…”this life is more than just a read through”

I wish you all a wonderful relaxing day spent with family & friends.  Eat, drink & be merry.  You can always work it off on Friday!!

I am someone who eats pretty much what I want to… in moderation.  I went grocery shopping yesterday instead of going for lunch and then realized that I shopped hungry.  I bought things I would never purchase if I had a full tummy.  One of the things that I bought are the Pilsbury Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.  I made them under much pressure from the children this a.m.  Well, I ate one and then found out that they are 300+ calories each!!!  Oh shit.  Talk about motivation!!  I am now heading upstairs to don my running gear and get my butt onto the treadmill.  I will be running until the calories burned read 400+.   (with a huge, lead fat pill in my stomach).

I went to the Dr. yesterday for x-rays of my back and he seems to think due to my description of a week of sheer pain and the fact that nothing really showed on my x-rays that it is a disk that is slipping in and out.  O.k.  sounds reasonable to me and that would surely explain the pain.  Then, he says  something that makes me laugh.  ”You should do some exercise to strengthen your core”.  I had surgery 1 month ago and was told NOT to do any exercise.  I told him that in real life I do pilates and run a few times/week and that I have just been holding off until I am healed from surgery.  I felt like he didn’t really believe me.  Funny, what I wanted to say was “if you don’t believe me, check out my bog on S365″! I am going to  try to ease back into the pilates (barring any pain in my surgical site)- because he is dead on.  Thinking back to my previous back pain, and previous posts: pilates always made it feel a little better.  

P.S. GREAT WORK BRAD!! CONGRATULATIONS!

I woke up this morning….. that’s a good thing.  I guess that is how you start to think once you reach 40.  Ugggghhh.  I always thought that I would age gracefully.  Seeing my mom when I was a youngster, in the mirror pulling her face back on each side, always drove me crazy.  Well, it must be in the genes, because I am kicking & fighting the whole way!!  At least I got enough $$ in gifts last night at my lovely family celebration to afford myself some kick ass injectibles for the wrinkles!!  Happy Birthday to me!!

The back is still TWEAKING.  I think I have to call the old orthopedic doc today for an appointment, it is killing me.   I am sure it is a disk thing or something of that nature. (though, I have nothing to base that on).  I am going to get on the treadmill today and walk 1.5-2 miles.  No excuses anymore.  I can walk (still can’t run for another 4 weeks) and the giggling tummy says it HAS to happen - TODAY!  Have a super day!

Woohoo!!  Today is the day that I can FINALLY take a shower!  2 weeks and 2 days without a shower (YES, I did sponge bathe everyday, I am not THAT gross!).  I can’t wait.

Had some more stitches out yesterday.  It went well.  I have maintained my weight so far and haven’t gained an ounce, I am psyched about that.  I have been doing my usual activity as far as daily routine, I just can’t run.  I think in about 4-5 more weeks I can.  I was reading my Runner’s World magazine yesterday while I was sitting at my daughter’s gymnastics practice.  I cannot wait to get back into it!

In my post op instructions it says to get up and walk every two hours to avoid blood clots in my legs. So I have been walking around the house. Today, man was it beautiful outside, I went up & down the driveway a few times and around our neighborhood, I think maybe 2/10 of a mile ,max 1/4 mi. It felt so good to know that I can still get in some sort of exercise. I was also doing lunges going down our downstairs hallway. I have my first post op Dr. appointment tomorrow a.m. Can’t wait to hear what they have to say. The drains are driving me nuts, they are so itchy and always seem to be getting caught under the bandages. Will walk some more tomorrow. I plan to continue to increase my distance as I heal. From what I read, I can’t run for 8 weeks. Walking will have to do.

Surgery on Mon. went well, I think. Not really sure due to swelling, etc. I wont know for a few months how it really went until everything falls into place. I had a horrible night in the hospital on Monday night. Woken every two hours by the nurses and the woman in my room would not turn off the light over her bed - so it was super bright in the room. I am a side sleeper and wanted so badly to turn onto my side and couldn’t. I was released on Tues. and went to my mom’s for the night. Thinking that it would be more quiet and calm for me to get a good night sleep. No go. Uncomfortable there too. What is uncomfortable are the drains that are hanging out of my sides. I keep catching them with my hand and they feel like they are pulling out. I cannot wait to get them out. I have had literally no pain and have not taken any pain med since Tuesday night. Came home on Wed. morning and was sooooo happy to get into my own bed with my own pillows. Although it is awful to have to listen to my husband deal with the children and their bickering. He does not have anywhere near the patience that I have with them. And the children are in & out of the bedroom climbing on the bed and nearly missing bumping me. It is nice & quiet now that they have gone out. I slept much better in my own bed. I found that I can lay on my side in my bed since it is a tempurpedic and it molds to your body. I am going to go outside and walk a bit up & down the driveway, then come in and change my bandages.

Wow, so this morning I am going to run for the last time for the next month or so. My surgery is in two days, 1 hr. and 45 mins. OMG!

I think I will run outside. That would be nice. I am not sure how I feel about not being able to run. I am always VERY, VERY busy with three children, all with their own schedules, and the usual running of the home and so, I can sometimes justify putting off my running - but knowing that I could run if I wanted to. But, not being able to run, not sure how I feel about that. I think I will be able to walk - slowly at first, but some movement is better than none.

I am scared about the anesthesia, hey, I am older and have kids. I am nervous that the surgery will go wrong and wont work out the way I hope. Then only have myself to blame for doing it in the 1st place. Then there is this side of me that looks forward to my husband taking over my hectic schedule for a week and I can just relax. How sick that it takes surgery to get a minute to myself, isn’t there something wrong?? I was literally cleaning the house until 12:00 p.m. last night. I have to finish the vaccuming this a.m., clean the goldfish’s tank, do a shitload of laundry, etc. All this so that while I am laying in bed for a week, the kids and my not so organized/neat husband can mess it all up.

Hectic, hectic schedule this weekend, which should distract me for the next few days. My oldest daughter has her 1st official gymnastics meet tomorrow as a competitive gymnast!! I am so excited for her. I am super obligated to her team as a “team mom” and have to work the meet all day. It should be a really fun event for our family. We have to be there at 7:00 a.m. and I will be there until the meet ends at 5:00-6:00.

Well, will log my run a little later, but I had all of this on my mind.

I think I am going to try to cram my foot into my running shoes tomorrow afternoon for a trial run with my new broken toe. Based on how it is feeling just walking, I will be able to resume my training. If it hurts, I stop - it’s that simple. As usual, didn’t do pilates or any other video today, couldn’t “fit it in”. The usual excuse when I am slacking. Back to the treadmill tomorrow. It seems to be the only true piece of exercise equipment that I am accountable to. I am it’s bitch. (ha ha)

My toe is still huge and rather purple, so I am going to do some other form of exercise tomorrow instead of sitting around feeling bad that I can’t train for my race. I also had pizza last night for dinner with the kids AND took my middle one to a party today where the served - of course - pizza. I cannot resist a slice, but I need to keep the weight down. I think (based on how much better it feels today than last night) that I should be able to run in a few days. I will ice and elevate it again tonight. In the morning I will do some pilates or some other exercise video that I have. It is so funny that something as simple as a broken little toe can throw off your game plan. New goal (beyond the 5k on the 27th) is to lose as much weight as I can before my surgery on 10/6. I am going to really pump up the power on my workouts and running (when I get back to it). My goal is to try to lose 5 more lbs. and to also be doing 5 mile runs the week before my surgery. Think I can’t do it, just watch!
oh, p.s. I found out that only 30 people have signed up for this race. So, I am prepared to come in last or almost last.