10 posts tagged “jogging”

2.5 pounds.  I'll admit, I was a little dissappointed at the weigh-in yesterday in just 2.5 pounds, because I know the first week is usually a lot more for people, but I had to remind myself of both the pizza buffet the one night and the fact that most people lose that much from cutting out soda and drinking more water, both things I do already.

So 2.5 is a good start.  And I'm still pround I continued my run on Monday morning after that piece of sidewalk jumped out at me.

Well, so far it's been culture shock up here in D-town.  I cover the north side of 8-mile on the squad, all the way up to M-59, depending on which shift I'm working.  Some of the people have been friendly, but in general, as the new girl I get the cold shoulder. . .possibly until I prove myself?  Hrm.  One medic even told me that he wasn't used to medics being nice to patients and wasn't sure what to do with that.

Meanwhile, I haven't really had days off in the past 2.5 years, and now I do!  It's only temporary -- starting June 18th I'll be teaching Anatomy and Physiology for one of the paramedic classes down in Toledo, and of course once I'm 100% moved in, I'll be studying for the MCAT, but I'm waiting till the move is finished for that.  Honestly, even the next 2 weeks I don't have days off because I'll be in Columbus for moving back and forth, but today I had a day off, and I almost had no idea what to do!  Luckily, I found a box of brownies begging to be made (the guys at work barely blinked when I dropped them off there) and my grandmother deserves to be waited on hand and foot every so often, which I did today, and she ate it up.

Anyhow, I'm not sure if I'm working a 12 or a 24 tomorrow (I'll find out when I show up) but I'm not to that point yet where I look forward to going to work, so I'm torn.  At the other company, even when I hated the job, I loved the people and the patients, so that was easy to deal with, but here, I'm still so new, still getting oriented, still lost when it comes to which ER does what and why and when, and I still don't know the little things that make life easier once you know them, things that you don't even think about until you learn them, like which hallway is a shortcut in the ER and which bathroom has a toilet where I can reach the ground.  (You laugh, but sometimes they put those seat-raisers on old persons' toilets and I really can't reach them!!!!)  The people aren't exactly friendly yet and it makes a huge difference.

Plus, I simply don't know anyone in town yet.  I'm looking forward to going to church this Sunday (though I'm not sure WHERE yet) and last Sunday Liz and I had a great time at Greenfield Village -- the hobo band even played Chatanooga ChooChoo. . .and included a dulcimer!  Too bad it was Thomas the Tank Engine day so there were little minions EVERYWHERE.

I still almost comment every time I see something labeled Michigan, but luckily the little voice inside my head has beaten the big voice in my big mouth 99% of the time. . "Hey, look, a U of M sweater" may sound appropriate in Ohio, but it sounds absolutely asinine in Michigan.  Right.

Hrm, weigh-in tomorrow.

Went running today for the first time in a while -- between work and moving, I literally was getting 4 hours of sleep a night.  So today, I set the alarm, woke up early, and hit the road. . .

At 5am, in an area with which I'm not familiar, the sidewalk can be dangerous.  I now have a skinned knee.  I'm sure it was graceful.  But it felt good to get out. :)

Anyhow, back to my 24-hour shift.

Seriously.  Monday I pushed it on the treadmill, going faster than usual, even though I hate treadmills.  Yesterday, I only did a half-workout on the treadmill because I've been doing a lot of weight-lifting this week and didn't want to go overboard.

Today started sunny and chilly, perfect for a run (I like when it's cold) so I got up, changed, threw laundry in, and walked to the corner I always walk to before I run, about a 5 minute warm-up walk.  As soon as I started running I knew this was going to be bad.  Somehow, something was off, but I couldn't figure it out.  My jogging wasn't fluid, I was stiff, and it was an amazing effort.  About a mile later my calves started feeling like I had 40 pound weights on each of them.  I did a quick calf stretch and did another mile.  And then I walked back to my house.  Talk abut a walk of shame.  My calves were STILL hurting me like they hadn't done since I first ran 15 minutes nonstop all those months ago.   What the hell?

Oh, wait, of course.  Not only did I drink caffeine yesterday (again, I don't usually, and my body doesn't like it anymore because of that) which dehydrates, but once again I let my hydration slip.

Well, Damn.  Seriously.  I was pushing for an extra 10 minutes in my jog today -- slowly (very slowly) but surely adding to my endurance to be able to run a half-marathon someday.  And cardiovascularly I felt great today -- until I had to work 5 times as hard to pick up my legs.

Ugh.  I know better than that -- when will I learn.

I hate. . .hate. . .hate. . .running on the treadmill.  Time drraaaaaags.

But since it was pouring outside this morning, and I needed to get a (short) run in, I went to the gym and did 30 minutes at .5 mph faster than I usually do.  I hate the treadmill.

However, I did make a new friend on the treadmill next to mine!  We ended up doing our core and lower-body circuits together, and we're going to meet at the gym tomorrow at 0930h to work out.  I think what I'll do is go running at 8:30, and then meet her, and while she's doing cardio, either do yoga or swim a bit.  Yeah, that's more ambitious than normal.

Anyhow, yay me!

Oh, and I love beef jerky.  Seriously.

I woke up determined to run. . .lately my work schedule has been so crazy I do absolutely nothing but work and sleep.  I stepped outide. . .into the beautiful big, thick, fluffy, white snowflakes that are the best kind of snow.  Now, it was beautiful and peaceful. . .and exremely slippery.

32 minutes. . . .which felt like an hour.  I'm sure my butt got more work than usual, thanks to all the balancing I was doing, slipping on the snow.  I had to modulate my stride. . .a little more up and down than usual to compensate for the slippery-ness.

It's bad when 32 minutes feels like an hour.  . . But I'm still glad I ran!

Less than 24 hours till I leave for NYC!

I ran two Mondays ago, and have pretty much done nothing but work since.  And boy can I feel it.  So I decided today I'm kicking myself into high gear.  Of course, that's hard to do while I'm working a 24, but I'm sick of making excuses for myself.

I can tell I had waaaaayyy too much salt yesterday, as my blood pressure was pretty high (140/94) today.  Normally, I'm about 115/70 or so, so that's a huge difference.  That's what pizza for dinner will do to you!

Yay water.

Anyhow, I'm off at 0700h tomorrow, and I need to get 3 miles in to get my body back into the routine of jogging constantly.

Gonna nap.  More later.

So, yesterday was the first day since the beginning of January that I a) Wasn't sick b) wasn't at work by 5am or at work until 5am.

So I ran.

And it felt really good.

I'm training myself to run without the iPod -- not only for safety, but to train my brain to handle these runs without music or talk doing it for me.

I had only done 30 minutes yesterday, which is fine.  It was still pretty easy.  I'm glad my body kept up with the cardiovascular stuff while I was sick.

Yay.

So, been putting in my 30 every other day on the treadmill since Thursday, instead of outside.  I still prefer running outside, but I think I'll do an indoor stint every so often to get an idea of the pace I'm running, and to practice keeping it even.  I've even started alternating upper body, lower body, core, and yoga with everything, and I'm feeling great.

DSC02181

Woohoo.

28 minutes of solid running under my belt -- still only about 2.3 miles, but I'm getting faster, AND I ran even though it's raining/drizzling out. 

When I was done, I was literally grinning -- it's such an alive feeling.  Too bad my shoes are soaking from all the puddles though -- that was some cold water.

And today's weight:   222.4 lbs!!

Woohoo.

Now, that's still a crapload of weight, but for a girl who has as much problem losing it as I do, almost 3 pounds in one week is awesome. 

My goal for next week is to be below 220. :)  That would be great.  The numbers 230 scared me big time.

Lots of natural highs in my life right now, but the biggest change is a feeling of peace that God is in control -- I've prayed for that for a long time and I'm starting to feel it.

Wow, I've been eating much healthier lately.  I went to North Market the other day and bought homemade pasta -- brie and sundried cherry.  Mmmmmm.  I ate it just boiled, with some chicken breast.  So delicious.

I 100% forgot to weigh-in on Thursday, so I guess we'll see how this next Thursday does.

Of course, Week 7 Day 1 today, which was another 2.1 miles, or whatever.  While my muscles were more sore today, it wasn't bad at all, all things considered.  Though it -was- cold.  I definitely need to go to the chiropractor today and get adjusted -- running was making the back of my neck hurt, so I think my hips are out of alignment again.

But anyhow, have a dentist appointment this morning.  I haven't been to one in forever and I figure it's time for a check-up.  I think I have a few small cavities.

And I haven't heard from G in days again.  Tears me up.

Bah.  At least my heat turned on this morning.