and the doctor said…

Ice, Ice, Ice and do what I can and there’s no shame in turning around if I feel I can’t do it. So before I went to the doctor I did my run or what I could do which really stunk. I went 1.5 miles in 18 minutes and hurt the entire way. So quit, walked back to the car and pouted and fussed and came home. I got home and Mike said call my chiropractor and talk to him, see what he has to say. I can afford a call so did that and he of course said come in, I can’t do that but he said come anyways and pay later when I can. So I went and I took my shoes with so he could see what I’m wearing and what I felt like. He did his thing and said my lower disc is severely swollen and my neck was out of whack so he fixed what he could and told me now it’s up to the healing, icing and do what I think I can with a smart head, not the stubborn one. He says I also need orthopedic things for my shoes for my arches, at a tune of $200.00. I’m hoping the things at Wal-mart will help some. Maybe I need to find that machine they show on TV that analyses the foot and tells you want you need for a fraction of what I’ll have to pay from him though I know the ones he makes are made for me.

So the race is on tomorrow but with the smart head and I will listen to my body. I have to cuz I hate this hurting even though it’s not terrible just annoying.

Just wanted to update you all. Hope all is good with you. Take care and have a blessed weekend.

Here I am coming and going…trying!!!

Challenges…

Because I’m not perfect and I do not always do what’s right and because …. well just because, my weight is up this week. 182.4 that’s up 1.4 lbs. I won’t complain because I know it’s not permanent. It will help once I’m not constipated and when I just keep doing what I know I’m suppose to.

I need this race tomorrow to be over with. I am all about that damn thing. Why I’m not sure but it’s time to just finish it so I can continue with my diet, life style changes and exercise. My ankle feels a bit better, not as painful so today I am going to go run the trail for 15 minutes and see how it does. That will decide what tomorrow will bring, running, walking or nothing. I know my ankles health is important so I’ll know this afternoon what I’ll be doing. Also thank you everyone for your advice and love. It makes making my decision easier knowing that some of you have had to skip a race or walk one when you wanted to run or even just be there when you really have wanted to do more. THANK YOU!!!

My book has been on stall this week. I only have time to read when I go to bed and this week by time I get into bed I can keep my eyes open long enough to cover up and say my prayers so I didn’t read more. Next week will be better, for one thing canning will be done and it’s dark earlier so that means we’ll be in a lot earlier. So this should mean time to relax and read a bit.

My 5K in 100 days with Brad is going excellent. I have been asking him questions and he is really great at answering them for me. I’m learning to breath and that for me is a huge thing. I still pant to much but am learning to just listen to my breathing and feeling just a bit ahead so I know when to slow down to catch my breath. It now takes about 10-15 seconds to catch my breath so I can run again, nothing like even a week ago when it would take me 30-40 seconds to begin to catch it. So I’m learning. This week on Brad’s challenge we were suppose to run without music. THAT IS HARD!!! I use the tempo of the music to help me run. I’ve done it once and will again today but for the race tomorrow it will be loud, fast and so will I, hopefully.

Exercise and water are always the easier part of my plan for getting healthy. A year or so ago I was still struggling on going out and walking 3 times a week, now I hit the gym and the trails at least 4 times a week and I am walking everywhere I can possible go. Heck I even run to my mailbox now. Water, always a minimum of a gallon but when you don’t drink anything but a glass of milk a day it’s easy.

So my intake needs to decrease a bit to lose the added 1.4 lbs and more, I need to race tomorrow and move on, I need to get back to my book, I need to keep up with my running and exercising and most of all I just need to learn to relax and enjoy life. I am such a busy person and I like it that way but I need to live more in the moment and not always be looking ahead and thinking what’s next. Learning, that’s what I’m doing.

So this is my update for the week. I always do it a day or two early because weekends are so unpredictable as to when I’ll get back. I hope you all did excellent this week and if you didn’t, a bit like me, then there’s next week to just do it better. We’re learning and living and moving and becoming the healthiest people possible. Keep up the great work guys. I’ll be by to visit each of you as often as I can. I’ve read some amazing blogs out there and you all are awesome people.

My ankle…

It hurts. Not terrible bad but it’s bothersome. I wonder if it had anything to do with my run on Tuesday when my calf and foot had problems or was it the tennis and walking yesterday in my running shoes or is it just something all together different. It hurts to walk on it and move it around, like I said not terrible but it does hurt.

This can not be the time for this to happen. My run is Saturday, it’s for me and important I do this. I chatted with Brad and he said take today off and go for a 15 minute run tomorrow and that should set me up for Saturday but that was before my ankle started to hurt more. I just don’t know. I guess I’ll just wait and see. I’m a bit worried, upset and down but it could be nothing but over doing it this week getting ready or maybe it’s something and I should go and find out but there’s no way I can afford to do that right now so hopefully it’ll just fix itself. I haven’t taken anything yet, you know me and medicine, but I have put it up and iced it and it’s not swollen just hurts. Oh well, this too shall pass but hoping sooner then later this time.

Food is mostly on track (not perfect but tasting the things I’m canning is a must plus making meals for the store requires tasting too but just a lick here and there but I know it adds up) and exercise other then today has been spot on so here’s hoping the predicted 1.6 pounds happens.

There’s nothing else new or important to share, just down a bit I think. I hope you all are having an awesome day, a blessed day. Take care my friends.

Just so you know …. and….

Blogger will not let me comment again. I can sign in, I can type a comment but the minute I press go it’s gone so I’ll try it again. I did that four times on Allan’s blog, 3 on Mir’s and quite a few times on a bunch others but I can’t but do know that I’m reading and sooner or later I’ll be able to comment again. They fixed it the last time, they’ll fix it again. At least I’m able to read everyone blogs and e-mail some here and there. Just everyone know, just keep up the great work, no quitting and keep trying your hardest. Some days are easy, other days are so-so and then there are those days that are almost impossible but you’re strong, your able and you know that you want to be happy and healthy so just keep working at it and it’ll happen.

Now yesterday Mike was home and we went hiking in the woods and he loves taking pictures and would get some of me here and there and I wanted to share a couple with you he took. I’m still no beauty queen but it is nice to not feel quite as discussed with the pictures. Anyways, here’s a few.

Last night Jim and I went for a walk up the road. Here’s what we saw. The just kept eating and watching us until the house door shut behind them.

 

I made a meatloaf today that is different. I didn’t have the usual stuff for a meat loaf or if I did it wasn’t a bunch so I mixed hamburger, turkey burger, onions, eggs, oatmeal (yep that’s normal so far) and then spinach, carrots, tomatoes and about 1/2 cup shredded cheese. It sure was colorful going in …

And browned up really nice. I’m hoping it’ll taste good.

Oh today Brenda and I played tennis for 1.5 hours and then went for a 2.25 mile fast walk, we burned about 800-900 calories doing that today. We worked hard, played hard and talked our way through it all. Not all balls get hit back but we aren’t the worlds worse players either. It is wonderful having a fitness partner. I know that come winter life is harder for her and she sorta curls into a cocoon but for now I will enjoy each and every workout we have together.

 

  

Okay back to the potatoes and apples. Take care my friends and have a wonderful evening. Blessings to you all!!

Lawler, MN

A long time ago, in October of 1918 Minnesota was as dry as a tinder box and one terrible day the train that was running from the Cuyuna Range to Duluth filled with Coal and lumber sparked a fire that killed 453 people and 52,000 people lost their homes, businesses, farms and so much more. 38 communities and 250,000 acres destroyed. All in a days time. My mama read an article in our local paper about Lawler and wanted to go check it out. Just to see what the town was like now, how it survived or didn’t and what they had done with it since then. The fire was known as the Cloquet Moose Lake Fire of 1918. It was the worse natural disaster in Northern Minnesota’s history.

So today we went for a day trip and it was the perfect weather for it, Mama, Mike and I. Lawler is about 45 miles from home and our trip there was uneventful because we took the main route there. But once we were there it was amazing. No, the town never came back to life. We found some burnt buildings, boarded up ones and a few people that still live there. A lot is boarded off or fenced off but we were still able to get to some of it and also touch and feel a bit.

So without any more words, here’s part of what we saw.

The church and community center….

 

Feed store…

The bank. I love the the brick work…

  The mercantile….

Lots of piles of building that were at one time…

The train depot. Just a tiny one room depot.

 

And last but not least the town sign and about the fire. If you click on any of the pictures they’ll get bigger for details and reading.

So there you have our day trip to Lawler. Interesting, a learning experience and so much more. Now for just a couple pictures of our trip home.

Thank you for joining me on our journey. We did have a great time and next time mama wants to go and do, I’ll be there with bells on ready to go and just see what else we can learn.

I hope you all had a great day. I’m off to bed. Take care my friends, blessings to you all!!

Thank you everyone…

For your help with trying to figure out what was up with my leg and foot. Since I am pretty sure it’s not a hydration issue (because I drink a gallon or so of water each day) it has to be the shoes or something else is wrong but I’ll go with the shoes and see how tomorrow’s run goes. I will also make sure I drink plenty an hour or so before I run (so I can pee before I head out) and again when I’m done so that I’m well hydrated. Jim rubbed my calf twice last night because I couldn’t even walk on it without hobbling but today other then it’s extremely tired I’m fine. I’m also having Mike pick me up a few banana’s for the potassium because I had at least two comments that said try that. Thank you for your kind words and support. I’ll keep you posted on tomorrow how it goes. Today I just walked a mile and use the elliptical for 1.5 miles and that was more then enough for my legs. I did use all the weights and free weights so got a good work out in plus got to swim for 30 minutes.

Today was a great day. I was off for the most part so spent it first working out at 5:30 and then picking up my mama at 9 and taking her on a field trip to a ghost town called Lawler. I’ll share pictures and more about it tomorrow. Right now after school daycare is on it’s way.

Take care my friends and have an awesome afternoon/evening. It is a great day to be alive.

38:18…

That is the time I ran the trail tonight, the one I run on Saturday. I didn’t run the full thing, had to walk a bit between running but all in all I think my time is fair. I want better but that’s just me, trying to improve.

I had one problem tonight though, my left calf got a cramp in it near the beginning and stayed with me the full time and by time I was 3/4 done my foot started to tingle, like it had fallen asleep. Now my shoes aren’t to tight, in fact they are just a tad to big (I can’t afford new ones right now so am using the old ones). I did stretch before starting and I did start out fairly slow and then picked up the pace. I also drank water at the beginning and Mike gave me sips along the way. He rode his bike along side me, around me and encouraged the whole way along.

So my question tonight is, anything I can do to fix this? More stretching, more warm up, more water?

I am tired, just finished up canning the rhubarb/apple sauce so it’s time for bed. My workout is tomorrow morning at 5:30 and then a day of taking mama sight seeing. Daycare at 3ish and done by 6ish.

Thanks for any help you can offer. Take care and have a blessed night sleep.

Fruit…oh my…and…

Loving it. I am so glad my uncle just lives up the road from me. I was able to first visit with grandma for a good long time, she’s doing great…her arm is healing but she gets mad because it’s taking forever but it doesn’t keep her from doing her own tomatoes. Anyways, Mark’s apple tree is finally ready to pick. When I tried them earlier this month they tasted nasty. Sour, hard skinned and just plain yucky but now that we’ve had at least two hard frosts and many light ones they are just right for the picking. Joss helped me pick today, she’s such a great little helper. Take a peek…

 

                     

We also picked grapes. Tomorrow I get to go pick a bucket full, yeah I know I wasn’t going to do grapes again but I hate letting them go to waste and this year Mark and grandma don’t have time to do it all so I’ll go and get some. Here’s what we got today.

The purple ones are great but the green ones are awesome. There aren’t many more of the green ones so I won’t be getting those but I’ll get enough purple ones to make another batch of syrup jelly.

We ride a refurbished golf cart to grandma’s. The dogs get to ride along and Joss sits in my lap. It’s really not that far, 2/3 or a mile but to far to carry Joss and apples and grapes and have the dogs on a leash. I have to tie the dummies in the cart because they like to jump off before I’ve stopped and I’m afraid I’ll hurt them or they’ll get hurt jumping.

So what happens when you leave a puppy outside while you’re making lunch or doing anything but playing with her? She brings the weirdest things up on the porch and Wilbur’s couch. Guess how bad that smells! Ewe….

Scout loves playing with Bobby, the monster kitty, but Bobby gets tired of it after awhile. I don’t feel sorry for Monster Bobby though because just when the puppy goes to sleep, the cat attacks so turn about is fair play. And yes, that’s a real John Deere BBQ grill. It dates back into the 60’s but still works wonderfully.

I got the last of my rhubarb today, to add to my apple crisp in just a little bit. And see what I found on my volunteer tomato plant. YEAH!!! I was happy to see just a few more.

And last but not least two more pictures. I love sharing pictures…..Fall has arrived and it’s beautiful. This is our front yard, I mowed for 5 hours yesterday, I got our neighbors place done, ours and mama and daddy’s. I figured I mowed about 10 acres. But now I can get the lawn mowers serviced (yes I change my own oil and grease them but I don’t, at least if I complain enough, I don’t sharpen the blades…I hate that job). I try and get them done in the fall because spring time is just so hectic trying to get other stuff done that if I do them now it’s just easier.

So there’s my day so far. It’s time to fix the spaghetti, make some sauce and an apple/rhubarb crisp or maybe pie. Joss is napping and the laundry is going so time to just relax and play in the kitchen.

Hey, here’s a question for you…..what do you think is housed in that brown building? Nothing smaller then 20,000 lbs. I’ll be showing you when we go to school on the 11th of this month. I’ve showed you before on my old blog but it’s been a year.

Take care my friends, have a blessed afternoon.