ActiasLuna’s training blog

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 09/28/2008
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 09/28/2008
• Total Time: 1:18:00.00
• Distance: 4.25 miles
• Average Pace: 18:20.92/mile

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 09/27/2008
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00

Walk… had to drag myself outta bed but did it.

Well, “drag” is a bit of hyperbole, but it was a toughy this morning. Got up a little too late for the warmer-than-average fall day (about 20 minutes later than I wanted) and almost got back in bed. But the starbucks card in my pocket was the reminder that the goal was to make a decent pace despite the fact I wasn’t really feeling up to it.

Which, of course, is the most important time to push through.

Goals for the rest of the year include:

• Stepping up the walks to include half-hour walks on weekday evenings (or early mornings)
• Continuing with strength and flexibility training on my own now that the guided PT is done (thanks to a limit on the insurance)
• Getting together a better nutrition plan, as things like eating my own weight in Blue Bell Chocolate Chip ice cream is fun but not a long-term great idea
• Making the above into good habits that replace the old, not-as-good habits.

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 09/27/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:25:00.00
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Average Pace: 18:52.08/mile

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 09/24/2008
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 09/23/2008
• Time: 19:00:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00
• Distance: 0.5 miles
• Average Pace: 40:00/mile

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 09/22/2008
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00

Got up early to walk, to avoid the harsh Oklahoma morning sun. (yesterday I waited too long and ended up hopping from shade to shade) Had a goal: to get to the “neighborhood” Starbucks. In (parts of) Seattle that would be no more than rolling out of bed, going downstairs and turning right. In Norman, OK it’s 2.1 miles to the nearest… which is a good goal for a casual Sunday morning walk.

Wore the right shoes too, which was helpful, yesterday’s walk was in comfy shoes that ended up rubbing my heels raw… today’s was sturdy Merrill walking shoes with some ventilation.

So I feel a bit less bummed with the walk, and need to keep it up. I notice my pace overall was quite a bit better too, think yesterday’s walk was about 20 minutes per mile.

Workout:

• Type: Walk
• Date: 09/21/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:10:00.00
• Distance: 4.2 miles
• Average Pace: 16:40/mile

Workout:

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 09/20/2008
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00

(well, it is, but not to posting.)

Have been faithfully doing the home PT stuff since I last wrote, but have also been kind of bummed out. I guess when I got diagnosed with Brachial plexopathy I thought I’d be much better by now (yesterday marked two months)… even though what I read suggested it could be three to six months and in some cases up to three years recovering full use. 

I am an impatient person, and having “forced patience” from this disorder is apparently getting to me. The nerves will only heal as fast as they will heal, and two months in, it’s obvious that statement is true.

I have been doing my home PT, but haven’t been as faithful on the aquatherapy (I think it reminds me of how little I’ve healed)… the bad part there is that the 60 days of rehab are almost up and I don’t know if insurance will pay for another run of rehab, particularly if I’m not inclined to show up. Stubbornness may help me heal, but that same pigheadedness is going to get me nowhere as far as the official guided PT is concerned, if it ends up that I have to pay full price for it.

So, I’m kind of disgusted with my behavior. To correct course a little, I went out walking this morning… about an hour walk, just over two miles. This did one thing very well — it underscored the fact that I am out of shape physically, I got home feeling like a mountain had fallen on me. But it is a start. And a very important start, because if the neurologist can get ivIg therapy (immunoglobulen I think) approved, I need to be in as good a physical condition as I can to lessen its potential side-effects, and I need to have the therapy started before the end of the insurance year to make it affordable.

IvIg apparently allows the immune system to slack off attacking the nerves and works to help regain strength more quickly. Many people who have had this therapy have seen improvements in two weeks’ time. The down side is potential side effects and the cost… and the fact that the therapy is sometimes considered experimental by insurance companies.

But it’s something I’m starting to consider seriously at the moment. Funny how, when you can do things like clean the bathroom mirror, reach the top kitchen cabinet, and wash your hair without bending over double in the shower, doesn’t seem very important… until you can’t do it.