Mornin' Masters.
I had a very positive visit with my GP yesterday morning as a follow-up to last week's health scare in NM: He's not worried about the pneumonia, unless some new symptoms surface. We both agree that the pulmonary embolism was most likely triggered by my knee surgery. However, he is having me go see a hematologist, just to rule out any underlying blood issues. I'm finished with my course of antibiotics for the pneumonia, and he will be gradually reducing the amount of Eliquis that I'll be taking daily for a while longer.
I also had a good PT session yesterday afternoon - she forgave me for not doing my daily exercises while we were away, but now we are back at it and adding to it. I'm half way through my recovery period (3 weeks to go), and my goal is to as ready to start walking again when I can dump these crutches and the leg brace as I can. So this morning I did 55 minutes of stretching ,knee exercises, core work, and a bit of upper body work.
Have a greta Wednesday.
Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
Jay - for sure. Pneumonia anything is very scary at our stages. Is the PE gone?
Holly - I'm glad you don't live in an earthquake zone like happened in Anchorage once as hotel/motel guests and permanent residents had to get outside from quaking buildings ASAP when things started shaking.
Leslie/Jeanne - in addition to the ophthalmologist surgeon in 2020 revealing at the post-op appointment after my initial cataract and cornea transplant on the left eye that he found calcium deposits too that needed to be removed in a second operation and he'd be back :"in a minute" to explain, e.g. I wondered why he didn't notice any calcium deposits beforehand that could have been handled right, why there're any if I just had a tranplant, when it would be done, etc. but it didn't happen as, after he left DW and me sitting there stewing for 20 minutes, we left too.
Fortunately, after the reception and information desks to say nothing of the lab appointment left bad impressions yesterday, the half dozen nurses and specialists hoovering over me over the two-and-a-half hours of yesterday's pretend stress test that, after five minutes of TM walking even slower than I can do, was mostly sitting around waiting for the drug-induced stresses to take effect, were all very, very nice, telling me what was going on every step of the way, one from an old mining town in Alaska where my grandfather worked at the turn of the second century ago and another even mentioning the annual Cherry Blossoms 5/10K starting out under the 50 or so Yoshino cherry trees from Japan more than 100 years ago will include a marathon this year. Though the doctors I don't like like to just get down to the medical business at hend, talking about something other than the medical procedure is a great stress reliever for me. .
Another beautiful November day coming up with temps overnight temps down to freezing and mid-40's by afternoon but, first, unlike yesterday's fog's rolling in-and-out and stretching out along the lower floors of the downtown high rises, then the upper floors with the lower floors coming visible plus the faux sunrises off the building glass shining burning through and back at us, a thick fog back this morning at the lake flowed up over the hill we're on under my very eyes at 5:00 am and, within ten minutes, had enveloped us all around with the downtown lights and the moon not having a chance of surviving so nothing but fog, fog, fog all round us ever since probably until late morning when the sun will inevitably, I hope, burn through and make another excursion to one of the hillside parks in order before pre-op appointment with nurse that I'm thinking probably won't do much for my growing apprehensions about what I thought would be simple in-and-out knee replacement.
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
Jay and Tet - looks like knees are being worked on and there's some light at the end of the tunnel.
Walked just under 5 miles with 3 friends with lots of ketchup with lots of warm closes. Off to Food Pantry after lunch
have a greta day,
Good morning, Masters.
Jay and Tet, I hope things move in the right direction for your healing and recovery.
It's unusual for me to post this early in the day, but I have started going to the YMCA pool in the morning, before work, rather than in the evening. One benefit is that I have an opportunity almost every single day to get in the pool, even if it means going over to the "other" Y in the other neighboring town. In that Y pool, I can't see the clocks because they are the old-fashioned round clocks with the swing second hand, which I might be able to see if I was in a lane right next to them but I was on the exact opposite side of the pool - forget it! In my usual pool, the clocks are digital with big red LED numbers that can be seen very well from anywhere in the pool, and better yet, they are synchronized, while the analog ones are not. The "usual" pool doesn't open until 7:00 AM Tuesday and Thursday mornings, due to scarcity of lifeguards willing to get up that early for so little compensation, but that is supposed to change on the 17th of December. Not sure why - college students returning from Fall semester?
DW went down to her Mom's this morning while I was in the pool, but we had time to say so long for now before we each left the house in the pitch black of early morning. We were both awake at 1:15 this morning - I got up and tried to sleep on the sofa (forget it), and she tossed and turned in the bed. So unfortunately she had to drive 135 miles this morning on 3 hours' sleep.
In spite of not enough sleep, I had a nice workout. It was a total of 2,800 yards (I'm still eliminating backstroke until I'm confident that whatever is going on with my shoulder has simmered down, so that's 3,000 yards minus 200 yards of backstroke, basically). The main thing that I've been working on with consistency this past 6-9 months, is effort doing flutter kick and backstroke kick with fins on my feet. I=During the summer I was pretty consistent with 100 yard repeats on 2:00, meaning kick for 1:35 and rest for 25 seconds. I've gotten that down to kick for about 1:22, 1:23, and rest for 12 or 13 seconds, so 100's on 1:35. I give myself a full rest between the 4th 100 of flutter kick and the first 100 of backstroke kick, b/c that's where I would normally do the backstroke 100's, so my legs would get a bit of a rest there - probably 8 or 9 minutes' worth of rest. Now it's 800 yards of fairy hard kicking with fins with not much rest in between, and I don't think I'd be able to go straight through for almost half a mile without something in between. Anyway, main set was 10 x 100 yard freestyle on 1:50. I swim for 1:25 and rest for 25 seconds. That was the lan anyway. The first rep took only 1:22 and the 2nd through 10th were all 1:26 / 24 second rest. However, I was sharing a lane, and it feels like I should get at least a one-second handicap over 100 yards when I don't have the whole lane to myself. My goal for spring is to do these on 1:40. (Swim 1:20, rest 20)
Speaking of goals - my 300 mile goal is right around the corner. I'm over 292 miles for the year of 2023 as of this morning's swim workout. 300 miles is just over 7 miles away - about another 12,500 yards to go, which I should complete by this time next week.
Have a great Wednesday, everyone!
Marathon Maniac #957
Jeanne - I had my annual eye exam yesterday too. Mine was scheduled at 8:20, but I got there about 7:50, and they had me in the chair by 8:05. I turned down the dilation in favor of some new machine that does the same thing but without the dilation. Cost me an extra $39, but worth it so I could drive and work on the computer directly afterward. And I made it to work at exactly 9:30.... Although that is still an hour late....
Leslie - they have an app for everything these days, and they certainly should have an app giving you a 10-15-minute-warning for when they are ready to see you for your appointment. Instead of waiting in the exam room or waiting room for all that time, we could be doing productive things, like stopping to fill up on gas, or swinging by the store for milk, etc. Our time is valuable, too!
Sorry about your illness, dnaff, and I hope you both recover quickly. That sort of thing often happens to women your age.
Snork!
This morning I had a 7am appt with the oral surgeon for an x-ray, so no time for a workout before work. I promise I will be back at it tomorrow!
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
Mornin', Sunshines -
Glad things are on the upswing, Jay, and soon you'll be able to get off the blood thinner.
I lazed a bit in bed after my alarm went off, then headed to the shed for 45 min of stationary biking. It was warm enough to go for a regular bike ride, but I didn't want to don all the necessary gear for an in the dark ride.
My buddy, Teonna, made it into Western States on a volunteer ticket, after completing a qualifying race in October. She, another friend, Teri, who will be pacing her, and Karen and I, who will be crewing for her, were texting yesterday about the race when out the blue Karen texts that she's signed up for track works starting next week. What?? She hasn't been running for a few years now. And other kicker? The workouts are at 6:30 in the morning? Double What What?? I'm not sure what's gotten into that girl, but I told her I was in love with her.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
I drove an 80 yr old neighbor to his post op appt for a wrist surgery. He was the epitome of a sweet old man. After we had waited an hour he went up to the reception desk and told them at his age he really didn’t have many 1-hour blocks of time to waste. And we left.
The surgeon apologized profusely when he made a house call later that evening. This was years ago, different times, different kindnesses.
Sore throat has gone but body aches continue. Still no fever. I was able to get one round of PT exercises done but I may have a nap before round two. It is sunny and 20 degrees warmer than yesterday. I think I can get the beast out for one more dog walk before my nap.
Sneaking away from work for a quick post. Kettlebell workout this morning. My right ankle seems better today after having the weird pain much of yesterday. We'll see how things feel on a run tomorrow.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
Glad you're making progress, Jay. And I hope that everything goes well for you too, Tet!
I rode 16 miles on the trainer this morning, giving me 185 miles for November. I hope to get in a couple more rides through the weekend and then I'll probably be off the bike for 2-3 weeks following my prostate procedure on Monday. Tomorrow looks good for an outdoor afternoon walk with my DW if we can get our schedules synched.
Doug, runnin' cycling in Rochester, MI
"Think blue, count two, and look for a red shoe"
[[[jay]]]
[[[tet]]]
============
37-degrees windchill, sunny, yet that ''Welcome to Iceland'' vibe to it
,,,,,40-min city park,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,trailboots
..nothing takes the place of persistence.....
Thanks, Jay, and good afternoon everyone. I did NOT get out this morning in 23 degrees. Just couldn't do it today. I waited until later in the morning and drove over to the rec center and ran the downtown Franklin path for a change. I overdressed by that point. That path is not as smooth as the one I normally run, and I'm always nervous that I will fall (again). I didn't. I hit 2000 miles with about .6 miles to go in the 5.5 mile run, so that first yearly goal is met. The real goal is 2023 miles. Honestly, that's too high of mileage for me and I really need to cut it back next year. I think I said that last year, too.
Got Ken out yesterday and we went to the bank, Sam's for gas and the bike shop where he actually got out of the truck and went in! His doc appointment is Friday and hopefully he gets a boot or something less cumbersome than the giant wrap.
Dave- I hope your ankle is OK. Holly- my eye doc offers that option instead of dilation, too, but my retina specialist has to dilate- and it's a heavy dilation. I hate it.
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
Thanks for the start, Jay. Sounds like progress continues.
tet, you'd like my GP. We chat about all sorts of things, which may explain why he's always late.
Leslie--6:30 am track work? Nice.
dnaff--hope you feel better soon.
In the teens this morning, so no ride until the afternoon when it reached the upper 30s.. Tribee had work meeting calls, so I was on my own for 21+ miles. Dressed appropriately and it was fine. It is harder to cycle with all those clothes on, though.
Be safe. Be kind.
Just a 1 mile walk today. Legs felt a bit trashed from yesterday. Then into work for a free lunch and happy hour later.
I think it's a shame PCPs only see patients for 15 minutes, 10 minutes of which is spent reviewing the electronic record.When I was with a different network, they had 20 minute standard appointments - much better!
"During a marathon, I run about two-thirds of the time. That's plenty." - Margaret Davis, 85 Ed Whitlock regarding his 2:54:48 marathon at age 73, "That was a good day. It was never a struggle."
Rose Colored Glasses
0510
26F
4.96 miles of walking and running under the waning gibbous moon. The waning gibbous this morning
I loved how some of you emphasized that you did indeed get your running togs out the night before so you could get up and run yesterday. When I had utterly failed.
And so. Yesterday before supper, I got my warm running clothes ready for this morning. My new fleece lined running pants were a welcome addition to the cold weather line-up. And what a bargain! With the 10% old lady discount at Ross Dress for Less, these were only $8.00!
I was pleased with my ensemble! Thanks to Tramps for saying he might've been underdressed yesterday because it prompted me to wear my neck gaiter and and my light jacket. And the rest of the stuff. And I was completely happy with my temperature management.
BUTT. I am really suffering every time I run and sometimes when I walk. but. Then it is pretty okay for the rest of the day. I take Advil Dual Action in the evening. And still. Sometimes. I am awakened in the middle of the night by severe right leg pain! Hip, knee, and sometimes ankle! It has happened a couple times in the past few weeks. It's always too soon for me to redose. And it goes away with position changes and time. I can usually get back to sleep within an hour.
I just don't want to give up my mornings! So as long as I can function during the day, Ima keep going.
Dawn. I hope you and your dear husband are feeling better. Oddly enough. During my shower after my run this morning, I started thinking about how one might respond to the "a woman of your age" comment (repeatedly) said by your PT.
1. Mention this on a patient survey.
2. Discretely tell the PT himself how that comment was not helpful. Here is how I would explain it:
"I appreciate your time and attention to my therapy. When you tell me how I am doing for a woman my age, it makes me feel bad. I know how old I am and I know I am fortunate to be able to as be active as I am. Compared to other women. My age. But my well being and activity level is not relative to how other women my age are doing. I want to do what is best for me relative to my ability. Please refrain from using the phrase "women of my age" with me. Instead, focus on my progress for me."
I don't know if that is exactly what I came up with. That shower was many hours ago and I have had quite a busy day. I think my thoughts were better when they were fresh out of the shower.
Yesterday we went to Freedom Park. Pops and David "racing"
You might notice in that video... how much pain Pops is in when he runs!
I wanted to respond to a bunch of other things but now I am too tired.
dnaff - yikes. I never thought about how many blocks of one hour time I have left with 80yo bro in Chicago so, even if I'm in a hurry and don't mean it, in the unlikely event they apologize for keeping me waiting as the bank often sometimes does,. . . if ever, . . . as a way of showing my appreciation for even caring, I like to reassure them brag, "no problem, I'm retired."
Rosie - you are the nicest person.
I used to say, "That hurts"
but now that it's true, . . .
I hope, . . . I just say, "thanks."
ps - sometimes the muscles and bones just don't like being in the cold that much anymore. Maybe snowbird winters?
ps - nice moon.
Nothing but fog until sell after 9 am or so moon set that it was too light by then to see anyway for ours as the fog turned into clouds that'll start raining again tomorrow.
After today's blood and etc. tests, i got a call that the echo imaging and the feau chemical stress tests showed heart was okay for the operation so I'll get to try to talk them into general anesthesia and no overnight at another briefing tomorrow. I feel like I'm Neil Armstrong getting ready to go to the moon, . . . except he probably wasn't so scared.