Checking in as we start a new month. Hope everyone else is running well.
I was starting to feel good - and then I didn't - and then I got covid which I still have. Covid triggered further weight loss. Now down to 97 lbs and feel very unwell. I'm trying to increase my intake, but it's a challenge. I'm afraid to exercise and burn any calories, but if I stop feeling like I'm going to faint I might be tempted. I'm so tired of sitting around most of the day.
Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done.
Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.
HF, so sorry to hear you're not feeling well. So pulling for you to feel good again. How about some light and easy walking? That might trigger some appetite as well as kicking your immune system into working harder?
Hope the rest of you guys are hanging in there too.
I'm doing fine, other than a slightly sore left hamstring. I am in Switzerland with my wife, sister and brother-in-law. Sister and I got in 5.5 miles along Lake Zurich this morning. Very nice. We took a train to Luzern where we'll stay for a couple days. Gotta somehow squeeze in a run or two here.
Happy - Hang in there. It's gotta clear soon. I know when I had covid I lost over 10lbs. I didn't feel bad except for a sore throat so bad that I opted for no food and limited water for a week.
I finally got the call from work to come back to work as a contractor. It's been a very nice one year of retirement. I got a lot of work done on the house. My goal is to finish the living room before I go back. That will "only" leave the kitchen. It will be nice to have some extra Vegas spending money.
HF - Sorry to hear about the issues you're having. Hopefully you can figure them out soon.
Starting PT for my knee next week. I got the cortisone shot earlier this week and the knee is actually feeling pretty good - not sure if its the cortisone or just feeling better in general. PT's diagnosis today is that the days I feel pain she thinks the tear in the meniscus is maybe folding over on itself which is causing the pain.
Was able to get 4 miles in today and 5 on Wednesday so running is pretty good right now. It is pretty freaking dark out there in the morning right now though - running slow as I'm afraid of hitting pot holes or something I cant see in the dark. I've decided to scrap my 10 miler in November and see if I can't just get my mileage up a bit right now, still keeping my pace slow and easy.
Hi everybody. Thanks for all the encouragement. We're finally over Covid as of the weekend. Heffa47, I did not know that weight loss was one of the covid symptoms! I looked it up after you wrote about yours and it is, along with the queasy stomach I had for about a week. Apparently the immune response revs up your metabolism during the illness! DH lost weight too - the lowest he's been in his adult life. He also had the terrible sore throat for about a week. I only had it for a couple days. We are on the mend now and been steadily gaining it back.
Kcam - Switzerland! Any photos? Highlights of the trip?
I'm sticking with walking for now because of some exacerbated PMR symptoms. We're going out tomorrow for a 4-mile lowland forest hike on a trail that will be new to us. It will be great to be OUT!
Heffa47 When do you resume work? Will it be full-time? What are the benefits of being a contractor vs an employee?
Happy - I finally got all my paperwork and background checks done and have my date to start. First day is the 23rd. I'm fully retired with all benefits taken care of so contracting is just for spending money. I will be limited to 1000 hours per calendar year but I can basically work as much or as little as I want.
I managed to get my living room remodel done and put back together. I'll take a break now while I return to work for a bit. The next gap in work I get will be the last and most intense part...the kitchen remodel! Time to let my aggravated left knee a get a break from working on my knees.
Okay, we're over covid and feeling stronger now. The hike on Thursday went well. Today I threw in some 1-minute jogs in my treadmill walks today. Hope I can build from there with no more hiccups!
Your contracting job sounds like a sweet deal - as long as you enjoy the work, heffa47. Congrats!
Knees! Don't get me started! Grrr. I never HAD knee problems. One of my PMR symptoms from the beginning has been knee swelling and stiffness, and it's worse than ever since I had covid. Yes it gets very aggravated by kneeling, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Our oven has a problem and the appliance got pulled out - shocking what falls down between stove and countertop! I had to get that spic and span ASAP. So - the knees! Probably started a couple weeks ago doing a gardening task kneeling.
Anyway, that's why I threw in the pick-ups today - I think a few months back starting up with the jogging helped the knee swelling. Hoping it works again.
ETA - Here's an interesting article about RICE vs. MEAT I didn't know MEAT was an official thing, but I've always tended that way once initial trauma swelling and bruising calmed down. I always said "As it heals, I want the new muscle fibers laying down in the direction of the work they need to be doing. So I better show them what that is!" ;-)
https://www.runspirited.com/single-post/best-recovery-method-for-runners-rice-or-meat#:~:text=Serving%20up%20MEAT,blood%20flow%20to%20promote%20recovery
OUCH!!!!
Was out for a run last week - knee hadn't been feeling too great after playing soccer last Sunday but by Wednesday it was well enough to start running again. So, Thursday morning I'm out for a run around 5:30 (pitch black out) - running a few towns over from where I live, so I'm not really familiar with the streets. First sign I should have scrapped the longer run was that I seemed to be having some sort of stomach issues - not sure what I ate the night before but I had to stop 3 times at porta-potties (two in parks, one in front of a house that was under construction). Then, of course, I got lost. I had my route all mapped out the night before, but the road twisted in a way I didn't expect - turns out I was heading the right way and just needed to keep going but I didn't want to risk it. This just got me frustrated but I opted to just turn around and retrace my steps back to my car, which I knew I could do. Now, there aren't many cars out that early, but at one point on my run back to the car there were like 5 cars coming at me (I typically run in the street for a reason that will be evident in a second) so I jumped up on the sidewalk so I wouldn't get hit by someone not paying attention. I do wear reflective gear but better safe than sorry.
The cars pass and I'm running on the sidewalk and all of a sudden I don't see a section of the sidewalk that is higher than the rest near a tree. I think the tree roots had raised it up. I trip and go down hard, skidding across the concrete for a couple of feet. So I throw out a few obscenities as I slowly get back to my feet - feeling pain in my right shin, right elbow and left hand. I start to walk and everything hurts, but I think to myself "At least nobody saw that" - NOPE. about 15 feet away from where I fell is a woman out walking her dog. I didn't see her because she was all in black. She was just staring at me as I walked past her, so I waved, said good morning and then tried to get running again because I was still a mile and half from my car. It was slow and painful all the way back.
When I finally got back to my car I look down at myself in the light of the parking lot. My shin is all scraped up and bleeding. The skin on my hand is all torn up - no blood, but the whole thing is raw. And at my right elbow there is a tear in my favorite running jacket and the entire sleeve is red from the blood gushing out of my arm. I drove back to my gym, trying not to let anything that is bleeding touch anything in the car. I was able to stop the bleeding once I got there, and just showered and went to work.
But, my legs (especially my left knee where I have the torn meniscus) have been jacked up and painful ever since. I was able to get 3 miles in today relatively pain free so hopefully it is passed now. But I now remember why 90 percent of my winter running is typically done on a treadmill.
Sorry, that was long - just needed to vent because I was supposed to run 10 mile race in VT in a couple weeks but have scrapped that idea because I just haven't been getting in the mileage lately and it's kind of depressing me.
Hope everyone else is doing well.
Jeff
Ohhh man!! JeffD what an awful experience! I hope you are on the mend soon. Maybe your PT can work some magic?
We just got back today from 5 days in Sacramento visiting DH's dying mother - every day. The trip went pretty smoothly overall, but I'm sure glad to be home and to get back to our usual routines, food, and exercise! The temps have dropped a bit here in the past week, now 40's daytime and 30-ish nighttime. I miss summer!
Sorry to hear that Jeff. I've done my fair share of falling (moreso as I've gotten older). Hope none of that is too serious. Sounds like it's not if you were able to knock out 3 miles afterwards.
Also sorry to hear about your Mother in Law, HappyFeat.
I've run 4 days in a row since we got back from Switzerland vacay. I ran only twice there though we did a huge amount of hiking and walking. We were there for 18 days, great trip but Switzerland is expensive! We visited Zurich, Lucerne, Interlakken, Lauterbrunnen Valley, Murren, Thun, Zermatt, Lausanne, Gruyeres, and then back to Zurich. Stayed a two or three days in each place with the exception of Interlakken and Gruyeres which were day trips. I'd never been to the Alps before and it was amazingly beautiful. The Matterhorn, the Eiger, Jungfrau among other peaks and the massive glaciers on them were all spectacular. We took trains, boats, buses the entire time - no cars or taxis. Very easy to get around without a car there. We lucked out with the weather as it didn't rain on us once. Temps ranged from 45 to 70 F. Food and beer was good; chocolate and cheese were spectacular. I think we ate some chocolate every single day!
kcam - wow, sounds like a fantastic vacation! Was it with a tour group?
We went on our own. My wife and I and my sister and her husband. We had many phone calls where we discussed itineraries and booked hotel rooms etc. It was actually fun and we got to do precisely what we wanted.
HappyFeat - sorry to hear about your mother-in-law.
Kcam- sounds like an amazing trip. Switzerland is on my list of places I want to visit someday, just not sure it's on my wifes.
sorry to hear about your mother-in-law.
Thanks guys. She will turn 99 next Tuesday if she's still alive then, so it's not unexpected. It was rough for DH to see his mom at this stage though, and it's always hard to lose a parent. Pile volatile family dynamics on top of that and --- it was a LONG five days.