salad ourselves, so at least no added crap beyond the mayo)
Dinner was 2/3 of a 4 oz london broil, asparagus, beets
“Snack” was 1/2 banana with shredded wheat & bran & 1% milk (was starving when we got home from babysitting)

Food Today:
No breakfast
Lunch: other half of chick salad sandwich, 3 asparagus spears, 1/2 cup of beets
Dinner: lean center-cut pork chop, green beans, beets, salad
Exercise: 1 hour & 15 minute walk with hubby & dog.

Happy day chicks!

The trip back wasn’t so bad, but I’m glad it’s over. No exercise & I didn’t even get my food star today: only missing the salad, which I was planning to have for dinner, but wasn’t that hungry when dinner time rolled around & salad isn’t exactly road-friendly anyway.

& I DID hit McDonalds…BUT only for a potty break & one of their dollar menu yogurt parfaits. NOT that this was a diet-conscious choice, but it was healthier than my usual cheese burger & coffee “snack.” & the portion size was pretty good too…just a little bigger than the average yogurt.

In other food: breakfast was a whole wheat bagel with lite cream cheese (Bruegger’s), lunch was about 5 inches of a 6-inch seafood sub from Subway & 3/4 bag of sun chips (I’m trying not to eat everything on my plate these days). Then instead of the cheese popcorn I really wanted to buy, I went with a piece of smoked cheddar (tons of smokers in this area)…a couple of bites of this settled my craving, & I munched about 1 1/2 cups of fruit & nut mix throughout the day. Also coffee & an Arizona iced tea (210 calories for the tea). Not a bad (road trip) day, I think. I’d have eaten less if I still smoked, but those days are long over even though the ride up here remains very, very long & boring.

Feeling good…my joints are a problem still, & it’s early days yet, but I feel good. Thinking that if hubby doesn’t need me around the house to help with his class or his diss tomorrow, I might just walk into town to work. I honestly feel like I could run, but I’m going to give it a few days before I try that again.

Night chicks!

still not the best experience with a doctor, but I can’t complain.

So I prepped for this appointment. I’d read summaries of the reasons why the AACE changed their ranges for hypothyroid, but this morning before my appointment I went online & found some articles directly from AACE members & slogged through those…not my type of reading, but I can’t say that academic articles in my field are any better written. Still, I wanted to have the terminology down & know the history of the discussion/research & while I like online sources for general information, I think the academic sources are more credible.

So the doctor comes in, looks over my test results & says, “okay, sugar is good, cholesterol is higher now, thyroid is in normal range, so we must be here to talk about your cholesterol.” “No,” I say, “we’re here to discuss my thyroid.” He repeats that it’s within normal range & I say, “no, it’s in hypothyroid range.” “Okay,” he says, “tell me.”

So I explain about the changed ranges & add, “I know it’s in sub-clinical range, but since I have these miserable symptoms & they didn’t diagnose my mom until every hair on her head fell out, I think it’s a good idea to take this test result seriously now.” So he asks about my mom, what other associated problems does she have…diabetes. Then I mention my JRA & he asks about how I was diagnosed & the treatment. All these are questions I answered for his intern last time & he had access to the answers…all these things are also on my medical history. And all of these things support a diagnosis of hypothyroid. But I had to make him pay attention to this stuff.

Now he’s writing on my chart & nodding his head. “Yes, this all adds up to thyroid,” he says. “And the cholesterol level fits too.” So he gets me to give blood for more tests & puts me on the lowest level of treatment possible. Good. I have another appointment next month to check my levels & see how the medication is working, but I’m already beginning to believe that I might get an uninterrupted night of sleep very soon & maybe I’ll even be able to forget I have joints…I’m going to run, ladies!

Okay, yesterday I had a cheese burger & 1/2 of a small fry on the drive down. Not good. Not good on so many levels. What’s happened to McD’s fries? They tasted pretty nasty, like they’ve added fake potato flavor to them or something. Ick. Going to be very easy to pass on McDs on the drive back to the UP tomorrow.

Dinner last night was green curry chicken over rice. Leftovers for breakfast/lunch today. Dinner tonight is a lovely piece of salmon over a salad with mango & berries. Picked up a bunch of fresh veggies at the local market & grabbed dinner stuff there. Veggies are pretty depressing in the UP just now so I’m bringing back sugar snap peas, green beans, asparagus, and onions. Yum.

Okay, I have tons of errands left to run before the trip back tomorrow, so I gotta dash.

Thanks for listening to my complaints & for the encouragement. I’m beginning to think my days of complaining about my health are almost at an end!