Day 62

Today's workout was very interrupted. We had unexpected gardeners and I had to capture my big old mutt and get him to a safe place where he wouldn't maul anyone. Then I had to check on him periodically because he was too dirty to bring into the house and too untrustworthy to leave for more than a few minutes by himself in my garage. Regardless, I got my workout in. 30 minutes on the elliptical... minus the five minutes of dog catching, which was a workout anyway!

Days 59, 60 and 61

On Monday and Tuesday I continued with my elliptical routine. Things seemed normal. HR starts at 130-ish and ends with an average of 150. The sats are great w/ 2 liters of o2. They never dip below 95 unless I sprint for a minute or two. I might go down to 1 liter and see if it makes a difference.

I didn't work out today, day 61. I had a dentist appointment all morning. I may sneak in a workout this afternoon, but don't hold your breath. I feel like I'm entitled to a day or two off each week!

Sunday, Day 58

I had some good work outs this week. I think I skipped two days, Thursday and Friday. On Friday however, I did have every intention of working out but I got a phone call and decided to spend my only "work out window" that day by gabbing on the phone. It was so much more fun! So I did work out on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday since I last wrote.

The workouts have been the same. 30 minutes at a mild pace on the elliptical machine. At first my HR settles around 130, and then when I spot check it toward the end of the workout it is quite a bit higher, in the 150-155 range. I haven't done any research to figure out why this is. Maybe I'm just out of shape. My sats are good though, with 2 liters of o2 I'm satting at 95 or 96%. I did push myself one day. The last 2 minutes I pushed as hard as I could. My sats dipped of course and my HR soared to 170. Thing is, I don't really feel tired, like I have to stop, I just know it's not good on my cardiovascular system to push that hard. Slow and steady for now I guess.

Days 52 and 53

I decided to pick my counting back up from where I left off on January 5th, the last workout I had. I didn't think it was completely fair that I get to count the days between Jan 5 and Feb 16 since I had no intentions of working out!

So the lung project finally continues. We are in Week 8 although there was a long hiatus where I had vacation, then illness followed by a couple weeks of laziness. But I"m baaack!

I saw my doctor a couple weeks ago and she said I'm pushing myself too hard. I should aim for lower HR and less o2 while working out. Apparently I'm not to train as an olympic athlete. But I always have been an overachiever. Hehehehe.

So on my first day back on the horse yesterday I didn't use my o2 at all. I tried to keep a mild to medium pace on the elliptical and my sats still sucked at 90%. My HR was somewhat high at 155 as well. But I put in a full 30 minutes and it didn't feel like much of a workout because I wasn't pushing myself, even though my vitals seemed to say otherwise.

Today I added 2 liters of o2 and still kept to a mild to medium pace on the elliptical machine. My sats were wonderful, ranging between 96 and 99 and my HR was pretty steady at 140, though higher at the end of the workout. Can anyone explain that? Am I pushing myself more at the end without knowing it?

Regardless today's workout was only 25 minutes. All of the sudden I felt drenched in sweat, though not the kind of work out sweat. Then I started to get dizzy and it dawned on me, working out prior to lunch is not such a good idea, since it had been 3 hours since breakfast. My blood sugar was 67! Thank you diabetes. Ugh. So I almost completed my workout today. I'll be back tomorrow!

A Long Break

Well I did my workout on Monday January 5th, but that was the last time. I was too rushed on Tuesday with all the packing and getting to bed early to be bothered with my workout on Tuesday the 6th. Plus we had to squeeze in a celebration for Paul. It was his birthday on the 7th, but since we were in a plane all freaking day, I had to get some cupcakes and celebrate! Good good yummy times.

I didn't plan to work out while I was in Cancun. There was just too much too see and do! It was so relaxing. I lost about 3 pounds, at an all inclusive resort! Can you believe that? I truly believe it was muscle mass from not working out for 8 days.

We returned home very late on Wednesday January 14 and I was sick. I'm still sick. I feel like I have cement stuck in my chest. My resting heart rate has jumped from 60bpm before Cancun to 95bpm this morning. My sats are low for me in the morning (93-94) but perk up toward the end of the day from 4 breathing treatments a day. My fever was 100,4 this morning. It's just all around a good time. I feel like a lump. Seriously, before you tell me exercise is good for me even when I'm sick, just walk one day in my shoes when I feel this cruddy. Yeah. Didn't think you could handle it either.

So I'm going to rest because that is what I do best when I'm sick. I should be back on my feet once this antibiotic kicks in, in about 10 days. Then I'll get back to working out.

Beginning Week 8

FIFTY! Today is day FIFTY! I can hardly believe it's been 7 full weeks since I started this cardio journey. I don't feel any different in the lungs, but I think I notice my resting HR is lower (60-70) and the actual leg work on the elliptical is a tad (teensy tiny tad) but easier.

I worked out on New Year's Day, but I skipped my work out on Friday, January 2. The timing of it all on Friday just didn't work out between my errands in the morning and my nap in the afternoon. Hey, a girls gotta have priorities, huh?

I picked back up with my workout on Saturday and today, Sunday. 35 full minutes of fun! Ok, not fun, but it was 35 full minutes of hard work. Today the twins were playing on my bedroom floor while I was working out. They started using my o2 tubing like they were repelling down a rocky cliff. Only they were on the floor crawling and pulling and tugging. I spot checked my pulse ox during this time and for the life of me could NOT figure out why with 4 liters of o2 my HR was 160 and my pulse ox was 90! Turns out they had pulled my tubing right off the concentrator. I had no flow! No more rock climbing with my tubing, that's for sure!

Days 44 and 45

Yesterday I had a normal workout. Actually I pushed myself a bit. I had 5 or 6 one minute sprints throughout my 35 minute workout on the elliptical machine. Yeah, you heard me right, sprints and THIRTY FIVE MINUTES! Where's my trophy?

Today I really didn't want to work out at all. I almost, almost... ALMOST took the day off! BUT I decided since I may not work out next week at all I better stick with it until we leave. All you fitness nazi's, don't hate me for it, I'm just not sure I'll be able to make it down to the onsite gym in between my margaritas. I have good intentions....

So today I asked the twins if they wanted to go on a bike ride. I walk, they ride. Pretty simple. Last time we went Abby complained a little bit, after all 2 miles is a far trek for a 4 year old. But I thought they were up for it. However it was nothing short of a D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R!!! First of all less than a half mile into our trek, Tom's left pedal fell off. No matter, Mommy fix it was able to thread it through and we carried on our journey. That lasted for about another mile, but after that it just kept falling off. And I knew I was doing more harm than good as I attempted to thread the pedal back on only the next EIGHT times it wouldn't go past two turns. When it fell off as we were on our street I just held the pedal in my hand and pushed him the rest of the way. Also about a mile into our ride/walk Abby started complaining... like A LOT! By the time we got home FIFTY minutes later she was in tears. I felt bad for her, but what was I going to do? So i just let her be and she kept sobbing, "Mom! You shouldn't take me on a ride this LONG!"

I brought my handy dandy fingertip pulse oximeter. My HR never got above 130, mostly stayed around 110, and my sats were pretty steady at 94. Considering I wasn't working too hard, even though I was trying to be a slave driver, I'm not surprised that my sats were so good. So if nothing else today was definitely a mental work out! And I'm pretty sure I get extra points for trying.