The Trapdoor of the Stomach

7:15am: I was up a little late last night due to the CFF event that Mandi and I attended, so I decided to sleep in a bit. When I finally rolled out of bed and put my feet on the ground, I could feel the after effects of our long walk yesterday and the day before. Both of my feet were sore and my legs were a little sleepy still. I knew that I should cut back a little bit this morning in terms of my walk distance. Jezzabel had been whining since who knows when so I knew I had to get up and out the door in a hurry before she blew a gasket. As it has been, the weather was perfect for the walk this morning. Slight breeze and probably around 75 to 80 degrees. If only it stayed like that all day.

My lungs felt pretty good from the time that I woke up, but I knew that I had some stuff deep down in there to work out. I tried to keep a good pace to really make my lungs work. The whole walk I was occasionally bringing stuff up but most of what I was spitting out was post nasal drip type of stuff. It wasn't until the final push of the walk when I started walking uphill that I really started huffing and puffing. The deep coughs soon followed and then, you guesses it, I was throwing up on the side of the road. I'm sure many CFers out there can relate to this: once it starts, it's really hard to stop. It's almost as if a throw up trap door has been opened and there's no closing it until your body is good and ready. I must have unknowingly swallowed a lot of mucus and snot the whole night because that's all that came up. With me though it's to the point that I barely break stride, I kind of just turn my head, let it fly, and keep walking.

Total Distance: 2.0 miles   Time: 34'44"

5:00pm: Mandi and I hung out at her house today to wait for a sink repairman that was supposed to show up between 12pm-4pm. Yeah, he didn't show. We were able to get plenty of work done, but it messed up the ol' work out schedule. We finally got to the gym to do arms and I felt kind of weak.  I was hungry all day long and just kept eating and eating but never got full. I'm not sure if I didn't get the proper nutrition or I needed a nap, bit whatever it was I felt lethargic at the gym today. I'm also starting to think that the weights actually weigh different amounts at the LA Fitness near Mandi's house as opposed to the one near me. It could also be that the free standing bars weigh different amounts. Mandi thought that some of the lifts today felt heavier too. I was still able to increase most of the weights on my tricep lifts and I actually did dips unassisted for the first time today in what feels like forever. I was only able to do 2 sets of 10 unassisted, but I thought that was pretty good improvement from starting out with 120 lbs of assistance. Hopefully I'll be able to do sets of pull-ups with no assistance soon as well. Current Weight: 185 lbs.

Total Distance for Day: 2.0 miles

Lungs a Little Tighter Than Normal

6:30am: Because yesterday went so well I decided to do another long walk this morning, but this time Jeezy for Sheezy got the invite. She was super excited when I told her to grab her leash and we were out the door in a jiffy. Just to backtrack a little, I had trouble falling asleep last night (and it had nothing to do with the 2 cups of coffee at 9pm :)), but I woke up feeling refreshed this morning. My lungs also felt pretty mucus free although they were a little tight. Anyway J Bell and I took off on our adventure and the weather was again being my friend. It was actually a little hotter this morning, but I think it may have just felt that way cause I was directly in the sun's ray the whole time. Yesterday I was walking in the shade for about half the time. Today's walk was also different because half of it was uphill or slightly uphill. Talk about getting the lungs going!

The walk felt good and my feet almost held up the whole time. The ball of my right foot burned about .5 miles into the walk (which is new) and my left foot didn't hurt until about the 2.5 mile mark. I kept a good pace the whole time and J Bell helped out with only going potty about 4 times and rarely stopping to sniff. I think after the second uphill she didn't have the energy to veer off course and do any sniffing. Her tongue was flopping all over the place and you could tell she just wanted to get home. I could have gone longer, but I didn't want her to have a stroke this morning. My lungs opened up and I was able to get a good amount up and out. They still feel a bit tight, but I'm thinking they will be just fine after a treatment. I just need to ice my feet and suck on my nebulizer and this will be a great start to an even greater day!

Total Distance: 3.0 miles Time: 55'58"

4:00pm: So the rest of the day kind of got away from me. I was working on some stuff that I started this morning and before I knew it, it was 4. I had about 45 minutes to get in a workout before I had to get ready for a CFF event. I thought about skipping today and making it up tomorrow, but I figured that I had time to at least do something. I went to the gym and did two burnout sets. One on chest and the other on back. For chest, I started with 145lbs and did that as many times as I could. Then I took off 20 lbs. and did that as many times as I could and then took off another 20 and so on. I finally got all of the way down to the bar and I was only able to do it about 19 times. My chest felt like it had been torn. For back, I did the same type of thing but I did it with wide grip pull ups and instead of going down in weight, I went down in assistance. For instance, I started with 100 lbs. of assistance and worked my way down to 40 lbs. in 15 lbs. increments and did pull ups each time until I couldn't manage to hold myself up. Have I managed to confuse you yet? I hope so :)

Anyway, the key message for today is even if you're short on time, make sure you do SOMETHING. You've got to get your body into a habit. And for what it's worth, there's not many habits better for your lungs than exercise.

Total Distance for Day: 3.0 miles

17.85 Total Miles for the Week of March 25th

Week of March 18th: 11.75 miles

Week of March 11th: 17.2 miles

Week of March 4th: 17.7 miles

Week of April 27th: 15.7 miles

Week of April 20th: 22.9 miles

Week of April 13th: 18.75 miles

Week of April 6th: 20.95 miles

Week of March 30th: 31.7 miles

Week of March 23rd: 24.48 miles

Week of March 16th: 34.85 miles

Week of March 9th: 23.6 miles

Furthest Walk So Far!!!

6:45am: I decided to give a new loop a try this morning so I could walk in a different neighborhood and check out some cool houses. About a mile north of me is a neighborhood that I would absolutely love to live in cause each house is on at least half an acre and it feels like you're in another world. It's still in the heart of the city, but you have no traffic noise and it's mostly green all around with mountain views. Of course this is why it would cost me about 700,000 to get even a fixer upper in that neighborhood. A boy can dream though can't he?

Anyways, I took off this morning with an already slightly sore foot from yesterday but I was thinking that it only needed to be stretched out. The weather was PERFECT with a slight breeze and the sun shining. I may need to do a long walk at this time more often. I didn't bring J Bell along with me cause I didn't know exactly where I was going (and it's a good thing cause I had to jump a wall) and I didn't feel like stopping 800 times to let her do her business and sniff everything. I just wanted to take in the beautiful scenery and the gorgeous weather. I walked and walked, turned and went straight, up hill down hill, every which way it felt like this morning. I wasn't sure how long the walk was going to be (I went back and drove it later), but I really didn't care, I was enjoying it way too much to stop.

I also moved a lot up this morning. Without having Jezzabel attached to my arm I am able to keep up a faster pace. That faster pace gets me more short of breath and coughing which brings the mucus a flowing. I got up stuff that was way deep down in. At first I was coughing a little too deep and thought about tossing my cookies, but eventually that sick feeling subsided and I was able to cough deep enough to get the junk out but not deep enough to cough my stomach out. My legs started to get a little fatigued at about the 2.5 mile mark and it was getting hotter by the minute. Next time I'll leave a little earlier to avoid that heat on the way home. I drank almost 30 ounces on the walk though so I was plenty hydrated.

All in all it was a great morning and the furthest distance that I've walked so far (not including hikes)!

Total Distance: 3.6 miles Time: 1:03'43"

1:00pm: The rest of the day was full of work and "putting out fires" but I did manage to get to the gym. It was my shoulder and leg day which is by far the easiest day I have. It is also the quickest which came in handy on a hectic day such as today. I'm taking it easy on my legs for two reasons: one, to not put a lot of pressure on my foot, and two, cause I don't want to have big ol' legs. My calves definitely have room for growth, but all of the calf exercises make my foot hurt. My shoulders felt really good today and I only had pain on the last set of the last lift. Mandi and I didn't take any time off between sets and were in constant rotation between shoulders and legs. It ended up being a nice little cardio session as well. Current Weight: 186 lbs

Total Distance for Day: 3.6 miles

The Key to Running

1:00pm: It felt really good to take the whole day off yesterday and just relax. I had to run errands and such, but to take a break from all exercise was much needed. I did however have a big itch to get back to the swing of things today. After church, breakfast, and a Good Will run, Mandi and I headed for the gym to work out our arms. As you know if you read this blog, arms may be my favorite day. Since my arms and legs aren't covered by anything while I'm at the gym, I can actually see "results" as I work out and it can be motivating. Don't get me wrong, it still looks like I have wet noodles for arms, but at least they're BIGGER wet noodles. Mandi's arms are also getting slightly bigger, but mostly more defined. While I do heavier weight and less reps, she does lower weight and more reps. I generally do 12,10,8 or 8, 6,4 with an increase in weight for each set. Mandi however usually does 3 sets of 12 all at the same weight. Soon, she'll be able to be a stand in for GI Jane! Maybe she could shave her head and do the sequel?

After the weight lifting portion we decided to head outside and go for a run/walk. We took off on our 3 mile loop and hoped for the best. I say that cause it was 100+ degrees outside, but I needed to push myself a bit after taking the day off yesterday. I of course was sweating almost instantly but we had water with us and I was also hydrating before and during our workout. In the very beginning my left foot hurt a bit and my right ankle had a bit of a kink in it. It only took my ankle about 5 minutes to feel normal, but my foot didn't feel better until the last bit of our walk/run. Just as we were making our way towards the last half a mile we decided to take a short cut to make it a 2.5 mile loop instead. We were both getting a little burned on the face and we certainly didn't want to test the sun in that regard. We ended up running the last .3 miles back to the car. I'm SOOO glad I was able to run, but let me tell you, it wasn't easy.

About 10 seconds after we took off all of the internal excuses started coming from my brain. "You're going to throw up" my brain said. "Seriously, just stop to cough out some of that flem you're choking on" he continued. "You haven't run for a while and certainly not in this type of heat" he shouted. Excuse after excuse just kept on coming out of me. I promise you this, I wanted to stop the entire time we were running. I wanted to run before and I was glad I ran after, but during, I wanted to quit. Running for me isn't easy. It's not easy for most. The key to running is to overcome that self doubt and just push through all of those internal voices and block out the pain. It's ALWAYS worth it in the end. I know it was only .3 miles, but it feels like I accomplished something much bigger. Current Weight: 187 lbs

Total Distance: 2.5 miles

Total Distance for Day: 2.5 miles

Random Picture of the Day

**I took the whole day off today to see how it felt. I feel rested, but I'm itching to get back into the swing of things tomorrow***

Picture: Corky, Me, Wong, and Bryan hanging out on Miami Beach.

Body is Tired, but Mind is Focused

7:15am: So I didn't really sleep in all that much, but I did lay in bed a little while and take my time getting out of it. It is certainly harder to get up and get going than it was say one month ago, but sometimes that just happens. My body is sore and tired, but my mind is still focused and sharp. I love the way that all of this hard work is making me feel and I know that it will continue to pay dividends if I keep this up. It's also great to have all of my blogger friends out there holding me accountable and motivating me to keep pushing. I also have one of the greatest support systems in the world through my family and Mandi. They all make comments on how my body shape has changed and my energy level. Stuff like that makes it all worth it. I would never want to leave this world without them knowing that I did everything I could to fight to stay here. It used to be all about me (admittedly), but now I have great motivation to take care of myself to stay around for others.

Anyways, to my walk. I coughed a bit more than usual this morning during my walk and my mucus was pretty thick. It was clear however so I'm happy about that. I coughed though to the point of dry heaving and it forced me to stop a couple of times and regain my composure. My foot was still sore from yesterday's stairmaster so that was certainly annoying. I want to start running again so bad that I can taste it. Mandi has said that she is giving me no choice and that we will go to a "professional" running store this weekend to get proper shoes. If any one has recommendations I would love to hear them.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 37'47"

1:00pm: I had a really good session at the gym today! I worked out my chest and back with a little bit of abs thrown in. I increased the weight on almost all of my chest lifts so I was happy about that. It's getting around that time to switch up my workout routine again, although because of timing, I may need to do it in about 2 weeks. So the lifting was great, but not the best part. The best part would be the cardio that I did after my workout. Mandi and I decided to do the elliptical to avoid any pressure or pounding on my foot. I felt strong the entire time and felt like I had a pretty quick pace going. I was sweating like a mad man, but wasn't coughing a whole lot, but when I did I was bringing some stuff up. I ended up doing a full 30 minutes and I could have gone longer but I had to get home to get ready for tonight. I may try to push it to 45 minutes or something next time cause 30 almost felt to easy. Never thought I would say that! Current Weight: 184 lbs.

Total Distance: 2.55 miles

Total Distance for Day: 4.65 miles

Stretch, Yawn, Yawn, and then Stretch Again

7:15am: That's right, slept in a little bit this morning and it felt oh so good. It was just what I needed after a day of travel and busy work day yesterday. My body felt sore when I woke up, but after shaking off the cobwebs it started to adjust to the day ahead. I think most of it is the after affects of the hike. I can tell you who else is feeling it, good ol' Jezzabel. Last night she refused to get off of her bed to go to the bathroom. When I finally convinced her to go outside and give it a go, she stretched for about 2 minutes and yawned 6 times. Then she made her way outside, sat down, and stared at me with the "are you happy now?" look and "can I come back in?" stare. After 5 minutes of trying to convince her that she had to pee (with no avail), I let her back in the house and she promptly went back into her bed. Then this morning, she had to stretch out again before our walk. I could tell that she was sore and was doing a lot more wobbling than walking. It was pretty entertaining to watch and definitely had me laughing much of the time.

For me, the walk went well. I was able to cough up quite a bit and most of it was clear. My foot felt much better than yesterday and I might actually be able to try a little run later on! I really thought I'd be running a mile by now, but my "injury" has gotten in the way. And although I know it's not a true injury, I also know that if I push it I can make it one. It just gets to the point where I start limping even with a walk and so far nobody I have talked to has said that's a good thing. Icing my foot and resting it more has certainly helped, but I'm really itching to start running again.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles

3:30pm: So Mandi and I headed off to the gym for some legs/shoulders and cardio. We did the workout routine with absolutely no breaks in it. While I did a set of shoulders, she would be doing legs, and then we would switch. By the second set I was already sweating. What really got me going was some step-ups that we did. Mandi set the platform so high that it would have been difficult for Andre the Giant to step on to it. After 20 reps of those my heart was pounding and the sweat was drippin'! My shoulders held up well throughout the routine and are starting to feel almost 50% back to normal or so. I probably won't do a normal routine though for at least a month or so.

For cardio we did a the stairmaster. Word of advice if you're going to be doing the stairmaster: bring a magazine. The time absolutely flies by! We did it for 20 minutes but it felt like 5. Both of our magazines (and shirts) were soaked with sweat at the end. The stairs get my heart pumping and work up a huge sweat for me, but I don't do the deep breathing like I do on the elliptical or treadmill. I like mixing them all together though just so I'm not getting bored doing the same thing every day. If you're looking to really use your lungs though, it's the treadmill all of the way. Then again, nothing will get them like running on the road will! Current Weight: 184 lbs.

Total Floors Climbed: 55 floors

Total Distance for Day: 2.1 miles Total Floors: 55 floors

Great Post by a Friend of Mine

I would strongly encourage all of you to click the link to the following post. Sara has such strength and determination that it will inspire all of you.

http://oceandesert.blogspot.com/2009/05/that-is-what-happened-today.html

Enjoy! And don't hesitate to drop her a message....

I Threw Up a Banana Waterfall

6:20am: So I hit the old snooze button a couple of times this morning before rolling out of bed. When I first attempted in open my eyes to see what time it was they felt like they had been super glued together. I managed to open them after what seemed like a couple of hours but then I was seeing everything as a triple or quadruple image. When I looked at the clock, I couldn't tell if it was 6:20, 6:28, 6:50, or 6:58. I also didn't know exactly where to look since there were so many images floating around. After blinking my eyes repeatedly for about 30 seconds, I finally saw that it was in fact 6:20. I needed to get the ball rolling so I could get out the door and start the hike while it was still cool out. I decided to bring Jezzabel with me as well since she hasn't had a good long walk for a little while. Before I left, I wolfed down a banana which was incredibly soft and probably near the end of it's shelf life (If you've been reading this blog for a while than you know that I only mention food before walks/hikes because it will come up again in the story...pun intended).

We headed off on the trail which is 1.2 miles to the first outlook point and then another .7 to the peak. Starting out I hadn't decided how long we would go. Anyways, as usual, the first 200 yards or so were pretty tough in terms of locking in to a good breathing pattern and getting my coughs out of the way. I was able to move out a lot of mucus which was either clear or light yellow in color and got my lungs cleared out rather quickly. Problem was I had a slight tickle in my throat that was triggering more coughs than necessary. I tried my best, but eventually that banana I mentioned ended up on the side of the trail. I was able to throw it up right on a rock face though so it kind of looked like a banana waterfall. Hopefully my fellow hikers enjoyed that nice piece of nature that I left them.

After I got that banana out of my stomach the hike got a lot easier. I don't know about you, but when I feel sick to my stomach, I feel like it's harder to breath. I was also coughing a lot before I threw up and after my "great heave" my coughs subsided quite a bit. The rest of the hike went well and I only took about 4 or 5 breaks on the way up to catch my breath. I kept J Bell off of her leash for the whole way up, but then she wouldn't stop barking at these poor guys on the way down, so on the leash she went. She's definitely getting better though, we passed by 3 0r 4 people on the way up and she just walked by them like they weren't there. Maybe she sensed evil in those two dudes or something :)

I'll leave you with this thought: If you live in an area with hiking trails, I REALLY encourage you to take advantage of them. For me, they work better than a treatment in terms of making me cough and getting the mucus out. It also serves as a great set-up for my actual treatments. After hiking, or doing any sort of cardio, I feel more open to receive all of the meds into my lungs. Just a thought, but I a thought that I hope you seriously consider.

Total Distance: 2.4 miles

2:30pm: Headed to the gym with Mandi to work on our guns. We had a day full of Internet problems which certainly slowed work down, but we managed to work through it and crank out some much needed things. It did feel good to step away from the computer today and get to the gym. Although I work really hard in the gym and at times it is painful, it still serves as a sort of "restful" period in my day. I never thought I would view the gym in that way, but I guess that's what I get for being so busy. The workout went well, but my body felt tired overall. I was able to lift all of the same weight, but it definitely felt heavier than it did 3 days ago. I'm thinking I'll sleep in a little bit tomorrow to hopefully be a little more refreshed and energetic. Current Weight: 185 lbs

Total Distance for Day: 2.4 miles

Life Got in the Way

4:00pm: I had another day trip today for business, so the whole routine was thrown off a bit. As you see, I didn't get to the gym until 4, and I wasn't able to fit in a morning cardio session. I really hate it when my routine gets changed cause I feel that I'm short changing myself, but on the other hand, I realize that life sometimes gets in the way. On days like today, I just make sure that I do SOMETHING. I was able to be at the gym for about 90 minutes today and it was definitely a great workout. I was sweating like crazy and increased the weight on many of my lifts. Mandi and I are thinking about doing a hike tomorrow morning to make up for the lack of cardio today. Let's hope I get a good night of sleep so it's feasible. Current Weight: 184 lbs.

9:30pm: I had to sneak in a short little dog walk when I got home from my "trip" cause I always feel guilty if I don't get Jezzabel out of the house. I also figure that she shouldn't be punished for my "busyness". It was a very quick walk, but I know she enjoyed it. I on the other hand was an idiot and just went out in my sandals for the walk. My left foot started to ache about 50 yards into the stroll. Walking in sandals when you have a sore flat foot is never a good idea! This sucker better heal up by tomorrow morning cause it's going to be hitting the ground hiking bright and early!

Total Distance: .5 miles

Total Distance for Day: .5 miles

11.75 Total Miles for the Week of March 18th

Week of March 11th: 17.2 miles
Week of March 4th: 17.7 miles
Week of April 27th: 15.7 miles
Week of April 20th: 22.9 miles
Week of April 13th: 18.75 miles
Week of April 6th: 20.95 miles
Week of March 30th: 31.7 miles
Week of March 23rd: 24.48 miles
Week of March 16th: 34.85 miles
Week of March 9th: 23.6 miles

A Little Bit of Blood

6:45am: So one thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post is that I coughed up a little bit of blood last night. It happened right before I went to bed. It wasn't pure blood, but it wasn't streaked with mucus either. It was mostly blood, with just a little bit of mucus. Good thing though is I only coughed up about 1/2 tablespoon. In my "coughing up blood" world, that's nothing. I may have dislodged a little mucus plug or something, cause it wasn't a usual episode. It only lasted for about 2 minutes. Anyway, all it did was motivate me to step it up today.

Waking up early on this Memorial Day certainly wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done, but I had more energy than I would have expected. I was up pretty late last night hanging with my brothers and we had an active day in the pool yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised with how wide awake I was. Mandi and I headed for the gym to do legs/shoulders and some cardio. Shoulders were same ol' same ol' with us doing the rehab routine (which Mandi says she likes) and then with legs we changed it up a bit. The LA Fitness near Mandi's house has newer equipment than the one near my house and we took advantage of that. We did various leg exercises that I had never done. Hopefully I'll be able to walk tomorrow unlike the last time I did new leg exercises.

After lifting we headed to the elliptical machines. We both did the fat burner program for 30 minutes. The program is pretty cool cause you start "running" on a flat surface with little resistance, then, out of nowhere, it feels like you're running up a sandy hill on the beach. It got my legs super fatigued and I was sweating like a mad man. Reading the US magazine from March 2008 helped pass the time though (it was the only magazine Mandi had). Towards the end I was coughing quite a bit and getting up some junk. I saved the really deep coughs for the lockeroom though so I could spit out the mucus that would come up. It's been a great start to this holiday!

Total Distance: 2.7 miles

I spent the rest of the day hanging with friends and family. Mandi and I were invited by her brother Josh and his girlfriend Christine to accompany them to the Diamondbacks game so we spent much of the afternoon there. Apparently we didn't stay long enough though. We left in the bottom of the sixth inning with the DBacks up 7-1. We thought the game was over and baseball games are incredibly long anyways. Well, come to find out, the Padres came back and ended up winning in the 10th inning 9-7. We missed quite the comeback. We did however ride the lightrail and eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory, so I have no complaints. We capped off the day by going to my aunt Mary's belated birthday party and hanging out with the fam. Great end to a great day!

Total Distance for Day: 2.7 miles

A Hot Walk

**Sorry for the late post. I had some Internet problems and couldn't get online to post last night**

7:30am: Before taking off for church we wanted to get a quick J Bell walk in. We only went 1 mile cause I slept in a little bit. It's been a couple of absolute gorgeous mornings in a row and it feels soooo good being able to walk in them. I know they won't last long though. The dead of summer is fast approaching and sooner rather than later it will dip down to a LOW of 90. Not looking forward to that so much. The walk felt good and I was able to get some stuff up. It would have been nice to go for longer but we didn't have the time to squeeze it in. We'll have to do some cardio or another walk later.

Total Distance: 1.0 mile

2:30pm: So I'll have to admit, Mandi KIND OF had to twist my arm to get this walk in. I wanted to go to the gym to do cardio, so we could do it out of the sun's long arm. She made a good point though in that the gym was a 30 minute drive round trip and that would be some wasted time. I finally conceded and stopped being a baby about it and we took off. It wasn't as hot as I thought it would be, but I definitely broke a sweat very early on. We had water with us and luckily, our backs were to the sun. We decided to walk up a slight incline that lasted about a mile. I could really feel the burn in my butt and legs! The way back was much easier since it was down hill, so we picked up the pace a bit. I'm glad that Mandi "talked" me into it! Right when we got back we jumped in the nice and cool pool. Ahhhhhhhh....

Total Distance: 2.0 miles

Total Distance for Day: 3.0 miles

Random Picture of the Day

Picture: This is me putting "tile" down on the floor at the Get Goin' Cafe. It's a non-profit coffee shop that I helped establish at a homeless shelter in Phoenix.

Feel Sick? Push Harder!

8:00am: Another great day of a couple extra hours of sleep. Granted, I woke up at 5:50am and then every 30 minutes until 8am, but it still felt good to rest up. I was up a little later than I'm used to last night and ended up falling asleep watching Sports Center. My brother was asleep on the couch next to me and Mandi was passed out in a chair next to him. Gotta love slumber parties! Mandi and I decided to take Jezzabel for a morning walk because there was a slight breeze and it was still somewhat cool out. It felt great to get up and at em this morning cause I did have some lung tightness and pain when I first woke up. Generally when I feel like that it just makes me want to push myself even harder. I probably feel that way because of some extra mucus in my lungs, so I figure if I really make myself work, I'll be able to get that extra crap up and out. With that in mind, we headed for the hills.

Now, these weren't crazy steep hills, but they definitely had a nice little incline to them. All in all we did a 2 mile walk, but I would say that at least .5 miles of it was up hill. It forced me to take deeper breaths while walking and it got my lungs opened up quickly. We tried to keep up a decent pace but J Bell was a detective this morning and decided to sniff everything in sight. I worked up a sweat though and got myself in a better position to do my treatments more effectively. I hate doing my treatments when it feels like I can't take big ol' deep breaths. I just feel like I'm short changing my lungs when that happens. Anytime I feel that way when I first wake up in the morning, I make sure to step it up in whatever exercise I am doing. Feeling sick doesn't discourage me, it motivates me to push harder.

Total Distance: 2.0 miles

1:00pm: Mandi and I headed to the gym after a morning of shopping with my brothers. We let them have a break and rest on the couch while the "adults" handled business in the gym. It was arm day, so as always, I was looking forward to it. Mandi and I barely took any breaks in between sets and were pushing each other the whole time. She wasn't sweating nearly as much as me, but she was really stepping it up in terms of finishing sets strong. She's gotten much stronger since we started working out and it's cool to watch her strength continue to increase. For example, the first time that we ever did diamond push-ups, she could only do about 5. Now, she is doing 4 sets of 10 with a slight spot on the last one of each set. Her arms are looking jacked and she constantly is threatening me with a flex of her bicep. It puts a smile on my face every time. Current Weight: 185.5 lbs

Total Distance for Day: 2.0 miles

Sleeping in the Rain!

7:30am: So I actually woke up at 6am at first, but it was raining and J Bell wasn't going to be getting her walk in that, so I decided to sleep in. It felt AMAZING to do so, but I did feel guilty about not rolling out of bed and going to the gym instead. Oh, well, things happen. I love laying in bed listening to the rain and eventually falling asleep to it. I felt so refreshed when I actually got out of bed. My morning was full of breakfast and work. I was also planning out a weekend with my brothers who were heading up today. I know that my schedule is going to be thrown off slightly while there here, but I wouldn't have it any other way. They are fully aware that I still need to take care of myself while we're having fun and hanging out and they support that 110%. It brings me great joy to be able to spend time with them.

12:00pm: After hours of work I finally got to the gym. I went to a different one than I am used to going to on the other side of town and it ended up being a real good experience. The LA Fitness I went to today is newer than my regular gym, so I got to use new equipment that I haven't used before. They seemed to target some of my muscles differently and I have a feeling I'll be very sore the next couple of days. I lifted on my chest and back and was able to increase the weight on almost every lift. I've also started doing my push-ups at a decline which seems to really work the pecs like crazy. I just want to continue to push myself and make my body work and never get too comfortable. I'll be taking off the rest of the day to spend time with my little brothers (who are both taller than me) and just enjoy their company. Current Weight: 184 lbs.

Side Note: Since I know all of you love my movie reviews, I'll give you one. I went and saw the new Terminator movie tonight. Let's just say that it's a two hour long movie that's about 90 minutes too long. It felt like the thing went on for 4 hours. About half way through my ear drums started bleeding because of the crazy loud fighting and shooting scenes. The movie had good action, but apart from that was actually kind of pointless and predictable. Just my 3 cents.

Random Picture of the Day

Picture: Yes, we ran into Dr. 90210 in Miami, and yes, his shoes matched his glittery gold jacket (I know you can't seem them, but just trust me on that one).

93 Floors, Throwing Up, and Putting Out Fires

6:00am: I absolutely did not want to get out of bed this morning. My body AND mind still felt tired from yesterday. I'm looking forward to the weekend, which means I'll get ONE day off of the gym. Maybe I can sneak in a Sunday afternoon nap as well. Then again, I'll be hanging with my little brothers this weekend, so the activity level will probably be ramped up a bit. I'll see if I can convince them to do an early morning hike with me on Saturday or something.

I felt bad that J Bell didn't get a walk yesterday, so I knew that instead of the gym this morning that I would take her around the block. So I took a few swigs of Powerade and off I went (that becomes important in a bit). I felt good in the very beginning of the walk and was able to move some stuff up, but I started to have a really deep cough about five minutes in. Well, if you're a CFer, you know what a stomach full of liquid plus deep coughing can produce. That's right: Projectile Powerade. I water somebody bush on the side of the road with my stomach juice. I wonder what the passing cars were thinking?

Anyway, after that little episode I felt fine. I had a decent pace and was breathing with very little effort. Jezzabel had a smile from ear-to-ear the whole time and behaved herself rather well. I'll have to make up some cardio time at the gym later. Today is legs and shoulders, so maybe I can blast my legs on the stairmaster...

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 38'31"

3:30pm: ...and blast my legs I did! But first I did rehab lifts on my shoulders, which seem to be responding to the new "very light weight" workout. Hopefully in about a month's time I'll be able to really lift on them again. I also did some squats and leg presses, but just mostly to warm up my legs for climbing some floors of stairs. I decided to do the stairmaster for 30 minutes today! Let me just say, about 10 minutes in, I hated my decision. I thought that somebody was playing a joke on me a slowed the timer down. I pushed through it though and then before I knew it there was only 5 minutes left. I then decided to really kick my own butt. At the 5 minute mark, I started increasing the level every minute. The last minute I was hauling tail on that thing and I had the sweat soaked shirt to prove it. There was sweat running down my arm and spraying off of my elbow like a water hose. I honestly think I could have put out a camp fire with the amount of liquid that was pouring off of my body. Man did it feel good!!!

Total Floors: 93 floors

Total Distance for Day: 2.1 miles Total Floors for Day: 93 floors

CFF Pool Parties Ahead!

6:00am: I think I hit snooze about 4 times this morning! Not sure why I was so tired, but I think it may have to do with yesterday's workout. I'm really trying to step it up in the gym and get stronger every single time I am in there. So far, I've been able to steadily gain strength and size, but I want to make sure that continues. The longer you work out, the harder you have to push yourself to get the same results as before. By stepping up my workouts, I'm just hoping to keep that ball moving down field.

Anyway, I was off to the gym this morning to do some cardio. I ended up starting on the elliptical which I did for 20 minutes. I've started bringing magazines with me which really help to pass the time. I learned all about Jon's affair on Kate and how Brad and Angelina haven't been spotted together for weeks. I mean, who doesn't want to know that stuff (before you pile on me, the magazines are Mandi's)? They do help the time fly by though and I would suggest it to anybody who has actually read this far down in the post. After 20 minutes on the elliptical, I moved to the stairstepper which I did for 10 minutes. It's actually a little bit unbelievable how much I manage to sweat first thing in the morning. It just starts pouring off of my forehead and onto and off my nose. I can't think of a better way to start the day though. These morning workouts give me a boost that last the whole day!

Total Distance: 1.65 miles Total Floors: 30 floors

4:00pm: It was arm day today at the gym, so I was definitely looking forward to working out. Arms are fun to do and you get to see instant results since they're not covered up by your shirt. Plus, it gets to the point where I can barely lift my arm to scratch my nose, so it feels like I'm doing something that works. I guess most people would consider your arm being "dead" a bad thing, but I look forward to that feeling every Wednesday and Saturday (or Sunday). I also was able to do abs today. It's harder to get motivated to do abs without Mandi there with me, but I usually hear her yelling at me in my mind, so I guess it's all the same. I ended up doing a variety of crunches, but they totaled about 200 of them. I felt nice and tight in the mid-section, which I hope keeps up cause I have a few CFF pool parties that I have to attend :)

There was no J Bell walk tonight cause my foot was giving me issues. I iced it on and off while I watched the finale of American Idol. Which, if you're wondering, I would have been happy with either one winning. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'd rather go to an Adam concert, but I'd rather by a Kris CD. So, for me, it was a toss-up. It did however warm my heart to see Kris' wife's reaction. Way to go Kris!

Total Distance for Day: 1.65 miles Total Floors: 30 floors

Random Video of the Day- Barbie Girl

Back by popular demand...yet another installment of cross country music videos.



Enjoy!!! And just so you know, I had to learn the words, I didn't already know them. That would be sad. Then again, maybe me taking time to learn the words is the sad part.

Lack of Oxygen Headache?

6:15am: I was traveling today so my schedule was a little different than normal. I did however get to sleep in a teensy weensy bit, so I'll take that whenever I can get it. I didn't sleep with my oxygen last night and I woke up with a very slight headache. Now, let me just say, this could be for two reasons: 1) I didn't sleep with my oxygen or 2) I slept on a couch with my head in a really weird position on a slightly hard couch arm. I'm thinking that could cause a headache as well. I slept well throughout the night though and don't even remember the circumstances around falling asleep, so all in all, it was a good night and morning. I woke up with plenty of energy for Jezzabel's walk, so she was certainly happy about that!

Like the last couple of days, I really didn't have a whole lot of mucus to cough up. And it's really hard to know if that's a good or bad thing. I could be clear and not have that much mucus in my lungs OR I could be getting backed up with mucus plugs that refuse to budge. Judging on how I'm feeling overall though, I'm guessing that my lungs are pretty clear. Plus, for the majority of the time, my mucus is clear. Let's just hope I'm right in my assumption.

Total Distance: 2.0 miles Time: 37'37"

4:00pm: After more traveling I was glad that I was still able to make it to the gym. I've always gotten kind of wiped out from any form of travel whether it be by car, train, or plane. Not sure what it is about it, but I always need a recovery period of some length to feel right. I got to the gym though and did chest and back. It turned out to be a great workout! I felt really strong and was able to increase the weight on most of my lifts. I do have to admit though, I felt very bloated during the whole workout due to a little stop at McDonald's. The old chicken wrap and french fries got me. I was on the road and needed something quick. I know, poor excuse, and I paid for it. I rarely eat fast food (except Dunkin), but when I do, I get pregnant with that food every time. I waddle around for the following 4 hours after the grease and fat filled meal and feel like someone pumped my stomach full of "hard air". Do any of you other CFers out there get this? I'm guessing I'm not the only one....

Total Distance for Day: 2.0 miles

17.2 Total Miles for the Week of March 11th

Week of March 4th: 17.7 miles
Week of April 27th: 15.7 miles
Week of April 20th: 22.9 miles
Week of April 13th: 18.75 miles
Week of April 6th: 20.95 miles
Week of March 30th: 31.7 miles
Week of March 23rd: 24.48 miles
Week of March 16th: 34.85 miles
Week of March 9th: 23.6 miles

Feeling Very Refreshed

5:45am: Woke up a little earlier than usual this morning to get the day started. My body and mind felt very rested from the weekend. Although I did not have a very strenuous weekend physically it was still very busy. It was basically the best of both worlds. Sometimes, when I overwork myself physically it can last with me for days and affect my performance moving forward. On the flip side, if I just lay around and doing nothing, I feel sluggish and can also feel the mucus building up. The key for me this weekend was resting from the gym, walks, runs and other physical activities, yet staying very busy and always moving. I was still able to get short walks in and went to the gym once, but I was also able to rest my feet by not pounding on the for too long. It was also a great mental break. I got to hang out with friends and catch up on everbody's story. That was much needed and a great escape from the daily grind that has become my life. Now, don't get me wrong, I love it and more importantly, I feel great, but I know that breaks are needed now and again. When I break it down, between doing treatments and exercising, I'm committed to at least 5 hours a day. That's over 30 hours a week! It's practically a full time job to just take care of myself. I'll tell you what though, the benefit is much greater than a paycheck.

I got up and went to the gym this morning to do a little bit of cardio. My lungs felt pretty clear first thing this morning and I didn't do a whole lot of coughing. I certainly coughed still, but instead of 8 times a minute, it was 4. I brought up small amounts of clear stuff, so that's always a good sign. I worked up a really good sweat doing 20 minutes of the stairstepper followed by 10 minutes on the elliptical. Like I said before, I didn't cough as much, and it was pretty easy to take in some deep breaths. I feel like my lungs aren't very junky right now. But, as most of you know, sometimes that feeling doesn't last very long. Hopefully though, by staying on top of exercise this week, that feeling can last for a while!

Total Distance: 1.0 mile Total Floors Climbed: 53 floors

3:00pm: It was off to the gym for some shoulders and legs. I'm still taking it easy on my shoulders because of the pain (and I probably will rehab them for a while) but I was able to step it up a little bit on my legs today. I didn't go all out, as they are still very tight and sore, but I pushed them a little harder than I have the last couple of leg workouts. I still did a lot of stretching on them, but I added some actual weight lifts as well. I did some squats and leg presses for the first time in a week. My legs feel fine and should be totally ready to go by the next leg day.

Total Distance for Day: 1.0 mile      Total Floors: 53 floors

Great Post on Exercising and Running

I really recommend that you check out this blog post by Chic Runner. She has compiled a great list of how to put yourself in the best position to run/exercise. I highly suggest you check it out!!!!

http://www.chicrunner.com/2009/05/starting-out.html

Encouraging Words from Friends

8:30pm: Today was another unusual day in Sickboy land. I did get to the gym to do arms which was nice, but I didn't get any cardio in besides a .5 mile dog walk. I think overall it was a good thing though cause my foot has been bothering me all weekend and staying off of it was probably the best thing I could have done. Tomorrow I'll be back on schedule and pushing it to the limit as always. My lungs have felt good the whole day though so that's definitely a huge blessing. I also had A LOT of friend time this weekend which was really good. With such a busy schedule, my friends usually get the short end of the stick. I generally only have 1 to 2 hours of free time a day and if it doesn't fall in line with my friends free time then we don't get to see each other. This weekend I was able to hang out with about 15 different friends and do a lot of catching up. Some of them hadn't seen me since I've been out of the hospital and they all had very encouraging words about how I looked. Most of them just said I looked to be in good shape and an overall "healthier look". I must admit, it feels good when people notice the change and comment on it. It gives me some added energy for the workouts and an extra boost to get up early in the morning and tackle the day ahead. So to all of my friends out there reading this, Thank you so much for your encouragement and I promise that this is just the beginning. Continue to send your thoughts and prayers this way as they are much needed. That's all I've got. Good night.

Total Distance: .5 miles

Total Distance for Day: .5 miles

Rock n Roll Bike Run

Today was full of the 1st annual Rock n Roll Bike Run to benefit the CF Foundation, so needless to day, there wasn't much in terms of exercise. I did however manage to take Jezzy for a mile long dog walk.

Total Distance for Day: 1.0 mile

Here are some pics from the event for your viewing pleasure....

Here is the early crowd that got started at Cocomo Joes.

I then got them all "riled up" with a speech.

It was then on to The Hideaway.

We then moved on to Dirty Dogs Saloon.

There's Mandi, Mike, and my blogging Cysta Sara hanging out at Dirty's.

Me and Chris Parker. He put this great event together.

You've got to love it when people can come together, hangout, and have fun, all to benefit CF research.

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

Random Picture of the Day

Picture: Mandi and I with my dad and step-mom in front of a chocolate store on San Antonio's River Walk.

Taking My Own Advice

6:00am: I thought for 10 seconds this morning about sleeping in and taking J Bell for a dog walk around 9 or so. I didn't get to bed until about midnight last night, so naturally, I was SUPER tired this morning. But why in the world would I go against my own advice? If I can get up this morning and get moving, imagine how much easier it will be when I feel energized and refreshed? With that, I was up! Now, I wasn't going to go to the gym, but it had nothing to do with my sleepiness. My inner thighs are still killing me! They are so tight that it feels like they could snap at any moment. I didn't want to keep pushing them and not let the muscles recover in there. Problem is, today is also leg day. I'll just have to steer clear of any exercise that targets that inner thigh area.

As far as my lung go, I felt great. I didn't do a whole lot of coughing this morning, but when I did cough, I brought up only clear stuff. I think that is due to the running that I've done the last couple of days. It really opened me up and allowed me to get out that gunk that was way down in there. Most of my flew this morning was either totally clear or a milky white. Either way, it's certainly better than yellow or green! I also felt nice and open when I woke up. I don't know about you, but I always judge my lung health on how I feel first thing in the morning. I was able to keep up a good pace during the walk and even break a little sweat! My legs loosened up a bit so I hope they stay that way throughout the day so I can push them just a little bit at the gym. I guess we'll have to see how it plays out.

Total Distance: 2.1 miles Time: 36'35"

6:00pm: Mandi and I took off for the gym after doing a little relaxing at my place after work. Today was leg and shoulders, but my legs are in no condition to be lifting on. We did shoulders as usual, but when it came to our trunks, we did more stretching types of exercises. I did squats with no weight on the bar, a lot of stretches, and a ballerina type of "spread your legs and squat" kind of move that really targeted my inner thighs. It still feels like I have metal rod inerts in my legs, but it's getting to the point to where I can actually walk comfortably now. Before, I kind of just hobbled from here to there.

After doing our shoulders and legs, we moved on to cardio. We decided to do 20 minutes on the elliptical. I worked up a huge sweat while doing it so it felt great. I actually was reading a magazine while doing it today. It definitely made the time go by a lot faster. Plus, I got to read about how Kristy Alley put on 85 lbs.! Can Jenny Craig get her money back? My lungs opened up nicely and I was able to work up some stuff when we got outside. Current Weight: 187 lbs.

Total Distance: 1.5 miles

Total Distance for Day: 3.6 miles

Mr. Cystic Fibrosis Told Me Not To Run

6:00am: I was definitely a lot more tired this morning than I have been the last couple of mornings. I slept well, but I got to bed a little later than normal. I think I stayed in bed a good 10 minutes past when my alarm went off. But when I finally got moving I was feeling pretty good. Only exception being my inner thighs. I blasted them a couple of days ago and now I'm paying for it. It feels like someone inserted two metal rods from the inside of my knee, running up the inside of my leg and then connecting to my hip flexors. And yes, they hurt to the touch. At least I know that something I am doing is working though!

When I got to the gym, I saw that the stair stepper was open so I jumped on it right away. I didn't get to it yesterday cause they were being used while I was there. I decided to do 20 minutes on it instead of 15 to make up for a little lost time. Starting on it was difficult because my legs were so tight, but they eventually loosened up thank goodness. I worked up a good sweat as usual and then it was on to the treadmill. And that's when I hit a wall.

When I started on the treadmill, I set it to an incline and began walking at a decent pace. I decided that I would walk for 4 minutes and then run for 6 minutes. Sounds good right? Well in my mind it did. When I actually started running, it was a different story. Let me run down the list of the things that went through my mind as I started running: My legs hurt. I can't breath. You're coughing too much. I think I'm going to throw up. You did a good job yesterday, don't push it. My foot is sore. There is no way you can make it 6 minutes today. Slow down, it will feel better. I think my heart just stopped. Ow! Sweat got in my eye, I should probably stop. Shoot, what happened to my music? I can't run without music. Why don't you just stop to get the music playing again? Maybe it will feel better to run later on today.

See what happened? There wasn't a single part of me that wanted to run this morning. And guess what, that happens more times than my body actually WANTING to run. So what did I do? Well, if you read this blog at all, you know exactly what I did: I RAN. See, all those thoughts that ran through my mind, I know who is putting them there, it's my old friend Mr. Cystic Fibrosis. He doesn't want me to run. The more I run, the less he is who he is. The more I run, the less influence he has in my life. The more I run, the less important he feels. We all know Mr. Cystic Fibrosis loves to have a say in what we do and think, but I'm sick and tired of that. When he starts putting doubts in my mind, that just fuels me to push even harder. So thanks for the motivation Mr. Cystic Fibrosis! Keep it coming!!!!!

Total Distance: .7 miles Total Floors Climbed: 53 floors

1:30pm: Headed to the gym for arms after I took a quick little cat nap on my bed. Don't get me wrong, I didn't sleep, but I allowed myself to lay on my bed and listen to two full Damien Rice songs. Ahhhhh, it was very relaxing. It also gave my back a good rest from sitting up in a chair all morning. Arms went as planned and I was definitely stronger today than I was the last time that I lifted my arms. I'm starting to notice more and more veins on my arms when I'm lifting. I'm hoping that means they will be nice and primed for a PICC lines next time I go in. There is usually not a problem with placing them, but I have run into a few snags here and there. Most of it is due to scar tissue, which can happen after 30+ PICCs!

6:00pm: Mandi and I took J Bell for her walk as it started to cool down again. We just did a short one miler for a couple reasons: The inside of my thighs are killing me; I want to take it easy on my foot; and we were short on time. We were taking off for my cousin's house tonight to watch the season finale of LOST. Which, by the way, I just got done watching. If you watch the show, would you like to fill me in on who, what, and where all of it represents? I'd love to hear your theories. Anyway, time for bed. I'm thinking about sleeping in tomorrow since it has been such at late night. I guess I'll have to see how I feel in the morning.

Total Distance: 1.0 mile

Total Distance Walked for Day: 1.7 miles Total Floors Climbed: 53 floors

Beneficial Email Exchange with a Reader

I think that everybody can gain something from reading this email exchange. This is my correspondence with a reader of my blog. It is used with permission. Enjoy!

Email:

Hey Ronnie-
So you are not going to be too happy with my progress over the past week, well I guess I am just not too happy with myself. Last week was rough in terms of exercising. I had an extremely busy week getting ready for the Brooklyn Great Strides walk which was on Sunday. I also decided that it would be a good idea to have all my family/friends over to my house for a BBQ after the walk. Well it turns out that everyone was extremely enthusiastic about the walk this year…in terms of participating and donating, which was absolutely great!! But I also ended up with about 50 people coming over…and on top of that it rained… so the BBQ became an indoor event…and let’s just say I am a perfectionist who gets very easily stressed out!!! But all in all it was a really great day…we still walked ponchos, umbrellas and all! Everyone was a little drenched but had a lot of fun!

On top of that 2 days before the walk was my boyfriend’s birthday. He is a huge hockey fan, specifically Rangers fan so I decided that it would be a good idea to make him a Rangers birthday cake. The good news is that the cake turned out awesome! The bad news is that it took about
2 whole days of my life to make it…haha. Bottom line, I only got moving
2 days last week, a 3.2 mile bike ride one day, and a 3.5 mile walk another….boooo!

So I know that these are all poor excuses, which I am not buying from myself, and I hoping to make this week better. It has been raining in new York for 5 days straight now, and looks like it will continue for 5 more which is a bummer because that kind of knocks out the outdoor exercise…but there is still the gym. Also, I am having a PICC placed on Friday afternoon for another round of IVs….fun stuff! So, I was wondering if you have ever kept up an exercise routine while on IV? Usually I am pretty knocked out the first week of it, so I don’t know if I’d really be up for anything strenuous…but I’m thinking just slow-paced long walks might do the trick until I am feeling a little better.

Also been doing a little better about my sleeping schedule. Getting to bed by 10 is really a challenge for me…but 11/11:30 is working out well right now. That’s actually where I am headed now…

Talk to you soon!

My Response:

It’s certainly most important that you recognize that you are not happy with your own effort. The great thing is that you are the only one who can control that effort so it is literally and completely up to you. I will be here as a support mechanism and do anything and everything I can do to give you tips and motivate you. Ultimately, it is up to you to get it done, whatever “it” may be.

So let’s look at the last week. Bottom Line: Sometimes life gets busy and we can’t always control that. We have obligations other than ourselves to attend to and that is ok. Don’t beat yourself up for being a good friend, girlfriend, daughter etc…Believe me, there has been days in my life these last couple of months that there was just going to be NO WAY of completing my full exercise routine. Here’s what I think the key is though: DO SOMETHING. It doesn’t matter if that something is walking or jogging half a mile or going to the gym and walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes. The battle is never doing it once we start, it’s the actual starting it part that is hard. There are times where me night just gets super busy and if that happens, instead of walking 3 miles, I’ll just do one. Or I’ll do the stair stepper for 15 minutes.

The key is just to get your body moving. You’re body will start to expect to do something and you will start to form a craving for it and actually feel weird if you miss a workout. We are creatures of habit. Make sure that your habit is doing SOMETHING everyday, no matter how short or small.

And let’s not forget, you did a 3.2 mile bike ride AND a 3.5 mile walk! You know what I call that in terms of comparing it to the week before: PROGRESS!!!! Now here is your challenge, for the next 7 days, do SOMETHING everyday. It doesn’t matter if that something is walking up 10 flights of stairs at a local building and it only takes you 5 minutes. You are letting your body AND mind know that you WILL train everyday no matter what. Exercising is just as much of a mentality as it is a physical thing. If you set aside a small amount of time everyday, eventually that will become a habit. And like I said before, you will start to crave that habit and you will see the benefits of having a GOOD habit in your life.

As far as a PICC line and exercise goes, for me, it has never been a problem. When I first start IV’s in the hospital, I too feel like doodoo, but I do focus on at least walking around the unit a couple of times a day. Usually by the second week I am able to do a fast paced walk outside of the hospital and by the third week, I am doing stairs or jogging. The doctors have never told me to back off because of a PICC. So again, I would try to do something everyday while you have your PICC and just play it by ear as to how strenuous it is.

I’m glad to hear you are getting to bed earlier. That is a HUGE part of this whole process. I promise that as you start to do more, you will be able to go to bed even earlier yet. Just make sure you’re not hitting your snooze button 100 times in the morning!

Good Luck!! I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS! I’m excited to see what the next report will bring!

Do LIFE.

Furthest Distance So Far!!!!!

6:00am: Another great night of sleep by me! I even dreamed. I know you're saying "big deal" to that, but I dream about 5 times a year, so it's a pretty big deal to me. Unfortunately, I dreamed about issues with my current project, so I obviously didn't do a great job turning my brain off last night. Oh well, still very thankful for good sleep! I rolled out of bed easily and immediately got my gym clothes on. While I'm thinking of it, I'm seriously impressed by how many people are at the gym at 6 in the morning. There are more people there at 6am then there are at any point in the day until about 5pm. I know, I know, people are there before work and then people are there after work. That makes total sense. But it's still 6 o'clock in the AM people! I just wanted to give credit where credit is due.

I started off on the elliptical machine again this morning. My legs where definitely more tired this morning than yesterday morning due to my leg workout yesterday afternoon. In fact, I was behind yesterdays pace with about 3 minutes left to go and I had to kick it into high gear. Kicking into high gear REALLY got my lungs going! I was coughing quite a bit, but my lungs were opening up as well. I started sweating like crazy (to the point that my sweat was dripping onto my shoes) but I got to my goal distance with about 30 seconds to spare.

Yesterday, I did the stair stepper after the elliptical. Today there was not a stair stepper available, so I decided to walk on the treadmill at an incline. I was going to do 15 minutes worth as I had on the elliptical. Everything felt good the whole time on the treadmill, in fact, it felt so good, that I decided to run the last 5 minutes! After jogging for 5 minutes straight, I still felt very good in terms of the lungs and my feet. So of course, I kept going! I ended up doing two more minutes for a total of 7 minutes straight and .65 miles! So far, that is the furthest I've run without taking a break. I was definitely winded, but not nearly as bad as I would get when this all started over two months ago. Progress baby!

Total Distance: 2.7 miles

2:30pm: Today was chest and back. Nothing crazy to report other than being able to increase the weight on many of my lifts. I wanted to sneak in a set of abs at the end of my workout, but I was pretty tuckered out. I worked up a good sweat while lifting though so some cardio got done as well as my chest/back. Like I've said before, no matter what you are doing, just keep moving. You'll always get the best workout that way. And I'm telling you, the more you sweat, the harder it feels you're working out...even if that's not the case. Current Weight: 186 lbs.

6:00pm: Mandi and I took J Bell for a walk as it started to cool down a bit. My lungs felt good throughout the day but my foot was bothering me a bit. I've been icing it though and it seems to be helping. Since my foot was a bit sore though, we decided to do a short walk. Jeezy for Sheezy didn't seem to mind. She still got to go to the bathroom 400 times and when we made our way back to my house her tongue was hanging about a foot out of her mouth. She can definitely tell that it's a bit hotter outside. I like this new routine and I'm going to keep it up. My doing cardio in the morning, I find myself coughing up stuff throughout the day from way deep down. I think working up a big sweat in the morning and forcing myself to breath real deep has lasting effects throughout the day.

Total Distance: 1.1 miles

Total Distance for Day: 3.8 miles

17.7 Total Miles for Week of March 4th

Week of April 27th: 15.7 miles
Week of April 20th: 22.9 miles
Week of April 13th: 18.75 miles
Week of April 6th: 20.95 miles
Week of March 30th: 31.7 miles
Week of March 23rd: 24.48 miles
Week of March 16th: 34.85 miles
Week of March 9th: 23.6 miles

Can I Spit on the Gym Floor?

6:00am: I felt very well rested and ready to get up and tackle the day this morning. The only issue was a slight sore throat and very stuffy nose and a slight sinus headache, other than that though, I was ready to grab the bull by the horns. After a little bit of time in the bathroom getting a pound of snot out of my head and coughing up my obligatory mucus ball, I was ready for the gym. Today was the first day in my routine change. Since it's getting a little hot in the morning and I've been really dragging when it came to my nightly walk/run, I decided that I would do cardio in the morning cause the dog walk is much easier on me. Also, the sicker my lungs get, I know that it is imperative to do MORE cardio, not less. This assures that I get in a good 30-45 minutes of deep breathing and sweat every weekday morning.

The only hitch I thought of in this new plan was challenge that coughing and clearing my mucus while at the gym could present. Don't get me wrong, I'll cough my brains out in front of anybody and their stink eyes don't bother me in the least. If they continue the stares for longer than I deem necessary, I'll either blow them a kiss or give them a wink, this usually stops the stare right in it's track. The problem with cardio this early at the gym is I can't exactly spit my mucus on the gym floor. It's been well documented that my morning walk loop is littered with mucus that I spit anywhere and everywhere. Well, I can't do that at the gym obviously. The only alternative is to swallow what I bring up. Gross huh? In all actuality I've been doing that for years, so to me, it's not that big of a deal. The only thing that sucks about it is the usual stomach ache that comes along from swallowing all of that flem. As of right now, my stomach feels fine, I just hope that continues.

So this morning, I decided to do the elliptical and the stair stepper. I ended up doing 15 minutes of each. Let me tell you, when I first started on the elliptical, I was thinking, "This was a big mistake". My legs were still asleep, and waking them up in that manner was not fun. I pushed through it and about 7-8 minutes into the workout my legs were numb so it really didn't matter how hard I pushed cause I couldn't feel them. Perfect. Just what I wanted. Right after the elliptical, I got on the stair stepper and continued to sweat my butt off. The coughing definitely increased when I was climbing up those steps, but surprisingly I didn't get too many death stares. By the time I was done, I was very out of breath and my lungs felt pretty open. When I left the gym I was able to get some good stuff up and that continued with my treatments. This new workout may just be the switch I needed.

Total Distance: 1.5 miles Total Floors Climbed: 40 Floors

5:00pm: It was leg and shoulder day so I waited for Mandi to get off work so we could go to the gym together. We've got a good routine down that gets me sweating like crazy. We literally don't stop moving the whole time at the gym. While she is doing a set of shoulders, I'll be doing a set of legs, and then we'll switch. We keep this up until we are done with all of our sets. Right after legs and shoulders are done, we go straight to abs and that's where she really kicks my butt. She didn't punish me as bad today though cause she didn't want my ab soreness to suppress my cough like it did the other day. Nevertheless, I was extremely wet with sweat from head to toe and I've got to say, it felt great! Current Weight: 186 lbs.

7:30pm: Time for what J Bizzle has been waiting all day for: Her walk! She was very excited when I told her to get her leash and she couldn't stop smiling and wagging her tail. I don't think she minded waiting until tonight though cause it was definitely cooler than it is during the morning walk. We also walked a different neighbor hood than I usually walk, so she got to take in all new smells. The walk felt pretty good, but my foot did hurt a little bit. I ended up putting it on ice when I got home, so I hope it helps it. My lungs felt good throughout the whole day, so it looks like I'll be sticking with my new routine for awhile. I'll at least stick with it until I think my body is catching on to what I am doing. Remember, always keep your body guessing.

Total Distance: 1.5 miles Time: 25'34"

Total Distance Walked for Day: 3.6 miles Total Floors Climbed: 40 Floors

Random Picture of the Day

Picture: Left to right-Brother Andrew and cousin Steven showing off their graduation gifts from me. You know darn right I had to get them proper gear for the walks across campus.

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