I really don't even know where to start with my thoughts today. So bear with me as this probably will be some sort of stream of consciousness stuff floating around in my head.
Yesterday I found out terrible news. A friend, Doug, from my TNT tri team who had CML in remission with Gleevec and has been working toward a goal of completing each type of endurance event while raising money with TNT, found out yesterday that he is now Gleevec intolerant. This means that he is no longer in remission and blood tests show that 77% of his white blood cells are cancerous. Doug is one of the kindest, friendliest, funniest people you will meet in your life. And now he has to go through the pain of sitting his children down again and telling them his cancer is back. Then on Monday have a blood marrow biopsy and hope that they find a treatment that will work and get him back in remission. Because if they can't he will have to have a blood marrow transplant... that his insurance won't cover. I have been praying a lot since yesterday afternoon and I will pray more. We're waiting to find out more after Monday's results, but we may be doing more than praying too.
The whole thing makes me angry. Angry that the human body can be so wonderous and so self-destructive all at once. Angry that a wonderful person like Doug has to endure cancer coming out of remission. Angry that his insurance won't cover blood marrow transplants or drugs that are part of studies. Angry that they can quantify money versus the attempt to save someone's life. As Belle told me on the phone last night, cancer doesn't happen to mean people. I'm angry about that too. Everyone I've ever known to have cancer was/is wonderful. Angela, my Granny, my Mom, my Mom's cousins, my Poppop, my Dad's stockbroker, Doug, my friend's little girl, Training Buddy, Coach, and Belle herself - just to name a few.
But it also makes me hopeful (in an angry sort of way). Gleevec lets people go into remission and they're studying what causes the body to become intolerant of it. So there's hope that one day others won't suffer. There are also other drugs they can try to see if they will work. Maybe one of them will. Most of all is the outpouring of love that has come from those in TNT for Doug. We're a bunch of doers. We take our anger and our grief and we want to fix it. We know we, in and of ourselves, cannot find the cure or make Doug's cancer go into remission. But we all pray or send strengthening thoughts, we are already cooking up ideas for fundraisers for Doug and his family, we are already pissed off at cancer for trying to take our friend, and we are all letting Doug know how much we love and support him.
It makes me think even more about the fact that I am doing TNT again this coming year. That I hopefully will get to be a mentor for my team, and that I will be raising money toward a cure. But like I said, I'm a doer. And I'm in that spot again that makes me feel like I am just not doing enough. I read online about cancer and cancer treatments, I partake in legislative letter writing about cancer issues to try and get laws passed to help cancer research and cancer patients, but I hate not being able to fix it myself. To stare into a microscope at the cells and come up with ideas about what to zap them with, bathe them in, etc. to kill the cancer or to turn off whatever that little mechanism is that makes the cell replicate without stopping like it should. Or to be the one to give treatments to a patient and praying for wellness that could come from my actions. And that makes me angry too.
I'm not sure what to do with all this anger. My back is out and I'm in a ton of pain too. Could be caused by stress. I read that stress can make your back troubles worse. The resulting pain can definitely make you grumpy. I'll probably end up at the chiropractor this afternoon. I was trying to avoid it. Trying to save the $25 co-pay since money is tight, but with this much stabbing sharp pain that takes my breath away I can't avoid it. Not to mention I am feeling fat and ugly lately. I feel like I get fatter every day now that I'm not training like I was for the 70.3. So I'm cutting out all sugar, all sweets (other than fruit), and as much processed foods as I can starting today. Not that I eat all that much of that stuff, but as of late we've had more ice cream and baked goods in our diet than we've had while I was training for the 70.3. So it's gone. Plus I feel like I have no style, but refuse to spend money on clothes. I watch What Not to Wear and often think that I'd be a great candidate for their show. I miss Angela. And there's nothing I can do about it.
So I did the only thing I knew to do with my anger this morning. I went to the pool. Coach had a 2200 m continuous swim on my schedule as it was. I have to say it was just about the most perfect thing that could have been on my schedule for today. I ripped up the pool. I even did flip turns for awhile because I was just wanting to shred the pool and work out all my anger. Of course, after a bit my leg started to hurt so I stopped flip turning and returned to wall touching. Amazingly my back didn't kill me while I swam. I may have been too intent on swimming and working out the anger and the thoughts going through my head to notice though. I didn't even notice that there was a 3rd person in the pool until I saw them when they were getting out of the pool and I was taking a breath to that side. 2200m in 45 minutes flat. Not too shabby. I could have been faster, but I know I slowed down a little when my leg started to hurt and then sped up again when it stopped hurting again.
If only I could get these other things not to hurt so much. I have to accept I can do only what I can do and that God takes care of the rest. As I said to someone yesterday, I have to accept that God has a plan and that all of this is somehow part of his plan. I cannot understand why Doug (or any other cancer patient) suffering this way has to be part of the plan, but somehow it is. And since God knows more than I do, I just have to find a way to accept it and do the part that God wants me to do. But at the moment it is a bit hard to do.
I passed a church on the way to the pool whose sign said "Be thankful for the dirty dishes. It means you have food." I know what they mean... count your blessings and find them where you might not normally look. So here goes with the best I can muster today. 1) I'm thankful for my back pain and my leg pain because it means I normally am pain free. 2) I'm thankful for cancer because it brought me to TNT and the friends I have made and for knowing there are others who want to do something to help find a cure and not just talk about it. 3) I'm thankful for feeling fat because it means I have the ability eat in overabundance. 4) I'm thankful for feeling like I have no style and don't buy new clothes because this means I am using my money for my family and not for selfish means. 5) I'm thankful for my Mom's situation with her cancer scare because it helps me realize how much I love her and don't want anything to happen to her. 6) I'm thankful for my anger because it's a good motivator and shows me that I'm alive and that I care. I have to tell you though, I'm not really thankful for cancer. I HATE cancer. Cancer sucks and I'm sick of it messing with people in my life.
I do have a ton of things I am thankful for. Mr. Darcy and the girls, especially. The fact that I had Angela in my life as such a wonderful close friend since I was 12 so that I would know the pain of missing her. The wonderful friends that I have. And just so much more.
Sorry for the downer. Hopefully the weekend will do its trick - wonderful friends, time with my wonderful husband and sweet girls, and time to let everything sink in and settle down.
I hope you have a great weekend!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Importance of Mammograms and a Morning Workout
The Importance of Mammograms
After talking to my Mom on the phone last night, I want to reinforce the importance of mammograms. Even if that academy just said that women don't need them every year after 40, just after 50. (Wonder if it's a ploy dealing with this new healthcare bill?) A few weeks back, my Mom went for her annual mammogram (which ironically was read by my childhood friend who became a radiologist and again lives in our hometown). Something didn't look quite right and they wanted her to have additional shots and a sonogram done and quickly. When I talked to her about a week ago, they had told her it could be either calcification (which is normal and happens when women age) or pre/early stage cancer. We didn't get overly worked up about it.
Yesterday they did the additional mammography and sonogram and determined that the mass is 2 inches by 2.1 inches and that they couldn't conclusively tell from the additional shots and the sonogram whether it was cancerous. Plus since it seems to be a circular mass, that's troubling because that's how breast cancer grows. So now they have scheduled her for a needle biopsy of the mass on December 2nd. She'll have the results sometime on December 3rd. It still could turn out to be nothing, or it could be something. Even if it is something, it should be early on. But without that annual mammogram, who knows where she would have been. Of course all this is when I'll be in Atlanta, but at least I'll be with my girls so we can either celebrate that it is nothing or I can have support for bad news. I'm hoping for the celebration, of course.
Morning Workout
This morning the little ladies were up and ready to go. We had a little skirmish over choosing a straw, but overall the morning was good... other than the fact that Mr. Darcy and I had severely overslept. But I was determined to get my workout in this morning, especially because I didn't go yesterday because I was home with Angelfish. Angelfish had no fever this morning, was a little stuffy but asked to go to school so she could play with her friends. So, off she went along with Ladybug who was determined to earn her red token for the morning.
The moment they pulled out of the driveway, I started my run. Today was to be a 20 minute cardio session, running or biking, followed by weights. So I ran the 1.5 or so miles to the Y. I haven't run in awhile so when I hit the mile mark and my chest was tight and I seemed tired, at first I thought to myself... how is it that I got this out of shape with running in just the past few weeks. And then I looked at my watch. I stared at it for a few seconds...
Turns out that I was tired because I had just done the 1st mile in 8:27! Me. The person who 11 minute miles are normal. No wonder my lungs were feeling it. So, I ended up at the Y in about 13 minutes. I was sweating like mad. But I got my two sets of the circuit and then squats and ab work in, and ran part of the way home when my leg started to hurt. Not wanting to push my leg too much so I didn't set myself back in the healing leg process so I walked awhile. But I ran about 2.25 miles out of the 3 miles. So all in all I am quite thrilled.
After talking to my Mom on the phone last night, I want to reinforce the importance of mammograms. Even if that academy just said that women don't need them every year after 40, just after 50. (Wonder if it's a ploy dealing with this new healthcare bill?) A few weeks back, my Mom went for her annual mammogram (which ironically was read by my childhood friend who became a radiologist and again lives in our hometown). Something didn't look quite right and they wanted her to have additional shots and a sonogram done and quickly. When I talked to her about a week ago, they had told her it could be either calcification (which is normal and happens when women age) or pre/early stage cancer. We didn't get overly worked up about it.
Yesterday they did the additional mammography and sonogram and determined that the mass is 2 inches by 2.1 inches and that they couldn't conclusively tell from the additional shots and the sonogram whether it was cancerous. Plus since it seems to be a circular mass, that's troubling because that's how breast cancer grows. So now they have scheduled her for a needle biopsy of the mass on December 2nd. She'll have the results sometime on December 3rd. It still could turn out to be nothing, or it could be something. Even if it is something, it should be early on. But without that annual mammogram, who knows where she would have been. Of course all this is when I'll be in Atlanta, but at least I'll be with my girls so we can either celebrate that it is nothing or I can have support for bad news. I'm hoping for the celebration, of course.
Morning Workout
This morning the little ladies were up and ready to go. We had a little skirmish over choosing a straw, but overall the morning was good... other than the fact that Mr. Darcy and I had severely overslept. But I was determined to get my workout in this morning, especially because I didn't go yesterday because I was home with Angelfish. Angelfish had no fever this morning, was a little stuffy but asked to go to school so she could play with her friends. So, off she went along with Ladybug who was determined to earn her red token for the morning.
The moment they pulled out of the driveway, I started my run. Today was to be a 20 minute cardio session, running or biking, followed by weights. So I ran the 1.5 or so miles to the Y. I haven't run in awhile so when I hit the mile mark and my chest was tight and I seemed tired, at first I thought to myself... how is it that I got this out of shape with running in just the past few weeks. And then I looked at my watch. I stared at it for a few seconds...
Turns out that I was tired because I had just done the 1st mile in 8:27! Me. The person who 11 minute miles are normal. No wonder my lungs were feeling it. So, I ended up at the Y in about 13 minutes. I was sweating like mad. But I got my two sets of the circuit and then squats and ab work in, and ran part of the way home when my leg started to hurt. Not wanting to push my leg too much so I didn't set myself back in the healing leg process so I walked awhile. But I ran about 2.25 miles out of the 3 miles. So all in all I am quite thrilled.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Sniffles
Last night we had a wonderful time at Missy's early Thanksgiving Dinner. The food was great and the company even better - even the little ladies had a great time! But we should have known that when Angelfish was telling us we needed to go home because it was her bedtime that she wasn't feeling well. Of course, this is our child who goes to bed when she's tired.
3 am rolled around and she was calling for me because she needed to blow her nose. She didn't want to get out of bed because we are doing a thing so that if they stay in their beds at night (and put on their pjs, brush their teeth, and go to bed nicely) that they get a red token. 8 red tokens a week (there's something for getting ready and going to school nicely too, which Ladybug decidedly did not even come close to getting this morning), and they get a choice of a toy or getting ice cream. Anyway, she coughed for awhile after that and felt a little hot to me. I gave her some water and she chugged it like a college kid at a kegger.
This morning she had a 101 temperature and obviously was not acting herself. This is our little lady that springs out of bed in a happy sprite like mood each morning. Laying on the floor like moving was a chore is NOT her usual. So, unless she feels like going for a walk/run and doing yoga at lunchtime, it looks like no workout today. Mr. Darcy is coming home just after lunch so he can watch Angelfish while I teach a webinar for work.
And I have to say that this economy stinks. Chase Bank found my work number somehow and there is some woman out there somewhere with my same first and last name who owes them money for a piece of property in Arizona. I don't owe them money and I don't own propery in Arizona, and they keep calling me. I do not like to be nasty but I keep telling them that I do not own property in Arizona and that while my name is the same first and last name, there are probably millions of people with that name and they have the wrong person, not to mention that they are calling my work number which is illegal, and that they need to stop calling me because I am not who they are looking for. It's really annoying too because we get calls on the house phone for random people that don't live here but owe people money. It's a big pain in the rump.
Anywho. Here's hoping that Angelfish is better soon and that she didn't infect everyone at the party!
3 am rolled around and she was calling for me because she needed to blow her nose. She didn't want to get out of bed because we are doing a thing so that if they stay in their beds at night (and put on their pjs, brush their teeth, and go to bed nicely) that they get a red token. 8 red tokens a week (there's something for getting ready and going to school nicely too, which Ladybug decidedly did not even come close to getting this morning), and they get a choice of a toy or getting ice cream. Anyway, she coughed for awhile after that and felt a little hot to me. I gave her some water and she chugged it like a college kid at a kegger.
This morning she had a 101 temperature and obviously was not acting herself. This is our little lady that springs out of bed in a happy sprite like mood each morning. Laying on the floor like moving was a chore is NOT her usual. So, unless she feels like going for a walk/run and doing yoga at lunchtime, it looks like no workout today. Mr. Darcy is coming home just after lunch so he can watch Angelfish while I teach a webinar for work.
And I have to say that this economy stinks. Chase Bank found my work number somehow and there is some woman out there somewhere with my same first and last name who owes them money for a piece of property in Arizona. I don't owe them money and I don't own propery in Arizona, and they keep calling me. I do not like to be nasty but I keep telling them that I do not own property in Arizona and that while my name is the same first and last name, there are probably millions of people with that name and they have the wrong person, not to mention that they are calling my work number which is illegal, and that they need to stop calling me because I am not who they are looking for. It's really annoying too because we get calls on the house phone for random people that don't live here but owe people money. It's a big pain in the rump.
Anywho. Here's hoping that Angelfish is better soon and that she didn't infect everyone at the party!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Racing For a Cure
I am training with Team in Training again to raise money for cancer research for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)! I am racing in memory of my dear friend Angela King Kinder who passed away in 2008 after battling sarcoma, and for all who battle cancer. While LLS funds help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives, they also help other cancer types too. Many of the drugs developed by LLS have been beneficial in other cancer patients as well.
Team in Training has been an amazing experience for me. It has has shown me there can be no rest until we find a cure for cancer. Here's one example: while training for the Ironman Augusta 70.3 with others from my TNT team, a woman left a napkin on my friend's car because it had a Team in Training sticker on it. The napkin said, "Thank you for racing with Team in Training. My son died from leukemia at the age of 6 in 1981." Had there been a cure, her son would have been my age today.
After that experience, I couldn't turn down another chance to raise money for a cure. Please help find a cure for cancer as I swim, bike and run for those who cannot. Together we can help cancer patients reach another birthday. Donate today!
You can donate online at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/cfl/anttry10/kmartinmou or you can email me and we can exchange contact information. No donation is too small!
Team in Training has been an amazing experience for me. It has has shown me there can be no rest until we find a cure for cancer. Here's one example: while training for the Ironman Augusta 70.3 with others from my TNT team, a woman left a napkin on my friend's car because it had a Team in Training sticker on it. The napkin said, "Thank you for racing with Team in Training. My son died from leukemia at the age of 6 in 1981." Had there been a cure, her son would have been my age today.
After that experience, I couldn't turn down another chance to raise money for a cure. Please help find a cure for cancer as I swim, bike and run for those who cannot. Together we can help cancer patients reach another birthday. Donate today!
You can donate online at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/cfl/anttry10/kmartinmou or you can email me and we can exchange contact information. No donation is too small!
O Happy Day!
Today, so far, has been a very happy day.
For whatever reason last night, I couldn't even keep my eyes open past 7:30 no matter what I tried .... which would have been a problem since I was watching the girls solo while Mr. Darcy had tennis practice. The Gods of the House must have known something was remiss because no one showed for tennis practice, and Mr. Darcy was sitting in my living room with the girls when I opened my eyes for a moment. I felt like a terrible mother. Never before had I done such a thing. All I know is I must have needed that sleep. Maybe my body was catching up to me after the several nights of insomnia I had last week. But Mr. Darcy was wonderful. He didn't try to wake me, and I even remember the girls' coming over to tell me something and waking me up and him telling them not to wake me. I was out. I woke up only to go to bed. And drifted between waking and sleeping as Mr. Darcy watched "Dancing with the Stars."
Yesterday afternoon my boss gave me the green light to go to a CLE in Atlanta in early December. I'm going to stay with my close friend "Belle" (I've talked about her before in this blog.). I am super excited about it!! We're going with our other close friend Craftygirl (she's awesome and always telling us not to buy things because she can make them for next to nothing... thus her nickname) to dinner and to see another Atlanta friend's new baby - these are the girls that I was referred to as "the triplets" when I lived in Atlanta. Then I told Mr. Darcy about it and he suggested I stay until Saturday sometime so I could see some of my other friends too. Can you say early Christmas present? WAHOO!
So now not only do I get to knock out the Georgia CLE hours I need for this year and most of next year, I get to spend time with Belle and Craftygirl, meet a friend's new baby, AND get to have drinks and dinner (and maybe a movie) with Belle (hopefully Craftygirl) and my other good friends N., K, Jen and C! I may even get to have breakfast with N and D before I leave town that Saturday too. Just crazy happy. I get to see my peeps! It puts a spring in my step, joy in my heart and a smile on my face.
But that's not all! This weekend our friends Jen and Steve will be in town with their little ones, and we're spending the day with them at Sea World. Sunday, Mr. Darcy has agreed that I can go see "New Moon" (let's hope the acting is better than the last one, these books were my guilty pleasure reads) with my other friend Jen (I have a lot of friends named Jen... it's the era) and my friend K. Happiness abounds!
But wait! We also were invited to Missy's house for Turkey Dinner tonight, and Mr. Darcy doesn't have anything on his calendar, so we're going to meet up at Missy's! YAY! Great fun, good food, and I don't have to cook dinner. We'll have that salmon dish tomorrow night.
I love a good social calendar! But there's more!
I had an awesome swim this morning too... I had the pool all to myself until the last 5 minutes and I was rocking it! I did a ladder swim going from 50 to 400 and back, and I did it like it was supposed to be all out for every step of the ladder. (Yes, Coach I rested from between 30 seconds and 1 minute between each. I was a good girl. In fact for some, I needed that full minute to catch my breath!) No buoy needed. My leg was cooperating and didn't mind pushing off of the wall even (except once). Add to that - Mr. Darcy said that both Ladybug and Angelfish did great going to daycare this morning (they were good up until they pulled out of the driveway, so I was already hopefuly), so that put him in a good mood too!
Now if only we could win the lottery today... nah, that's just being greedy. I'll take what I have because I'm loving it right now!
For whatever reason last night, I couldn't even keep my eyes open past 7:30 no matter what I tried .... which would have been a problem since I was watching the girls solo while Mr. Darcy had tennis practice. The Gods of the House must have known something was remiss because no one showed for tennis practice, and Mr. Darcy was sitting in my living room with the girls when I opened my eyes for a moment. I felt like a terrible mother. Never before had I done such a thing. All I know is I must have needed that sleep. Maybe my body was catching up to me after the several nights of insomnia I had last week. But Mr. Darcy was wonderful. He didn't try to wake me, and I even remember the girls' coming over to tell me something and waking me up and him telling them not to wake me. I was out. I woke up only to go to bed. And drifted between waking and sleeping as Mr. Darcy watched "Dancing with the Stars."
Yesterday afternoon my boss gave me the green light to go to a CLE in Atlanta in early December. I'm going to stay with my close friend "Belle" (I've talked about her before in this blog.). I am super excited about it!! We're going with our other close friend Craftygirl (she's awesome and always telling us not to buy things because she can make them for next to nothing... thus her nickname) to dinner and to see another Atlanta friend's new baby - these are the girls that I was referred to as "the triplets" when I lived in Atlanta. Then I told Mr. Darcy about it and he suggested I stay until Saturday sometime so I could see some of my other friends too. Can you say early Christmas present? WAHOO!
So now not only do I get to knock out the Georgia CLE hours I need for this year and most of next year, I get to spend time with Belle and Craftygirl, meet a friend's new baby, AND get to have drinks and dinner (and maybe a movie) with Belle (hopefully Craftygirl) and my other good friends N., K, Jen and C! I may even get to have breakfast with N and D before I leave town that Saturday too. Just crazy happy. I get to see my peeps! It puts a spring in my step, joy in my heart and a smile on my face.
But that's not all! This weekend our friends Jen and Steve will be in town with their little ones, and we're spending the day with them at Sea World. Sunday, Mr. Darcy has agreed that I can go see "New Moon" (let's hope the acting is better than the last one, these books were my guilty pleasure reads) with my other friend Jen (I have a lot of friends named Jen... it's the era) and my friend K. Happiness abounds!
But wait! We also were invited to Missy's house for Turkey Dinner tonight, and Mr. Darcy doesn't have anything on his calendar, so we're going to meet up at Missy's! YAY! Great fun, good food, and I don't have to cook dinner. We'll have that salmon dish tomorrow night.
I love a good social calendar! But there's more!
I had an awesome swim this morning too... I had the pool all to myself until the last 5 minutes and I was rocking it! I did a ladder swim going from 50 to 400 and back, and I did it like it was supposed to be all out for every step of the ladder. (Yes, Coach I rested from between 30 seconds and 1 minute between each. I was a good girl. In fact for some, I needed that full minute to catch my breath!) No buoy needed. My leg was cooperating and didn't mind pushing off of the wall even (except once). Add to that - Mr. Darcy said that both Ladybug and Angelfish did great going to daycare this morning (they were good up until they pulled out of the driveway, so I was already hopefuly), so that put him in a good mood too!
Now if only we could win the lottery today... nah, that's just being greedy. I'll take what I have because I'm loving it right now!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday Morning in the Gym
This morning, I went to the Gym. Coach and I talked about how I wanted to add weights and yoga into my routine in the off season, and thought that Mondays and Thursdays would be good ones for that since they are also Mr. Darcy's tennis days. Whatever I don't get done in the mornings, I can bring the liliputians to the Y for the childcare while he plays tennis and I finish up whatever needs to be done.
Today I decided to do the weights first, which even I knew was a little silly because my muscles would be tired when I got on the bike. But I was running a little bit behind so I decided to do the weights so if I didn't get to the cardio, I'd do the cardio either at lunch or when Mr. Darcy is at tennis. Well, I was a dynamo! Of course, I only did one set of the circuit and was doing less weight with higher reps (15 reps each), but it was day 1 of weight work and the worst thing is getting sore afterwards and not wanting to do it again. So I was easing in. I was really surprised at how strong I am though. With my back I was doing 80-90 pounds, arms were 40-50 pounds, legs were 90 pounds except for my hamstrings which are naturally tighter than all my other muscles so I did those at 70. Even my hip adductors were at 90. I felt super strong! After the circuit, I did a plank, squats with 10 pounds (I could have gone higher but wasn't sure if the squats would affect my calf muscle.), twisting situps with the 8 pound medicine ball, leg raises and another lower ab exercise, and then some more squats and arm raises with a body bar (I went for the medium weight because the light bar was too light, I love it!). Then I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike in a relatively easy level. I only got 12.3 miles done, but I didn't want to push the calf too hard it's first day back in the saddle. I made it through without pain, but stretching my calf out was a little bit painful and now it hurts a little bit too. But only like a 3 on the pain scale.
I'll do some more stretching in a little bit, but I was happy with the workout!
Today I decided to do the weights first, which even I knew was a little silly because my muscles would be tired when I got on the bike. But I was running a little bit behind so I decided to do the weights so if I didn't get to the cardio, I'd do the cardio either at lunch or when Mr. Darcy is at tennis. Well, I was a dynamo! Of course, I only did one set of the circuit and was doing less weight with higher reps (15 reps each), but it was day 1 of weight work and the worst thing is getting sore afterwards and not wanting to do it again. So I was easing in. I was really surprised at how strong I am though. With my back I was doing 80-90 pounds, arms were 40-50 pounds, legs were 90 pounds except for my hamstrings which are naturally tighter than all my other muscles so I did those at 70. Even my hip adductors were at 90. I felt super strong! After the circuit, I did a plank, squats with 10 pounds (I could have gone higher but wasn't sure if the squats would affect my calf muscle.), twisting situps with the 8 pound medicine ball, leg raises and another lower ab exercise, and then some more squats and arm raises with a body bar (I went for the medium weight because the light bar was too light, I love it!). Then I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike in a relatively easy level. I only got 12.3 miles done, but I didn't want to push the calf too hard it's first day back in the saddle. I made it through without pain, but stretching my calf out was a little bit painful and now it hurts a little bit too. But only like a 3 on the pain scale.
I'll do some more stretching in a little bit, but I was happy with the workout!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Inspiration from the Elementary School
I went to lunch with Coach today and had a great time! On the way back, I passed the elementary school in my neighborhood and instead of the usual announcements for parents, it had this quote that I thought was just too good not to share:
"We cannot control the wind, but we can adjust our sails."
I thought that was very appropriate for life and in light of Coach telling me that the Princess 1/2 Marathon probably won't be as fast as I had hoped and that I should not keep the notion of running the whole thing without one little bit of walking in there because of my leg issues. Being realistic is a good thing, but she and I agreed I'd try to be as fast as I can be.... just adjusting my sails.
Happy Friday!
"We cannot control the wind, but we can adjust our sails."
I thought that was very appropriate for life and in light of Coach telling me that the Princess 1/2 Marathon probably won't be as fast as I had hoped and that I should not keep the notion of running the whole thing without one little bit of walking in there because of my leg issues. Being realistic is a good thing, but she and I agreed I'd try to be as fast as I can be.... just adjusting my sails.
Happy Friday!
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