Hope everybody had a good weekend. Here's how mine went:
I was not feeling well at all this weekend. Not sick like I was last weekend when I ate gluten accidentally, just an exhausted, I-need-to-rest-all-weekend-and-not-do-anything kind of not feeling well. I battle this on a fairly regular basis - it seems to be the main component of the damage from the celiac disease that will take the longest to repair itself. I have absolutely no energy - at all - ever. I am sure that being so heavy and sedentary for so long also makes my energy level low, but the main problem is the effects of having celiac for so long without knowing it and having to wait for my body to repair itself (which can take up to two years after starting a gluten-free diet). I have been gluten-free for eight months now, so I still have a ways to go before I totally beat this feeling of just generally being unwell. For a while, I figured the best thing to do was to rest as much as possible (pretty much just going to work and going back home to rest) so that my body could rebuild and regenerate. But I recently decided that I am tired of laying around doing nothing so much of the time and I am not willing to wait anymore to live my life. If I have to go about my activities feeling bad, then that's just what I have to do.
So having said all that, the big job this weekend was cleaning out the garage. As it turned out, I was unable to help Larry a whole lot with this because it involved a lot of stooping, bending and dragging heavy stuff. He was not about to let me do too much of this, fearing I would re-injure my back, and I must admit I didn't argue too much because I don't want to re-injure my back, either! So I basically held open garbage bags and dragged the lightest ones to the bagster (which is a temporary dumpster he bought to put all our garbage in - when you fill it up, you just call the company and they come and pick it up). Of course, the downside to this is that he is coming down with a monster cold, so he didn't feel up to doing the garage at all. Since we didn't get it done last weekend because of my accidental gluten consumption, it had to get done this weekend (we need to replace our water heater and that can't get done until the garage is cleaned up), so it was tough because he didn't feel up to doing it and I couldn't do more than assist him with the lighter stuff. We didn't get it TOTALLY cleaned up, but we (mostly he) made a good dent in it and he says that he can do a little bit each afternoon after work (he gets home from work a lot earlier than I do) so that it will hopefully be finished by the end of the week. So this past Saturday I did what I could to help him, but didn't do much else. That meant that Sunday was very busy for me (and I felt so bad that just getting out of bed was an effort).
I needed to get my W1D2 C25K workout in on Sunday, but I put it off until Sunday night because I had so much to get done otherwise (which was a mistake). By the time I got out to do the workout, it was 6:30 at night and I was SO EXHAUSTED from not feeling well and having been on the go all day that I didn't think I could do it. If I hadn't committed to doing this 5K in May, I wouldn't have done it - no question about that. But I have, so I went out to do it. And here's the thing:
I. Hated. Every. Stinking. Step.
HATED IT!!! Truly didn't think I could finish it, but was bound and determined I was going to keep moving until my legs gave out. Otherwise - if I quit before I have even really started - I will never try again. And I just couldn't stand the thought of giving up so easily - so I just kept going until time was up. And the big surprise? My legs didn't feel weak and shaky like they did after the first workout. Don't ask me why - the rest of me felt like I couldn't make it back to the house - but my legs felt okay. Go figure.
I also have to say that I am still self-conscious about walking/jogging in my neighborhood. I could see my shadow in the streetlights when I was jogging, and I look absolutely ridiculous. It's like watching the Sta-Puf marshmallow man barely moving while attempting to jog down the street - just ridiculous. A couple of times, my neighbors came out of their houses for one reason or another and I couldn't help but think that they were wondering, at the very least, what has possessed me and why I would do something so foolish as jogging at my size. But I just threw up my hand, waved and kept going. I wish I could say I don't care what they think at all. I guess I do care, at least a little bit, or I wouldn't keep thinking about it. But I don't care enough to let it stop me. If people laugh at me (and I could see why they would), it's okay. It would hurt, but it wouldn't hurt nearly as much as before I started this journey. Because I know that I am doing something good for me - and in the end, it doesn't matter what others think. It only matters what I think. And I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR GETTING THROUGH THAT WORKOUT WHEN I FELT SO BAD!!!
So it's all good.
Well, that's it for now. Next workout will be Tuesday morning. Keep your fingers crossed that I can keep making this happen!
Susan
: Not only did you make yourself smile and be happy, but you brightened the day for many of us around here. To see you go through a lot of pain and discouragement over the last month, and to witness how you turn that around into the start of something wonderful for yourself is so inspiring and refreshing to see.
. There is a lot of debate about running stretches...but the general rule of thumb is to do a nice walk warm-up for about 5 minutes prior to your run...that should warm up your mucles. Then after your run, when your muscles are completely warmed up, do your stretches 
. The thought on not stretching pre-run is that your muscles are cold thus more prone to getting injured during the stretch. A good alternative is to do your 5 minute walk, then do some basic pre run stretches (calfs, arms, quads)...then start the run and afterwards do a longer series of stretches.
here at home and on the DIS for you!!! 
So I'm not going to push it - I'm just going to try to ride it out and start back again when I feel better (maybe that's why I felt so lousy on Sunday and I just didn't realize I was coming down with something). Anyway, I will post again when I am back at it.
You are a fighter...and you will have success. I just know it. 
) Anyhoo, hope all of you have a great weekend and stay warm!
