Mile splits, surgery, and general health goals/update
So up until yesterday, due to having eaten too many sopapillas during a late lunch with a former coworker which caused a bad tummy ache to the point that I couldn't go to the gym, I have been very good about going and working out on my M/W/F schedule for almost a full four weeks. I won't be able for another two now thanks to my nasal surgery, but go me.
Also, I ran on Tuesday. And I think Sunday before that, but I forgot to record my times. I also forgot to time the first and second miles right anyway, but I remember the overall pace averaged out to about 10 min/mi so I'm happy about that. Before I forget yet again to record my most recent run:
Mile #1: 10.26.20
Mile #2: 10.10.67
Mile #3: 9.49.31 - WHOO I BROKE A 10 MIN/MI AGAIN!
Total: 30.26.18
Due to surgery cannot run again for two weeks.
Speaking of which, background on the surgery. So I finished the school year sick as a friggin' dog, having gotten my third sinus infection in as many months. (I even made the executive decision to bail early on the last day once my classes were done in order to go see the doctor). I figured that that was enough of that business, and decided it's time to get this sorted out for good.
The men in my family have a history of allergies and nasal issues, of which I'm no exception. Thankfully I'm now pretty well located, if not acclimated allergy-wise, have a good job with insurance, and about two months off (yay summer) so I was like, "Hey, I can get this taken care of!" Dad had had some kind of sinus related surgery for similar issues a couple years ago now, I think, and he said it really helped, so once I got well enough at the beginning of summer I looked into it and found a specialist up in Seattle. Long story short, I went in today and he got my deviated septum un-deviated, as well as widened my hypertrophied turbinates. Once all the leakage/bleeding/general blah has passed, I should then be able to breathe better, which I'm VERY MUCH looking forward to. (It was weird, because he put in perspective with me when we first met, "So basically you have trouble breathing." To me hearing that was like asking a fish, "How's the water?" It's just always been how it's been for me, so imagining anything otherwise is just a completely alien concept. I mean, yeah, I guess I DO have trouble breathing. Huh.) Doc told me I probably won't be able to breathe out my nose for about a week, but I figure that's no worse than a sinus infection, and TOTALLY WORTH IT if it's successful and results in significantly fewer sinus infections in the future. So I'm kind of looking at it as an investment. He also told me that while this'll help for a good several months, I also need to see an allergist cos otherwise once those kick in I'll be back to being miserable. Other good news? Found a more local allergist and have an appointment on the 12th. I'm hoping I'll be a good candidate for allergy shots, cos among the people and stories I've heard about those who've gotten them, they've had wondrous results. Plus, I'm sick and tired of dealing with all the effing nose sprays. So, yay using summer when I have down time to get serious and put into action steps to better my health.
Speaking of health, I was feeling pretty proud of utilizing the gym here at the apartments again, and hopefully this year will be able to maintain it (once I'm again able) despite school starting back up. I was slowly adding the running back in as well, but I feel pretty good about it as despite being more fat than I'd prefer (recently hit 20% body fat, ungh; used to be around 14% back in high school when I did sports/ran regularly) and being a bit out of shape, whenever I've attempted getting back in shape over the summers I've always succeeded at avoiding overdoing it and injuring my now twice-as-old-as-I-was-in-high-school self. Oh, and since I'd started doing my morning Sun Salutes after having recovered from my last sinus infection, I've been AWESOME and did them EVERY DAY until now. Unfortunately, that's also gonna be on hold for a while, as I'm told I need to keep my head upright as much as possible. But in any event, yay meeting that goal so far!
Ooh, in other self- and health-improvement news, I finally finished reading the ebook version of Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat; Feed The Muscle book that a former JET colleague had shard with me way back when AND have even taken some time using the information in it to figure out things like my lean body mass, basal metabolic rate, resting heart rate (66 BPM when I woke up the other morning; not bad!) and total daily energy expenditure ranges depending on how much or little exercise I've been doing. Next step will be to figure out (once I get back to normal) what my average calorie intake typically is and then compare against what I need given my initial fat loss goal of getting back down to 16% or less. One of my main professional/personal goals this coming school year, now that I'm no longer provisional, is to take more time for ME and my health. I really want to make a habit of doing progressive weight resistance training on M/W/F with running or other cardio (I dislike treadmills, but I may have to get over that come winter...) on T/Th/Su starting around 4 o'clock each day. Honestly, just doing that much, getting me back into regular EXERCISE (which I realize I do really miss) will make me feel much better physically as well as mentally, look better, and keeps my immune system up as well. I've also been starting to pay a bit more attention to the types and amount of foods and drinks I consume, including even making more dinners lately. Being on break helps with the having time aspect for sure; hopefully I can make it more a habit and stick with it through the school year. I've EVEN been making (as well as *gasp* enjoying) salads. I'm aware if I really wanna get back to looking super awesomesauce ASAP how I'd need to cut out the alcohol completely, but I'm not sure how appealing that sounds yet. (I've come to realize I'd been relying on it to help me relax during the past year in lieu of exercise when I didn't have/make sufficient time and how after that it's just become a habit; hopefully if I keep up with the exercise I won't be as inclined and can at least cut back and do better with portion control.) Though granted, I just got out of surgery so I'll be off it for at least a coupla weeks anyway; we'll see how it all goes.
Anyhow, yay working on being more healthy. It's midnight though so I should proof, post, and try and get some sleep. Hope you're all doing well yourselves, keeping healthy, and making and working towards meeting your own goals. 'Night.
Also, I ran on Tuesday. And I think Sunday before that, but I forgot to record my times. I also forgot to time the first and second miles right anyway, but I remember the overall pace averaged out to about 10 min/mi so I'm happy about that. Before I forget yet again to record my most recent run:
Mile #1: 10.26.20
Mile #2: 10.10.67
Mile #3: 9.49.31 - WHOO I BROKE A 10 MIN/MI AGAIN!
Total: 30.26.18
Due to surgery cannot run again for two weeks.
Speaking of which, background on the surgery. So I finished the school year sick as a friggin' dog, having gotten my third sinus infection in as many months. (I even made the executive decision to bail early on the last day once my classes were done in order to go see the doctor). I figured that that was enough of that business, and decided it's time to get this sorted out for good.
The men in my family have a history of allergies and nasal issues, of which I'm no exception. Thankfully I'm now pretty well located, if not acclimated allergy-wise, have a good job with insurance, and about two months off (yay summer) so I was like, "Hey, I can get this taken care of!" Dad had had some kind of sinus related surgery for similar issues a couple years ago now, I think, and he said it really helped, so once I got well enough at the beginning of summer I looked into it and found a specialist up in Seattle. Long story short, I went in today and he got my deviated septum un-deviated, as well as widened my hypertrophied turbinates. Once all the leakage/bleeding/general blah has passed, I should then be able to breathe better, which I'm VERY MUCH looking forward to. (It was weird, because he put in perspective with me when we first met, "So basically you have trouble breathing." To me hearing that was like asking a fish, "How's the water?" It's just always been how it's been for me, so imagining anything otherwise is just a completely alien concept. I mean, yeah, I guess I DO have trouble breathing. Huh.) Doc told me I probably won't be able to breathe out my nose for about a week, but I figure that's no worse than a sinus infection, and TOTALLY WORTH IT if it's successful and results in significantly fewer sinus infections in the future. So I'm kind of looking at it as an investment. He also told me that while this'll help for a good several months, I also need to see an allergist cos otherwise once those kick in I'll be back to being miserable. Other good news? Found a more local allergist and have an appointment on the 12th. I'm hoping I'll be a good candidate for allergy shots, cos among the people and stories I've heard about those who've gotten them, they've had wondrous results. Plus, I'm sick and tired of dealing with all the effing nose sprays. So, yay using summer when I have down time to get serious and put into action steps to better my health.
Speaking of health, I was feeling pretty proud of utilizing the gym here at the apartments again, and hopefully this year will be able to maintain it (once I'm again able) despite school starting back up. I was slowly adding the running back in as well, but I feel pretty good about it as despite being more fat than I'd prefer (recently hit 20% body fat, ungh; used to be around 14% back in high school when I did sports/ran regularly) and being a bit out of shape, whenever I've attempted getting back in shape over the summers I've always succeeded at avoiding overdoing it and injuring my now twice-as-old-as-I-was-in-high-school self. Oh, and since I'd started doing my morning Sun Salutes after having recovered from my last sinus infection, I've been AWESOME and did them EVERY DAY until now. Unfortunately, that's also gonna be on hold for a while, as I'm told I need to keep my head upright as much as possible. But in any event, yay meeting that goal so far!
Ooh, in other self- and health-improvement news, I finally finished reading the ebook version of Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat; Feed The Muscle book that a former JET colleague had shard with me way back when AND have even taken some time using the information in it to figure out things like my lean body mass, basal metabolic rate, resting heart rate (66 BPM when I woke up the other morning; not bad!) and total daily energy expenditure ranges depending on how much or little exercise I've been doing. Next step will be to figure out (once I get back to normal) what my average calorie intake typically is and then compare against what I need given my initial fat loss goal of getting back down to 16% or less. One of my main professional/personal goals this coming school year, now that I'm no longer provisional, is to take more time for ME and my health. I really want to make a habit of doing progressive weight resistance training on M/W/F with running or other cardio (I dislike treadmills, but I may have to get over that come winter...) on T/Th/Su starting around 4 o'clock each day. Honestly, just doing that much, getting me back into regular EXERCISE (which I realize I do really miss) will make me feel much better physically as well as mentally, look better, and keeps my immune system up as well. I've also been starting to pay a bit more attention to the types and amount of foods and drinks I consume, including even making more dinners lately. Being on break helps with the having time aspect for sure; hopefully I can make it more a habit and stick with it through the school year. I've EVEN been making (as well as *gasp* enjoying) salads. I'm aware if I really wanna get back to looking super awesomesauce ASAP how I'd need to cut out the alcohol completely, but I'm not sure how appealing that sounds yet. (I've come to realize I'd been relying on it to help me relax during the past year in lieu of exercise when I didn't have/make sufficient time and how after that it's just become a habit; hopefully if I keep up with the exercise I won't be as inclined and can at least cut back and do better with portion control.) Though granted, I just got out of surgery so I'll be off it for at least a coupla weeks anyway; we'll see how it all goes.
Anyhow, yay working on being more healthy. It's midnight though so I should proof, post, and try and get some sleep. Hope you're all doing well yourselves, keeping healthy, and making and working towards meeting your own goals. 'Night.