No, I don't think I'm allergic to running, but I do think I'm allergic to something on my route when I run in my neighborhood. I like to run around the perimeter of my neighborhood then down the middle because it's 2.5 miles, so it's great for my 30 minute runs during the week. Jen and I ran on Saturday morning, and I was sneezing up a storm when we got back to my house. I chalked it up to a cat encounter we had while we were out. She was in pain when we finished so we were just hanging out letting her rest for a bit when a cat wandered up to us that Jen could have sworn was her old cat, Flanders. I'm allergic to cats and figured my sneezing fits were from the cat hanging around us while we chatted with his owner (turns out it wasn't her cat). I thought it was odd because cats don't really bother me like they used to and I didn't have much contact with the Flanders wannabe.
Jen decided to take this week off from running, so I headed out for my 30 minute run while my husband put the kids to bed last night. I was really looking forward to running...so it was extra disappointing that my run totally failed. About halfway through it my stomach HURT. not like a stitch in my side, like my whole stomach and abdomen HURT. I had to walk for probably six minutes and even then I forced myself to finish running. As I was finishing out the last few minutes of my run, my left eye felt really hot and itchy. When I got home I saw that it was red...not bloodshot or anything like that, RED. Yikes. I was sneezing again and wheezy and pretty miserable all around. My genius husband (not saying that sarcastically) deduced that I must be allergic to something I'm encountering on my run. I felt better after a lot of water, some Sudafed and Benadryl and laying on the couch watching Glee.
So I guess I need to find a new route or try taking an antihistamine before I go. Or both.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Training update
I realized I hadn't updated my blog (or my other one) for awhile, so I figured a check-in was probably a good idea.
Training for the half marathon is well underway. Some days I love running, other days I struggle. it's not to say I hate it, but I struggle. Like today. I was out for my 30 minute run, but I just couldn't get a handle on my breathing. I felt like it was all over the place and that I wasn't getting enough air no matter what I did. But I finished it, and that's what matters I figure. Some days are going to be not as good. Tuesday's run was fantastic--I loved it! Jen and I did four miles on Sunday night. That was the furthest I've ever run. In 9th grade PE we were supposed to run four miles, but I distinctly remember asking what would get me a B grade and was told three miles, so that's what I did. PE was the only class I was ever okay with settling on a lower grade. Especially because my PE teacher that year was the wrestling coach. Ever had a wrestling coach for a PE teacher? Count your blessings if you haven't, and if you had, I feel your pain. Anyway, we did four miles. I honestly felt like I was going to throw up for quite a bit of it (the result of too much food and wine the day before, I assume), but I only walked a few times and never for longer than probably 20 seconds. Now this week I think we go back to either 2.5 or 3 miles for our long run, then next weekend it's back up to five.
I haven't been hitting the gym as much as usual because there have been other things going on, but I went Monday and will go tomorrow, then hopefully next week I can get back into a normal routine of going and doing weights. Have I mentioned that I love how I can see muscles?! I was pulling up my hair recently and the husband even noticed and commented on the definition in my arms and shoulders. Hooray!!
Tuesday I had my annual physical. I was pretty excited for my doctor to see how much weight I'd lost, and she was VERY pleased. I had fasted to have blood work done to check my cholesterol. Last time--back in August I think it was--it came back bad. I don't remember what the numbers were, but she basically said I either needed to try the South Beach Diet or go on cholesterol medicine. It worked because my bad cholesterol was 99 and my good was 59--both great numbers! Well, bad cholesterol is supposed to be under 100, so it was barely a great number. My sugar, on the other hand, was "normal but high." I have to admit I'm pretty freaked out about that part. Your "three month sugar" number is bad if it's greater than six. Mine was 6.1. A score of 6.5 means you're diabetic. I was pretty shocked by that because I feel like I'm a very healthy eater, I run three days a week, I do weights anywhere from 3-5 days a week. Aren't those all the things you're supposed to do in order to avoid being diagnosed with adult onset diabetes?? Googling has lead me nowhere this afternoon. I called and left a message for my doctor asking what I can do to get that lower, so we'll see what she says. Turns out my mom and grandma's numbers are both borderline high, too, so I'm kind of hoping it's partly genetic. Who knows. She did say--my doctor, not my mom--that I should be able to keep it in check by always keeping my BMI at 25 or lower. When my weight is at 170, my BMI is exactly 25. Thankfully I prefer my weight to be around 165. I'm wondering if it would be in my best interest to try and drop another 10 pounds, though. Another question for when I talk to her. I have to go back in six months to have blood work done again instead of waiting a year again for my next physical.
Training for the half marathon is well underway. Some days I love running, other days I struggle. it's not to say I hate it, but I struggle. Like today. I was out for my 30 minute run, but I just couldn't get a handle on my breathing. I felt like it was all over the place and that I wasn't getting enough air no matter what I did. But I finished it, and that's what matters I figure. Some days are going to be not as good. Tuesday's run was fantastic--I loved it! Jen and I did four miles on Sunday night. That was the furthest I've ever run. In 9th grade PE we were supposed to run four miles, but I distinctly remember asking what would get me a B grade and was told three miles, so that's what I did. PE was the only class I was ever okay with settling on a lower grade. Especially because my PE teacher that year was the wrestling coach. Ever had a wrestling coach for a PE teacher? Count your blessings if you haven't, and if you had, I feel your pain. Anyway, we did four miles. I honestly felt like I was going to throw up for quite a bit of it (the result of too much food and wine the day before, I assume), but I only walked a few times and never for longer than probably 20 seconds. Now this week I think we go back to either 2.5 or 3 miles for our long run, then next weekend it's back up to five.
I haven't been hitting the gym as much as usual because there have been other things going on, but I went Monday and will go tomorrow, then hopefully next week I can get back into a normal routine of going and doing weights. Have I mentioned that I love how I can see muscles?! I was pulling up my hair recently and the husband even noticed and commented on the definition in my arms and shoulders. Hooray!!
Tuesday I had my annual physical. I was pretty excited for my doctor to see how much weight I'd lost, and she was VERY pleased. I had fasted to have blood work done to check my cholesterol. Last time--back in August I think it was--it came back bad. I don't remember what the numbers were, but she basically said I either needed to try the South Beach Diet or go on cholesterol medicine. It worked because my bad cholesterol was 99 and my good was 59--both great numbers! Well, bad cholesterol is supposed to be under 100, so it was barely a great number. My sugar, on the other hand, was "normal but high." I have to admit I'm pretty freaked out about that part. Your "three month sugar" number is bad if it's greater than six. Mine was 6.1. A score of 6.5 means you're diabetic. I was pretty shocked by that because I feel like I'm a very healthy eater, I run three days a week, I do weights anywhere from 3-5 days a week. Aren't those all the things you're supposed to do in order to avoid being diagnosed with adult onset diabetes?? Googling has lead me nowhere this afternoon. I called and left a message for my doctor asking what I can do to get that lower, so we'll see what she says. Turns out my mom and grandma's numbers are both borderline high, too, so I'm kind of hoping it's partly genetic. Who knows. She did say--my doctor, not my mom--that I should be able to keep it in check by always keeping my BMI at 25 or lower. When my weight is at 170, my BMI is exactly 25. Thankfully I prefer my weight to be around 165. I'm wondering if it would be in my best interest to try and drop another 10 pounds, though. Another question for when I talk to her. I have to go back in six months to have blood work done again instead of waiting a year again for my next physical.
Friday, April 8, 2011
belly issues
Even though I think of myself as fairly skinny now, I still have a little poochy belly. I've always had a little poochy belly, even when I was in college and high school and weighed 20-30 pounds less than I do now. Doing sit ups and crunches has never helped my cause...I always figured I have round ab muscles. Active.com posted this article on Facebook yesterday that I thought was pretty interesting.
Why Crunches Don't Work
Perhaps there will be more planks and less crunches in my future!
Why Crunches Don't Work
Perhaps there will be more planks and less crunches in my future!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
And so it begins
Yesterday marked the official start of training for the Disneyland Half Marathon. The Run Disney website has links on it for training programs, but the one for this particular race hadn't been posted/updated, so we made our own. I used one of the other training programs and changed up the dates on it to fit for our race. We ended up pushing it back a week, too, because it had us doing full runs leading up to the race, and it's best to rest the week before.
So Tuesday and Thursday we run 30 minutes. Then on the weekend we do a longer run. The length of the long run varies by week. Basically it's a short distance, then a long distance, short, long, etc. Last night we did a 30 minute run, and it was pretty easy. We ran around Jen's neighborhood and did about 2.5 miles. Our first mile time was around 11:00 minutes, which is pretty good for me as I usually run around a 12:00 minute mile. Honestly the first mile was pretty sucky because I kept telling myself how much I hate running. The second mile was easier, thankfully. I tried to focus on just being out of the house, having a break from my kiddos, running with my friend, and being able to be out running on a beautiful night. It wasn't bad. I bought new running shoes on Sunday, which really helped. I think I would have been miserable in my old shoes. I also tried out my new running hat, which I really liked and worked great.
If you're curious, I uploaded our training schedule to Google Docs:
Claire and Jen's Disneyland Half Marathon Training Schedule
The actual Word doc looks a lot nicer because it has Mickey Mouse clip art on it, but that didn't seem to transfer well to Google Docs. So just imagine a Mickey head silhouette in each of the top corners. ;)
So Tuesday and Thursday we run 30 minutes. Then on the weekend we do a longer run. The length of the long run varies by week. Basically it's a short distance, then a long distance, short, long, etc. Last night we did a 30 minute run, and it was pretty easy. We ran around Jen's neighborhood and did about 2.5 miles. Our first mile time was around 11:00 minutes, which is pretty good for me as I usually run around a 12:00 minute mile. Honestly the first mile was pretty sucky because I kept telling myself how much I hate running. The second mile was easier, thankfully. I tried to focus on just being out of the house, having a break from my kiddos, running with my friend, and being able to be out running on a beautiful night. It wasn't bad. I bought new running shoes on Sunday, which really helped. I think I would have been miserable in my old shoes. I also tried out my new running hat, which I really liked and worked great.
If you're curious, I uploaded our training schedule to Google Docs:
Claire and Jen's Disneyland Half Marathon Training Schedule
The actual Word doc looks a lot nicer because it has Mickey Mouse clip art on it, but that didn't seem to transfer well to Google Docs. So just imagine a Mickey head silhouette in each of the top corners. ;)
Saturday, April 2, 2011
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