and continue...

Since my last post I determined that I really wasn't experiencing tightness in my chest during workouts when I consistently used the Albuterol inhaler prior to working out. While it is exciting to feel good during workouts again, I am a little nervous about needing the inhaler for exercise. It could be worse though. My doc ordered a full set of pulmonary function tests to determine the overall view of how my lungs are performing these days, and she told me I can race next month if I feel up to it and the Albuterol seems to be working. Very cool. The bigger issue is that I am going to meet with an endocrinologist tomorrow about my thyroid. The thyroid ultrasound showed a nodule that my doc thought might need a biopsy so I'm going to the specialist. Little nerve-wracking, but I know that the majority (like 95%) of people who get biopsies do not have malignant nodules. And I'm not really all that special, am I?

health issues continue

After my week off I have been back at it again. I'm glad to be working out, but my lungs are still and issue. I am on a daily inhaled steriod and I am supposed to use an Albuterol inhaler before workouts... if only I could remember to do so. My workouts this week have been tough; my lungs just don't seem to expand as much as they should and I really struggle in the first 5-10 minutes of my workout. Not all that enjoyable, and its even happening when I swim now. Makes me dread swimming, and I love to swim! Its a bummer. I am nervous that this will become my new normal, which would really stink. On top of the lung issues, I am going through some thyroid testing to see if there is a problem there. I have been really tired and napping more lately than I typically would, but I have attributed that to training and kids keeping me up at night. Maybe not, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

Big comeback followed by time off...

I managed to train well for a week or so after my race, but was so flipping busy that I haven't written (sorry). Then I took a week off - a whole week where I did not workout even once. Normally I would be a little uptight about that, but this was all for good reasons. Last Thursday we started filming Trading Spaces - a three day event. We had applied to be on the show last fall with our friends A & J, and we went pretty far through the process, but they chose to go with teams closer to the city for a more urban setting. Then they called us a couple weeks back to see if we were still interested (the network picked them up for a few more shows so they called us back), and two weeks later we were taping the show. Pretty wild. We had a blast. The first day was a lot of setup and filming background info. The next two days were all about working in the room. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. The day after taping ended (we were exhausted and we had a great new room!) my old friend Ted came to visit. Theo and I became friends when I was sixteen and we were incredibly close. While I haven't seen him in probably eight years, its amazing how the relationship seems to pick up where it left off with good old friends. The next day I went to Chicago for my Grandmother's funeral, which was quite sad. She had been ill for a long time and was deteriorating rapidly, so while we realize she is in a better place, it is never easy to lose someone you love. It was nice to see my family though, despite the reason. Today is the first day that I feel like we are getting back to normal and I actually got a workout in again. I am doing another race next month, so I need to get serious again. I hope that the remainder of this month stays pretty mellow though...