Work handed everyone pedometers

After only a few days with the pedometer for a work challenge, I'm seeing a lot more willingness on my part to get up and move around.  I'll let you know how it goes.

An Update

In case you were wondering... I've got psoriatic arthritis and am doing physical therapy to get my knees back in shape for extended walking.  My rheumatologist said this therapist is great, and I'm inclined to agree.

Here's hoping to more posts in the future!

Back in the Sad(dle) again

Got in 2 miles on the treadmill today, didn't help much. Having pretty bad psoriatic arthritis pain in my knees, and my rheumatologist said yesterday: "More exercise, push through this."

Thanks... I think.

Last week's miles, briefly

Monday: 2 mi.
Tuesday: 1 mi.
Wednesday: .5 mi.
Thursday: 1 mi.

I got up on Monday and realized I hadn't been to the YMCA in a while.

Yech. I am having my worst flareup of psoriatic arthritis ever, which is typically giving me about an hour of stiffness, a normal hour, then about a half-hour of stiffness and discomfort followed by pain after that. I am also feeling a hard-to-explain mental fog.

Pretty sure this is partially due to stress and allergies, but there's really no way to know. March was basically a total loss. I have been to a rheumatologist several times and it's slightly better, but not much. It's depressing to have to take multiple naps in a day, just going up stairs or standing up for long is exhausting, and staying in the same position for any length of time makes my joints stiffen and ache more.

On the bright side, I've lost some weight since January, about 8 lbs. if you believe my bathroom scale is accurate at all. It thinks I started the year at 198 and am at 189 right now. My target weight is 170 or so.

Thursdays: A brief history of time(r)s

Alex's gym class on Thursday is getting me to the YMCA at least once a week, at any rate.

3 Thursdays ago: Too sick to do anything, sat in lobby, miserable.
2 Thursdays ago: walked a mile veeeeery slowly.
Last Thursday: got in 2.5 miles.  Still pretty achey.

It's a challenge because I'd like to make 4 miles, but I typically only have about 45-50 minutes to do so, and the ear infection and subsequent antibiotics wiped me out.

Takeaway: what parts of your wellness routine can you do, even while sick?

Next-To-Last Thursday

3 miles at the YMCA while Alex was late to gymnastics.  Her teacher is great.  She smiles, but also gives good advice, and greets the kids by name.  At the end, she asks them how they did, and they shout together, "Terrific!"

Taking Alex to gym class...

Yesterday was gym class for Alex.  Her gym teacher is great.  Very enthusiastic about seeing Alex again and welcoming her back to the class, even with 15+ kids there.

After I dropped her off, I hopped on the treadmill and went 2.5 miles in ~40 minutes.

Sunday at the Longenbaugh YMCA

Whoo, 5 miles.  I can surf the web at about 4.5 miles an hour, but no higher, on the treadmill.  This is a huge step forward (ha ha) because my primary enemy on the treadmill isn't exhaustion, it's boredom.

Question: who is beating me in my sleep?

You can stop any time now.

Early Monday: Insomnia to Opportunity Postscript

Also I weighed myself at the YMCA, and it's not a fluke: I am down to 190 lbs.  (Desired weight: 165, acceptable weight 175.)

Down from around 204 at the beginning of the year, and far removed from my all-time weight of 220.

Early Monday: Insomnia to Opportunity

Woke up about 4 a.m, and after advancing the laundry and making notes, I realized there'd be no better time to get to the YMCA at 5 am when they open.  Knocked out just over 8 miles on the treadmill in around 2 hours.
My birthday is only a couple of months away.  My notes from this morning reveal that:
1. I still know how to do long division on paper, proving that Mrs. Triggs hours' of effort weren't totally wasted in that area.
2. My handwriting is still atrocious (sorry, Mrs. Triggs).
3. I need to make over 14 miles a day to break a thousand miles, even presuming my math on previous pages was right.

In the margin near this calculation, I (or Will Smith) has written "Awww, hell naw."

I feel great and could probably knock those out today, but my problem is the weekend, when the YMCA near me opens much later in the day on Saturday, and has no child-care hours at all on Sunday.

Saturday at the YMCA

Bah, had to leave after 2 miles and a large fraction of the next. 

Thursday at YMCA

Took Alex and Cori to gym class and hopped on the treadmill for a cool 3+ miles.  One of my socks had a small hole that I noted at home, and decided to overlook.

Blogged it with my new phone using the Blogger app.

I had high hopes about ramping up my activity level a few weeks ago, but was derailed by a sinus infection that made me really draggy.

Just a quick note

I'll be participating in a month-long company fitness training project through a third-party company.  They are offering three different areas of training; we must pick one: cardiovascular, core strength, or weight management.  While all three are tempting, I'm taking the weight management class first - since that's going to help with the other areas.

The trainers are friendly and knowledgeable - at least in the meet and greet.  I'll post an updated review once we've gone through the program.

2 miles

Just two miles on the treadmill today.  Bleah.  Back hurts like hell, too.  Nothing is ever easy.

Success

Another 2 miles.

E to the Earl to the E

Just two miles yesterday morning.  Need more time on the treadmill.  To quote Old Man Murray, "I want more less caves!"

Whew.

Just over 3 miles today.  Took a phone call on the treadmill (declasse, I know), also speed-read an entire short fantasy novel that wasn't very good.

Probably will be back at a different YMCA tomorrow since my wife has a class she is teaching in the house in the afternoon - the girls and I need to make ourselves scarce.  The YMCA near our house has no childcare on Sundays, for some irritating reason.

New Job

Well, having a new job cuts a lot of potential exercise time out of the week.  On the other hand, my new employer also has a walking track outside the back door of the office, as well as a treadmill in the office gym, right next to the office lockers.  Pretty impressive for a computer company.

Monday/Tuesday updates

4 miles Monday, then 7 miles Tuesday.  On a roll!