1000.6 Miles

(3.4 treadmill)

YEAH!!!

I passed one thousand miles! And today was a personal record, too. I think the last pr was 3.3 miles. I feel fantastic! Wobbly still, but fantastic nonetheless. I can do this.

My dearest friend is such an inspiration to me. She has only been running for a year & a half and is already spending some of her weekends running 15-18 miles. How amazing is that? She really makes me want to push myself even more than I do.

My next goal is to run even more of this distance. I'm still walking about half of it (run some, walk some). When I get to the point of running the whole thing... well, I'll be pretty darn thrilled about it.

Update...

I've already shared this on Ravelry and Facebook and now am sitting down to share it here, too.

As some of you might remember, just over a year ago I had my blood drawn to check all the levels for sugars, cholesterol levels, and lots of other stuff. Last week I had it drawn again for an update. There has been an amazing improvement in this year. There is still some work to do, and I know I will continue to achieve all my goals.

Test name: Old results/New results

Overall Cholesterol: 176/165
HDL: 56/58 (we want more of those)
LDL: 102/95
Triglycerides: 89/58

Hemoglobin A1C:5.9/5.8 (going to work on this one a little more)
Glucose: 102/95
TSH (thyroid): 3.27/2.12
T4: 1.0/.83

Today was a weights day so I don't have that much to show for it. I'm okay with that, especially since I can feel the differences.

Tomorrow I'm going to reach 1,000 miles. Because I know I can.

997.2 Miles

(11.5 bike)

Still drifting along. The trees are starting to this and there are no enemies... yet.

I have new batteries for the bike! The old ones were barely strong enough to show shadows on the display. Now it's nice & clear.

Tomorrow I get the results from the blood-work done last week. I'm looking forward to that since I know there will be clear evidence of great changes.

Still traveling...

More than a year ago I started this journey. A lot has changed since then including the fact that I'm not just using the bike anymore. That has slowed my progress on miles, but I believe it has sped up my progress for physical health. The treadmill is a different kind of focus and one that makes me push a lot harder than the bike does.

I'm fasting tonight. Lots of water, of course, but no foods until I get home tomorrow. Just another round of blood-work to see where my numbers fall. Only, it's not just another round. It's very different. This time I'm going in with a sense of expectancy. There are still some things that aren't quite balanced, but I know that, overall, the numbers will be better. And whatever the numbers may be I know that I'm going to keep going. Why? Because, as I stated in my goals, I deserve this.

Today's workout was all about muscles and soreness. Tomorrow, after getting to eat, I will be back on the bike (I have new batteries!) and getting my heart going.

This is a great journey. Thank you to all who have been with me so far. One thousand miles is pretty close. Are you ready for the next thousand?

985.7 Miles

(2.2 treadmill)

Still drifting.

Today was a little easier, but still too sore to get to the third mile. Still, I am proud of myself for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that I've been working out through some pretty rough spots instead of giving up. In the past I've simply stopped working out because I feel crappy about something going on in my life and I didn't start back up for a few years. It has happened more than a few times. But this time... well, I did slack off in December. Part of that was because Anthony was in town, but most of it was emotional. But, that was only for a couple weeks.

Now, even though there are some stresses I feel stronger about continuing to push myself with this.

AND!!! I'm nearly at a thousand miles. I can't stop now.

983.5 Miles

(2.1 treadmill)

The last two days have been interesting. Yesterday I couldn't do my strength-training with the 10-pound weights. My arms just wouldn't get past a few lifts. So, I dropped down to the 8s and finished the workout. I do NOT feel bad about that at all. In fact, considering that I really wanted to just give up, I feel pretty damn good.

Today I am still sore (calves mostly) from my running on Tuesday, but I got on the treadmill anyway. I know I could have gone on the bike and there would have been less pain, but I also knew that I needed to get my leg muscles loosened up more than the bike would do.

Now it's time for lunch and some more water.

981.4 Miles

(3.3 treadmill)

Yes, that says 3.3 for today. I really wanted to push myself today and feel pretty good about it. It's a personal record in distance, but not in time... I don't think.

...

The last official run I did my time was 3.1 in 44:11. According to my calculator (divided 45 minutes by 3.3 miles to get 13.64 minutes/mile. That would have made the 3.1 mile mark at just over 42 minutes) I beat my time from my run in Asheville! How cool. It might have been even better if I didn't have to adjust the treadmill speed, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

It won't be long until I hit the 1000 mile mark. That's a little strange to think about. It's not quite half the length of the Appalachian Trail, but it's not that far from it, either.

Now, it's time to eat something and finish up this day.

Strength-training

Today I started the workout that April posted in our thread on Ravelry. Each month she's going to change it up a bit. Today I set the interval timer (free app on the iPad) and get moving. I didn't follow her routine exactly, instead I did each exercise for 30 seconds before moving to the next one. The whole session lasted just over 13 minutes but I was more than ready for a break! Instead, I got some water, walked up & down the hallway a little, then did it one more time. For the second time, though, I had to use the 8-pound weights instead of the 10. Yes, my arms were that shaky.

978.1 Miles

(10.3 bike)

The land is silent and it is dreary and cold. We are drifting. So far there are no enemies.

My legs are still sore from the other day, but I need to push myself further. The bicycle gives me a good chance to raise my heart rate significantly without making my legs hurt even more. Even so, it was a bit of a struggle to keep the pace at 20mph for the entire 30 minutes. I'm glad I did it since that feeling of accomplishment means a lot to me.

New Weights

Today's workout was brought to you by the number 10! Yes, you read that right, I used 10-pound weights today. I was very happy to have gotten a special surprise on Saturday and was able to use them today. I can tell you that I just barely made it to the end of the session. My muscles will most likely be rather sore tomorrow, but I will just remind myself that I am going to reach my goals.

967.8 Miles

(1.9 treadmill)

Well, I didn't do too bad considering I have been slacking for a while. I did lose some of the momentum from early December, but I know it will only take a little time to regain that. There were moments today that I really felt some pain, but there were other moments when I had to smile because I'd pushed myself. I know I'll be sore tomorrow, but it's worth every twinge.

Looking back...

Looking back over these last posts... it looks like I haven't been doing that much. I'll admit that I slacked off with the miles (only a couple times on the treadmill, a couple times on the bike, and 3 outdoor walks), and only a little slacking on the weights (twice a week instead of four times). I probably reached the thousand-mile mark last month, but I didn't take pictures, or even really track the miles, so I am not going to guess at them.

I am looking forward to getting back into a set routine over the next few days. I think it helps a lot with various areas of my life.

In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderfully healthy year ahead.