Coming Around

My life continues to be somewhat of a whirlwind of activity. Yesterday, I had the new roof put on my house. Despite the cost, I am so happy that I caught this before things began leaking. I now have all the required documentation to submit to the class-action lawsuit against the company who manufactured the shingles that were on there. Though it will cost me another $25 or so to ship the shingle sample and documentation to make my claim, I should recover about $1200, which helps!

I also had my annual OB-GYN exam yesterday and got a flu shot. My physician said it was time for a tetanus shot, but I'll wait on that. Actually I don't think I need one just yet. She probably doesn't have the record from when I was last bit by a dog in 2007. My left deltoid still is tender from the flu shot! In 2 weeks, I am getting a full blood workup and urinalysis done. With the stuff I put my body through, I will be doing this annually from now on.

I also paid for my new treadmill yesterday, that had been transferred from one store to the one closest to me. In the process, the price went down by $200!!! What a nice surprise! So now I just need to wait a few more business days when the installation group calls me to schedule its delivery and setup. I can't wait! I am doing a reorg of my downstairs where it's going. All I need in my house is an Endless Pool and I wouldn't have to go to the Y anymore. No way! I'll stick with going back and forth down the pool at the Y. At least it's only 1/2 mile from home. I may still go there on weekends to run on their treadmills, just because now that my long run is on Sunday, I like to go for a short swim afterward, and I dislike driving in the winter while I'm all sweaty. It will be awesome to do brick workouts this winter whenever I feel like it without trying to transition to outdoors!

Speaking of the treadmill, I ran on one Thursday. There is always an adjustment period, and this time was no different. Not only is my threshold down a bit, but the pulling motion of the treadmill feels unusual. But the good news is that my back and legs were delighted to be on such a soft surface!

I also went back to my chiropractor on Thursday. I took my 5 year old MRI's of my lumbar spine, and he discussed with me in detail just exactly what is going on there. The net net is that I have a bulge at L5-S1 that if I were an overweight, sedentary person, might be classified as like 7 or 8 out of 10 degree of impact. But because I am lightweight and highly active, John said that takes me down to about a 3. So really no big deal. Hopefully I am keeping things from worsening, too. John said he didn't think my glute/hamstring issues had anything to do with my back. It's just some bursitis is all, but that I should try and figure out whether it's caused by biking or running. I think it's from biking, actually, as I may have said before, the last few years as I really biked a LOT, I spent regular time on my MTB with the nice cushy saddle, but this past year I did not. So my lean butt took a beating. For the last 4 days or so, though, I have also been working standing up. It seems to me that sitting aggravates things, even though John says sitting is not the cause. So maybe it's coincidental that I am feeling much, much better by not sitting so much. I still need to continue stretching my left hamstring 3x daily. Its ROM has increased much since 2 weeks ago, but it's still not as good as the right.

My new mattress will be here in another week, too, and I also began work on my personal estate plan finally! It feels like I'm going through a massive life reorg/refurbish program. There were just so many things I put off while working on my Dad's estate and the stress prevented me from pushing myself further by trying to do a lot of my personal stuff. But that is behind me now, and I think I have become even more organized now. Either that or I am just procrastinating less.

I also just got a brand, spanking new iPhone 4G. I will activate the service this weekend and begin playing around with it. I know, I am slow on the uptake of some technology, but I'm sure I will enjoy this new gadget.

Today and tomorrow I will be running at Greene Valley. Today is hill day, and I will go up and down the hill probably 4 times, running at least half of it. Sunday I will run about 1:10 in the flats and then do a couple of hill repeats, and hopefully I can run all the way up! I can't believe it, but I am doing a 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks and then a marathon a week later! I'm pretty optimistic now that my full run fitness is nearly back and my butt will be just fine. After the marathon at IMFL, I drop my running back a little and pick up biking more, and it will probably be all indoors, damn! Oh well, at least I will have my house all fixed up, new phone, new treadmill, new mattress, new roof, and next I need to check if my new aerobars came in for Skull Kingdom!

Swimming is coming along nicely, too. I am picking up just a little speed, but realize that I need to really focus on my form continuously. That is fine by me--this it the perfect time of year for it. I only swam 5,000 yards yesterday. Funny how that feels like a 3,000 yard swim to me now!

Tomorrow I attend a baby shower for my niece. I have to con her into telling me the sex of the baby, which I will keep a secret, because I need to know whether I will be able to give some of my Barbie dolls away! Well I suppose if it's a boy and he wants Barbies, that's cool, too. I only have the one Ken doll, though ;)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!