Web Robin

Update

I just returned from my follow-up appointment with my Doctor who did the surgery. Besides the fact I was amazed that I could remember how to drive a car, it went pretty smoothly. They removed my staples (which hurt!), and told me the pathology report on the gall-bladder they removed. Apparently it had been "bad" for some time showing inflammation going back for months. I also had lots (and lots) of stones in there ranging in size from 0.2-0.5 cm. It sounds tiny until they are flowing through your valves and getting-stuck-.
So thanks to everyone for the calls/cards/gifts/flowers. I really appreciate it, and am thrilled to be on the road to recovery. I was cleared to return to work on Sunday, and will be doing a lot of resting up so that I can be ready.

I think I can, I think I can...

All week long I've been debating what group to go with on today's outing with the running club. The people who were training for the 1/2 marathon were supposed to do 6 miles because they  (presumably) ran in an event last weekend. The full marathon group was to run 18 miles.

Well, 6 seemed too short, but 18 seemed excessive, so I decided I'd just go and find out who was doing what, and maybe do a dozen miles or so.

Instead, I ended up doing the ENTIRE DISTANCE! (time = 4.5 hours) I won't lie -- the last 5 miles were hard work, and the very last mile -- wow. My legs just wanted to stop.

I told the group of 7 women I was with that I was just going to walk the last bit, but one person (who'd been talking and laughing and singing the whole way, keeping us entertained) said "No way!" that I could make it. So after walking a few minutes, I started jogging again off and on. Everyone wants to sprint the last bit in -- and I did the last 1/4 mile jogging. Would you believe it? My cheerleader came back to "run me in"! She said she didn't want me to be alone. How nice is that? Anyway, as you can imagine, it was high fives and hugs all around at the finish line.

For those of you who know the area, this distance was from the park by Mom's house to the fish hatchery at Hazel. When we got there we could smell the barbecue for the Salmon festival, so after I got cleaned up, Rick and I went over and got us some yummy salmon. (Thank goodness there were shuttle buses from the parking lot!) A fun way to spend the day.

Who knew? Walking can be as hard as running

Saturday I decided to go with the walkers instead of the runners, in an effort to protect my knees. A group of us from work are going to hike up Half Dome in Yosemite on Friday, and I didn't want anything to get in my way. I have had sore knees for a day or two after the long runs, so walking seemed like a good idea.

I joined the fastest walking group, which started out at 14 min miles. Keep in mind that that is the pace the running group wants to have as an average between the jogging and walking breaks.

I did ok until during the second half when the leader boosted the pace to 13 min per mile. Oy, I could not keep up! I kept having to jog to catch up to him, walk for a while, fall behind, jog to catch up.....

By mile 9 I abandoned the plan to keep up with him, slowed down, caught my breath, then jogged the last quarter mile in. Finish time = 13.8 min/mile, about 30 seconds per mile slower than running.

And, oh, the different muscles that are complaining. Still... my knees are ok, so I guess it was a good enough plan.

Childhood earaches: Adult overweight

I love stories like this one that describes research conducted by "taste and hearing specialists" at the University of Florida College of Dentistry in Gainesville. It seems they noticed that grown-ups who were overweight were very likely to have had frequent ear infections as children.

Count me in that group. I still remember crying on the floor outside of mom and dad's closed door one night and holding my ear. I must have been pretty little. My memory is all "ow, ow, ow, mama, mama, mama." (sad, eh?)

Anyway, the researchers hypothesize that frequent ear infections damage one of the nerves that governs taste, so that the person ends up preferring rich, yummy foods that are calorie dense, like bacon, ham, ice cream and Oreos.
(funny, but those are the foods mentioned)

I don't know what the value of studies like this is -- beyond entertainment value -- except maybe to alert parents to be vigilant about a child's possible tendency to prefer treats and to be "vigilant about setting limits."

Same goes for all of us grown-ups too, I guess.

This week's big workout

I'm happy to report that this morning I ran farther than I ever have before: 11.5 miles.

It was really, really hard. But, I was with a fun group of women. Believe it or not, at times we were singing, laughing, and telling jokes. (less on the 2nd half, to be sure)

One of the reasons it was hard is that this group ran 3 minutes, then walked 1. The group I was with previously did 2 min runs + 1 min walk.

We aren't out to set any speed records -- the goal is to build endurance.

Anyway, each Saturday until October our runs will stay in the double-digits, with the greatest distance for our group, at least those training for the marathon, being 16 miles. 1/2-marathoners will do 14. "Real" runners run much farther.

My intention in posting these exercise updates is not to brag, but just to share something that's important to me and a real challenge. I actually get quite nervous before the long Saturday run, because I know it will be hard and I'm not completely confident I can finish it.

One good part about being with this group is where we run: along the American River. So after today's run, I (slowly) walked the 1/4 mile back to the car, got my thongs and gingerly walked down to the river where I stood thigh deep in the cold water for about 20 minutes. I figured this method of cooling my knees might be a good way to avoid too much soreness. There were a lot of us in the water today.

The worst thing about today's outing? I forgot to bring my ipod so didn't record the miles.

I'm stronger than I look

When I plugged my iPod in to my computer this afternoon to upload my most recent workouts, I saw that I'd reached another milestone. The Nike+ site is fun in that it not only awards "trophies" and certificates for printing, it makes it easy to brag, too.  ;-)

Get off the couch!

Check out this article about a study from the  Stanford University School of Medicine about the effects of running on people older than 50. Researchers tracked 538 runners for 20 years and found that death rates were lower, disability was delayed, and injuries were lower than expected, compared to non-runners.

Back on Track

Fitness update -- after being derailed for most of the summer due to bronchitis that lingered way too long, plus the complications of business travel, I re-joined the group of walkers and runners along the American River Parkway today.

The group I was with completed 10 miles using a 2 min run/1 min walk pattern. (2.5 hours = 15 min miles)

We were going pretty slowly, but that was great because we were able to finish without feeling exhausted. (My knees are complaining, though.)

From this point on, we're to work either toward a marathon or 1/2-marathon. The longest run for the first group is 20 miles and for the 2nd is 16. Either one is way more than I've ever done before, so it will be interesting to see if I can get my endurance built up to that level.

Anyone want a pedicure?

Have you seen recent news items about a fad of beauty shops that use fish to do (preliminary) pedicures? Supposedly the fish are more precise and safer than clumsy humans.

Take a look at this video and see if you're ready for a "Dr. Fish" pedicure!

(It starts with a quick commercial: the news story follows.)

Read more about it here.

Getting Rid of Allergies -- an XXtreme Strategy

Reading this article about one scientist's investigation to cure allergies left me squirming. (It's not for the squeamish!)

Thankfully, it's not the ultimate solution... but people are begging for it. Would you?