Are you kidding me?

Two days after my last post I got sick.  Then I got sicker.  Eventually Kris told me he thought I had pneumonia and that I should go see the doctor.  My doctor confirmed it and gave me some Rx's.  

Look how pretty the pneumonia virus is.

He said I had to stay in bed and let people help me.  Luckily I have some amazing friends who brought dinners and actually cleaned my house and did my laundry.  It was so hard to accept help but I couldn't do it myself.   It made me love them even more than I already did.  I watched a lot of Netflix and read Atlas Shrugged. (That's a crazy book.)  My coughing became so violent that I actually broke my rib!  A broken rib is worse than pneumonia.  That took forever to heal.  I started to take short walks and eventually started running again.  My lungs are better than ever and I am getting in pretty good shape again.  Being so sick and out of commission for so long has made me appreciate my health even more.  So much for the 64 day challenge!

Pilates Reformer

So Macklemore and I love thrift shops.  A while ago I found a Karen Voight Pilates Pro at the D.I.  I had never done Pilates on a reformer so I looked it up on my phone to see if it had all of the pieces.  As far as I could tell it was just missing the foot bar.  I called my dad and asked him if he could weld one for me and he said yes.  I bought it for 8 bucks.  

Then I went and took a few classes at the Sports Academy from Shelley.  (She is awesome.)  My reformer is not nearly as fancy as the ones at SARC but it also didn't cost several thousand dollars.  I have been incorporating some of the moves I learned from her into my circuits occasionally but today I spent 45 minutes just on the reformer.  It was so hard but when I finished I felt so strong.  I need to learn more exercises and do Pilates workouts more often.  Eccentric muscle contractions, controlled breathing, longer, leaner muscles, better balance and a more powerful core.  Just what I am looking for.

Gunsight Peak - 2, Us - 0

A few years ago Kris and I decided to summit Gunsight Peak.  We went on the south ridge route.  After a while there wasn't really a trail so we just tried to stay on the ridge and head toward the peak. We went about 3 miles when we realized the ridge we were on didn't actually connect with Gunsight.  We would have to descend clear down and then climb back up some pretty steep stuff. We didn't think we had enough energy time to finish so we turned back. Later when I looked it up on the internet I saw someone describing the route this way, "The south ridge is a long and rugged ridge hike...route involves finding your way around trees, bushes, and rock ledges."  Yes, that sounds accurate.

On Saturday we decided to re-attempt it from the west side.  We drove to Plymouth and walked up a dirt road for just over a mile to the trailhead.  It was beautiful once we got into the canyon.  Some of the leaves were starting to change color.  I love being in the mountains except when I see rattlesnakes.  Kris was in front of me so he saw it first.  It was slowly slithering into the bushes.  Can you see it right in the middle just below the rock?  Yikes!!!    

We took a break while it moved away and then continued a bit more cautiously up the trail.

About 3 miles in Kris wasn't feeling good so we decided to turn back.  I was in my groove so I ran most of the way to the car.  (I believe I've heard that called a quad-crushing descent.)  I love endorphins except when I wake up the next morning and can't move my legs.  I had trouble going up and down stairs for 2 days.  I never learn my lesson.  :)  

Morning Glory

After all of that, I forgot to post my workout yesterday.  I ran 4 miles.  It was hot which made it more difficult.  My goal was push myself to run faster and not take walk breaks.  I only walked for the warm up and cool down and the sketchy part where you climb down, cross the stream, duck under the humongous thistles, and then climb back up to the trail so I am counting it as accomplished. The sketchy part doesn't count!  I didn't take water since it was a short run but I should have.  Did I mention that it was hot?  It felt so good to walk into my air conditioned house.  Ahhhh.  I think I lost 5 pounds of sweat so after I drank my recovery drink, I spent the rest of the day re-hydrating.

Day one, check.

www.naturesongs.com

So anyway, back to morning glory.  I can't believe how fast that stuff spreads.  Oh, wait.  Maybe you were thinking that I had a glorious morning workout.  Nope.  I spent most of the day weeding, shoveling, wheelbarrowing, and raking.  It was a good workout though.  I contracted my abs as I filled the shovel with dirt and then rotated to dump it into the wheelbarrow.  I contracted them as I raked the dirt.  I contracted them as I was on my hands and knees pulling that infernal morning glory.  It was the gardening core workout.  My abs were already a little bit sore just from that but I decided to do some more corework.  I am in the stabilization phase so I did assorted planks and other such core stabilizing moves while watching Psych on Netflix.   Planks: I hate them but I love them.

Day two, check.

64 Day Challenge, Day One

It's day one of my 64 Day Challenge and that means you get to see before pictures and read my story.  We'll start with:

My Story

I graduated from college with a B.S. in Exercise Science and a minor in Nutrition.  I love running.  I've completed several marathons and ultra marathons.  I'm not fast but I can keep going for a long time.  

About a year and a half ago I was running a 20 mile trail race that had some serious elevation changes.  On the uphill parts I was having trouble breathing and had to do a lot of walking.  I finished the race but was pretty freaked out at my inability to breathe. The Monday following the race I went to see my doctor and told him when I ran up mountains I couldn't breathe.  He laughed and told me no one could.  Then he did lots of tests because apparently, shortness of breath is a red flag.  The doctor said my EKG was impressive and that my heart was really strong.  My lungs however were not doing their job very well.  He prescribed an inhaler and told me I needed to cut back my mileage.  A month later I completed a 28 mile trail run with my inhaler but it was ugly.  I was one of the last people to finish.  After that, I cut my mileage way back.

Fast-forward a couple of months.  I was working out with a personal trainer and studying to certify as one.  I was feeling strong and my lungs seemed to be getting better when, Wham! I got sick.  I ended up in the ER because apparently, a stiff neck is a red flag.  They did lots of tests (they almost did a spinal tap!!! but then my labs came back normal) and told me that my heart was really strong, I looked extremely healthy on paper and it must be a virus.  They sent me home with some ibu.  I was very sick for about 6 weeks and then slowly started getting better.  Looking back they think it could have been West Nile Virus.

For the next few months I caught every sickness that was going around including the flu even though I had my flu shot.  I finally got well and I've been slowly building my mileage back up.  My farthest distance since recovering from my exotic illness is 8 miles.  I haven't been very diligent with any kind of strength training and have gotten out of shape.  I've lost muscle mass and replaced it with some fat, (Girl Scout cookie season is always a little rough on me but this year, oh my!).

After recovering, I passed my personal trainer certification exam and started training some family, friends and neighbors.  It has been very fun and rewarding to see them work hard, make changes, become healthier and achieve their goals.  My next step is to be hired by a gym but you know what they say, "Never trust a skinny chef."  They might also say, "Never trust an out of shape trainer."  That leads in to the:

Before Pictures

I don't have a full length mirror, so I had to stand on the edge of the bathtub to get these shots.  Good thing I didn't fall off!

So here I am on day one.  Ready to kick my own butt and get back to where I want to be.

And here you are on day one.  What are you ready to do?