Health Updates & Why I Disappeared

I know I've gone and disappeared right in the middle of the cookie diet.  I'm still eating lots and lots of Lenny & Larry's, and have actually become an ambassador for the brand, but I've had a few health issues come up that have taken me away from regular exercise.

Starting the beginning of June, I noticed my left knee was hurting pretty terribly.  I chalked it up to stress from running and decided to let it rest for a bit.  Unfortunately, I found in the coming weeks that not only was my knee not getting better, but the pain and stiffness spread to my other knee, then down into my ankles, and started to travel up into my right hip and my lower back.  I immediately made an appointment with a nurse practicioner that I absolutely adore now, and got some rather alarming news.

That, coupled with additional symptoms and past diagnoses, led her to connect some dots together for me.  She thinks I have some sort of chronic inflammation and pain disease, whether it be Lupus, Fibromyalgia or even Rhuemetoid Arthritis; I have long suspected as much.  I'm not one to cry woe is me or panic, so I've been working with her for pain management, as well as symptom management.  Overall, my pain is better, though if I sit too long in one position, it's very painful when I start using my limbs again.  Overall, I'm finding I'm better off if I keep moving.  Now that I have the pain mostly managed, I am feeling confident that exercise is going to be okay again.  I also have an inhaler now to help with the shortness of breath I was working through when running.

Am I going to start running again?  I don't think so.  I just don't think my knees can handle it.  I'm going to follow up with her in a few weeks and ask her what she suggests I do about that, actually.  Overall, I'm avoiding long term damage right now, and without knowing if it'll be a bad idea, I'm refraining from doing it.  This means my primary means of cardio is gone.  I don't have access to an elliptical or a pool, which would both be low impact cardio workouts.  I don't have weight machines, I just do body weight exercise.  I feel a little frustrated right now, but I'm going to push forward.  My pain is much better now, so it's silly to spend any time feeling sorry for myself or demotivating myself.  I still work on my feet in a fast paced retail environment and walk to and from work each day.  I think I'm going to start taking dog on our nice long walks again.  The only drawback to those is the amount of bugs at night time, and the heat during the day.

I am only posting this here because I wanted to explain why I dropped off the face of the cookie earth after hyping up this cookie diet.  It's not my style to quit in the middle of something, but it's not fair to judge my progress in a diet based off of a TDEE that doesn't currently apply since I've becoming a little more sedantary.  I haven't really gained any additional weight (steroid side effect; if only I hadn't been in too much pain to weight train, haha), but I am sitting at my start weight, and I think I'm retaining a lot of water for some reason.  All things to talk to my doctor about, I know.

TRAINING: My First 5k!

The title is kind of cheating.. yes it's a 5k, but like so many 5ks, it's a fun run.  We're doing the Neon Dash 5k on September 20th.  How do I feel about my upcoming first 5k?

I'm really excited!  I haven't been training the way I should, but I'm still guardedly optimistic.  Aaron and I have been adjusting to what my co-worker (and fellow runner) Rachael calls "married life".  We don't quite have a routine yet, so our gym visits have been sparse.  I haven't gone running in a couple of weeks and it scares me.  I still walk my usual 1.4 miles to work everyday, but Aaron has been picking me up in the evenings.  I would run to work, but it's simply been to hot.  On average, it's 86-90 degrees when I'm walking to work.  I live in Texas.

Am I worried?  Absolutely not.  I know I can run two miles solid at a good 10 minute pace.  Even if it takes me 30 minutes to run this thing, I know I have the endurance because I do at least that on the elliptical as a cardio warm up.  Should I be training more?  Yes.  Actual running, outside or on a treadmill would be ideal.  We all know that running and the elliptical aren't even comparable outside of the fact that both get your heart pumping.

Being completely honest, I'm most excited about decided what to wear race day!  I've never ran a 5k and I'm super excited to get out there, dress in all white, and get covered in Neon goo!  I own so many neon accessories from my goth/industrial club days that I'm excited to get them out and show them some love.  The main debate I'm having with myself is the consequences of running three miles in Chucks.  You know, Converse All Stars.. the flattest shoe ever?  I have some that are neon yellow, but it just seems like a terrible idea.

I'm also pretty excited about dressing Aaron up. *insert evil laughter here*