Oct. 2006
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Oct. 2
Ran three miles this morning and rode four miles on my mountain bike for the first time ever! Needless to say, I have tons of energy these days! And it feels wonderful!

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Oct. 3
Worked out my upper body today for 40 minutes and then decided I still had energy to spare! Ran 45 min. intervals and kicked my own rear! Ended up napping with Andrew this afternoon before our 25-min. bike ride. Gotta take advantage of this fantabulous weather before it starts getting too cold to ride!

Know what's odd? That weird spasm in my jaw is back, you know, the shooting pain that you feel when you bite into a lemon. This was one of the first few chemo side effects I experienced about this same time last year. Ouch.

This extra energy kinda scares me. I know it sounds so pessimistic of me, but is this the calm before the storm again? Will I get cancer again any time soon? I hope not. I am really loving life these days and enjoying living cancer-free.

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Oct. 4
I hit four miles on the treadmill today at 43:21 minutes! My first time ever running four miles! Yee-haw! LOL. And then Matt, the manager and my boss (I work every other weekends at the gym -- four days a MONTH, lol), signed me up for the 5:15 MORNING spin class for next Tuesday. Told him I'd do it if I could sit next to him. Hahaha! And we talked Flo into signing up too. I hope Flo really did put our names on some gel seats for that class!

Yeah, I work at the gym now. Front desk. Nothing stressful, but loads of fun. I really enjoy meeting new people and making new friend. It's really my only outlet for adult interaction. As much as I love my kids and husband, working at the gym is actually a nice break away from home.

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Oct. 7
It's cool today, with a high of only 61 degrees, a big drop considering our highs reached in the upper 70s to lower 80s the past couple of weeks. I noticed my cold sensitivity again as I washed my hands in cold water earlier this morning. Also, my fingers are tingling right now, almost like they're about to fall asleep. Maybe I'm starting to get feeling back in my finger tips?

Ran three miles on the treadmill at the gym this morning. I spoke with a guy whom I see running every time I'm there, so I chatted with him a bit about running. His name is Pete. Pete gave me some tips (i.e., run on the treadmill with an incline of about 1% to mimic running outdoors -- which I did not know I should do) and information on a local running club.

I thought I was doing well, running 3 miles in 34 min., but when I saw winning scores from one of the last runs, my eyes widened as I read 19 minutes for the female overall winner and 17 min. for the male overall winner. Geez-Louise! LOL! So, I think I'll work on speed now that I've reached my goal of 3 miles. Did I tell you I ran 4 miles a few days ago? Not bad for a non-runner!

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Oct. 8
Decided to try running outdoors today. Two laps around the lake out back equals a little over a mile. What a gorgeous day! It's starting to feel like fall is fast appraoching -- cool in a tank and shorts, but quick to warm up once I started running. I enjoyed watching a bunny hop out of my way and into the woods. But I did not enjoy getting gnats in my mouth. LOL. I felt out of shape when I finished running twice around the lake. It took me 15 minutes! Ahhhh! It's a very hilly path, but all the better for my workout. Not good on time though. Need to practice running outside more . . . AND at a 1% incline on the treadmill!

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Oct. 11
I simply did NOT want to go to the gym today, though I knew I couldn't skip out on a workout. Thank goodness for my step bench and dumbbells! Can't wait to get our Smith Machine gym system, especially on days like this! Instead, I stayed home and put my mat, dumbbells and step bench to work, focusing on abs, legs and shoulders, finishing off with a low-impact cardio session.

Didn't want to run today, since I ran at a 1% incline for the first time yesterday. I recently learned that a 1% incline on the treadmill is supposed to mimic running outdoors, and it makes the world of a difference! I only ran 2.5 miles yesterday, and it took me 31 min.! And I thought I was doing well, running 3 and 4 miles on the treadmill (at 0% incline). Who am I kidding?! LOL!

Anyway, to give my running muscles a break, I decided to use my favorite cardio DVD -- Caribbean Workout with Shelley McDonald (Hi-Lo Impact) -- for a quick, low-impact cardio session. So I spent a little over an hour with my workout today. Not bad. And the sweat equity will be well worth it, I'm certain!

I know this is going to sound odd, but my eyes started welling up with tears and I was half through with my low-impact aerobics workout. No, not because I was dying (lol), but because it reminded me clear as day of the first few weeks I started working out with this DVD soon after I finished my last chemo treatment in April. I couldn't even finish a session without taking breaks in between segments. It tears me up to know that I was that run down and out of shape!!

Speaking of being run down . . . as much as I have had lots of energy these days to work out hard and do regular runs, I've actually been feeling very fatigued after my workouts. Yesterday, I was so exhausted after my upper body workout and run, that I went to bed at 7pm and didn't get up until after 7 this morning! That's 12 hours of sleep! Last time I felt this way, I found myself diagnosed with cancer. It's scaring me a little. I mean, maybe I'm just being overly paranoid about being anemic again . . . maybe having cancer again. Maybe I'm just over-taxing my body with my workouts and diet. I know I'm eating enough, as I keep a spreadsheet of my daily nutritional intake. I think I'm going to make a doctor's appointment -- JUST IN CASE.

Tomorrow's a running day, so I'd better get to bed soon. Maybe I'll run around the neighborhood for a change of pace from the gym and from the lake trail.

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Oct. 15
I've been feeling quite run down these past few days, even having severe abdominal cramps. The cramps scare me -- I keep thinking the cancer is back. Haven't had cramping since yesterday, though. If it comes back again, I'll plan on making an appointment with the doc. Now that David's no longer in the Navy, I have to find a new doctor. I am going to miss my primary care physician. It's so hard to find a doc whom I can feel comfortable with, and of course, one of the down sides of being military, whenever I find I can be comfortable with a doctor, it's time to move on. [Sigh.]

Going to take Armani to work now. Will write more tomorrow.

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Oct.30
At the end of six months from my last chemo treatment, I am feeling better than ever! Life is grand!!! My energy level is high throughout most of my days, and for the most part, I look forward to my daily workouts at the gym -- whether running on the treadmill, hitting the weights, and as of today, taking an hour-long step class -- it's all good! My weight is coming off slowly now, even plateauing for several weeks. I'm lucky if I lose half a pound per week. I decided to increase my caloric intake, fearing I wasn't eating enough food, plus I took off from workouts all last week.

And I'm now seeing a decrease in my weight. Slow going, but the up side is that I'm steadily LOSING -- as opposed to gaining -- weight. Hair is growing in thicker (and darker) than ever! I have natural dark brown hair, but it's really, really dark right now -- darker than normal, that's for sure. I'll start highlighting it soon. I don't like black hair on me.

Hope all of you are ready for the trick-or-treaters tomorrow night! Don't forget to buy some treats for them!

P.S. Andrew is going as Thomas the Tank Engine again. LOL.

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