The Morning Walk is Back!!

One thing that I really wanted to focus on after this last trip to the Hole was getting my morning routine back - namely, my morning walk. When things get busy, it seems to be the first thing I put on the back burner, and it truly is a big mistake. Now that it's been a while and I've been able to stick with it, I can't even begin to tell you the difference it makes. The thing is, it literally takes up 10-20 minutes of my morning, but the positive affects of the morning walk stay with me all day. I mean, what kind of return on investment is that?? I'll tell you, it's one of the smartest things that I, you or your neighbor Billy Bob can do!

It sets the tone for the entire day when I get out there first thing in the morning and walk my little buns off. Not only does it get my motor running, but it also gets my lungs open like nothing else can first thing in the morning. I cough up a TON of junk and I'm able to give those "gut rattling" coughs without fear of tossing my cookies. Being able to just focus on clearing the gunk without that fear is priceless. It's amazing how much more clear I feel on the days that I get that walk in first thing in the morning.

I know I've talked about this before, but I just can't stress it enough to you guys. I'm constantly being asked "where do I start?". Start here! This is the PERFECT first step on your way to better health. It will barely take up any of your time; it will set the tone for the rest of your day; it's a nice chance to clear your head; it won't be so physically demanding that you'll be too intimidated to start. All you have to do is tie up the those shoes of yours, open your front door and start walking! I promise that a month from now you won't regret it. In fact, walk today, right now if possible, and if you regret doing so after your walk, please leave your comment here about that regret. In fact, if any of you EVER regret doing a workout, please let me know about it!

The other great thing about a morning walk is that you don't have to be the only one to benefit. It gives Mandi and I a great opportunity to talk about who knows what and everything else in between, but more importantly, just spend that quality time together. This could also give you some quality time together with that special someone in your life, whether it be your husband, wife, kids, mom, dad, sister, brother or dog. Shoot, to be honest with you, I don't think anybody looks forward to these morning walks more than Jezzabel (my dog). In fact, most mornings she sitting at the edge of my bed whining, just listening for the words "go get your leash".

Will you do me a favor? Go for a walk tomorrow morning. Then, come back to this blog and tell me about it. You can also share your experience over on DailyMile.com. We have a great group over there who love to hold each other accountable and root one another on. See you there!!

Confessions of a Chronic Cougher

I received a great question by a mom over in the CysticLife community that I wanted to take the time and answer over here on RSR. Here is her background story with (bolded) questions:

levi has been sick for about a week and now he is to the point where he is coughing while laying down, running around and basically on and off all day. its a wet junky cough and i swear i have been using my stethoscope for the past 3 1/2 years and i never can tell what the heck im hearing if its a wheeze if its not? so anyways the last three times he has been in over the last few months with colds he has not cultured anything not normal so the doc has been going back and forth as to whether or not to admit him so i really dont want to push taking him in because id hate to see him go in at this age. last time he was a champ but he was a little over 2 and honestly would get poked and then forget about it but now he is older and brighter so he knows whats coming he still does really well and isnt afraid of the doctors or anything like that but we want to do what is best for him. he usually gets a cold and starts with a runny nose then he starts to get a wet cough and then he starts the wheeze so most of the time he starts an oral antibiotic and then prednisone. he already does albuterol 3 times a day and his vest 3 times a day for 30 minutes. we started that after his last hospital stay because they did it 3 times a day when he was in so we thought is three better than 2 and they said yes so why the heck wouldnt we continue that if it is better so right now he is doing his vest 3 times a day for 30 minutes and he doesnt mind it at all he actually likes it because that is the only time we let him watch tv that way he looks forward to it and an hr and a half is enough tv in my option for a 3 year old. so anyways he is already doing that all the time so is there anything else you think we could be doing to help him. its hard to because he totally wants to play and run around but then he just coughs more. i usually let him play until he decides its too much or if hes coughing a ton we just do something else like draw or something more calm. anyways i just totally rambled so we are at that place of not knowing what is best. any suggestions or insight to how you feel when you are going through something like this. its hard because he can only tell us so much of how he is feeling. we know his body pretty well but only externally from what we see we see and hear but we cant tell how he is feeling. basically we do all that we can he never misses a treatment well i shouldnt say never (well maybe 2 or three when we go to disneyland or the beach or something fun but basically we are all over his health and do all that we can to keep him healthy. so any advice would be awesome! sorry for rambling. k the boy is off the vest gotta run. we will be in touch. have a great night!

First of all, I can't stress enough that it sounds like you're doing a wonderful job in raising your boy! It sounds like you've found a nice balance between his life and his cystic life. A couple things I would say to you however...

One, coughing does not always mean sick. I'm a chronic cougher. There, I said it. No seriously though, I cough all of the time. I've coughed since I was his age and I continue to cough now. I coughed when my lung function was over 100 percent and I cough now with it in the 60's. Point is this, it's important to look for other signs that your child is giving in order to determine an exacerbation or not. You can check mine off the list every time I get sick. I'm more tired but I sleep less. I have to force myself to eat. I wake up in the middle of the night coughing; all night long. I usually wake up more tired than when I went to bed. I have a REALLY tough time motivating myself to exercise. My stools float more. They're stinkier. I'm generally nauseated. And I can't get my mucus to ever be clear at any point of the day. Whew!! I know, quite a list. But, it's important to note, that that is MY list. As a parent, you want to make mental notes about some things that ALWAYS happen when they are really getting CF sick. For me, coughing isn't one of them. I'm always doing it.

It sounds like you have your son on a very strict treatment regiment. Here's a couple of things I would try to switch it up. Have you ever thought about hand pounds? For me (apart from running), nothing works better at getting the mucus up and out. Ultimately, that's what is important. Getting the gunk out of there. If you can manage the mucus, you can manage Cystic Fibrosis. Is there something that ALWAYS gets your son coughing? It sounds like it may be just running around and playing. I would suggest having him do that more. There's nothing magical about the vest, I hate to break it to you. I mean, it does a great job for most people in doing it's job, but it's not the only horse in the race. We as a community have to figure out what works best for us at clearing out our lungs and forcing us to take deep breaths. You, as his mother, have that responsibility for your young son.

Also, to get back to what you hear when you listen to Levi. You may never hear him wheeze. In my 30 years, the doctors have told me that they have heard me wheeze less than 5 times. In fact, 9 out of 10 times, even while in the hospital, they say I sound "pretty good". Maybe it's because of all that coughing I'm doing :)

Last piece of advice. Use your instincts as a mother. There's no guide out there written specifically on how to manage your son's CF. We're all different. Sure, we can take bits from some and pieces from others, but like I say to people all of the time, "You're CF has NOTHING to do with anybody else's CF". The proverbial different strokes for different folks. Don't ever make decisions based on being the mother of a child with CF; make decisions based on being the mother of a child.

It's All About The Mucus!!!

So I've been in the Hole now 5 full days and I've got to say that I'm doing pretty good. I was super sleepy all day today, but besides tasting soap with my coffee (didn't do a good job rinsing the mug), I had a great day overall.

I now would like to present to you a video blog about possibly the most important issue to CFers all over the world: Getting that icky sticky ooey gooey green stuff out of our lungs. It's all about the mucus baby!

Regular Hospital Stays

6:15am: When the alarm sounded this morning I have to admit, I hit the snooze button...3 times. I still rolled out of bed though at 6:15am so I guess that's not too bad. When I actually got out of bed I felt pretty well rested and was ready to get my walk on. I made the mistake of checking my email first which then turned into responding to all of my direct messages on Twitter. By the way, I would encourage you to set up a Twitter account. There are quite a few CFers on there that are tweeting very interesting stuff all of the time. I often tweet tips, tricks, research and a variety of other things that are CF related. You can get to my Twitter page through this link (@RunSickboyRun) and start following me there! I've met many other CFers through that medium and also made others aware who were not before. Alright, that's the end of my Twitter plug.

So by the time I was done on the computer it was 6:50am, which wasn't too bad cause it was still on the cool side outdoors. Don't get me wrong, the cool side is still a bit hot, but it's better than 100+. The walk went well and I definitely felt better than yesterday. Mucus still looked like Elmer's glue, but it was definitely easier to cough up and spit out. My lungs also felt a little better as well. With all of that said though, I still called and made a clinic appointment for July 13th. It will be over 4 months since I've been out of the Hole and I generally go in every 3 to 4 months. I want to stay on top of my progress and I'm finding it harder and harder to get up in the morning and sustain enough energy to get through my workouts. I can still handle it, but I don't want to all of the sudden get surprised and end up like I did in January. I'm hoping it will be shorter than my other stays (usually 30 days) and I could get on a every 4 months for 2 weeks at a time cycle. We'll see how this first trip back goes and then play it from ear.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 38'46"

4:00pm: Today, Mandi and I did a slightly different routine at the gym. It was a chest/back day but we didn't do the full workout. Instead, we did "burnouts". Let me explain...for bench press we both did sets of 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 and increased the weight with every set. At the end of completing all sets I put four 5 lbs weights on each side of the bar. I then would press that bar as many times as I could until exhaustion. When I couldn't lift it anymore, Mandi would take off a 5 lbs weight from each side and I would then try to lift that as many times as I could. I repeated the same steps until I was down to nothing but the bar. I only could lift the bar 6 times! I was pooped. We did something similar with back and then we ended the workout with set of pushups and pull-ups. At the end we could barely move the upper half of our bodies.

It was then on to cardio. We both rode the exercise bike again today. I'm still staying off my foot until I can get it looked at. A girl that I developed a relationship with through the CFF actually works for a place that makes orthotics and she said to come in soon to see her. So hopefully I will stop making excuses and things will slow down a bit so I can swing on by. I guess I just made an excuse didn't I? Whoops. Anyway, we did about 25 minutes on the bike, sweated our butts off, and then headed back to my place to get ready for some Bible Study...and Dunkin Donuts. Current Weight: 185 lbs.

Total Distance: 6.0 miles

Side Note: While I was lifting one of the managers at the gym came over with a prospective client. He was showing him around the gym to try and sell him on a membership. He came over to me to say hello and probably show the guy that they develop relationships with people there who come to work out. I had befriended this particular manager at a CFF event that he volunteered at and challenged him to get his gym involved in the CFF. Anyway, he came over to say hi and then proceeded to say to the prospective client "Have you ever heard of Cystic Fibrosis? Well, if you ever hear anybody talk about make sure you get out your check book and write a check for CF...you ever hear of it?". I was actually surprised that the manager was talking like this, but being who I am, I was very happy and made sure to seize the moment. Just before seizing it though the guy responded, "Yeah, I have. My sister-in-law has it, she's 37". What a small small world.

Total Distance for Day: 8.1 miles

I Coughed Up Elmer's Glue

7:30am: So I wanted to wake up a little earlier this morning, but when the alarm went off at 6:45am I still felt like somebody had put me into a medically induced coma. Since I woke up at 4am yesterday, I decided to cut myself some slack and sleep in for just a bit. It was very well worth it. I woke up feeling very refreshed and ready to take Jezzabel for a spin around the block. When I took off though, I could tell that this was going to be a more difficult walk. I think being off of my normal routine (with the vacation and all of the CFF events) has set me back a bit. My lungs have been way tighter the last couple of days and my mucus is much more thick and sticky. Luckily, it hasn't yet changed into all of the colors in the rainbow, so hopefully that's something I can avoid for a bit. It's also been tougher to get it out and up. I had to cough really really deep this morning to get the stuff moving and instead of it coming right up, it often took multiple coughs. It felt like I was working Elmer's glue out of my lungs and out of the back of my throat. How do I know what that feels like you say? Let me tell you.

When I was 8, I had a fascination with Elmer's glue. I would constantly be making little art projects with it on construction paper. You know the type: trees drawn with crayons and then cotton balls glued down to make the clouds. You could even color the glue green with food coloring to make the grass. Anyways, I always had Elmer's glue in one hand and a Popsicle stick (or some other applicator) in the other. One day I got the bright idea to taste the Elmer's glue. I didn't want to wait either, so I unscrewed the top, held it over my mouth and then squeezed. We all know what happened next, glue went shooting down into my mouth into my throat (and all over my chin) so much in fact that I started to gag. The gagging led to coughing and then at some point I inhaled. Boom, Elmer's glue down the ol' wind pipe! I coughed and coughed and coughed until I finally worked all of the glue out of my throat and out of my lungs. I also made the mistake of trying to wash down the excess glue with a glass of Kool-aid which then turned into a tummy ache for the next couple of hours. So anyways, that's how I know what it feels like (DISCLAIMER: That story was completely and utterly false. I was just working on my creative writing skills. How'd I do?)

Ok, back to reality. If I had to GUESS what it felt like to cough up glue, it would be what I felt this morning. I coughed most of the way through my walk, but towards the end I really started to open up and the mucus thinned out a bit. I'm going to focus on not missing any treatments this week (I think I missed 4 of 28 last week) and doing more cardio at the gym (definitely been slacking there). Let's hope this works and that I can stay out of the hospital for a couple of extra weeks.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 37'27"

3:00pm: So today was shoulder and leg day at the gym. To remind you, this is always the "easy" day cause I only do rehab type of lifts on my shoulders and then legs I tend to go light on the weight. It is a little tougher than my other workouts though in terms of cardio cause I never take a break. I alternate with Mandi from shoulder to leg to shoulder etc. I always have a good sweat going by about the 3rd exercise. The lifting portion of our gym session went well and then it was on to some cardio. I need to step it up this week because my lungs are a bit tighter and junkier than normal. Today, I chose to do the exercise bike. I'm not a huge fan of them because they always make my butt hurt, but I didn't want to pound on my foot at all. I picked up a July 2009 issue of US News and World Report and started pedaling my "little" tooshie off. 30 minutes later I was drenched in sweat and my lungs felt pretty darn good. I actually did less coughing than I expected to do (I'm sure the people next to me were thankful for that) but when I did cough I was able to get stuff moving. When I got off the bike I felt that "high" that only exercise can bring and made my way to the locker room...slowly, cause my butt was asleep. Current Weight: 186 lbs.

Total Distance: 7.1 miles

Total Distance for Day: 9.2 miles

Ever Heard of the Mucus Chipmunk?

6:00am: Besides waking up this morning at 4:30 with an upset stomach from who knows what, I had a pretty good night asleep. You could tell that I was often in a deep sleep due to the oxygen tube marks across my cheek bones. It looked like I pissed somebody off playing a game of dice and they decided to slash me across the face with a knife. Ok, maybe I saw that in a movie once, but you get my drift. It was however a little tough getting the engine going this morning. I was definitely moving at a snail's pace. I like that pace though and I try to live a non-rushed life. It's worked out so far. Anyway, I threw on my workout gear and headed out the door.

I started off on the elliptical for 15 minutes. It felt good the whole time and in the last 5 minutes I had sweat pouring off of my forehead down onto my shins as they flew by back and forth. That last 5 minutes I also did 1 minute on one minute off sprints. It really got me to take in some deep breaths and move some of that gunk around in my lungs. At the end of the 15 minutes I had gone 1.6 miles. Next, it was on to the stairstepper where I did 10 minutes. The sweat continued to rain down on me, but I felt really strong and not short of breath. After 31 floors, it was off to the treadmill for the final challenge.

I've really enjoyed being able to run on the treadmill this week. I haven't pushed it, doing only 5-7 minutes at a time, and my foot has held up. I've also been icing it when I get home. I think it is helping. I started running on the treadmill the second I got on. I didn't want to break the momentum that I had started on the elliptical and the stairstepper. I was only going to run for 5 minutes at a 5.0 pace, so I knew it was going to be tough but not impossible. The first 3 minutes went REALLY well. My legs felt fresh (with the exception of a slight shin splint in my right shin) and I had a good breathing pattern going. At about the 3 minute mark I started coughing a lot and bringing up quite a bit.

That's where the "mucus chipmunk" move comes in handy. See, I didn't want to stop and find somewhere to spit. I didn't want to swallow the garbage that I had coughed up. And I didn't want to spit it on the person next to me. So I really only had one choice: Store it in my cheek pouch for the next two minutes and keep running! I did just that! I actually ended up increasing the speed to 5.5 during the last minute. I ran just over .4 miles and was pretty wiped after completing it. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to walk outside and get rid of the nuts, I mean mucus, that I had stored in my cheek pouch. I'm not quite sure how I stored all of it in my mouth and continued to breath, but this chipmunk is glad that he kept running.

Total Distance: 2.0 miles Total Floors: 31 floors

12:30pm: Chest and back day went well today. I was able to add weight to many of my lifts and didn't get as fatigued as my last chest and back day. I did tweak my shoulder a little doing some bent over flys, but I iced it when I got home, so hopefully that will take care of it. I've had a little pain in my shoulders before from doing that lift, so I'm thinking that I'll change out that exercise next time I workout my back. Anybody have a killer back lift that they would like to suggest? Current Weight: 184.5 lbs

6:00pm: Mandi and I did a short one mile loop tonight to walk J Bell. One, because my foot hurt, and two, because we were pressed for time. We're taking off for a graduation party of a friend of mine. Tomorrow is going to be pretty busy as well for a CF Event that goes on from 10am-4pm plus an after party. Don't think I'll be making it to the after party. I'll have to get to the gym before the event and then probably head back after for some cardio. I do need to get some rest though this weekend, cause next week will be VERY busy.

Total Distance: 1.0 mile

Total Distance for Day: 3.0 miles Total Floors for Day: 31 floors

Great Mother's Day...for Me.

7:30pm: I'll have to explain my title post to you first. See, I ended up having a great and relaxing Mother's Day today. The problem is, my mom did not. She was starting to feel a little sick on Friday and still has not been able to shake it. I had my day planned out with her and when she couldn't swing it, I was left with nothing but free time. So what did I do? I brought new meaning to the word chill. After church, I literally sat on the couch ALL day. As you see by my post time, I didn't do anything active until 7:30pm. It did feel weird and I did have to fight off the urge to go to the gym, but I was able to just relax all day. Words would not do the feeling justice that I had all day. I can't remember the last time I was able to just lounge and watch tv for hours on end (without being in the hospital of course).

Mandi and I discovered a whole new channel in the process that we ended up watching two full hour long shows on. Anybody out there ever watch the National Geographic channel? First we watched a documentary type show on the origination of the Crip and Blood gangs in L.A. and then a show that told the story of a man and three of his friends that were thrown in a Brazilian prison for smuggling drugs. Both shows were absolutely fascinating. I'll definitely be checking back in with that channel more often! We also watched Harper's Island, Lakers vs. Rockets, House, and some AI that I had saved. What a day it was!

We ended up taking J Bell for a walk around 7:30 when the sun started to go down. It was perfect walking weather outside. I will say though, sitting around all day certainly made it tougher to walk. Not only did my legs feel sluggish and my hip have a crink in it, but my lungs weren't moving air like they're used to. I did my three treatment sessions total throughout the day, but it just does not have the same affect on my lungs as exercise. I felt very full of mucus and it was hard to clear. It's so important for me to get moving first thing in the morning, if I don't, I feel the "side effects" all day. Tomorrow is going to be the first day I attempt the new routine of cardio at the gym in the morning with a dog walk at night. I think it's going to be a very good thing. I guess only time will tell.

Total Distance: 2.4 miles

Side Note: A huge thanks to my cousin Jason for my cool new blog header!!!! There's actually some interesting history behind that dude that is running across the top of my page. If you want some entertainment provided by a family raising 4 kids all under the age of 5, check out Jason's family blog. It will bring a smile to your face, I guarantee it.

Total Distance Walked for Day: 2.4 miles

Mucus Machine

6:00am: So I thought about changing it up a little and heading to the gym in the morning to do some cardio....uhhhh, yeah, that wasn't going to happen this morning. I was still feeling the affects from my butt whooping yesterday so I decided not to get crazy. It was just going to have to be the good ol' 2.1 mile dog walk. Also, I didn't want to upset Jezzabel. She still wasn't over our fight last night over who the best acting dog of all time. I say Benji (from all of the movies), she says the dog from Frasier. The thing is though, I never ever have watched Frasier, so how in the world does she know that the dog acts well in that show? I'd love for you guys to help settle the debate though: Who's better Benji or Eddie(I looked it up) the dog from Frasier?

Anyways, the walk this morning went really well. I was an absolute mucus machine! I could not stop coughing the stuff up. It just kept on coming and coming. It was mostly clear or milky white in color, but there was a lot of it. I think it was a positive residual effect from yesterday's workout! My lungs felt great from the time that I woke up to the time that I sat down to type this out. I had slight foot pain in my left foot that I think was due to the elliptical, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it's been from the running.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 38'17"

1:00pm: I headed to the gym today looking forward to another day of my new routine. It was chest and back day, which is right up there with arm day in terms of my favorite. I don't like it quite as much as arm day, but you know what they say, "Curls for the girls!". Or maybe I'm the only one that says that and of course I'm only doing them for ONE girl (I know you like that save Mandi). I went non-stop again at the gym today and hardly took a break in between my sets. The only rest I would get was when I would switch out the dumbbells for heavier ones. I was sweating like an absolute mad man. It felt spectacular.

After finishing my chest and back routine, I headed to the elliptical. I wanted to beat my distance from yesterday. And that's exactly what I did! My foot hurt a little while doing it, but I pushed through that to finish at 1.7 miles. That would be exactly .2 more than yesterday. I was also coughing a lot while doing it and I know I was freaking out the people next to me. By a lot, I guess I mean like one time a minute, so before you say it, ok, it was not A LOT. It just felt that way cause every time I would let one go about 6 heads whipped around and gave me that, "I wonder if he has swine flu" look. Current Weight: 185 lbs

Total Distance: 1.7 miles

Total Distance Walked for Day: 3.8 miles

Heartburn City

6:00am: I actually felt pretty well rested this morning. I woke up a couple times to adjust my oxygen tubing, but overall, I slept really well. At one point during the night, my oxygen came completely off and the cannula was lying on the floor. Who knows how long it had been off, but I think it was a good sign that I slept comfortably without it. Then again, I could have woken up within a couple minutes of the oxygen falling off and been gasping for air. I guess I'll never know...

If I had to take my best guess though, the oxygen wasn't an issue since I woke up feeling so refreshed this morning. The only issue was a little bit of heartburn. I have had heartburn the past five days, almost all day long. I may have to step up my dosage on my Protonix if this keeps up. Burping fire isn't one of my favorite things to do. I thought that it was just an isolated incident last week because of the pizza and then this weekend because of the pizza fries (common theme?), but I would think that it would have gone away by now. And I'm thinking it wouldn't be an isolated incident if it happened twice now would it? My use of the English language has never been my strong point.

The walk this morning went well and my lungs felt open right from the get go. I was coughing a lot at the beginning of the walk, but all of my mucus was clear. My lungs didn't feel tight and I was getting the crap out pretty easily. Lung wise, I think that this was one of the better mornings that I've had for a while. Yay!!!!

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 38'06"

5:30pm: Gym time! Mandi and I walked to the gym today cause I wanted to rest my feet and not do a longer walk later on. I know I should probably stay off of my foot completely, but that's just not in my DNA. At least not right now. I still feel that it will just kind of magically heal by me backing off just a bit. Then again, I am an idiot and I understand that also.

Today was legs and shoulders. For at least the next month I am only going to be doing rehab work on my shoulders at the gym. I've had problems in the past with them and I was starting to feel a lot of pain while lifting them. I'm using the same program exercises that I did when I went to actual rehab for my drinking...I mean, shoulders (I never went to rehab for drinking. It's ok Nancy...and Grammy!). It felt good today and it really feels like I'm strengthening the tendons and ligaments in there. I'll keep it up for a while and hopefully the pain goes away when I lift.

For legs we did a variety of exercises that I had not yet done. We did step-ups, which REALLY got my heart racing, as well as various exercises for the glutes and abductors. The lower half of my body felt really stretched out when we were done. It is definitely a much different feeling than when I usually lift on my legs. Usually they feel like dead weight and puffy all over. Today, they felt much lighter and I worked up a big sweat in the process! Current Weight: 188 lbs

Total Distance: .5 miles

Total Distance Walked for Day: 2.6 miles

Return of the Coughing Attack

6:00am: Man, this morning was full of coughing! The stuff I was bringing up wasn't as dark as it usually is first thing in the morning, which I guess is good, but I just couldn't shake the tickle that was making me cough. Most of my mucus was a bright yellow, almost as if somebody had used a highlighter and went crazy in my lungs. On my walk I was coughing so much that I had tears running down my face. I'm sure fellow dog walkers must have thought that Jezzabel and I were in a pretty bad fight. All I know is it looks like I built a yellow brick road going from my house around the neighborhood, but of course instead of bricks, I used my spit.

My legs felt good this morning and the heaviness from last night wore off. I did feel a slight shin splint coming on and my left foot started to hurt, but I'm hoping that it is just temporary. I REALLY want to run tomorrow. I've tried to do the right thing by not pounding my foot for a while and I just hope it pays off. My lungs need to get a good run in. They haven't been challenged for a while in the way that a run challenges me. Let's just hope that come tomorrow, I can pull it off.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 37'59"

3:00pm: Before I headed to the gym today I devised a new workout plan to start with the first of the month. I want to keep my body guessing and hit other small muscle groups. I put together a new workout for my chest and back that I pieced together using some sources on the Internet. The new back work out focuses a lot on lats which is good because I haven't worked them hardly at all over the past couple months. In my new chest work out, I don't even do a regular bench press. I noticed that the bottom portion of my pecs weren't really getting hit so I switched it up to a decline bench. I also added more fly type of motions for both chest and back. Most importantly however, I added push-ups and pull-ups. Those two things are a very simple way to get some sort of shape back and they definitely make you do some deep breathing. If you're thinking about starting a workout, I'd start there. Just do some push-ups when you wake up and before you go to bed. It's all about baby steps. Current Weight: 188 lbs.

5:30pm: It was actually a bit humid out for our walk tonight. Now, just to give you a heads up, I can't stand humidity. Don't get me wrong, I was probably at like 10 percent humidity, but I could feel it. It feels like somebody put a five pound weight on my chest when it's like this outside. Not a huge difference, but I could certainly feel the affects. The walk went well, but I did have some foot pain. I'll have to just make a call tomorrow as to if we attempt to run or not. I really want to run, but I don't want to further any damage. I guess I'll just have to play it by ear.
Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 36'35"

Total Distance Walked for Day: 4.2 miles

Upper Thigh Surgery

6:00am: So if I didn't know any better, I would bet you that the fairy surgeon came into my room last night and tried to operate on my upper thigh. It felt like I had 6 inch long incision wounds that had just recently been closed up, and unfortunately for me, I had no pain meds. I think this is all a residual effect from my sprints a couple of days ago. In fact, I would be willing to bet it is cause Mandi said that she is feeling the same pain in the same spot. The sprints felt awesome at the time, I just had no idea how I would pay for them later. Well, now I know, and lucky for my lungs, I don't care. I just have to suck it up and keep pushing.

My lungs felt a bit junky this morning and it is probably because my routine got thrown off yesterday. It's so important to keep up with whatever exercise routine you decide to do. I can tell when I have neglected to do all of my exercises on a previous day, and believe me, I don't feel as well as when I really stick to it. I was coughing up a lot more junk this morning than I have for the last week or so, and it was darker in color. I just think it is so so so so so important to stay on top of getting that mucus out of your lungs. As you've probably read before, I think that is what it is all about. It all starts with our stupid mucus. Remove the mucus and you remove most of our problems. Easier to breath, less infection, less irritation, less swelling, and the list goes on....bottom line: DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET THE MUCUS MOVING AND OUT OF YOUR LUNGS. Sorry for yelling, just got a bit excited.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 36'54"

1:30 pm: So of course today was leg (and shoulder) day at the gym, the day that my thighs feel like they were under the knife. I will say though, it didn't go as bad as I thought it might. My legs were definitely sore, but nothing that I couldn't push through and manage. I actually ended up increasing the weight by quite a bit on every leg lift I did and just decreasing the reps. That way, I didn't have to feel the pain for that long. I still got a great pump and really worked my legs hard.

My shoulders felt better today than they have for a long long time. They were much stronger today too. Maybe over the course of these last 6 weeks I've been able to strengthen the tendons and ligaments there in my shoulder. Just a thought. I hope I can continue to lift them hard cause I certainly don't want a "good sized" chest and arms and then be rocking little birdie shoulders. We'll have to see. I'll post an update picture soon so you guys can see if there is any noticeable difference between 6 weeks ago and now with regards to my body. If you want to actually call what I have a "body". Current Weight: 190 lbs.

5:45pm: Mandi and set out on our 3 mile walk knowing that we would not be running any of it. Well, at least I did. My legs still feel like they're tore from the upper half of my body and my left foot started acting up again today. I may try taking out my insole on that side and seeing if it makes a difference. It may just be that I lifted on my calves today and sometimes that stretches out my arches and makes them sore. We'll have to see how it is tomorrow. I really hope it's better for the Glendale walk cause I really don't want to be hobbling around.

I was able to get a up a decent amount of stuff on our walk tonight that was either light yellow or clear in color. Overall, my lungs are feeling pretty good, but I know that I have to start doing more physically straining activities to really make them work.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 54'27"

Total Distance Walked for Day: 4.2 miles

My Colorful Mucus

7:00am: I slept in a little bit cause I got to be later than normal last night. I slept like an absolute rock, but I kept on waking up with numb hands. I think it was from sleeping on my sides and crushing my shoulders to cut off the circulation. It used to happen to me all of the time when I was active in the gym, so apparently I'm doing something right! I coughed up quite a bit of mucus this morning which I think was a result of my sprints yesterday. To me, it looked like, and felt like, mucus that was way deep down in there and has been waiting to come out. Some of it was green, some yellow, some clear, and some even a little pinkish\rose in color. I haven't coughed up any blood since I was in the hospital so I'm thinking it's old or I had just a little slight tear in my lung yesterday.

On my walk this morning, Mandi and did a little longer of a loop than usual. It was very nice and brisk out so it felt good to get moving and get warmed up! J Bell has been doing a good job lately on the walks and is learning that she can't "mark her territory" every 20 yards. I do have to remind her once in a while with a little tug, but she is definitely improving. I was still coughing quite a bit of stuff up during the walk, but my lungs felt pretty open and I wasn't getting very short of breath. I think that I am continuing to improve everyday and I look forward to all of this hard work paying off...and in a lot of respects, it already has!

Total Miles: 2.3 Time: 41'33"

So the rest of the day really got away from me so I wasn't able to get in my workout or run/walk. I know, tisk tisk on me. I did however have a very productive day in other aspects of my life, some of which I'll be sharing with you guys very soon.


I'll get back on track tomorrow...promise.


Total Distance Walked for Day: 2.3 miles

I Think I Gave Jezzabel CF

6:00am: Definitely more tired than usual this morning. I'm not sure what it is. I got to bed early and it felt like I slept like a rock. I woke up a couple of times because the bed was rubbing my burn wrong, but otherwise I was dead to the world. When I woke up, or should I say, got out of bed, I was hacking up quite a bit of thinned out gross tasting mucus. That theme seemed to continue through a good part of the morning and into the walk. I don't know why I have been coughing so much already today.

I have a few theories and I'd like to hear your guy's feedback as to if they may be accurate. Otherwise I'd love to hear what you think it may be. First Theory: I slept with the fan on high last night instead on medium. Maybe the extra air blowing into face either stirred something up or changed my breathing patterns? Second Theory: My stomach felt full this morning when I woke up. Maybe having a full stomach during the night caused me to take more shallow breaths than normal? Third Theory: I got so burned and my skin is so hot that it is literally melting away my mucus. Maybe my body is acting like a mucus oven because of the temperature of my skin? So that's what I got...think you can do better?

As for the walk, the pace was slower today due to all of my coughing spasms, wiping tears, dry heaving, and Jezzabel turning back into Bowel McPoopystein. She took three giant poops as if she has been saving them up for the last couple of days. Sometimes I think I gave my dog CF. She is bloated after she eats, she is constantly panting, and her bowel patterns are irregular. I'm no vet, but I'm pretty sure it's possible. Anyway, the walk improved as time went on and the bathroom breaks slowed down. I started to open up and I think I got a majority of the goo out before my treatments. This was definitely one of those mornings that I wasn't really excited about the prospect of walking, but as usual, I felt great once I hit the road.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 38'30"

12:30pm: I absolutely kicked my own butt at the gym today! I decided to do three of my normal lifts per muscle group plus do a heavy set on the core lift. So for instance, on chest, I did Pec Deck Flys, Incline bench, dumbbell press and then for the heavy set I did regular bench. By heavy, I mean doing 3 sets of 5 reps instead of my regular 3 sets of 10-15 reps. I increased my bench set by about 30 percent and did 5 reps. It was really tough. I was able to do it, but I definitely had to work real hard to get all of the reps up. I did the same for my back, using the upright row as my core lift.

I also ran .15 miles between each chest and back lift. So my routine was chest, back, run, chest, back , run, and so on. I increased the speed on the treadmill from the last time that Mandi and I ran together in the gym. I increased it from 4.0 to 5.0 to 5.5 on my last run. I was breathing extremely hard towards the end, but I definitely got my lungs to open wide. I also was sweating like crazy. I should probably start bringing a towel with me as a courtesy to the other gym rats. They already see me coughing up a storm, it probably isn't good to leave behind a pool of sweat as well. Current Weight: 189 lbs.

Total Distance: 1.2 miles

Side Note: There was no evening walk/run tonight due to a bible study that was across town and fighting traffic the whole way. We did however walk to a Dunkin Donuts to grab some coffee and a bite to eat beforehand.

Total Distance: .8 miles

Total Distance Walked/Run for Day: 4.1 miles

Clear Mucus Galore! (Goal Accomplished)

9:00: Man did it feel good to sleep in again! Granted, Jezzabel was at the door whining since six and I woke up about a dozen times between 6am-9am, but I certainly can't complain. Just being able to lay there and rest was much needed. A lot of readers have suggested to me that I either back off on my workouts a little or get more rest. Backing off on my workouts isn't an option, so I guess I'll have to concentrate on getting more sleep. I slept like a rock for the most part last night. I got to be later than usual (about midnight) because I was out with friends at a movie and then a restaurant. So, I may have not gotten more hours of sleep per se, but mentally it sure feels like I did. And generally I only sleep about 7-8 hours a night, so it is a slight step up.

Besides waking up to J Bell's moans and groans, I at one point in the night, woke up to my o2 tube being wrapped around my eyes. It was such a weird sensation when I woke up. I of course was groggy and not sure what was going on, and I couldn't open my eyes normally. It's amazing the places that the tube or the cannula's find themselves through the course of the night. Maybe one day my body will get used to the whole apparatus at night, but I'm hoping I won't need the o2 for that long.

The walk this morning went well. I kept a good pace the whole time and Jezzabel didn't insist on sniffing every square inch of land that we covered. She did however pee at least 9 times. I don't know what it is with her, but she's like a male dog when it comes to that. She'll squat to mark her territory and nothing will come out. She spent a lot of her puppy years with a male dog, so maybe she learned that from him, who knows.

I didn't cough up as much junk as I usually do. First thing in the morning I coughed up my normal darker glop, but it wasn't as big as it has been lately. I guess that's a good thing. After my first cough, everything else was clear. Also, I want to point out, that I'm not that used to having clear mucus. Before this whole exercise thing started my mucus would usually be at least light yellow when I got out of the hospital. It could be coincidence, but then again, maybe it's not. My lungs felt really good this morning and so did my legs. Do I see a new distance record coming today?

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 34'03"

5:30pm: I did it!!!! Did what you ask? Well, you'll have to wait till the end of this entry to find out, let me set it up. Mandi and I took off for our walk planning on doing our 3 mile loop with some running and walking. During the start of most of my walks, my left foot usually hurts. So she said that we could wait to run until my foot felt better and my legs warmed up. My lungs felt great the whole time except for the wind that was constantly swirling around us. I will say though, I could breathe easier in the wind than I could 1 week ago.

So towards the end of our loop Mandi said "We're going to run .5 miles today". I told her that she was crazy and reminded her that I had only run .225 miles straight to this point. She didn't care. Apparently she had 100 percent confidence that I could do it. As I stood on the street corner looking at our destination, I'll be honest, I was thinking "I REALLY want to do this, I just don't think that it is physically possible at this point". That's when Mandi said three things that really changed my way of thinking, she said:

1) Running isn't supposed to be comfortable
2) It will never hurt this bad again
3) You are supposed to get out of breath when you run, so don't worry about that

After letting those comments sink in (and coughing up a little bit of mucus), I was ready to give it a shot. Right before we took off she said, "If you're feeling out of breath, just slow down your pace a little until you get it back". This advice ended up being the life saver.

And we were off. I started at a decent pace and felt really good for the first .2 miles, that is when I hit my first wall. I slowed down and pushed through it and in no time I was back on pace. I hit another wall at about .4 miles which caused me to slow my pace again. I never got back to my previous pace, but I never stopped running! It did feel like forever, but when I finally reached .5 miles, I was incredibly stoked. Don't get me wrong, you wouldn't have known it at the time. I was clinging on to some metal stair rails trying to extend my lungs so I could catch my breath. Mandi showed all of the excitement for me. She was very happy which showed when she jumped up and down with a school girl giggle.

I now only have one problem: Running .5 miles straight was April's goal, what in the world am I going to do now?

Total Distance: 3.0 miles Time: 45'32"

6:30pm: Today was arm day at the gym which of course I love. I mean, who doesn't love "curls for the girls"? We really pushed it today by doing alternating sets of triceps and biceps with no break in between. Towards the end of the workout it felt like I was curling 30 lbs. when I was taking a drink from my water bottle. I was able to increase the weight or reps on every exercise but 2. They were both towards the end of the workout, so I think my arms were pretty fatigued. I got a really good pump today and again, I was sweating like a pig. I've noticed more sweat since I started taking Omega Oils and Vitamin C. I wonder if there is any correlation? Current Weight: 187lbs.

Total Distance Run/Walk for Day: 5.1 miles