Catching up
2005-06-24, 1:04 p.m.

Day 298 Phlegmtastic Written for 6/15/05

Yup, that�s a new word. It�s actually a sign that all the freakin medications I�m taking are working. Something to keep the sinuses open, something else to get them to drain, and another one to get the ice pick out from behind my eye. I�m sure once my sinuses are drained, the ice pick will leave on it�s own. Just need some relief from the feeling. Actually hurts at times, enough to get my eye to water.

Due to all the festivities with household projects Sunday, there was no trip to the gym for me then. Monday I was still so dead from Sunday, there was no was I was getting out of bed at 5am just to go to the gym and sweat. Plus the cold was starting to get a grip. Tuesday was the day of the cold. Skipped the gym, instead stopped at the grocery store on my way into work and grabbed all sorts of symptom treating drugs. Basically survived at work riding a high of decongestants and sinus medicine. Skipped aerobics Tuesday evening for 2 reasons. 1 � I was dead, 2 � I was being selfish and didn�t want to share my cold germs with all the nice folks at the gym.

Wednesday morning I felt almost human. Human enough to actually go to the gym. Running was SUCH a chore. Legs felt like lead to start out. They finally loosened up enough to feel comfortable. Got in about 15 minutes of nice easy running, then I started to run out of air. My poor clogged up lungs just couldn�t process enough O2 & CO2 (actually HCO3, but that�s a hairy little detail most folks aren�t up on) to keep me going. So instead of getting in my usual 25 minute, 2.75 mile run, I cut it short at only 2 miles. Still, it felt good just to get the heart working again. Did the usual lower body/core strength workout. That went well in spite of the achy joints. No real loss of strength performance in only 3 days I guess. Plus there�s always a little rest period in between sets, so the plugged up lungs can get caught up.

Went again this morning (to the gym). Ran a little better, got back up to 2.25 miles before the tank hit empty. Strength session was the upper body sections, plus a little extra abdominal work. As much as my waistline has changed in the last 5 months, I can see that the �love handles� are going to require some extra attention. At least now you have to try hard to get a grip on them. But boy, are they persistent about maintaining visibility. Dang it!

Some time Tuesday evening oldest son (Z) called from sunny Florida. Wanted to make sure we were still planning on picking he and his friends up at the airport. Told him we�d definitely be there Thursday evening. I�m telling you, it�s a good thing he called. They were coming in Wednesday evening, not Thursday. That would have been a wee bit embarrassing. Forgetting your own kid at the airport. The shame!

Finally updating 6/24/05
All that was a week ago. A whole week!! That cold is officially vanquished. Actually did remember to pick up the kid(s) at the airport. Z had a good time, although he learned a mildly disturbing thing about one of the friends he went with. P (the friend) was content to spend the entire week farting around on his computer and watching TV in the hotel room. Went down to the beach once, at night. Z, J and K (P�s girlfriend) were all raring to go do something, anything, any time. They eventually left P behind in the room and the 3 of them went out and had fun. I don�t think they�ll be vacationing in Florida with P again any time soon.

Have concluded I need to take a break from the treadmill at the Y. My right ankle has really been voicing it�s complaints lately. I�m thinking it�s not such a big fan of the constant pounding of running. So I finally broke down and tried the stationary recumbent bikes. Easy to use, I can go for 30 minutes no problem. However, even after covering the equivalent of 7.5 miles in 30 minutes, it only burns up about � the calories of a 30 minute run. After the bike session, I was fairly drenched in sweat and my legs felt all nice & rubbery. I was really shocked to find I had burned only 300 calories. A 30 minute run is good for 600 and leaves me feeling just as spent.

This morning, in my search for a good burn, I tried an elliptical (cross trainer thingy) Still got to get the hang of the gait on those things, but a 30 minute session netted 450 calories. Didn�t feel quite as done in as I do after a run though. Maybe after I get the stride down, I�ll be able to pick up and maintain a better pace. As it was, I barely managed to average 5mph. I did get in a brief burst at 9mph, so it�s possible at least. Part of my problem with them is that the foot pads are rather widely spaced, feels like I�m being forced to run slightly bow legged � so my feet never get much closer to each other than 6 inches in the middle of my stride. In my normal step, I keep my feet very close to the centerline of my body. I have plenty of scuff marks on my legs and shoes to show for it.

In more recent developments with the working out thing, it must be something in the air recently. I�ve increased the resistance (weight) on all but 2 of the 12 weight training machines in the past week. Some by significant amounts too. On some machines, I kept getting beeps that were telling me I was performing the stroke too fast. Finally figured out that if I increased the weight, I�d have to move the machine slower (f�in genius I say!!) So before, when I was doing a measly 120 lbs on the seated row, I�m now up to a more macho 140 lbs. I had been doing some surreptitious peeking at other guys settings � just to see if I was being a weenie at what I thought were lower settings. Turns out, the other guys are the weenies. In my age group, there was only 1 guy (Tony M) pushing, pulling, lifting more weight than I was. He�s got an inch or two on me in height, and he looks like he�s been training for quite a while. I definitely have some catching up to do in the fitness department. I may have lost some weight, but parts of me still got that jello style wiggle working if I don�t watch it. But it�s a small bowl of jello now. Before it was it was the whole dang box.

Speaking of weight, I probably need to do an update on that situation. Can�t remember when the last update was, so we�ll just compare now to January.

January 15 June 19
weight 265 221.25 net � 43.75 lbs in 23 weeks (1.9lbs/week)
BP 149/95 113/73 this is with medication and a metric butt load of exercise

Did not get my cholesterol done at my last meeting with Dr. B. I have another appt there in September I think (hoping to be <200lbs by then) when we�ll check that. Cholesterol had been as high as 260 late last year. Lipitor alone got it down to 160, but the good cholesterol (HDL?) was too low. Dr. B told me the best (only?) way to improve that was to exercise. Think I have that covered. I�d really like to peel off these last 21 lbs before my appt in September. Plus, Dr. B is holding out hope that I can get off the HCTZ (for BP) and Lipitor, provided I keep my weight down and behave myself diet wise. That would be a $15 savings in my monthly budget. Enough to cover one of my freakin Dr. visit co-pays.

Alison, you�ll kill me for this (or at least verbally chastise me) but � C�s dad is headed back down to visit with C�s brother W. He�s getting picked up this afternoon. That means 1 thing � C is going to get more ripped than usual tonight. This will continue until B comes back to stay with us � probably another week or two. Will not be a fun period of time. Things just keep getting more & more tense. Pretty soon the tension will cause feelings to pop like a festering cyst (such a pretty picture) and it�ll be cathartic for someone. Not sure which one of us will end up feeling better, maybe neither of us, but we�re due for some relief soon, one way or another.

306 days down. Tension up.

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