Only run when you're chased

Spring is here and 50 degree weather has brought the normal, every-day joggers back outside.  The crazy ones ran outside all winter - I know, because I saw them.  Because my wedding is in 100 days and I am finding that my schedule and the spin class schedule don't necessarily jive, I took it upon myself to start jogging.  My first attempt was on a treadmill in some terrible Payless shoes and was not very successful. I did manage to run for 25 minutes, but I was in pain afterwards.  This prompted the decision that for the first time since middle school, I would purchase a real pair of running shoes.  I have gotten by with run-of-the-mill, cheap tennis shoes for a long time and now I have the perfect excuse to buy a new pair of shoes!  I went to the sporting goods store and came home with a pair of pink Sauconys, 2 pairs of shorts and a green UnderArmor shirt. 

On the first nice Sunday of March I decided to go on a short 3-mile run.  The new shoes were like running on clouds in comparison to my old ones, which made it 10x easier to run than before.  I have been out twice since then and am currently working on finding the right mix on the work-out and cool-down playlists on my Ipod for optimum motivation.  I haven't been able to run past 3 miles yet, but I'll get there. 

The best motivation is seeing other people outside running or walking their dogs.  It may be more crowded, but it's nice to know that you're not alone.  Getting passed or trying to keep pace with other runners is great motivation too.  That's where your self-motivation should kick in and push you to go further and faster.  You wouldn't be running at all if you didn't have the self-motivation to get off of the couch and go outside, so it shouldn't be that difficult.  The results are nice too.  Realizing that my body probably will gain muscle before it drops fat, I have been taking measurements to track my progress.  I have lost at least 1/2 an inch on my thigh and calf since I took my last measurements, which was before I broke my arm in August.  All of this is great motivation to keep going!

Of course, running on concrete is extremely hard on your body and it shows.  Hopefully the knee pain that I'm currently experiencing is because I haven't done any running since I was in tennis in high school.  All of the articles that I have read say that it's best to not do too much at the beginning because that's how people get hurt.  My goal for this week is 10 miles and I'm already at 5.6.  All I need to do is run 2 more days, which should be easy as long as it doesn't rain.  Wish me luck!

Breathe!

On Tuesday, I stayed home with what I thought was a fever/flu-like symptoms. I slept almost the whole day and expected to feel better by Wednesday. However, when I checked into the doctor's office on Wednesday afternoon because of chest pains, the nurses put me in a wheelchair and rushed me into Urgent Care immediately. One nurse started pressing on my ribs and suggesting that I could have a heart problem. Of course, after they took my blood pressure and pulse, which were normal, they changed their tune. Then they put me on a nebulizer and I did several breathing tests.

After my chest x-ray, the doctor told me that I have calcified lymph nodes in my lungs. These appear as little white spots and are the result of growing up on a farm. Apparently there are fungi in the soil and when it is plowed, they are stirred up into the air and you inhale them. This causes the lymph nodes to calcify and is completely normal for anyone who lives in the midwest. Also, these are not the source of my chest pain or cough. Besides the little white spots, my chest x-ray was clean, so the doctor called it viral bronchitis and I was sent home with cough medication and an inhaler. He told me to make another appointment if I didn't see improvement in 3 days.

Well, today is day 3 and my symptoms are worse than ever. I can't say two sentences without a cough. My inhaler is a God-send because I would probably suffocate during a cough-attack without it. Normally my job as a museum docent doesn't require a lot of talking. People generally keep to themselves and don't ask many questions. Of course, today would be the day that I have to talk in front of a group of 26 boyscouts and every guest in the hotel visits the museum. I am only supposed to use my inhaler every 4-6 hours, but it has been really difficult trying to stick to that today. This afternoon, I was coughing so frequently that one of the boyscout leaders took a waterbottle out of his bag, gave it to me, and said, "Here, you need it more than I do."

Then I did the worst thing one could possibly do at this point - I consulted WebMD. It gave me a variety of choices as to my condition. Bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma were all at the top of the list. I have already been diagnosed with bronchitis, but it could have turned into something else. There is a good chance that I have another chest x-ray and more breathing tests coming my way on Monday. Wish me luck!

Singers & Exercise

The holidays are over and this semester is in full swing, which means it is time to begin working myself back down to my wedding dress size. Before I broke my arm, I was going to both spin and yoga twice a week. I planned on filling the few weeks between the end of the summer session and the beginning of the fall with rollerblading and lifting, but now I know that strapping wheels to ones feet will inevitably end in a broken limb.

Now I have both the time and physical ability to go back to those two classes that I loved so much this summer. The question is, will strenuous exercise, such as spin class or lifting weights, hurt or help my singing? Every textbook that I have read seems to think that singers will strain their throat muscles if they do anything other than swimming or walking. However, the modern opera singer can't just be a good singer, they must also look great. This means that exercise is a necessary addition to one's daily routine.

How is anyone supposed to get into good enough shape to be able to sing and dance at the same time by walking? Singing requires excellent posture and great abs, so walking just isn't going to cut it for me. I need something more intense and exciting. My exercise of choice is spin class. If you have never been to a spin class, prepare to sweat - a lot. It is an intense cardio workout that will make your legs burn until you can barely walk.

Intense exercise can be very beneficial if one is smart about it. It is necessary to think carefully about the time of day that exercise should be scheduled. Intense exercise can often aggravate acid reflux, which makes it a lot more difficult to sing. Also, don't grunt while exercising, breathe normally and you will be fine. Grunting is a misuse of the voice akin to clearing one's throat, so just don't do it. Use common sense - don't go straight from the gym to rehearsal because it will not go well. Your body needs some time in between to rehydrate and recover after exercise. Under normal circumstances, one is supposed to drink an extra liter of water after a spin class, but most people don't go and sing afterwards. This requires even more water.

If you use your head, it is definitely possible to exercise and not destroy your singing voice. More updates later on whether I accomplish my goal of fitting into my wedding dress!

Wedding Blog!

In case you didn't know, I'm getting married in less than 6 months. We have been engaged just over a year and have been planning the wedding long-distance, which is a bit of a challenge. Technology has been a wonderful asset to our wedding planning. I was able to email my fiance pictures of potential venues along with spreadsheets that I created with pros/cons for each. I did the same for potential photographers and he was also able to go to all of the photographer's websites. We just ordered our save-the-date cards through VistaPrint, which we sort of designed together. I sent him a screen shot for his approval instead of ordering a PDF proof because I'm thrifty, but it worked, so I see nothing wrong with it.

It would seem that some things would be impossible to do without being in the same country, but so far we have found a way to cope. The first part of our marriage counselling was done via an online test, which we were supposed to do separately anyways. Of course, we'll both need to be in the same room to go over the results of the test, but we'll worry about that later. Because the save-the-dates will be going out soon, we decided that it would be good to start our wedding registries. On our both our Amazon.com registry and our Target registry we can both add/delete items from the list, which is really nice. We even typed up a list of things to register for via Skype.

Although, it is really easy to register for board games and movies without touching them, I think we are going to run into issues when registering for bedding and towels. There are no Targets in Canada, so he won't be able to inspect some of the items that I want to register for and vice versa. If all else fails, we will just really have to trust that we know each other well enough to pick out items that we will both like and pick neutral colors so everything will match. That said, if anyone has any ideas of how to get around this problem, I'm open to suggestions!

My fiance and I have started a blog about our struggles and triumphs trying to plan our wedding long-distance and on a tight budget. Check it out! http://jayandchristy.blogspot.com