I just finished up a 5K and had a blast! I was a little concerned about the heat tonight but it broke right before the race started and there was a breeze so it didn't end up being much of a factor. This is the first race I've done since I stopped taking the blood pressure meds. And you know what? I felt great!!! One thing I wanted to do was listen to my body and I really don't know how it's going to act  until I get on the course. I walked quite a bit and went out slow. Once I got warmed up and crossed the halfway mark - I experimented with pushing it a little. I think this is the first race in the last 18 months since all this actually started that I had absolutely no  issues. No shortness of breath, no chest pains, no dizziness, no chest tightness, no left arm pains.. nothing, nada, zero lingering signs of congestive heart failure. As I was pushing along I thought about my mantra - every step a victory  I kept my mind on it as I thoughtfully felt for each step ...

Whew! It's been a crazy few days but I think I'm over another major hurdle. I shared last week about my episode and now that's it is behind me and I can think more clearly I think I have come to some conclusions. First, my last 3 runs have been awesome! And I had a great time last night at taekwondo. No chest pains, no dizziness and even though I took it easy I had no difficulties at all. Well, except the fact that this fat old lady got her big toe caught in the pant leg of her uniform and jerked a toe out. Why can't I have normal injuries or at least noble ones? lol I've been spreading out my runs and it seems to be helping. I only run two days in a row. Overall my new strategies seem to be working but it's all new. I'm committed to the journey at this point and determined to be fit in the midst of personal struggles and physical roadblocks. I'm a thinker and a problem solver. Of course this leads to overthinking most of the time. But over the...

This weekend I got a sitter for my son and my daughter and I went to Indianapolis to attend the wedding of a good friend. There were many significant things that happened during this trip. First of all my daughter has just been diagnosed with fatty liver disease and is hoping to reverse it through diet and exercise. We knew we would have to go in and have sit-down meals to get the freshest and healthiest foods possible while on a road trip. We also took a small ice chest with some fresh fruits and veggies. I'm proud to say we did pretty good overall with almost no "cheat" foods whatsoever. We even went grocery shopping the night we got there so we could have a nice stock and not be tempted to eat out. I bought humus and fresh veggies, but I have to give her credit for keeping me on track. The first container was a small one and came with pretzels. She suggested swapping it out for a larger container of humus and buying some fresh veggies to go with it. I did and we we...

I am not sure why I am second guessing myself, I've actually felt really good on my last two runs. Last night I did a couple miles and then tonight I got in 4 miles. I could have gone longer both nights but time constraints and responsibilities kept tugging me off the treadmill. My first full marathon was horrible and I really  don't want a repeat of it at this year's marathon (or two -- yup, pretty sure I'm doing two of 'em this fall). I just dread the long run. Especially right now since I am limited to just the treadmill. And then of course this week I only ended up with 15 miles in all. And next week's schedule looks crammed full already. But- I have  to get at least a 10 miler in on Tuesday or Wednesday since I have a half coming up on July 14. I'm determined to do that 10-12 miles one of those days even if I have to break it up and do 3 4-milers or whatever. I've even thought about just jumping on and off the treadmill and seeing how many mil...

So last week was a total wash-out - and I partly mean that as a pun because it's been flooding in my region. (smile) I started out okay but just kind of had one of my "bottom out" weeks. I did get in two back-to-back sessions of taekwondo on Thursday night and got a few miles in. I have no excuses except I just didn't feel well - and I am laying that "excuse" aside this week and planning on kicking butt. I think what is difficult is finding that fine between pushing myself to achieve my goals and overdoing it and getting myself in a bind. It's just plain frustrating. I'm doing things right but my body doesn't act like it wants to cooperate. It's like I do real good for a couple of weeks and then the bottom falls out. I'm actually not sure if it's something I need to just push through - or if that will be a major overdo -- I don't like those at all. They knock me out of the game for several days. So today I was cooking along real...

I had my cardiologist appointment this morning. Of course the number one thing on my list of questions was to ask if he would "okay" me to start training for a full marathon. He started out by explaining my condition to me - he's really good about that. He also asked how I'd been doing. I told him I have good days and bad days but that I was watching my sodium intake and my blood pressure has been real good at home. I also told him it had inched up over the last couple of days and since it was slightly elevated while there he is going to up my meds a little. He said this is partly because I want to step up my training. He doesn't want my heart rate going out the roof while training. He also gave me some very specific directions. He told me to go slow.  And he said I have to take it easy as I proceed but that I can continue training. Doc also said that I need to be especially careful about overdoing it; basically - don't.   So...this is pretty much verbatim w...