Smoke Inhalation

6:00am: This morning was a little rougher than most mornings, but I only had myself to blame. Yesterday afternoon Mandi and I went to see some friends play in their band at a local restaurant. Now the good thing about Arizona is you can't smoke inside at any public place, and that includes bars and restaurants. The problem was, they were playing outside on a patio. Now I think I only saw about 5 people lighting up, but 2 of them happened to be sitting at the table next to me. For most of the time, the wind was blowing the smoke away from were I was sitting. But once in a while the winds would change and I would get a nice mouthful of smoke. I didn't notice it as much last night, except for the coughing spasm I had right before I went to bed.

I did however notice it when I woke up. My lungs felt pretty junky and the mucus tasted like cigarette smoke. Yuck! I don't like anything about cancer sticks (cigarettes). The smell, the look, the smoke, the cancer causing affects that come with it, nothing. We could get on a whole other topic about why in the world somebody would want to destroy a perfectly good pair of lungs, when so many friends have died because of their bad lungs. But that's another topic for a different day.

Now in my "old age", I can't handle smoke at all. I used to be able to tolerate it when I was younger, but it probably never was a good idea to sit in a smoke filled bar. I'm very happy that the smoking laws changed in Arizona, although you would only find me at a bar about 5 times a year. Anyway, smoke kicks my butt now and I really try to avoid it. Not only did my mucus taste different this morning but it also had a different tinge to it. Darn that smoke!

After coughing all of the tar filled mucus up on the first part of my walk, my lungs started to open up more. My mucus became clear and I was pretty much back to normal. I was looking forward to getting back to my house and getting on my treatments though to make sure I would open up as much as possible. My lungs just had an irritated feel all morning that I'm hoping the treatments take care of that.

If you are reading this and you are a smoker, do me a favor, have one less cigarette today....Thanks.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 36'58"

2:00pm: I headed to the gym not really knowing what to expect. Today was shoulders and legs, and I killed my legs this weekend and burnt up my shoulders. If you need proof, go to yesterday's post and scroll down to the end. I, however, was pleasantly surprised. Both my shoulders and legs were stronger today than they have been any day thus far. It's so funny how are body can adapt to different situations that you put it in. And yes Mandi, I got that from you, who I think got it from your dad. Mandi's dad would always say to her, "Your body is unlike any other machine, in that it can adapt and adjust to any stresses that you put on it". Thanks for that Eric. Once in a while that mantra actually goes through my head while I'm lifting in the gym. Maybe one day I'll be as ripped as you.

Today was turned out to be a great day at the gym and I'm so thankful that I pushed myself through today's session. I was really dragging when I got there, so I actually increased the weight on almost all of the lifts just to make my body deal with it. I was surprised at some of the weight I was able to lift today. I should probably start challenging myself more and more like that in the weeks ahead. Current Weight: 187.5 lbs.

5:30pm: For today's walk, Mandi and I decided to reverse the morning loop. Problem is, we got lost and ended up having to wing it at the end. I think we managed to get the same distance in and possibly even more. We walked at a good pace, but were able to converse almost the whole time. This is important, because when this all began, I could barely talk during our walks. It was basically Mandi who would do the talking and I would just reply with grunts and head nods.

I was able to work some gunk out during the walk also. I think my lungs are almost all of the way recovered from the smoke last night, but it may take another day. It will be interesting to see what I feel like tomorrow. We have no plans tonight, so I'm looking forward to having a nice relaxing night on the couch with me and my lady. I know Mandi is too...she's been working her butt off.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 35'43"

Total Distance Walked for Day: 4.2 miles