A Good Week

Well it's been a hell of a week.  A lot has happened. I started the week of with what I thought was just a little injury but seems to be a bit more serious than that.  We're (meaning my doctor and I) pretty sure I have Morton's Neuroma.  Basically, the nerve between the 3rd and 4th toe (in my case on my left foot) is irritated and a thickening happens around it causing, burning, numbness and pain.  I usually say it's great to know what the problem is but in this case it's difficult to treat without surgery, but we're gonna try!  First order of business is a new pair of running shoes.  I actually did the elliptical in an old pair and the pain was much reduced so I hold out hope that this option will help. Also I'm not wearing high heels at all.  This is a hard one because I LOVE my high heal sandals.  I can also get orthotics but I'm going to try new shoes first and see where we go.

All of this injury business means I haven't run in over a week.  Man do I miss it.  It's so much easier to do that all the other forms of exercise I've been doing to make up for it.  I talked last week about trying biking.  Well it doesn't hurt the foot at all so it's a great alternative for my cardio.  My first ride was sort of disastrous.    I had to pull my daughter in a bike trailer and while she only weighs 30lb that was a lot of extra weight to me.  I, on either a whim of stupidity or bravado,  decided to go around the entire perimeter of base which is just under 9 miles.  Well, that was a mistake.  I had to walk up three separate hills and thought I might die.  I did make it around finally at around 1 hour and 15 min.

I've also started using my elliptical machine again.  I hate using it because it's unbelievably boring but I needed something.  I still get the pain in my foot but to a lesser degree.  I'm going to try doing it today in my toe shoes (you know the ones where your toes each have their own separate area) and see how it goes.   I will say I have noticed a significant difference in my ability to work out.  I knew my runs were getting better but I was able to tell how much more efficient my heart is getting on the treadmill.  I did a complete hour at a moderate workout level and my heart rate stayed between 120-140.  I know that doing just a half hour, 6 weeks out from surgery would have my heart pushing 170+.  I'm pretty happy to see that improvement.

My husband and I were able to get free tickets to the Orion Music Festival in Atlantic City, NJ.  It was put on by Metallica and was a nice mix of music, everything from metal to country.  We were supposed to go both Saturday and Sunday but we just couldn't do Sunday.  Apparently we've aged a fair bit and Saturday just took everything out of us.  I am so thankful for my sleeve and the weight I've lost because of it.  I never would have made 8+ hours on my feet and sitting on the hard, wet ground at 270+ lbs.  It was even a little rough at 185, so I'm very happy that I've lost so much weight.  As I looked around and saw so many morbidly obese people, it took everything in me not to run up and yell, it can be so much better.  I know I have no right to do that and I never would but it's very hard when you feel like you have this secret.

I made pretty good decision considering we were at a music festival.  Only drank water, made good food decisions too.  I didn't work out on Friday or Saturday because of lack of time and by Sunday I was itching to do it so when I woke up on Sunday I hit the gym at the hotel for another hour on the elliptical.  I must be doing something right since I lost another 4 lbs this week to bring me to 181.6 lbs.  Pretty soon I won't be considered obese anymore!

I'll leave you with some pics from this weekend:

Artie and I, an actual decent pic!

Cage the Elephant

Waiting for Metallica

METALLICA!!!!!!!!!!

And Sunday on the Atlantic City Boardwalk