long time no post

Well, I had a slip back into unhealthy habits: smoking, no exercise, etc. Then again, the past few weeks have been difficult. My dad passed away a month ago. It was swift and unexpected, and I miss him dearly.

To add to this, I learned something about tragedy -- it brings out the best and the worst in people. My mom and my sisters have been amazing, but my brother has shown his true colors...shades of brown like an asshole.

It's funny how some people see their family in pain and see that as an opportunity to bully, insult, threaten and try to take charge even when they've been estranged for 3 decades. His abuse has multiplied the pain of loosing my dad, and it's simply unfair, unnecessary, and unforgiveable. Oh well. It's his loss. I was nice to him and opened my heart despite his past abuse, and he only disrespected my efforts by throwing unreasonable accusations and threats at me...in a flood of text messages at 2 o'clock in the morning.

In dealing with this and losing my dad so suddenly, I started smoking again, and when I smoke, I don't exercise. But in missing and loving my dad, I'm also getting back to taking care of myself now because he would want that. His health problems all stemmed from his smoking, and he would proselytize to me about the dangers of it. There's rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, which he had, and both are triggered by smoking...both can be heriditary as well.

So, there it is. It'll be slow getting back into the routine, but day by day, I'll get back to running regularly.

Mon: walked 1 mile with Nola
Tues: walked 1 mile with Nola
Wed: Walked 1.5 miles with Nola
Thurs: Walked 1.5 miles with Nola...try to do some yoga tonight
Fri: walk/run
Sat: walk/yoga
Sun: walk/run

Week 15 V 2.0

I'm not going to count the previous "week 15." I'd injured my foot and had to take a break last month, but I'm getting back to it this week. Easy does it in shifting gears again.

Monday - walked 1 mile with Nola.

Tuesday - walked 1 mile with Nola again, and swam in the pool for a bit.

Wednesday - walked 1 mile with Nola.

Thursday - walk 1.5 miles with Nola

Friday - walk 1.5 miles and hit the gym

Saturday - dog training day. I'll try to do some yoga when getting home

Sunday - running, swimming, walking

Goal: 12 miles.

total distance this week:

mileage on these shoes:

What I Learned About the Peroneal

To begin, when you strain a tendon...or have tendonitis from overuse....it stinks. I'd use something more colorful, but 'stinks' pretty much covers it. I don't know if it's a strain or actual tendonitis exactly because I haven't seen a doctor, but my guess is tendonitis since I've been running regularly. No matter. The important part is that it hurts and keeps me from running, neither of which I like.

So, what is the peroneal? It's the area on the side of the foot, and the peroneal tendons are here...which is exactly along the area where my foot hurts:

I would have never really thought about these tendons, until injuring them, but now that I've have the "opportunity" to research them, I find that they're interesting. These tendons are largely responsible for our ability to maintain balance. They help maintain the foots position when walking and running, and control muscle contraction when moving the foot to the side.

Okay. o_O

So maybe not that interesting, but I found some exercises to help strengthen my feet. Dance exercises at that! Releves help strengthen the feet and ankles, building balance. Here's a nifty gif of dancer feet.

and these arch stretches...

and eventually working up to this! It's crazy. I know. But with these exercises and yoga tree poses, my feet will be so much stronger and happier...

except you might not like them when they're angry.

Week 15

I'm taking it easy this week. Somehow, I have peroneal tendonitis in my right foot. Hmmmm. So, it's yoga, walking, cycling and swimming for the next 2-4 weeks.

Monday - walked 1.5 miles with Nola.

Tuesday - walked 1.5 miles with the dog, and I'm switching up our routine. With the telecommute, I have more time in the morning, and Nola loves the dog park. So, it only makes sense that I use that extra time to throw the ball for her, right? Dog logic = yes.

Wednesday - walked 1.5 miles and ran 3 miles. 3:1 minute intervals at an 11 minute mile running pace. It was ok, but I'm paying for it. I should not have run.

Thursday - walked 1.5 miles with Nola and went to the park. Nola is pretty good at the agility equipment there, all two pieces, but it's something. She can jump through the hoop, and even walk the seesaw teeter. I'm so proud.

Friday - walked 1/2 mile and went to the park. Nola continues to get better at the teeter, and I always feel guilty when we leave. Then again, she is a pro at giving the guilty eye. She must have been a Jewish mother in a past life. :-) In the afternoon, I went to the gym with Sean, but didn't run. Instead, I used the recumbent bike and did 6 miles....burning about 200 calories in 30 minutes. It wasn't bad, but not the same as running. At least it didn't hurt my foot though. I just have to be patient and let this heal.

Saturday - dog training day. I'll try to do some yoga when getting home

Sunday - cycling, swimming, walking

Goal: 8 miles.

total distance this week:

mileage on these shoes:

Week 14

This week wasn't good. My monthly was hell this time around, and I didn't walk or run for the entire week. Oh well...next week.

Week 13

Last week was good, and my goal is to keep it going this week while adding yoga back in. It takes 21 days to make a new habit. So, if I can get 3 runs in this week and next week, I'll be doing really well. I do need to get some new inserts for my running shoes though. My dogs were barking after yesterday's run.

Monday - walked 1.5 miles with Nola and did 1 hour of yoga. It was fabulous and followed by a yoga-high which I haven't had in ages, and I'm looking forward to doing it again tomorrow. I'm so glad to have fixed the old DVD to play on the iPad. This rocks.

Tuesday - walked 1.5 miles with the dog. It was nice. There was a cooling breeze, and it felt as if rain would come soon. No such luck on the rain, but Nola and I will take the cool wind.

Wednesday - walk and a shorter run. Building speed, I'm going to try 3.25-3.5 minute runs at a 11 minute mile pace with 1 minute walks for 30 minutes. -- Oops. I completely forgot about increasing the time on my run, but my body isn't quite ready for it yet anyway. I was able to do 2/3 of my run at an 11 minute mile pace, but couldn't keep that up for the whole 30 minutes. However, I did run for 35 minutes total, 3 miles altogether with the warm-up and cool-down.

Thursday - walked 1.5 miles with Nola. The humidity made it tough this morning. After only 10 minutes, I was covered in sweat, but we kept at it and did our full loop.

Friday - walk, yoga and short run. Pushing the speed again, I'll try to match Wednesday's results...hopefully moving a little faster. -- I only did yoga on Monday. My schedule simply hasn't allowed the extra hour in the morning, but that's really no excuse. There's plenty of time in the evening. BUT, all the more reason to get back to it today. I'm even telecommuting while writing this, and that shaves nearly 2 hours of driving time. I won't do 2 hours of yoga, but there's no reason to not get my vinyasa on.

Saturday - I just don't seem to have time on Saturdays for exercise, not with an 8am class for Nola and then dog training work till 4 in the afternoon.

Sunday - I wasn't feeling all that great and only ran 3 miles, but at least it's something.

Goal: 20 miles.

total distance this week: 14

mileage on these shoes: 164

Week 12

Sticking with it this week, and that includes making good food choices.

Monday - walked 1 mile with Nola in the morning. I didn't have the energy.

Tuesday - walked 1.5 miles & yoga. My energy level was low starting out, but I stuck with it this time. We made it through the entire loop. I didn't have time to do yoga before work, but I'll do it in the evening.

Wednesday - walked 1.5 miles & ran 3.5 with warm-up and cool down.

Thursday - walked 1.5 miles.

Friday - walked 1.5 miles and ran 3.5 with warm-up and cool down

Saturday - rest

Sunday - ran 4.5 miles. 5 miles counting the warm-up and cool down. Woo!!! It took an hour, but I did it.

Goal: 20 miles.

total distance this week: 19

mileage on these shoes: 150

I didn't do yoga as much as I'd prefer, but there were some technical difficulties. I've outgrown the DVD I've been using, and my other kept skipping in the Xbox. I did eventually rip the DVD and reformat it to be compatible with Apple iPad and iPod.