Six Miler

Yesterday's work out gets its own post, because I am very proud of it, and because my workout summary for the week is going to SUCK and I don't want this accomplishment to get lost in the fray. :)

I did six miles (6.01 miles) in 65 minutes on the treadmill. I was so pleased! This is my longest distance yet, and I did quite a bit of running. I did it walking in two minute intervals and running in three minute intervals. I started running at 5.0 mph, then the next one at 5.5, then 6.0, all the way up to 7.0 mph. Then I had to back it down to 6.5 mph for the last couple intervals, as I was DYING. 

p.s. My new running shoes feel AWESOME when I run. So glad I bought them. 

p.p.s. My toenail is turning blacker and blacker. Now it's twin on my other foot is starting to go. Not good for the first real "sandal" day of "summer" here in Seattle, haha.

p.p.p.s I am wearing my black toenail(s) like badges of honor. 

Yesterday was a power workout day, because I also rocked it on the ab machine. For the first time, I bumped up the weight to 50 pounds. What does this mean?? I'm not sure, but 50 pounds was dang near impossible for me to move with my abs. I did "mini-crunches" at that setting, haha. But I did a bunch of 'em. And I am doing at least one set of 25 at 40 pounds, typically two sets. This is a big accomplishment, because when I started, 40 pounds was as hard for me then as 50 pounds is now. So I am definitely seeing progress. Sadly, I am not sure what the weights on the weight machine equate to in real life, because I am not sure I could do a "real" sit-up yet! Haven't tried it, though.

Today, I am having a mid-day MRI on my left shoulder. Sigh. You just know I tore my rotater cuff. This stems from an overly drunken New Year's Eve with Cappy when we were outside a bar smoking. I was wearing too-high-heeled boots, and I got my feet tangled up like a giraffe and went down like a tree. Right smack dab onto my left shoulder. I'm left handed. Six months later, it still hurts. Not so much that I am incapacitated, but enough that I am pretty darn unhappy. And worse, it re-injures easily, so I'm apt at any time to be back in greater amounts of pain.

I am soooo bummed. If I need surgery, it's really going to suck for my attempts at saving paid time off for a lower body lift. And it will cost money. And, and, and. Hopefully, though, it won't require surgery. I've made it this long without it. The doctor says I can get cortizone shots to help with the pain. I've had great success with those shots in the past. We'll see.

The main thing for me, now, though, is that I am crazy claustrophobic. Last time I had an MRI, I swore they'd never get me conscious into one of those machines again. I walked straight from the doctor's office to the drugstore and bought a pack of cigarettes and sat on the steps and bawled my eyes out. 

This time, though, I am over 120 pounds lighter. I won't have to hold my arms above my head the whole time in order to fit in the machine. I won't be inches away from the edge. Plus, they said it's a new machine that isn't quite the "open-sided" one, but the radiologist said few people have claustrophobia issues with it. And, my doctor gave me a couple Xanax. :) I don't think I'll have any issues with it.