Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sunday Morning Ramblings

This morning I've just been sitting here at my computer reading email and blogs, just feeling kind of blah. This past week, for some reason, I haven't felt very motivated to do much. I've actually felt pretty exhausted and I'm not sure why. It could be from a medication (not for asthma) that I'm on. I have to monitor it because too much makes me extremely tired, but too little and I get a bit agitated and toss and turn all night. It can also be due to work. Things have been a bit stressful at work for several reasons. One being the economy affects the industry I work in, another is that we're in the middle of implementing a new information system and this is a crucial time of year for us. We're currently working in two systems, the old and new. I'm a programmer, which means I'm programming in both systems and we're flying by the seat of our pants learning the new one. Plus, the demands from the top administrators for statistic reports from both systems have been relentless this past week. There were a few nights that I either stayed up late working and getting up early and days where I could barely stay awake at work, even had difficulty driving home because I was so tired, and crawled into bed by 8:00. Hopefully, this week will be better.

Last Saturday, the day before Easter, I ran W2D1 of my running program at the lake again. I think it was my third time running outside and it was a bit easier this time. I kept focused on the music and on my breathing. Because I have asthma (exercised and allergy induced), I've been reading about breathing techniques. A good book I found is Reversing Asthma by Richard N. Firshein, D.O. After reading that book and several articles online, I discovered that I don't breathe from the abdomen, I breathe from the chest, which is not an effective way of breathing. Anyway, to make a long story short, I've learned some breathing techniques that have helped me breathe and feel better. I've been using some of the techniques while running and they have helped. I make sure I breathe deep from the abdomen and fully exhale. And, since I'm concentrating on breathing, the runs are easier and go faster.

I didn't run again until Thursday. I did W2D2 on the treadmill. It was drizzly outside and I was feeling blah and tired. I didn't feel motivated to run, but somehow, I managed to talk myself into putting my shoes on and just do it. I did feel much better afterward, so I started up my work laptop and worked until 11:30. So far this weekend I haven't done any kind of exercising, unless you count going to my granddaughters fifth birthday party yesterday at the bowling alley and helping six four and five year olds bowl. Today my legs sure feel like I've done a lot of squats.

I think one reason I have a difficult time staying motivated is because I'm doing this all by myself. I know that it's really up to us to push ourselves to do things, but it sure helps if you have supportive people in your life. As I read other blogs, I notice that everyone has at least one person to talk to and share their goals with. I don't really have that. Sure, I have two grown daughters that you would think I could share with and get support from, but they're both so wrapped up in their own lives (husband, kids) and working hard on establishing their careers (one is a photographer and co-owner of a car repair shop and the other is a personal trainer at the YMCA and has her own personal training business) that they don't have time to fit in anything else. In fact, I help them out if they need it. As far as friends go, I don't have any close friendships and presently no significant other. I guess all I do is work. Hmmm, I really need to get a social life. But, at this age, it's more difficult than you think.

Anyway, those are my thoughts so far today. I think I’ll make myself a Sunday To Do list and put W2D3 at the top.

1 comment:

Anne said...

Perhaps you could look into a local running group...such as with running room :) ...you could meet some like-minded cool runners!
Good job getting that treadmill run in :)