ActiasLuna’s training blog

Reminder that the time change happens tonight, so if I am going to catch the early morning coolness I will have to get up at my weekday time. (which is a good plan anyway as it’s harder to sleep in on the weekends and keep up the early morning weekday routine.)

Last weekend was a visit from J. so I didn’t record the activity til this morning. Since he likes to sleep in I just crept out and walked and by the time I returned he was ready with his coffee and morning routine done.

The weather here is absolutely gorgeous, mornings in the 50’s and the highs in the 70’s… and the fall colors are coming on… I love the campus walk when it’s pretty much devoid of people. Today is a home game so the fans are pitching their tents, setting up their dish tvs and barbecues, and the campus always begins to look like a festival on home game day. Campus corner, on the other hand, more closely resembles Bourbon Street. (people are slobs so Sunday morning is always time to marvel at the amount of garbage that doesn’t make it to the trash cans.)

Since this is probably my favorite time to walk, and since the Uni campus is a great parklike place to do it, the only thing that could be better would be if I had actual hills to walk up and down. Oklahoma is very flat, and though there are nice trees on campus, there is not enough shade here for my liking.

Exercise-wise, I think I need to stretch better before my walk, I believe I’m having some ITB tightness as when I stop the front part of my hips hurts pretty bad… will have to increase the stretching time and add some of the stretches I used to use before playing soccer, and see how that works.

8900 steps at a time… getting fit.

And the arms are working better (weakness in the upper body is also a contributing factor to the hip pain I’m sure)… will have another treatment week after next for the brachial plexopathy and hopefully will be building up the strength over the upcoming weeks. Haven’t recorded the arm exercise as it’s something I now do at every idle moment… using the weight of my arms for the most part and moving them overhead as much as possible. Must present an amusing image to the people around me but what the heck… I’m getting better!

Happy beautiful Autumn day to those in the northern hemisphere…

-K

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 11/01/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:20:00.00
• Distance: 4.25 miles
• Average Pace: 18:48.53/mile

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 10/26/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:20:00.00
• Distance: 4.25 miles
• Average Pace: 18:48.53/mile

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 10/25/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:20:00.00
• Distance: 4.25 miles
• Average Pace: 18:48.53/mile

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 10/19/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:20:00.00
• Distance: 4.25 miles
• Average Pace: 18:48.53/mile

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 10/18/2008
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 10/15/2008
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00

It was harder than I thought it would be. Not due to arm issues (probably) but more due to not having been on a bike for a while. The difference in walking and cycling became really obvious pretty fast, so I took it way easy with a long break at the coffeehouse in the middle… Still, it was nice to get out and ride. The bike itself is a basic, basic 5 speed (kind of cool, a vintage John Deere bike, total low tech.) and it does its job. Was fun rolling around the OU campus on a cool cloudy morning.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 10/13/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 00:45:00.00
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Average Speed: 6 mph

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 10/12/2008
• Time: 12:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Average Pace: 20:00/mile

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 10/11/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:20:00.00
• Distance: 4.2 miles
• Average Pace: 19:02.86/mile

That, I’m sure, is a slight misquote, but the meaning is clear. Sometimes it takes a crisis to get motivated.

That’s what the health issue did for me, focused my attention on what I needed to do to get in shape, to recover.

IVIG has been a “miracle treatment” so far… my arm mobility and strength is very good, nearly normal (there are things I cannot do yet as the muscles atrophied over the two-plus months before the treatment, so stuff like cleaning the inside of the car windshield, washing my hair, putting up a ponytail, etc. are still awkward, but thankfully I can now do the strength training.

I’ll have another IVIG session mid November. This particular disorder apparently falls under the umbrella of CIDP - Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy - which can be quite serious, and usually starts in the legs, not the arms. It is something that I believe at least two of my siblings also have, as they have had similar problems. I knew we were mutants!

Seriously though, the IVIG is proven effective treatment for CIDP so I am grateful that there is something that can be done… and the outlook is good.

The walks in the morning have also done me a world of good - and I think that this long weekend will also give me a chance to try out the bicycle - to see if I have enough control to operate it safely - as I know it would be good to get some variety in the exercise plan. One consideration is that the bike ride might complicate the neurological issues, as I have had problems in the past with my hands getting numb and the arm muscles feeling “rubbery” after a ride… which is now obviously related to the condition but hasn’t been acute like the recent stuff.

Another thing that the whole health issue has done for me is to get me a little more organized - at least in my approach to getting myself out of bed every weekend morning and walking. Good habits are tricky to establish (it’s much easier - and I suppose human nature - to fall into bad habits… hard to break and replace with the good ones) so I can also feel grateful that I have had great motivation to establish a good habit and a physical activity routine. I believe this is week… four (?) of the walks… so if I can keep it up and add a mid-week walk in the evening, I’ll be well on the way to a good habit.

Now that I can actually do it, I guess patting myself on the back is in order.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 10/11/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:30:00.00
• Distance: 4.25 miles
• Average Pace: 21:12.08/mile