I hit the back of my right hand against the corner of a table at work today and now my fingers and arm has pains shooting throughout. I’m going to try to sleep this off, but the pain has me a bit worried. Going to call the rheumatologist if this continues on to the weekend.
Since utilizing my YMCA membership, I’ve taken the opportunity to go running on their treadmills for about 30 minutes each visit. I have to say that running on a treadmill is very difficult for me. I think my stamina has been good for the intervals I’ve set, but I just have this constant fear that I’m going to trip and fall and in front of so many people. Thankfully, nothing like that has happened yet, but my experience on the treadmill these past few weeks has gotten me thinking that I enjoy running best when I’m on the road. I like being able to set my own pace as I go along the road; on the treadmill, I end up stressing out over the intervals changing on me and me not being prepared for the change in pace.
Right now, the only road running I do is the 2.5+ mile block around my house (usually 2 or 3 times). I tried doing Kapiolani Park for a few weeks, but I gave up after awhile because it was rather bothersome to run earlier in the day because of my schedule and because of my blood sugar management. I may look to occasionally do that, but I think it works best for me to run around my neighborhood, though I do enjoy new running scenery now and then.
With all that said, I have been seriously considering entering road races because I think I can actually thrive in that kind of setting. When I did the GAR this past February, I thought I would just be walking because I thought it would be hard to make pace with the huge crowds of people there, but it turned out to be rather energizing and fun to have a lot of people running alongside you. It made for fun times running behind people and trying to keep pace with them (and then when you got tired, you walk for awhile and then run behind someone else…heheh.) Signing up for road races is something I have to plan out because I need to request the days off I need from work. If anyone has any good suggestions, please let me know.
I thought about embedding this video to this entry, but it probably would have been a little corny to do so. Incidentally, this is a song I like running to. 
This is a video of me doing my weekly 15 second Enbrel injection this morning, captured by Hunny using my iPhone 3GS (hence the vertical orientation of the video.) It’s evidence that even after months of doing this week after week, I just can’t get used to it! I know my house is messy and my voice is annoying, but I’m putting out there anyways. As much as I hate doing these injections, the drugs are working. 15 seconds of discomfort week after week (and all the anxiety preceding it) has been worth it. So grateful to my job for medical insurance…eternally grateful.
I’ve been meaning to post a “power song” for every run that I do. I think it’s good to share songs that I like to jog to since I’m always open to discovering good running songs.
When you think about it hard enough, Steve Winwood songs are pretty awesome; I can’t think of a song of his I don’t like. For me, “Roll With It” is one of those songs that invokes childhood memories because of its heavy radio rotation back in 1988. Somehow I ended up putting it in my running playlist, and it has turned out to be a really great song to move to with a steady beat and rather motivating lyrics.
I had a fairly good run today. Went about 2 and a half times around my block, which equated to about 6 miles in about 1 hour: http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/detail/807837932/5185814/all/allRuns/
A year ago, I kept a journal as I was trying to figure out how I was going to manage issues with my health. On June 29, 2009, I wrote a very short, but important entry:
“Today was a very significant day. I finally had my appointment with the rheumatologist. I came in very hopeful that I have at last been paired with the right doctor to give me a diagnosis. I left with a diagnosis and was rather satisfied with the level of care that I had received…
Bottom line: I have been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis.”
I know I probably will never be cured, but I am happy that I’ve been able to manage the symptoms this past year, thanks to the miracle of drugs and the resolve that I can get better and live normally even if I deal with “having” this for the rest of my life.
I celebrated today by taking a jog and basking in some endorphins. Yay for working joints…!
I typed this note out on my iPhone over 2 years ago before iPhone 2.0 came out. With the release of iOS4, a few more can finally be checked off. My favorite feature so far? Being able to use a Bluetooth Keyboard with my iPhone. 
Yes, I actually bought a book called Stretching For Dummies.. I just want to write in this short entry that stretching is not to be taken lightly. When I started exercising again, my thought was that stretching would just prevent getting a cramp during exercise and since I never really got cramps, I saw no need to do it. How wrong I was. As a result of not stretching, my groin muscles have gotten so tight that I can’t even sit cross-legged on the floor without it hurting. I hope that I can correct the tightness in my legs by coming up with some kind of stretching routine. Yoga isn’t too feasible at this point because I am way too inflexible. The book is pretty informative, but I have to be sure to follow through. I will probably try stretching at work or while I am out and about in addition to making it part of my current exercise routine of jogging and weight training.
By the hair of my chinny chin chin, I finally hit Nike+ Level Blue, which means I have accumulated 1000 kilometers (or 621 miles) since starting on Nike+ back in March 2009. I had set a goal for myself to do this by the end of May but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I did run the distance but on my last run when I supposed to have hit Level Blue, my iPod Nano (ironically called “Little Bloo”) decided to freeze and when I had to hard reset it, I lost the run. I was a grrr-bag, to put it mildly. Oh well, better late than never.
So, what’s next? Well, the next level is Purple which is 931 miles away. Needless to say, I’m not shooting for that anytime soon as that is just too far to reach. Who knows though? I had said the same thing about Level Blue and here I am; I have to say that it’s a miracle that I made it this far. On the other hand, I may have to consider giving my joints a rest from running because of my arthritis, but the strange thing is that I’m enjoying running more due to my weight training. By improving my flexibility and strength in my back and arms, I feel it really makes running bearable and enjoyable in addition to giving me the endorphin afterglow.
Never say never, I guess. Here’s to the next goal…however long that may take!
It has been a week since I started weight training and after only doing it three times in this one week, I have definitely noticed a difference. The things I need to lift on a day to day basis feels lighter and less of a strain on my overall upper body. Then when I did my run around the neighborhood, my back was able to stay straight and it just gave me more stamina to go faster. I don’t know if it was all a fluke, or if it’s all in my mind but this feeling is definitely giving me motivation to just keep going.
Yesterday on my day off, I had an orientation at the YMCA in Kaimuki to learn how to use their strength building machines. The orientation was very thorough as the trainer went over the dos and more importantly, the “do not dos” of using the equipment. It also gave me a clearer idea of what to strive for as far as my flexibility goes. As I had mentioned earlier, my flexibility totally sucks and now I’m looking to set measurable goals to get more flexible and to become stronger, especially now since my arthritis pain has subsided, for the most part.
What is going to make this more fun is that Hunny has joined the YMCA for the summer, too! I hope we get our goals accomplished by the end of the summer!
Brandon Kawamura 9:16 pm on 2010/05/25 Permalink
Awesome! Gambatte ne! Love that Ken is doing it too
. You two are an inspiration.