It's been a rough year. I recovered from my foot surgery and was all ready to begin my new journey. Bill and I got a call that sent us to Florida for 5 months for work. Sounded like a good place to train. We did great for the first month. Than the outage schedule started - 6 days/ week - 13 hour shifts on nights. Doesn't leave much time for anything other than sleep. We got home the last week of June and I had a few weeks off - back to walking to build a little endurance. I was doing really well - walking 3.5 miles/ day. Than I started back to work. This time working 6-7 days/ week. Only 11 hours shifts but the job was 1 1/2 hours from home. There aren't many places to walk in an oil refinery so any momentum I gained was lost. Finally finished the job on Friday and Bill and started walking again. Today we started the Princess 1/2 training program. We did our walk/run today and will continue with the program till race day. Some days I think I was nuts to set this goal, especially when I get pain in my feet where I had the surgery but I have spent the last 10 years getting fat and lazy - it's time for a new me. Time to get healthy so Bill and I can enjoy all the things we love.
On the road to a new me!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
A snowy weekend here in PA. I spent the time reading some blogs. So many women runners out there. So much motivation for me. I so want to change not only the way I look but the way I feel. Another few weeks and i can start the training program. A little walking and a little running - working up to being able to run the Princess 1/2 marathon Feb. 2013. I am so excited for the journey to start.
My feet are mostly healed. The doctor said I had to wait till 8 weeks after surgery to start running but I can use the elliptical which I have done. I used it a little every day last week. Right now I'm not trying to do any major workouts with it, just trying to get the feet moving the way they are supposed to move and get them used to walking again. Feb 14 will be 8 weeks post-op which means my first day out and walking/running. I know this training will kick my butt but the results in the end will be great. What better way to celebrate 25 years with my wonderful husband, but with a new me - physically, mentally and emotionally. Let the training begin, well not till the 14th.
My feet are mostly healed. The doctor said I had to wait till 8 weeks after surgery to start running but I can use the elliptical which I have done. I used it a little every day last week. Right now I'm not trying to do any major workouts with it, just trying to get the feet moving the way they are supposed to move and get them used to walking again. Feb 14 will be 8 weeks post-op which means my first day out and walking/running. I know this training will kick my butt but the results in the end will be great. What better way to celebrate 25 years with my wonderful husband, but with a new me - physically, mentally and emotionally. Let the training begin, well not till the 14th.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Many things have changed and happened in te previous months. We spent a week in St. Thomas and loved every minute of it. I could see me living on an island with a lovely umbrella drink in my hand.
I have been having problems with my feet for a few years. If I walk too much or stand for too long my feet would hurt. Finally, after spending time in Florida and then time in St. Thomas the pain from walking on the beach was too much. I had a lot of pain just walking on the beach. I wanted my life back. It hurt to take my evening walk with Bill, walking on the beach and riding the motorcyle - no matter if I was riding with Bill or riding my own. Time to do something about it.
I went to see a podiatrist. She took some x-rays and told me the bad news. I had arthritis in both big toes with the left foot being worse. I had bone spurs, bone fragments and a lot of inflammation. The bone was too long causing the joint to deteriorate over time. She gave me 3 options. The least invasive was to take an anti-inflammatory drug and get orthotics, or I could have surgery to fix and clean out the joint or the most invasive was joint replacement. Well, toe joint replacement just sounded to funny. Drugs and shoe inserts just wasn't going to fix the problem of not being able to walk on the beach. So, I decided to have surgery. It is now 1 month post surgery and I have been pleasantly surprised. I went into this expecting a lot of pain and a long recovery.
The surgery went smoothly and the initial recovery was good. Very little pain, mostly just discomfort. Now that I was given the ok to start walking normally again and get back to my normal routine, the joints get stiff but still not much pain. I can walk, use the elliptical or even ride a bike, but no running which leads me to my goal.
I decided to make a goal for myself to get into shape and be healthy. It will be a way to get my feet back to a normal function and live a healthier life. I have decided to run the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon in Feb 2013. Now, I am not a runner, the last time I ran was in high school. But the time has come. Family medical history says the time has come to do something about my weight. This seemed like a good goal. I've been reading about it for a few months now and I have read some running books and I think I am ready to get into this. The only drawback is I can't start running till 8 weeks post-op. So another 4 weeks to start working on my goal.
I have been having problems with my feet for a few years. If I walk too much or stand for too long my feet would hurt. Finally, after spending time in Florida and then time in St. Thomas the pain from walking on the beach was too much. I had a lot of pain just walking on the beach. I wanted my life back. It hurt to take my evening walk with Bill, walking on the beach and riding the motorcyle - no matter if I was riding with Bill or riding my own. Time to do something about it.
I went to see a podiatrist. She took some x-rays and told me the bad news. I had arthritis in both big toes with the left foot being worse. I had bone spurs, bone fragments and a lot of inflammation. The bone was too long causing the joint to deteriorate over time. She gave me 3 options. The least invasive was to take an anti-inflammatory drug and get orthotics, or I could have surgery to fix and clean out the joint or the most invasive was joint replacement. Well, toe joint replacement just sounded to funny. Drugs and shoe inserts just wasn't going to fix the problem of not being able to walk on the beach. So, I decided to have surgery. It is now 1 month post surgery and I have been pleasantly surprised. I went into this expecting a lot of pain and a long recovery.
The surgery went smoothly and the initial recovery was good. Very little pain, mostly just discomfort. Now that I was given the ok to start walking normally again and get back to my normal routine, the joints get stiff but still not much pain. I can walk, use the elliptical or even ride a bike, but no running which leads me to my goal.
I decided to make a goal for myself to get into shape and be healthy. It will be a way to get my feet back to a normal function and live a healthier life. I have decided to run the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon in Feb 2013. Now, I am not a runner, the last time I ran was in high school. But the time has come. Family medical history says the time has come to do something about my weight. This seemed like a good goal. I've been reading about it for a few months now and I have read some running books and I think I am ready to get into this. The only drawback is I can't start running till 8 weeks post-op. So another 4 weeks to start working on my goal.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Thursday, November 11, 2010
So much has changed
Ok, so I haven't been good about updating my blog, not that anyone reads it. The last time I wrote was as I was starting this job in Jersey City and now here it is November and the job is finally wrapping up. It turned out that Bill was sent to the same job so we have at least been together though work has been our life since we got here.
We had a long weekend for Labor day and little did we know how long the weekend would turn out to be. We went home Thursday night and were planning on heading back Monday night for the start of the outage on Tuesday. We were working around the house all day Sunday and got a call in the early evening from Bill's aunt saying Bill's mom had collapsed at the hospital and was in the emergency room. She said she was unresponsive but that she was breathing. See, his grandmother was in the hospital recovering from quadruple by-pass and had taken a turn for the worse. Well, Bill left right away to get to the hospital and I was asked to intercept his sister so his dad could head right over there after church. I picked Kim up and she and I took a ride to pick Lexy up from my mom's. I got a call from Bill around 10:30pm saying they were taking his mom to the cath lab for more tests but that they didn't know much yet. Lexy, Kim and I headed back to my house before taking her home and I will never forget the phone call from Bill. He called just as we were getting to our house and as I answered I said hi and he paused for a few seconds and sniffed and said she didn't make it. Now you have to remember his grandmother wasn't expected to last the night. So I said Nanny died and he said No, mom is gone. Just like that our life changed forever. We found out she had an aortic aneurysm and was gone before they even got her to the emergency room from the hospital parking where she had been making phone calls. We spent the week with my father in law getting things arranged for a funeral I never expected to plan. I went to the florist and ordered flowers for a funeral for a woman that meant the world to me. She was the kind of mother in law you want you kids to have. I was no different to her than her kids, I was always introduced as her daughter. The funeral was so hard. there were more than 250 people that came.
Life has gone on but will never be the same. There is a whole in our lives that we are still trying to live with. Once we go home for good, it will all sink in. We have been home for weekends here and there. I went home one weekend to find the Longaberger basket I had ordered for her for Christmas was delivered.
So where does that leave us? I'm not sure. This woman was the most Godly woman I knew. She was an example of what a wife, mother and grandmother should be.
We had a long weekend for Labor day and little did we know how long the weekend would turn out to be. We went home Thursday night and were planning on heading back Monday night for the start of the outage on Tuesday. We were working around the house all day Sunday and got a call in the early evening from Bill's aunt saying Bill's mom had collapsed at the hospital and was in the emergency room. She said she was unresponsive but that she was breathing. See, his grandmother was in the hospital recovering from quadruple by-pass and had taken a turn for the worse. Well, Bill left right away to get to the hospital and I was asked to intercept his sister so his dad could head right over there after church. I picked Kim up and she and I took a ride to pick Lexy up from my mom's. I got a call from Bill around 10:30pm saying they were taking his mom to the cath lab for more tests but that they didn't know much yet. Lexy, Kim and I headed back to my house before taking her home and I will never forget the phone call from Bill. He called just as we were getting to our house and as I answered I said hi and he paused for a few seconds and sniffed and said she didn't make it. Now you have to remember his grandmother wasn't expected to last the night. So I said Nanny died and he said No, mom is gone. Just like that our life changed forever. We found out she had an aortic aneurysm and was gone before they even got her to the emergency room from the hospital parking where she had been making phone calls. We spent the week with my father in law getting things arranged for a funeral I never expected to plan. I went to the florist and ordered flowers for a funeral for a woman that meant the world to me. She was the kind of mother in law you want you kids to have. I was no different to her than her kids, I was always introduced as her daughter. The funeral was so hard. there were more than 250 people that came.
Life has gone on but will never be the same. There is a whole in our lives that we are still trying to live with. Once we go home for good, it will all sink in. We have been home for weekends here and there. I went home one weekend to find the Longaberger basket I had ordered for her for Christmas was delivered.
So where does that leave us? I'm not sure. This woman was the most Godly woman I knew. She was an example of what a wife, mother and grandmother should be.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Goodbye summer
Well, not exactly goodbye, but I won't be out enjoying it as much as I have been. For those that know me, I don't mind the summer. I hate cold weather which is kind of weird since I collect snowmen, I just don't want to be anywhere I can make one.
I started back to work yesterday. I only had to be at the office but it is back. Tonight I head up to Jersey City to meet up with Bill who is already there. I have to go for site orientation at 7 tomorrow morning. I will work all day and then head back home Thursday morning, take Lexy to work Thursday afternoon. On Sunday night Bill and I will "move" to Jersey City for the next 4 months. This job is supposed to run through November 19th so if all goes according to plan I may actually finish the job and be able to enjoy the holidays, with a little money of course.
I am looking forward to the adventure. I have never really lived in a city before but I figure I will get tired of it pretty quickly. I love my job though so if that is where they need me that is where I will go.
I started back to work yesterday. I only had to be at the office but it is back. Tonight I head up to Jersey City to meet up with Bill who is already there. I have to go for site orientation at 7 tomorrow morning. I will work all day and then head back home Thursday morning, take Lexy to work Thursday afternoon. On Sunday night Bill and I will "move" to Jersey City for the next 4 months. This job is supposed to run through November 19th so if all goes according to plan I may actually finish the job and be able to enjoy the holidays, with a little money of course.
I am looking forward to the adventure. I have never really lived in a city before but I figure I will get tired of it pretty quickly. I love my job though so if that is where they need me that is where I will go.
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