My Journal

AM:
55 min elliptical machine

PM:
6 sets of 10 body weight squats

Today I was solo at work. My buddy had some family emergency to deal with so I thought I had the office to myself. I was wrong. Our part time room mate decided today was the day he was coming into work. Bummer. Oh well it is work after all so I can be mad.

When I was getting my procedures done I needed an IV for fluids and so they could give me some drugs. The nurse was a little ruff with the starting of the IV and a nice bruise has developed.

If anyone asks I just tell them it was from fighting off 3 ninjas that were attacking a senior citizen at an ATM. You know, something believable.

AM:
hack squats
90-15
180-15
270-15
180-15,15

Bench press
135-15
185-5
205-3
185-5,5

30 min elliptical machine

Happy Monday! It was a work day so what could I do. I went in, served my time and was home watching the Walking dead before I knew it. We did steak for dinner with asparagus and squash, both oven roasted. It is only Monday and I feel tired already. This might be a long week.

We had a deer in our yard last week, I do not remember if I posted a picture or not so here is one just in case I did not.

It became obvious I must have posted the picture before because it was already in my pix area.

AM:
1 hour walk through Crystal city and Pentagon City area.

PM:
53 min bike ride in Crystal city and Pentagon City.

So today was more urban hiking and biking since the ground is still so wet. There is no was to go hiking at our normal spots when it is this muddy. We had a good time and the weather was again near 60 degrees. In a few days we are expecting freezing temperatures and snow. You have to laugh and enjoy the days as they come.

AM:
48 min neighborhood walk in North Arlington

PM:
80 min walk in old town Alexandria

Today was pretty good day. I was up early, way too early this AM to use the bathroom and was all cramped up. I guess using all the laxatives for my procedure had cleared me out and then I had my first full day of eating yesterday and things needed to sort themselves out. I watched some TV and then went back to bed for 2 hours. After that we did a nice walk through North Arlington since the hiking trails are all muddy. We later in the day headed to Old Town Alexandria to walk along the Potomac river and then get some great lunch within the hustle and bustle of Old Town.

After all the adventures the 4 of us all fell asleep on the couch. Miriam and I plus we each had our cats on our laps. I woke up quickly then decided if I was going to fall asleep I was going to bed to get a proper nap in.

So it was near 60 degrees today! that is shorts weather!

We saw some cool things too. There was an artist playing music usine nothing more than water in crystal glasses of different sizes.

Then there was the Spite House! Click on the name for more info and pictures:

Spite House

And finally it was time for dinner and we made Quinoa with Chicken apple sausage, red peppers, onions, chopped spinach and mushrooms. It was really good!

AM:
45 min elliptical machine

PM:
20 min walk in the neighborhood.

Work was an active one today. We had a truck to unload and store the materials. Once I was home I had the pleasure of meeting another one of the local critters. This time it was a grey bunny. he would not move out of the way of my truck when I pulled into the driveway. I needed to get out and encourage him to move. He was cutie. I was able to get about 3 steps away from him before he would hop once or twice then wait again until I was a step away from him and hop again. I was super close to this guy and felt like he was a house pet. I left out some carrots in case he comes back. If he does not the local rabbits will eat them up.

So today was the Day. I needed to go to the hospital and see a specialist. Shortly after New Years day I had an issue. After using the toilet I was shocked to see the bowl looked like a crime scene photo. Scared out of my mind I called my wife to check things out (She is a nurse) and calmed me down enough to let me know I needed to see a doctor and not rush to the emergency room. I never had internal bleeding before so I was panicking. I went through all the worry of what it could mean. Could be nothing more than some hemorrhoids, or it could be as serious as cancer. The stress of it sucked. The waiting sucked too. I saw a primary care Doctor then a consult with a specialist. Today ( over a month later) I had 2 procedures, a colonoscopy and upper GI endoscopy. The Doctor found a small polyp and removed it. She said based on its size and color it is nothing to worry about but I will get official results in about a week. I also have a small pouch (diverticulum) which is there, but nothing to worry about. It looks like the culprit for the bleeding was some internal hemorrhoids. I was scared about being put under for the procedure. That drug is no joke. I was awake and before I realized it I was waking up in the recovery room. I had one incident where I was coming to in the procedure and heard voices but could not make out anything being said. Later the nurse told us I had 700 milligrams of the drug and that was the most she ever had seen given to someone. Usually it is 200 to 400 milligrams. The pix below are after the good news. Miriam and i will now each be able to get a good night of sleep.

As a bonus when we got home there was a deer resting in our back yard. We live in Arlington VA and there was a deer in our back yard! Crazy!

AM/PM: No workouts today.

I am concerned about my left knee hurting so I did not work out today at all. It does fell better but I still have a ways to go with it. I am hoping to be back to some activities on Saturday this weekend, and those activities will be light. Some days are better than others and today is better than yesterday. I hope tomorrow is better yet.

AM:
hack squats
90-12,12

bench press
135-15,12

50 min bike.

Well I over did it again. Not today, but the last time I pushed it on the stair climb machine. My knee is killing me. The pain reminds me of when I tore ligaments in my knee during a high school football game. I am hoping I did not tear anything and that I just strained the ligaments or tendons. I am skipping the gym tomorrow and the next day to see how I feel. Walking is uncomfortable and going down the stairs hurt like hell (different muscles used going down vs. going up on the machine) and going up stairs is not comfortable either. If in 2 days I am not feeling better I will need to consider seeing a doctor. Bummer. Every time I feel like I am getting back on tract I have a setback.

AM:
45 min stair climb machine

PM:
25 min bike

Today was a SLOW day at work since it was a federal holiday but not one our company gives us. I was able to catch up on things and nothing new came in today. It was a very boring day. I was looking forward to getting home and watching the Walking Dead. And I just found out my Bro-in-law likes the show also. Very cool Bro!

I am happy that I am now consistently doing 45 minutes on the stair climb machine. I will keep it at that amount of time and slowly work on doing a faster pace. This machine gets me sweating like jogging used to do. This will also help me for our vacation that is coming up in April. I will need the endurance to try and keep up with my wife as we hike.

AM:
78 minute walk through the neighborhood.

Nothing much today. We went out for a nice long walk and headed into the small town of Del Rey for lunch after a shower at home. The rest of the time was TV and relaxing.