Maybe it's redundant

Feel free to skim and/or skip this -- it's my update after my first PT session...

This is really long 'cause I copied and pasted it from an email. Not 'cause I'm always long and rambly. Oh, wait.

PT was good, I guess, I don't know. It was a big evaluation, she had me stand this way and that, and twist and lift legs and push against resistance and stuff like that. I told her about the gait analysis, the hip pain last year, the doc, the new shoes ... She said my hips are definitely not level right now, that they're tiled / rotated ....

In the end she said:
1.) I DO have a small leg length discrepancy (she measured, hip/pelvic bone to ankle, on each side) - just under .5" -- not enough to be noticeable walking, etc, but possibly enough to cause problems in running
2.) pregnancy loosens ligaments (I knew that) and it takes a year or two to recover. Successive pregnancies can make things more out of wonk. After hearing that I have 7 children and the youngest is 17 months she said that my ligaments are probably "shot" and that I'll need to do muscle strengthening to help the muscles support what the ligaments are not doing.

She gave me a lift for my left shoe and encouraged me to wear it as much as possible unless it makes things worse (which might happen because my body compensated long ago for the discrepancy) ...

She said we'll give it a day or two with the lift, and then talk about running but we don't want to try too many new things at once. She said if I'm improved by Wednesday I'll try to run a little (1 mile (or less if it hurts)) and then see how I feel in the 2 hour window afterward. If I'm lurching / hurting worse then I run only half as far the next time. If I'm okay, then I can incrementally creep up the distance. Too early to know if I can run in the Dow run, she said it's probably cutting it close but who knows, I might see a huge improvement with the lift.

I have to go 3x/week for 4 weeks (which takes me right up until the race) ...

Soooo. I don't know, I guess that's good that 1.) she thought there were two clear problems and 2.) she thinks the lift and strengthening / stretching / exercises will help. But I guess I'm frustrated that we still don't really KNOW if it'll help. I came home thinking I should've just quit and given up before starting down this road, but that's kind of silly.

She said I could bring in my shoes and the class gait analysis / shoe recommendation sheet and she'll try to see if my new shoes fit the bill, and she said we could talk to the PT who did the analysis, and she wrote on her list to do another one.

So now I'm a dork with a special thing in my shoe ....

She didn't really confirm or say it wasn't what Dr. B said (tight adductor muscles), so ... :shrug

She does think that strengthening my core / doing Pilates might help in the long run. Although she said not to jump in and take a class and do all the hard moves right away, that I'd need to ease into it. And that she'd incorporate some pilates into the exercises we do.

And she said that even though running can be hard on the joints, the other health benefits outweigh the damage running does, and that it's worth pursuing continuing to run.

Maybe I should learn the Chi Running technique (forgot to ask her about that, if she knew of it, whether I could try to learn it while recovering) so that I do less joint damage in the long run. The chi running is supposed to put your body into alignment and work with gravity to run fluidly and easy on the joints -- to prevent injury.

I've been meaning to ask the Chi Running guy about learning while recovering.

One of the leaders at the Race Prep class said she took the Chi Running course last year and it's taken her a year to really *get it* physically -- it's apparently easy to *understand* but not so easy to retrain your body in how it moves.

Huh.

So.

Anyway.

Eating a Robot; Run, Stop, Run

Now that Robotics season is over, we're free to eat the robots.

Both Buzz and Sputnik asked for robot cakes for their birthdays. I made each the same general way, using a 9x13 cake pan cut into pieces and then covered with homemade fondant and frosted. I have a recipe that *tastes* very good for the fondant - but I'm still working on getting the consistency right. It's a learning process.

Anyway, here's Buzz's cake from the other day:

And Sputnik's from way back in March:

Both were somewhat dictated by the child's description and/or drawings.

---

In (non) running news. I took almost 2 weeks off to rest my hip. I went to see the doc on Tuesday. He told me what I wanted to hear - he thought it was a strained tendon, probably due to weak muscles (he thought the hip adductors, although the hip adductor 'tests' did not produce pain) ... he gave me some pages of stretches for the hip adductors, and said I could keep training for the 10K. I was both hopeful and skeptical.

On Wednesday I took a "short, easy" 2 mile test run. I could tell the hip felt off at times, and sometimes hurt, but sometimes didn't seem to too much ... but as the day wore on, it got worse. I ended up lurching around so much that the leaders of the race prep class I'm taking sent me home, telling me I shouldn't be briskly walking on it. All the instructors (many of them nurses) that I talked to at the class encouraged me to call the doc back and push for physical therapy, to get a 'full workup' ... they seemed to think there was still hope for me running a 10K in June, if I was proactive with treatment.

So ... we'll see. For now I will stay off the hip - again - until I talk to the doc. Who isn't in (at our location) on Thursday, so it'll have to wait until Friday.

Hip Hop

Well, I've taken two full days (and counting) off from running. The good news is that I only lurch if I've been sitting for a while. the bad news is that I still am lurching then, and can feel that it'll get worse if I run.

sooooo ... I did make an appointment with my doc, next week. we'll see where that leads.

I'm discouraged about that. Today was a beautiful, cool day and I wanted to be out running. and my 10K is coming up. will I have time to heal and train for it?

I'm hoping there's some magic quick fix.

Well, Poop.

Whether I've been training too hard, or my new shoes don't quite sit right (although they feel pretty comfy) or something else caused me to get out of whack, my hip pain is back.

In the other hip, oddly enough. The PT who did the gait analysis in my running class said she thought I was in good alignment but might have one leg slightly longer than the other. Go figure. But that doesn't explain the hip pain if the hip pain hops from side to side, does it.

After consulting the good Dr. Google, I am thinking it might be iliopsoas tendonitis.

Trying to decide what next. Do I start the string of doctor visits that may or may not end up in a diagnosis and treatment? Do I visit a chiropractor? Do I maybe pursue online consulting from www.egoscue.com? Do I take a Chi Running course? Do I just try to back off the plan and work on the alignment and stretching exercises?

Blah blah, I have to admit it's discouraging, when things were going so well, to be lurching around like Frankenstein today. Dr. Google suggests that, if it IS iliopsoas tendonitis, it might take weeks or months to really heal. And who knows, maybe that's not even what it is.

My race is a little over a month away. Will I be able to run it?

It's hard to *become* a runner when you're doing your best to do what it takes and something like this comes up. Makes me wonder if maybe I wasn't cut out to become a runner after all. Those kids back in 8th grade who told me I was a total athletic 100zR and should just quit track ... maybe they were right.

What am I up to?

Seriously, what have I been up to? I'm asking you, 'cause I'm not really sure.

I've been running more. Using the Nike+ website 'coach' to train for a 10K in June. I won't be *fast* but I will finish. I just ordered new running shoes from Zappos.com and they should arrive today. I hope I hope I hope I love them.

I've been muddling through laundry, dishes, school, supervising kid chores .... those things are endless.

I've been waffling and failing on healthy eating. As usual, it's the junk food that really undermines me, not so much the meal tweaking.

My creative energies have mostly gone into birthday cakes and cooking. which I haven't blogged, but still take pictures of as if I'm going to blog them.

I've continued in my tradition of not being well scheduled with a baby, probably even less so now that we've wandered away from the "whole family peace & quiet" time in which babies always napped. So now I have a busy toddler who doesn't really sleep regularly. It's taking it's toll on me, but I'm too tired to deal with it. She does sleep, it just tends to be when she decides to, rather than when would be good for the rest of us. Blah blah blah.

Oh, and several of you have asked about the robots. Yes, there was plenty of food. Hungry high school kids can be surprisingly picky, but overall there were good reports that they enjoyed the meals. I provided three meals over the season. The team did very well, making it to the quarter finals in both the State and later the World competition. Both times they were eliminated by the team that went on to win, so we can't really complain about that. The kids and the robot did great, and we were pretty impressed with the whole FIRST Robotics experience.

The kids who are in the community honors choir had their final performance last night and all sang well. I completely forgot to bring my camera. And Eminoodle has been cast in another play, so I'm juggling rehearsals and costume help for that. Hopefully I'll update on that when it comes up, but don't count on it, given my recent blogging record.

Actually, I'd like to get back to blogging regularly. But I won't promise. I did (gulp) join facebook with my real name, so if you know me and want to look me up, you can. Don't expect much from me there, either, though. I do still hate facebook. LOL.

I wish I had more interesting things to say, or deeper stuff. Truth is, I'm kind of plodding along feeling pretty good about a few things and like I'm trying not to *sink* in the rest of the stuff. But if you someday read a headline "Local woman and part time runner drowns in pile of laundry" you'll know it's me.

A lotta behind

gah, this blogging in my head isn't working! I'm a lotta behind on my entries. and so here's a summary sans pix.

Let's see ... around thanksgiving seven learned to stand unsupported
we wondered if she would walk by her first birthday
she didn't.
but she did the next day
and has been charging around ever since.

we had a great week before christmas with my sister & her family

and a great week and a half after christmas with auntie L. and her doggie

and then we crashed and tumbled back into "real life" and are still swimming upstream ...

I have started doing run/walk intervals again (finally!) to ease back into running in time for local races this spring. so far, so good. I'm not pushing it, I'm up to 8 minute jogging intervals (about week 6 of C25K) but I can feel the aches and stiffness of having not run in months, so I am trying to take it easy.

I'm hoping to get all the way on track with eating and back to walking / stationary bike intervals on my off-running days in order to lose the lotta behind that I gained back in these no running, bad eating months. boy was it easy to *undo* that hard work.

and I'm back to trying to get off caffeine once more. yeah, yeah, I know. I'm a dork.

so ... that's what's up here.

There's a runner in there somewhere

So did I tell you I've been driving around town, looking at Autumn leaves on the sidewalk, and wanting to be running. I've been frustrated with my hip. But more than that, I'm realizing I really want to run -- more than I expected. I don't even feel like I ever really *became* a runner (whatever that means! Apparently something to me!) but yet I really really want to become - to be - a runner.

My hip has been feeling nearly better.

I've been wanting to give it another careful try.

Today when The Grand Lunar left for work he looked at the 50 degree drizzle and said, "It's a great day. Not." -- and I said, "It looks like a great day for running." He looked at me like I was crazy. And maybe I am. But the crisp, damp air and the autumn colors called to me.

So today I went out for a test run-walk. I did random intervals. Took it back to a walk when my hip or gait felt too off.

The good news is that I did a mile around the block. I wanted to do more. I wanted to do fewer intervals, and I wanted to go farther. To just keep running and thinking until I was too tired to do any more. But I did my best to make myself slow down, take walking intervals, and stop at once around.

I was surprised that I wanted to push myself. I've never been a push-myself kind of person. Surprised at how strongly the desire to keep running was within me. Surprised that a "not-yet-runner" could be so excited about running again.

But now that I'm home the little niggling ache I felt while running, the little slightly-off gait I sensed, is translating into the same pain and limp as before. And I'm discouraged. I'm trying to think what to do. I have this book and haven't really put my all into the alignment. I should do that. I believe the book too much to think special shoes are the answer. I don't want to accommodate my dysfunction, I want to align it so it's no longer dysfunctional. Strengthen the right muscles. The book promises it can work that way.

But what else beyond that?

I could visit my doctor. Maybe get referred to someone who does sports injury stuff. But ... that doesn't really feel like the right route to go. Endless trips to different doctors who are all not really sure. I could go to a chiropractor. We know a nice one. I drove behind his car yesterday. But, again, that's endless visits and I'm not sure it's what I need. I don't know. I'm pondering surfing for running coaches. Someone who could look at what I'm doing and suggest what's good and bad about it. Although I am guessing, still, it's the underlying alignment and muscles having grown content to do the wrong thing that's the issue behind any motion errors I'm making.

Here are some things I decided while trying to run today:

1.) I really want to run
2.) I want to use my running time to think / pray / meditate on things of God and Faith. To use that time to draw near to Him.
3.) I want to use my running time as a positive example to my family, to be active in my life and pro-active about my health
4.) to let that pro-activity about my health encourage me back on the healthy eating thing

I don't really think I need to be *fast* and I don't expect it ever to be *easy* but I want it to be *fluid* and to feel *natural* to run. Not awkward. But I'm not sure how to get my short, stocky self to that place: fluid and natural.

If running isn't what God has for me, then I pray He directs me to something else that I can enjoy and be content with. I know I could be a walker, just fine, but ... it turns out, after a taste of running ... I really want to run.

So now I just need to figure out how to get back to being able to.

Well, Rats.

I'm afraid my running 'career' might be ending before I even came to think of myself as a 'real runner' ...

a few weeks ago I ran on the treadmill, and whether that started things or whether there were hints before ... I've had some hip joint pain, since.

It wasn't something that happened while running ... at least, not in the sense of "Wow, I just broke something in my hip!" ~ no instance I can point to where I became injured.

But after those runs my hip hurt and I lurched around like frankenstein. And after a day or two it would seem mostly better. So I ran again. And repeated the cycle. The last time I ran - last Saturday - I only ran 2 miles. I felt like I was "pulling to the right" and that my center of gravity was over my right leg. I also felt like my gait was uneven, like I was spending more step-time on my right leg than my left, like a slightly syncopated gait.

So I decided to give it a few days to rest and recover.

But ... I'm not really getting much better. I mean, the first day or so I had some moments where it REALLY hurt, and that's not so much there. But there's an underlying issue that doesn't seem to get better.

My gut feeling is that it's an alignment thing. I'm not in alignment, so I'm compensating, and in so doing I've messed things up more. I checked out a book from the library on alignment, but am having trouble finding/making time to "lay around" for an hour in various body-alignment positions to adjust. It DOES seem to help, but hasn't yet FIXED it, and it doesn't FEEL like "real work" to fix anything while I'm doing it. I think I need to try a little harder to make time for that.

So in the meantime I'm stuck in this limbo. I'm not actually in pain most of the time. But I certainly am not back to normal. I am still lurching slightly when I walk, and I have some *issues* with lifting my leg when it's bent. When I sit at my chair with my knees bent 90 degrees I can lift up my left leg fine, but my right leg hurts right at the inner hip joint, and just feels weaker, it helps if I use my hands to manually lift my leg. Weird, eh? Almost weird enough to go running to the doctor, but not quite. Because I don't really feel like it's a big deal serious issue. I think if figure out the alignment thing and maybe some stretches and what-not I'll get over this without the whole medical intervention blah-blah. I don't know. Meh. But I figure continuing to try to run when I can feel I'm not really walking *right* is out of the question.

But what it really means is that, unless something BIG changes, I'm not going to be able to run in the race this month. And I'm not going to be able to run the Nike 10K that I hoped to do. And ... I'm afraid I might never become a real runner.

Which discourages me a lot. I don't want to give up on this new found thing just yet. I don't want an injury or alignment problem to defeat me. But I was already struggling to make time to run once school started. And winter is coming, with it's cold and snow and ice. How will I make it through the winter and into spring as a "real runner" ??

I just don't know.

Rats.

My Second Race - Look at me go!

Ta da! I finished my second 5K race! And even made it with a better than 10 min/ mile pace!

I didn't run with a friend this time, and there was no packet pick-up last night, so I got there early, and then wandered alone feeling kind of stupid, not sure what to do with myself. I tried to keep walking for a warm up.

It was hard work - I have yet to be running and think, "Wow, this is easy!" LOL ... and it was hard to find my own pace while surrounded by others. I tried to listen to my muscles and not worry about people ahead or behind of me. I hit the iPod Nike+ button to check my pace, but since it was set for a 5K it told me the pace in minutes/km which meant little to me, so I just kept running.

I tried to push myself at the end, but I was tired and it was hard. And I was busy looking for my family. :-) I am so thankful they were kind enough to come cheer for me and see me run!! I love my family, they're great!

I wanted to have a "wow, she looks great!" sort of picture, but oh well, I guess running is just plain hard work and I don't look so great. I can live with that. LOL

In the end I ran about the same pace I ran on Monday's practice run, 9'51" per mile ... I'll post my official time when they post the results. I was 4th in my age group (8 women) which was nice to see.

Here's a little link to a video of me crossing the finish line - that's me in the lime-ish green:

Tiny little movie of my grand finish

Oooh, and I won a "major award" and got to pose with Lou E. Loon! A $5 gift certificate to a ... local sports bar restaurant. Um ... yay!?

All in all, it was a successful morning, I'd say.

And now I'm pooped.

**Official, Posted race time: 30:17.02** - whooooo!

Becoming a Runner - some rambles

So I hardly remember the last time I blogged. Is anyone still reading?

I said months back that I was going to run ... started the C25K plan.

Then I got discouraged and quit.

Then I decided to give it another shot, training outdoors. Found I like it much better.

So ... I ran my first 5K race at the beginning of June. I did not run to *win* but to *finish* and run the whole way, not walk it. And to not finish *last* :-) - And i made all those goals! My whole family and some friends came to cheer me on. That was good. People were all very encouraging. There's another 5K at the end of the summer and I plan to run in it, too.

I am not sure I'll ever be fast. I don't seem to be getting any faster. Faster is hard. Maybe I could go for distance, instead. Run a 10K next year. Who knows. But for now, I'm still becoming a runner. I even bought a running shirt and supportive undergarments. In case it's the clothes that make the runner. They seem to make me feel more serious about it, anyway.

I thought running through the winter would be the hard part. What with the ice and snow and treadmill. But now that it's early summer I'm not sure how I'll make it through the summer. I don't like being hot and sweating.

And yet, for now, I'm pressing on. Reading books. Trying to think of myself as a runner.

In other news, we went back out to CT for another week, to stay with my sister in law and take care of her. It's too bad CT is so far away, I wish she were closer. It was hard to leave, knowing that she still needs the support and help. Not that she won't be okay, I know she'll be okay in the long run. But I would've stayed to keep easing the transition if I could.

Remind me to take some pix of my little baby love for you, she's still the cutest thing ever. She's sitting on her own, now. Rolling and pivoting. Not quite crawling. Charming everyone she meets. We sure love her.

I guess I better go get lunch. I'm hungry.

Oh, one more thing. I'm actually, finally, in the "Normal BMI" range for the first time since ... I think since Noodle was born. The running and walking has helped. Healthy eating has helped the most. I find that the same weight looks less good at 40 than it did at 25. I'll need to do some toning up, as well as lose a bit more. I feel like I'm only 1 step away from my unhealthy habits.

Health takes perseverance.

Fat Girl Running

I decided I'm going to run in our local "RunWalk" - I'm going to run the 5K.

My friend Tracy inspired me. She ran last year. I assumed she was a runner but she said no, she started running to run it last year with her husband.

I'm following the Couch-to-5K plan, I finished the first week of workouts.

In other news, I knit a hat for Gark.

Pattern: Boyfriend Hat (thanks Marcia for the link!!)

Did I already show you the cabled hat I did earlier this winter?

I guess I didn't. Here's one. The pattern is An Unoriginal Hat. My first attempt at cables.

I want to do a different cabled hat for Seven, but also want to start on the big coat project. I wish I knit faster.

Kung Fu Baby Take 2

If you couldn't view the previous ones ...

or if you realllly wished I'd wasted time putting it to music, so that you could waste a fraction of your time watching it put to music ...

I present:

Kung Fu Baby - With Music

Every Baby Was Kung Fu Fighting ...

38.5 weeks.

Baby is incredibly active today. Like trying to Kung Fu his or her way right out of my belly. That can't be done, right? Maybe I'll make history with the first baby to do so.

I thought I could settle baby down by pulling out the camera set to video, 'cause we all know babies don't like to perform. And baby did slow down, some, while I was reclining and trying to video my belly. Which is actually quite difficult to do.

But here's some video proof that baby is really super busy. Note, also, my favorite shirt.

Kung Fu Baby 1

Kung Fu Baby 2

A word to the wise -- if watching an 8.5 month pregnant belly squirm around isn't your thing, um, don't click those links, that's all it is. I realize it has limited interest to the peeps. But I know there's peeps who will be quite amused by it. Or, at least, I hope so. Surely at the least they will affirm my wasted time in this project.

Oh, and I know it would be much better if I had taken the time to put it to the King Fu Fighting song, but I'm a busy, busy woman and can only afford to waste so much time in a morning. I'm sure you understand. Sing it in your head while you watch.

oh, I made them mp4's -- does that work for you? Let me know if I need to upload them differently. Your whim is my command.

A Thousand Is A Lot

TaDa!

today I have walked 1000 "exercise miles" in 2008 -- meaning purposeful exercising 'miles' - mostly with Leslie Sansone's WATP videos.

Actually, technically, I've walked a lot MORE than that -- my WalkerTracker stats say I've walked 4,548,745 steps in 2008, which would be equivalent, for me and my walking stride length, to 2082 miles. Ooops, and that's even before I put in today's morning exercise steps.

But I count my "walking miles" differently -- if I do a 5 mile WATP, I count it as 5 miles. If I walk around the house doing laundry, that counts for my total WalkerTracker Steps, but not for my "Walking Miles" ... if I take a walk around the block with the family in the evening, I don't count that as my "walking miles" (although I suppose I could!) ... if I do some wii runs with the kids or alone, I don't *usually* count them, unless they were purposefully in place of my normal WATP miles. But ALL of that goes into WalkerTracker -- in part because I really believe every step counts. Exercise is good and important, but walking in place while I fold laundry, or walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water, it all adds up. The more active we are in daily life, the better.

Which all is a lot of random babble more than you needed to know. The point, really, is that my little chart of mostly WATP morning exercise miles says 1000 today. And that makes me happy.

Also, today I'm 35 weeks along in this pregnancy! So ... maybe, if you're especially good, I'll have a belly pic for you today. No promises, though.

Whoo, that's a spicy lunch

I'm trying to be a better blogger again.

While I was walking (walking, walking, walking) this morning I thought of something I wanted to post, and then I forgot what it was. But that reminds me, remember that 1 million steps in 2 months challenge? I made it. I don't think I already told you that, did I? And then I signed up for another, which should take me up to the "baby window" ... it's a lot of stepping, about 18000 a day, a little more on weekdays to make up for my little less on Sundays.

Anyway.

there's my lunch today.

Sichuan Seitan with bok choy and water chesnuts.

It's a kimodification of This Recipe for Sichuan Tofu With Garlic Sauce at Fat Free Vegan.

'Cause I'm not fond of tofu, and I'd made some "chicken" seitan the other day, all by myself, and was kinda pleased with the texture it added to my unfried stir-fry.

I eyeballed the spicy ingredients, since I didn't have the called-for chili-garlic paste anyway, I just squirted some Sriracha sauce in, and added some garlic. Whoo, it's spicy. But in a good way. It's also tart, from the vinegars. It calls for two types, but I didn't have any black rice vinegar, although I must say now I'm intrigued and will look for it or at least read up about it. But I might use less vinegar next time.

Oh, and I'm eating it over a brown rice mix containing my favorite brown rice evah - Wehani rice. I think I've already told you how much I love love love the stuff.

How about you, what's on your plate today?

Pardon me, was I missing?

Apparently I haven't been blogging. You may have noticed this. I did not. Because of the blogging in my head thing, I guess.

Where have I been? Busy with things. I got the bedroom painted and one coat of trim on done in there.

And then ... The Grand Lunar got sick. He's had a bad sore throat -- so bad he couldn't eat much and couldn't even drink much. He went to the doctor because, honestly, who has sore throats that bad that last more than a day or two? But the doctor said it was "just a cold" -- slim consolation when it won't go away. Although now, a full week-plus later, it seems to be getting a little better.

But the doctor also said his blood pressure was too high. We've been skirting that issue, made some half-hearted (or short lived) efforts in the past, but mostly living in denial. Apparently blood pressure doesn't respond well to denial. Go figure. So we've gone back again to the healthy eating, focusing on some exercise, and reading about health and stuff. In addition to Dr. McDougall's "The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart", I've been reading a book called "The Salt Solution" which I found at our local library when they didn't have another book I wanted. I also requesitioned one that I might buy if I like it, not specifically for hypertension but reportedly containing good McDougall-like heart healthy recipes, "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Caldwell B. Esselstyn. The good news is that hypertension - in nearly all cases - can be controlled by diet and exercise and lifestyle choices. The harder news is that our tastes and habits need to change. But the benefits are more than just lower blood pressure, but also moving towards a healthy body weight, protection against heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, kidney disease, and more.

So this "just a cold" has, in some ways, blown into a much bigger thing, but I think it'll be good, in the long run, getting us back on track.

In other news, our house is being painted. At the very end of the CollegePro season, so they're a little short staffed. I'm trying not to be nervous that they'll all quit and go back to school leaving things half done. But so far the change is nice. Here's a sneak preview of the house when they had just started a section on the front. Note, too, my lovely hibiscus in bloom.

I could actually show you more -- they finished the first coat on the front of the house today -- but I want to wait until they're done with the white trim and both coats of blue.

Whatcha think?

I like it.

**note** apparently my captchas have gone missing. The Grand Lunar is going to upgrade my blog software ... stay tuned and feel free to email me in the meantime ...

I Challenge YOU to a ... Walk?

Okay. I did something crazy.

I signed up for a challenge at WalkerTracker.com which is a little beyond my reach.

The challenge itself is an insane "walk 1 million steps in 2 months" -- which averages out to 16,439 steps per day (or something like that) -- my average for this current month (which has been a good walking month) has only been about 14K per day. What does that mean? It means I have to walk about an extra mile a day. In addition to keeping up my regular average.

So, you might be wondering, what am I challenging YOU to?

Just the extra mile I'm tacking on. If you haven't been walking at all, that's only a mile a day average, or somehow coming up with 61 by the end of September, starting August 1st. If you've already been walking, it's tacking a mile on to whatever you do. And a mile is only an average of ~ 2000 steps - depending on your stride length. (You lucky tall folks, that's even less steps for you!) You can do THAT!

IF you already walk and have a pedometer (or want to get one, I highly recommend the Omron HJ-112, I love love love mine) you're welcome to join me at walktertracker - come be my buddy (comrade) and join a competition.

I actually started a competition there for 1 Million Steps in 3 months -- which is only walking a little under 11,000 steps per day. You could come join me there, if you think you could walk a little over the recommended 10,000 ... it's my backup if I can't make it in two months, LOL.

But really, all I'm asking you is ... wanna walk an extra mile a day with me?

Fit is Hard

you know that song about Major Tom and he just goes off into space ... do you ever feel like that? No? Okay, moving on then.

Getting Fit is hard.

I got a new exercise video and the person was talking about helping me become an athlete. I don't want to become an athlete. At this point I don't see how that could ever appeal to me. I've always been very unathletic. But I do want to be fit.

You would think switching to eating healthy and getting in a regular exercise habit would pay off quickly. And maybe it does in some invisible way. But you know, most of the time it's just hard. Pressing on, seeing slow changes, hitting plateaus. Sometimes it seems like not making progress at all.

I thought I was over the hump of healthy eating, settled into my groove, but it's hard for me to stay in my groove. I keep bumping up out of it, trying to get down into it again, finding it a rough and wobbly ride.

And some days when I look at the results in the mirror of all the extra walking and the wobbling and trying to press on eating healthy, it doesn't look much different than before, eating junk and not really trying. I know it IS better, but ...

It's hard to persevere.

The Day Of The Suited Moving Men

So ... did I tell you we ordered a treadmill?

The Grand Lunar got an incredible deal on one ... and today it arrived.

Of course, when you get a great internet deal, and then they have someone deliver it freight, it means a giant truck shows up at the end of your driveway, and some poor guy with a dolly stands in there, staring at the 2 foot by 4 foot by 8 foot, 241 pound box, wondering how to get it to your door. I got the impression he didn't pack his own truck, and was surprised at how big this particular residential delivery was. His truck didn't have one of those lift things.

"Does Mr. Lunar happen to be home?" he asked.

"Nope!" I replied cheerfully.

"Well ... can you help me guide it out of the truck?"

"Uhhh ... sure." -- perhaps he didn't notice I was just a little short girly girl?

We got it out of the truck. And he brought it up near the door. I politely held the door open. He said, "There's no way I can get that in the house. Is this good?" and set it down with a thump right outside my front door.

And he was gone.

Uh huh.

I thought maybe I could take it in piecemeal.

There looked to be a lot of pieces.

I took the first layer of stuff in, piece by piece.

Then it was time for a nap.

Ha ha! No, I kid. But look at how big that box is, I fit right in there!

So then, for the next hour, I shoved and pulled and tugged and pushed. I managed to get the huge heavy base piece off of the pallet* -- no small feat! -- but for the life of me I could not get it into the house myself. It was too wide, too heavy, too cumbersome.

So I left it like this, and emailed the Grand Lunar to bring home a dolly and some helpers.

And then I started making cookies for the helpers.

Promptly at 5:10 the helpers -- Daniel and Justin -- arrived. They came in suits. Are they not the sharpest looking movin' men you've ever seen?? And they're not just suited movin' men, they're blog friends, too! They arrived before the Grand Lunar even made it home. They spoke with the most amusing Bronx "Mover Guys" accents. And they got right to work, almost before I could take pictures.

White Glove Service has never been so good as the Suited Guys From Work, I tell you.

They even stayed to play on the fort. In a suit.

And they left. And the Grand Lunar left, to take Gark out for dinner.

And there I was with my treadmill.

Some assembly required.

And you know what? I did it! All by myself!

All the big kids and I got a chance to try it out. Here's me, gleeful... or was it dorky? I get them mixed up.

One big reason we got one was because we'd read about treadmill desks and wanted to build one. Turns out we were able to quick-rig one using a currently unused shelf from the basement and two bungee cords! I was able to bring the kids' school laptop out and check their school while walking!

I've never been so excited about exercise. The plan is to get a splitter and extra monitor to mount on the wall, and a wireless keyboard and mouse for me, so that I can still use my computer while walking. The Grand Lunar has his own laptop, so he can just hop up and walk while surfing and working at home.

At 11 pm, walking and checking school, I realized I was starving -- because I had been so excited about setting it up, I forgot all about eating dinner. (Or maybe because I'd eaten about 20 cookies worth of dough?)Whoops.

Woooo hooo! Isn't this fun?

* Special thanks to Pickle for the spelling correction :)

Moon Rocks and Germs

It's not a song, Rosanne, don't try to look it up. LOL.

So the Grand Lunar *rocks* !!! He fixed my blog spam issue by upgrading my blog software and working out all the bugs. I should have a handy-dandy annoying captcha like everyone else, now! WOOO! If you mistype it, it currently goes to some lame-o page that says your text wasn't accepted. It doesn't mean your comment, it means what you typed for the "type the mystery code to prove you're real" thing, so just back up and try again. Just to warn you.

So anyway, thanks Grand Lunar, you're the bestest.

In other news, I'm sick! Wah!

I usually manage to avoid disease and germs, but there's something going around that my children were thoughtful enough to pass on to me. While symptoms vary slightly, it seems to involve a cough, sometimes a sore throat, and sometimes pain behind the eyes, most often when looking around. I have a slight fever, cough, and congestion. And feel like poodoo.

(pauses for you to work up lots of pity)

In the wonderful words of Mrs. Bennett, "I have such tremblings, such flutterings all over me such spasms in my side, and pains in my head, and such beatings at heart, that I can get no rest by night nor by day..."

Yeah, if only I had some servants, so I would wear a frilly nightgown and retire to my bedroom for the sake of my poor nerves, to convalesce.

But I'm not dying, and the chore machine doesn't run very smoothly without (or with! ha ha!) my input, so I only took half the day to lounge about coughing and moaning.

I have to be better by tomorrow, though, I'm the designated chaperone for a rehearsal.

In other other other news, I'm making a concerted effort to eat healthy again. Have I already told you about that? This time around (because I've been around this road several times) I'm not going all out trying to make all my family eat healthy without me. I'm sure it's a lame excuse, but it undermined my poor ego to make healthy food that no one liked. I have never been able to be strict enough for long enough to have the family's tastes change and begin to really, truly, enjoy the healthy food.

So this time around it's just me. I mean, I'm willing to share if anyone wants some, but as much as possible I'm cooking meals in pieces so that I can choose healthy and they can add on what they desire.

Most of you who know me already know the path I follow for "healthy" but for those that don't, I am a big fan of Dr. John McDougall's plan. If you want to lose weight, if you're facing health problems and want to avoid a life of "inevitable" medicines, check it out. Do some reading. Diet and Exercise. It really works. Go figure.

And, along those lines, following the McDougall plan, I've lost 10 lbs this year. Now I'm sad to admit that the first 6 or so are the SAME 6 lbs I've gained, lost, gained, lost, and gained again in the last year or two. But the last 4 are really new territory that I haven't seen since Eminoodle was little. So that's exciting. I've also been walking, walking, walking, but that you do know.

The good news is, now that I've "unhitched" my enjoyment of eating a healthy plant-based diet from familial complaints, I'm really truly enjoying what I eat, and feel like I get plenty to eat. And am losing weight, as a bonus, at a nice, steady rate.

The bad news is I must be getting old ~ I certainly don't feel as thin as I did back when Eminoodle was little. Same numbers, or getting close to them, but rearranged unfavorably, I guess. I don't really feel much like I've lost 10 lbs, despite what the scale says, and despite what the little fat-o-meter reader saying most of what I've lost is, in deed, fat rather than lean muscle. That's good, yes, but I guess I was hoping to feel skinnier, too. Maybe that will come in time.

Sorry to ramble on, it must be the brain-fog from being sick.

Anyway, leave me a comment so you can oooh and ahhhh over the bot-blocker.

One Million is a lot.

As of today -- March 21, 2008 -- I have walked over 1,000,000 steps this year.

My widget over on the left seems bent on showing the total since I joined, despite repeatedly changing the start date. But no matter. I know the truth.

Here's my stats for this year:

Period	Total	Average
2008	1,010,206	12,628
March	275,091	13,100
February	370,114	12,763
January	365,001	12,167

Woooo!

I should note these are total steps, as opposed to just my "counting miles" exercise walking. But still. It's a lot of walking!

Walk On!

exercise update and some griping

exercise update

been a long walking month ... forgot to update all my tickers, but I'm keeping track here. Walking challenge buddies, get out your spoons for the dust eating:

94 for the month, 404 for the year. Go me!

I also started a new excercise thing which seems kind of weird but effective. I started doing the Basic Plus T-Tapp workout (search YouTube for some of the moves, mini workouts, or try them on their site) and also got her walking workout, Step Away The Inches. The T-Tapp SATI is interesting because it gives some techniques you can use in any walking program and it really really increases the intensity. I am so not kidding. It's amazing. I just started the walking thing this week, the first DVD I received was a dud, but they graciously sent me a new one. Anyway, I can't wait to see in a month or two how much difference it makes in the inches ... but whoa my legs and hips are impressed with the extra effort the Ttapp alignment makes.

In other related and good news, I finally hit 20 lbs off my high. yay. It took awhile, I stalled out there. But it appears I'm back on track.

I'm tired today though, not enough sleep and a clingy two year old who woke at 2 am and 6 am ... so that's all I've got to say.

Sorry I've been neglecting the blog and blog buddies. I still love you. Kissy kissy.

I forgot what I was going to gripe about. Oh yeah. Blog spam. Can't weed through it fast enough. It's wearing me out. only a few comments squeeze through to get posted, but many still are asking for approval that I have to dump. Tired of it. So. very. tired.

But I didn't DO anything

You'll never guess what happened.

My back did that thing again.

It was fine yesterday - in fact, so fine that I was thinking, "Wow, it's really fine!"

And then, on the way to the vet, I realized it was tight and hurt in that spot, again. That spot that felt fine an hour before, a day before, etc. As the evening progressed it got worse and worse.

It's not horrible this morning, I can move around and function, but it's far from fine.

It's not like it's hurt this whole time, a little, and got worse. It was better! Really and truly better! And now it's not, again.

So I don't know what's going on. Maybe I'm just getting old.

In other news, I hate the time change. Ugh. I don't want to do it. What happens if we just don't comply? Will we end up in an alternate universe where time and daylight progress at a steady rate? Would that be so bad?

Plumb Tuckered Out

Good morning!

I promised you a February Challenge update. I'm sure you're all just hanging on the edges of your seats waiting, as if you had nothing better to do. But oh well.

So since Feb 1 I walked 89 "miles" (this means I did 89 15+ minute intervals of aerobic exercise, 45 minutes (3 miles) most days) .... making for my highest month ever, and bringing me to 167 for the year.

I took my measurements Feb 1 and today, but I can't find where I wrote down Feb 1's, so I've got nothing to compare to. Lame! But I lost 8 lbs in February, which of course averages 2 a week, so still a nice rate. Even if in my head it didn't seem so, I kept feeling stalled out. I am not restricting how much I eat, nor eating just insanely low calorie salads, for anyone concerned. I am doing my best to eat good healthy carbs and lots of whole natural foods, and continuing to exercise at a moderate rate into this pregnancy. So I'm not concerned about the loss, I'm glad to know that, at this early stage, the healthy eating is helping.

Anyway, I'll post the inches lost if I can ever find Feb's ... otherwise, on with March.

But I'm tired today. I think it's the weather. The forecast went something like: snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Then snow. Then turning to freezing rain on top of the snow. 2-3 inches of snow, with 1/4" to 1/2" accumulations of ice. Sounds nice, huh? I wonder if they'll cancel Kung Fu, and if they do, will they call us?

Guess what I did tonight?

You'll never guess. I'll just tell you!

I fixed my grain mill!

It's been busted for a long time, and I was holding out hope that maybe I could somehow jiggle and clean it to fix it. It has a lifetime warranty to a defunct company, so I couldn't send it anywhere free to get it fixed, so I figured I better try, myself, to make it work.

And I did it! I'm so happy! I can grind grains again!

I also tidied the tops of our dressers in the bedroom, which is a pretty rare occasion. I'm trying to do a little more cleaning/decluttering/organizing/niceifying each day. That's my plan. After working really hard to get ready for our Small Group Bible Study on Sunday, I was thinking, really, I could make much better progress if I worked on it during the week, instead of the last minute panic.

Although, really, it's good news that even in the last minute cleaning panic I'm making *progress* -- I think it gets a little cleaner each time. But I still have a LONG way to go.

I decided to gate off both rooms in the basement, leaving the cats only a small cat zone. Then I can finish tearing out the dumb closet thing and paint the one side, and use it for storage, and start decluttering and clearing out the other side to let the kids do crafts and games in. It's not going to end up a nice *finished* basement like nearly all our friends have, but hey, it'll be better. I only wish people wouldn't have to walk PAST the newly defined smaller cat zone to get to the play room. But I'm getting ahead of myself, I haven't actually DONE that work. Maybe the cats will ... um ... pass on ... before I get the work done anyway. They are pretty old, for cats, really.

AnyHOOOOO It's time for us to get exercising. I can't stay and chatter all night.

I have a nice picture of a taco salad with baked potato cubes, and a nice picture of bok choy soup to post, but I keep getting distracted and not getting them up. So you'll have to hold on for those.

Oh! And today I hit the 15 lbs lost mark. I'm pretty excited about that. I still have a ways to go, but it's nice to be breaking new ground rather than losing the same 5 over and over again.

I hope you don't mind if I put down in words ...

... that I've walked one hundred miles already this year.

Er ... exercised the equivalent, anyway. I still feel kind of funny about that. I'm counting 15-minute increments of aerobic exercise as 1 mile.

Maybe I should change my goal for the year, I don't know. Right now I'm aiming for 3 miles / 45 minutes a day. A few times I've exercised twice, because I've done one video walk and then later walked again so that The Grand Lunar and I can exercise together.

That's really the more exciting part, The Lunar and I have been exercising together in the evening. He rides the exercise bike, I jog on the rebounder-thingie, and we watch movies. It's a double-whammy, not only do we get exercise, but I don't fall asleep watching them! LOL!

I have walked 22 miles -- 36.67% of my goal of 60 miles in Feb!!

Oooh, here's another good thing to report. I'm really liking my healthy eating program, and I'm doing pretty well in my 28 days On Program February Challenge to myself. The part I like best is that there are days like yesterday where I had a few potatoes for, I guess it was brunch, a really late breakfast. And then I had a huge salad, the kind I like with buckwheat soba noodles and a peanut sauce, and then I had soup and bread for dinner and ate probably more than I should have eaten of homemade, whole grain bread ... so this morning I woke up thinking boy, all that bread, how could I NOT gain a bunch of weight? But I didn't, my weight is still slowly slipping down, down, down. I'm almost to the 15 lb mark (down from my highest) ... I love that feeling of "wow, I ate a lot, maybe too much, of foods I enjoyed" and have it not count against my weight on the scale.

In unrelated (to this health entry, but related to this moment in my day) news, I had a dream last night that I was a camp counselor for about 30 teenage girls. There was a camp schedule, so I expected the girls to know what they were supposed to do, and do it. They were supposed to clean up their cabin and get some things ready for the day's activity, which was a long bike ride in some exotic spot. But the girls woke up and just monkeyed around. They didn't come for breakfast on time. They didn't do their cabin chores. And at the last minute I was scrambing around trying to help them get ready, and scolding them for not doing their responsibilities. Um ... there's a dream that doesn't take too much analysis to figure out, eh?

Lastly, I didn't make the finalists in the Share The Love Blog Awards, but that's okay, I didn't expect to. I'm just all warm and fuzzy that you like me and keep coming back. You and the spammers. I've got all I need in that.

Well, really, I have all I need in Christ, and you guys are just icing on the cake. But you know what I mean.

But go ahead and vote for some finalists in that thing. There's one for blog design that's all green and pink, I'm rooting for that one.

Thus Endeth January

January is over by 21 minutes, now.

...

I have walked 78 miles -- 130% of my goal of 60 miles in February!

It was a good month for walking, that's for sure. I'm not so sure I can keep up that pace, but I'll try for another 60 in February.

My February goal, in addition to walking at least 60 miles (or the equivalent in 15 minute=mile exercise increments), is to eat healthy, stay on plan. Tomorrow morning I think I'll take my weight and measurements and consider this a little 28 day challenge.

Or maybe two 14 day challenges, as my birthday falls in the middle of the month, and it might be nice to have one day to celebrate. :)

Join me in the challenge?

Feelin' Groovy

Alright, first off, I have a confession to make.

I don't hate exercise anymore.

I know.

Me, of all people. Hater of All Exercise.

Don't you hate when they are right? They, the ones telling you that if you get into exercise you'll start loving it and blah blah. Okay, well, I don't love it. I promise you that. But sometimes I kinda like it.

I like the idea of being a healthy, fit person, someday. And I like the idea (theoretical as it may be) of being lean and muscular, someday. I love when Leslie Sansone talks about being 'functionally fit' ~ having enough energy to *do* stuff. But also, sometimes, when I'm walking, especially on the longer walks, I just have fun. Sometimes I do the 4 mile on a Saturday when I have extra time, and I rewind the DVD back a mile from the 3 mile marker to the 2 mile point, and do an extra mile! Okay, some of that is to get ahead of Rosanne, but some of it is just because it feels good to be walking and know I have the stamina for 5 or even 6 miles, repeating the fastest pace miles.

Sometimes I wonder, if my life weren't so busy, if my disorganization didn't keep me from bumbling out with 6 children in tow, might I walk every day, for the rest of my life? I'd like to be one of those people who wakes before dawn and walks 5 miles. Maybe I could even run ?? Okay, ha ha, I'm going off the deep end, now.

ANYway, where am I going with all this? Nowhere, you should know that by now. I'm just rambling.

So at WalMart the other day I'd set out to buy Leslie's 5 mile walk, having heard it was there, but it wasn't. So I bought a 2-pack of Billy Blanks Tae-Bo workouts. Crazy! I've always wanted to try them. Yes, yes, I was planning to borrow Barbie's, but I just couldn't wait any longer, LOL. Maybe she has different ones, so I can still borrow hers.

So tonight Iliacat and I did a 45 minute Tae-Bo workout and it was HARD WORK! Boy, do they move fast. We spent the last 35 minutes of it counting the minutes to the end and saying, "I might not make it!" but we made it! I am hoping I burned a ton of fat. Iliacat has no fat to burn, poor child. So I hope she survives the workout. She's gonna be one lean and mean nice kid, LOL. It was definitely harder work than the most pumped up 4 mile walk I've done. We'll see if I can walk tomorrow, with the poor burning leg muscles and the other ones that I probably pulled tipping over trying to kick. I'm not so coordinated as I'd like to think, but I'm catching on. The video was fun because it was full of energy, with the other participants shouting out the counts and, I believe, yelling "no!" in (perhaps feigned) disappointment when he stopped a move and yelled "walk it out!" ... I had fun and ended the evening tired but pumped, feeling good that I made it through.

In semi-related news, I made this yummy salad today, and my sister sent me a link to a Flickr group on posting recipes, so I posted it there. So you get to see the picture of my food. LOL! This is a variation on one of my standard lunches, I really like big asian-style salads. I'm sure I've blogged about it before. This is the dressing, just before blending it, isn't it pretty? (Oh, and Linda, I picked up some Agave Nectar at Meijer and it's pretty tasty! But expensive. But still! ) You can see the salad -- mostly napa cabbage and regular green cabbage, in the background.

As far as the walking/exercise goes, I've decided to count non-walking aerobic workouts as miles in 15-minute increments. So if I Tae-bo for 45 minutes, that's the equivalent of 3 miles. I figure since I walk non-aerobic steps around the house each day and don't count those, it'll even out. And that way I won't hold back on other fun exercise just because it's not walking. That's fair enough, right?

So ... to wrap this rambling up rather abruptly, here's my WalkOmeters for the month/year:

I have walked 55 miles -- 91.67% of my goal of 60 miles in January!!

The Walking Tickers

I didn't want to be pestering my readers with walking posts all the time. But I think I'll date this post 12/31/07 so that it stays on top and just use the little updating ticker thingie, at least for the 2007 goal. Did you know that TickerFactory lets you store a password and just update the ticker, so you don't need to re-paste it as a new URL each time? That's handy!

I have walked 31 miles -- 62% of my goal of 50 miles this month!!

*** Changed my mind about keeping it on top. LOL ***

Not Competitive?

I didn't think I was competitive.

But I walked 6 miles today because Roseygrape walked 4 yesterday, trying to get ahead of me.

Maybe I am a little competitive.

I have walked 29 miles -- 58% of my goal of 50 miles this month!!

I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles

... and I will walk five hundred (or) more ...

As of today, I have walked

in 2006.

I award myself with this shiny gif. Being a quitter at heart, this is quite an accomplishment!

I wish to thank my family, for not falling to pieces while I was walking in their midst. My husband, for letting me buy pedometers and endless walking videos. My dear friend Rosanne, for beginning the monthly challenge in the first place. The guy at the hospital wearing the "I walked 1000 miles" shirt who was the inspiration for the larger goal. Leslie Sansone for cheerfully encouraging me, day after day, without ever growing weary. And all of you who have encouraged me, especially when I was flagging, slumping, slouching, and about to give in. I couldn't have done it without you.

Ticker keeps on Ticking

I have to post again because TickerFactory now 'updates' their tickers rather than making new ones each time. So if I change my ticker in one place, it'll change everywhere, including last night's post.

I walked 3 miles today. So now I've only got TWO miles to go. I'm so excited to be nearly at goal that I almost walked another two, LOL.

Here's my new ticker, which will probably look just like the one in the post below, but really, the one below SAID 5 miles at the time I posted it, LOL.

4 days to go. Only 2 miles left!

Um ... was there anything else I needed to tell you, while I was here?

No, I don't think so. I should get to work, I've got company coming on Friday and am taking a meal somewhere tonight, so I need to be busy today.

Oh, and I need to go fill my bird feeders. Sigh. Those squirrels can empty it in half a day, no matter what I try. I could become consumed with unsuccessfully trying to outwit squirrels, I think.

Feed Hot Walk!

Feed

I moved the RSS link up on the sidebar and reworded it, but here, also, is the link to it: http://andfam.net/kimblog/index.rdf ~ now you don't have to check in on me daily unless I post daily!

---

Hot!

Here's the Recipe I've been working on. It's not quite perfect, but it's close enough to post. I'm still tinkering with the sugar and vinegar amounts.

Chinese Hot Garlic Sauce
Serve on cabbage salad, or over steamed rice, shrimp or chicken, and veggies.
You could substitute honey for the brown sugar, sesame oil for the chili oil, and of course adjust the pepper flakes to taste. This doesn't taste tooo spicy when you dip your finger in, but increases in heat when it's spread over your lunch. :) Mmmmmm, spicy!

Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
6 clove garlic clove(s)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp chili oil
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions
Mince Garlic. Combine with other ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened.

Garnish with sliced green onions if desired. Makes 1 cup total; 4 quarter cup servings. Weight Watcher's points = 2 pts per 1/4 cup, or 1 pt per 2 Tbsp. -- I may try to tinker the points lower ~ it's low fat but high in sugar...

Quick and Easy Spicy Asian Salad
2 cups bagged coleslaw mix (without sauce)
2 T. Hot Garlic Sauce
1 T. slivered almonds

2 points per serving.

---

Walk

I did the WATP 2 mile Express this morning Gark and I had our date out and walked a mile down the Rail Trail and back, 2 miles total. That was nice.

So that makes 32 miles this month, I think. And, erm, no water today. Yet!