Don't Knock It, Till You've Tried It

6:00am: I really wish I could name for you one of my body parts that was excited about getting up this morning. Wait, just a second, ahhhh, nope, still got nothing. I don't know what my deal was. I had to start talking to myself in the 3rd person just to set my feet on the ground. "Come on Ron, you pansy. Get up and get the day started" is what kept shouting in my head. I'm not sure why I was so tired. I got to bed at the right time last night (a little after 10pm) and I wasn't waking up multiple times during the night. One thing I remember though is that the times I did wake up, it was due to coughing. I think a lot of the times I cough and don't wake up, but never really fall into a deep sleep. This must have been the case last night. When my alarm went off this morning, I thought that maybe Jezzabel played a practical joke on me and messed with the clock. There was no way I just got 8 hours of sleep. But, in fact, I did, now it's up to me to just get out of my comfortable cloud and hit the road.

I must have been hacking last night. When I started my walk I was coughing with every step I took. My mucus was clear though right from the beginning. My first cough of the morning, while I was still laying in bed, did produce some color, but it wasn't too bad. That's pretty customary for me though. A big ol glob of crap first thing in the morning. Do you fellow CFers out there experience the same thing? I'm guessing that it's just from laying flat all night and not getting the stuff up and out for 8 hours. It must just pool together in our lungs until we force it out of there. So anyway, on my walk, I was coughing and making all of those after cough squeals that I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with. The squeals can range from me suppressing the cough slightly so I don't throw up, to dry heaving, to a high whistling kind of noise that honestly, I can't tell you where it's from. My mom tells me that sometimes I sound like a tea pot when I sleep. So I'm guessing that the crazy high pitched whistle noise is coming from that same region. I need her to tape me while I sleep and post it on here so you guys can hear what she hears. Maybe you could just start calling me "The Little Engine That Could", man, that should really be a children's book. Brilliant, I know.

Ok, so everything else about the walk felt pretty good. My feet were slightly sore in the very beginning but felt fine about half way through. I'm still getting used to the ortho inserts and I really hope that process is done sooner rather than later. I don't like the feeling of stepping on smooth boulders when I walk. That's the best way that I can describe it. It's as if somebody is sliding river rocks beneath my arches in the first half of my morning walk. Other than that, my legs felt great and my lungs felt great after I worked a bunch of the garbage out. J Bell was a little bit of a brat this morning, but she only pooped once for a change. She did however pee about 11 times in which half the time I would yank on her leash mid stream and she would finish while taking her first couple of steps. Don't call PETA on me, it probably sounds worse than it is. She is my little princess and besides shoving bamboo shoots under her finger nails (toe nails?, do dogs just have 20 toes?), she is treated as such.

Today is going to be a very busy day. I have to make up for yesterday by going to the gym twice. I'll go once on my own and once with Mandi when she gets off of work. We are also planning on a run/walk later plus running between sets at the gym. I'll make sure to fill you guys in on all of the details. That is, if I live through the day....

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 35'53"

12:00pm: So I went to the first of my two gym sessions for today. On the agenda, legs and shoulders. I probably should have taken it easy on my legs considering that Mandi and I are going back to the gym AND a run/walk before that. Unfortunately for me, that's not in my personality. I have one gear: Balls to the wall. Pardon my analogy there, and to be honest I have no clue where it comes from, but my coaches used to always stress it. It doesn't matter, they said, if you do it wrong, just make sure you are doing it balls to the wall. I was going to jot down my best guess as to what it means, but I literally have no clue. Any suggestions out there? Let's see who can get really creative!

So anyway, I absolutely blasted my legs. I went all out on them and increased the weight on every single lift. For those who are curious, I do leg extensions, ham curls, and calf raises. Starting tomorrow I'll be adding a lift to all of my muscles. I had to prove to myself first that I could make it to the gym consistently before I really started pushing it. Mission Accomplished. April is a whole new month, and that calls for changing some things. I need to set some new goals and push myself more than I did in March. By the way, if you ever have a challenge for me, or a goal you think I should set, send it my way. I love challenges. If I think it's possible, I'll try it. And generally, if I try it, I'll do it. Or I'll die trying, whichever comes first. Bring it on!My shoulders were a bit sore but I was able to increase the weight or reps on all the lifts but one. They actually felt better today than they have at any other time during the last month though. We're moving in the right direction. After the gym it was my normal protein shake and treatments...and maybe I snuck in a bowl of Lucky Charms, or three. Current Weight: 186.5 lbs.

5:45pm: Mandi absolutely kicked my butt for the rest of the day. At times I hated her for it, but I couldn't do anything about it while gasping for air. We went on our run/walk when she got off of work...oh, AFTER she did her 3 mile run. I hate her. Anyway, we started off at a really fast pace because Mandi said that we should be able to do our 3 miles in 45 minutes. I told her that she was crazy, but I would certainly give it my best shot. She wasn't kidding about the time and she was going to do anything in her power to make sure we made it, even if that included murdering my lungs. After about a .2 mile brisk walk, she picked a spot up ahead for us to run to. Let's just say that mid-run she said, "I didn't realize how far it was". The spot ended up being .225 miles away. If you'll remember, the furthest that I have run in one clip is about .15 miles. Well, despite really feeling like I was breaking down towards the end, I made it!

I was really pulling for air when we finally reached our spot. I did however recover MUCH faster than what it took after any of my other "long" runs. My legs felt good for the most part, but they were definitely giving me more problems than my feet. Which for me, is a very good thing. I had some ankle and knee pain throughout the run/walk, but all in all it was very positive. My left shin splint creeped in at the end, but it didn't hurt as bad as it has the last couple of journeys. We did a couple more "long" runs and Mandi figures that we ran close to a mile in total. I'm so thankful for how hard she pushes me and I know, with her help, I'll be able to meet, and exceed, my goals.

Total Distance: 3.0 miles Time: 46'00" (One minute over our goal. I'll get it next time!!!)

7:00pm: After driving our run/walk route, it was off to the gym. We had some chest and back to get to and we really wanted to motor through it. We were looking at treating this more like a cardio workout by cutting the time between sets to practically nothing. We ended up doing just that, but for some reason I felt really really strong tonight. I was adding 15 pounds to some of my lifts and really challenging myself tonight. I don't know if it was the presence of Mandi or what, but I was throwing some weight around. It wasn't as embarrassing as the past when Mandi and I would lift basically the same weight. So like I said, we really flew through the workout tonight because it was my second time there today AND we couldn't wait to get our American Idol fix. Want a strange, and sad, fact about me? Probably not, but I'll tell you anyways. In all of the American Idol seasons to date, I've missed ONE episode. I know, pathetic. I will totally understand when my readership plummets after reading this post. Only one thing, don't knock it till you've tried it.Current Weight: 186.5 lbs.

Total Distance Run/Walked for Day: 5.1 miles