Lagging Behind My Expectations

I just can't seem to prioritize very well since I am not working.

We bought this house and moved in around the end of September last year. We knew we were going to do some major renovations, and we would have to do the work ourselves in order to afford the work we wanted to do on the house. We did not realize how long it would take, how much it would cost and how much work we could accomplish in any given day.

What does this have to do with prioritizing? It seems with all the other stuff I am trying to do around here, I have a hard time fitting the gym into my schedule. I always have something else to do. I didn't go all weekend. Saturday was the garage sale. We did pretty well and got rid of a lot of stuff. Sunday we worked on the yard all day.

I didn't get to the gym until Tuesday and, instead of being rested, I was tired. I think I was able to do maybe three 5min run/2 min walks and the rest were 3 min runs. I felt okay afterward, but I was whooped and very disappointed after the great run I had the week before. I did put the insoles back in my shoes and my ankles hurt and I felt like I was getting shin splints. I am going to take them out today just to see if I experience the same discomfort.

Wednesday I woke up with a spasm on the right side of my back. But, you have to know that I get this occasionally, particularly if I am at the computer a lot (which I was most of the day Tuesday -- payroll taxes due). Anyway, the spasms hurt like hell and it takes medication and massage (I love my husband) to relieve the painful spasms and soften the knots in the muscles. Needless to say, I didn't get to the gym yesterday.

I will go this afternoon. I like going in the afternoon around 2:00 or 2:30. Very few peope and I have my choice of treadmills. I like the ones that have the calorie counters and don't stop after 35 minutes. So does everyone else. So, anyway, I am just going to have to see how it goes when I get started.

I'm A Sweater

I don't mean the kind you wear to keep warm. I mean sweat, real profuse sweat! Like a pig! After an hour on walk/running, it takes me an hour to stop sweating and cool down. That's what I am trying to do now.

Okay... now, high five... now, low five... Thank you. I did well today. I walked/ran for 55 minutes, but instead of 3 min run/2 min walk intervals, I added a minute or two to each running interval. Most running intervals were 4 minutes, but I had a couple of 5 minute intervals and one 6 minute interval. I feel really good about the 6 minute interval because it was toward the end of my workout. Now I know I am improving! I just need to string all those running intervals together.

Anyway, I'm tired, but I feel good. Really good.

Unfortunately, I took the inserts out of my shoes so my right foot is throbbing a little. Did I mention that I broke my left foot and tore ligaments in my right foot? Last July in a freak accident just walking down two steps on a porch. I really don't even know how it happened. I just tripped and fell and twisted both feet wrong -- completely wrong. The break in my left foot healed fine, but the tendons in my right foot still ache sometimes, especially when I walk barefoot or in real flat shoes without much support. The orthopedic surgeon gave me insoles for more support. I have used them faithfully when I run except for today. I guess I was thinking that enough time had passed and I had healed enough so that I no longer needed them. I was wrong.

I have finally stopped perspiring so profusely, so now I can take a shower and get ready for my appointment to get my first tattoo. Can you even believe that?? A tattoo on a 60 year old woman. I will let you know how it goes. But, first I have to have a martini...

Getting Started and Other Inconsequential Things

I initially began a Myspace profile to blog. I never thought that any of my family or anyone else I knew would ever see it. The Internet is a vast space with billions of sites and millions of people, right?? What I learned is that the Internet is really a very small place, particularly Myspace.

It wasn't long before I received an email from my youngest sister (with whom I hadn't spoken since my mom died in 2004 and haven't seen face-to-face since my dad died in 1992), who also had a profile on Myspace... along with her three children (the weddings to which I was never invited), their spouses or significant others, her grandchildren and her husband (my brother-in-law that I have met only once). Then one of my grandsons started a Myspace profile and my circle of Myspace friends has grown to include not only my sister and her family, but my youngest son, two grandsons, a daughter-in-law and her mother. But, enough of the family stuff. My blogs will punctuated with this crap, so you will learn more as I proceed.

My point being, Myspace no longer gives me the real privacy and anonymity to say what I want the way I want to say it without the fear of offending a family member or hurting someone's feelings.

So, what am I trying to accomplish? Get healthier. Lose weight. Speak my mind and my heart. If I don't write about it, I will continue to chew on it, whatever "it" is.

I am 5 feet 2-1/2" tall and weigh 198 pounds. My husband, Tom, gave me a gym membership as a gift this last Christmas. I love it. I am using the treadmill at the gym and have started a version of the Couch-to-5K (C25K) program on CoolRunning.com. I started this program a couple of times before, but quit both times due to injuries. It has been difficult each time to find the motivation to start again and follow through. I am hoping this blog will help me do that.

I have about 50 minutes of music on my iPod. I walk the first 5 minutes or so (the first song) and then run 3 minutes and walk 2 minutes until the first song starts again, then I walk to that.

If you are an experienced runner, you won't find anything of interest here. I am not accomplished. I have never run a 5K, let alone a marathon. I run slow! Really slow: 3.5 miles per hour according to the treadmill stats. But it feels really, really good. When I started the first time a couple of years ago, I couldn't even run a full 30 seconds and worked my way up to running for 2 minutes before I got a stress fracture in my foot. The second time I started, I was running for 3 minutes at a time before I broke one foot and tore ligaments in the other in an unrelated accident. When I started back this time, I was still able to run at least 1 minute and within a couple of weeks I am back to running 3 minutes at a time.

My problem is consistency. That is what I am struggling with now.

And the beat goes on....