I spent 2 hours at the ENT today.  I had a hearing test on top of all the check-ups.  My hearing is perfect, that’s a relief.

The good: nothing major is wrong with me.

The bad: nothing at all is wrong with me.

Why is that bad?  Because I have symptoms and they don’t know what’s causing them.  So the end diagnosis was “virus”.  This is based on how acute the symptoms are.  The doctor thinks it will naturally run its course within a few weeks.  If I’m still dizzy in 3 weeks I’ll have to go to a Portland clinic for more testing. 

I’ve gotten this “virus” thing a few times.  It usually means the doctors can’t figure it out and meds don’t work. In the past it has always run its course, so hopefully it will this time.  But sometimes I wonder if this is the textbook response when they simply have no idea what is going on.

Oh well, my hearing is fine and nothing major turned up.  I should be happy, so happy I shall be.

But today I was sitting staring at the telly, too hot to do anything outside and too dizzy to do anything inside.  I was really, really bored. So I decided to run.  First, I had a banana and some orange juice. 

I started off slow and stayed slow compared to what I’d been doing.  I only actually ran about 1/3rd of it, and speed-walked the rest.  I had to keep a very close eye on my heart rate as it is higher than normal from the dizziness and meds.  I ran too long at one point and my heart-rate was through the roof, so I went back to a walk.

After about 17 minutes I started a cool-down, finishing on .7 miles at 20 minutes.  Shorter than previously, not that much slower, but it felt good to actually run again.  It felt really dizzying as well, and perhaps I shouldn’t be pushing myself - but I’m happy that I did.

In the shower my ear popped.  Kind of similar to an altitude change.  Then the other ear popped.  The pressure has somewhat changed ears.  I’m not sure what that is all about but I’ll report it to my doctor in the a.m.  I’m mostly worried about hearing loss, along with being permanently dizzy.

... and if I am permanently dizzy, then why put off running?  I’m going to get fit somehow, and I am not going to allow this to stop that progress.

I’ve lost some weight since starting all of this as well, which feels good.  Much slower weight loss than I want but I hadn’t really modified my diet much, so any weight loss is welcome.  In fact my diet has reverted to awful with my recent illness.  So it was a real surprise this morning when I stepped on the scale.

I’m really looking forward to sussing out what is going on with me, and hopefully fixing it.  It’s scary being dizzy all the time, and the cough is annoying.  Hopefully we can figure this thing out and, even more hopefully, find out that it is not serious.

I have been biting my nails for as long as I can remember.  Very short. Gross.

I really like “pretty” hands.  Well taken care of; not necessarily lots of polish - but obviously cared for.  So this has been a major issue for me.  Plus it can lead to infections and quite honestly, is painful.

This is a hard habit to break.  Your hands just happen to follow you everywhere, after all.  I bite out of boredom, stress, nervousness, frustration, fear.  You name it, I bite.

I’ve stopped biting on and off for a few years now; a few months ago I bit all my nails off so I decided to get tips and immediately stop again.  The tips did a fantastic job keeping my nails strong and looking good while my real nails grew underneath.

The tips are off now, and all I’ve got on is some clear basecoat.  I’m probably going to put some color on, but not 100% sure.  If it chips that tends to set me off.

How do you break a habit like this? Let me be honest: I have no idea.  I’ve done it through will-power, I’ve done it through “blocking” via tips.  I’m sure I’ll re-lapse… well I hope not, but it’s very likely.  But I’ll keep trying until I’m able to not bite as the rule. 

I don’t have suggestions on how to fix this.  For me, tips helped the most.  They were stronger, smoother, and looked pretty.  For some will-power works.  A major part of my routine has been taking care of my nails every day: pushing back cuticles, cleaning, and putting on “stop biting nails” from stopbitingnails.com.  That routine, and the disgustingness of that creme, has helped convinced me not to bite. 

This is a big thing for me.  Hopefully I can keep it up.  It’s a very hard habit to break.

My dogs are not perfectly leash trained.  Elka, despite over 2 years of consistent, high value, positive training, is still a really big pain in the arse on a leash.  Milton is much better, but I admittedly have not worked with him one-on-one as much as I should have.

Both of them still pull while on the front-clip Gentle Leader.  Not a lot, but when you’re dizzy already, “not a lot” is enough to destabilize you to the ground.

So tonight I fed Milton in a head-halter (Elka is already thus trained) and this evening we all went for a walk, both dogs in Gentle Leader head halters.

It was the most pleasant walk I’ve had with them since I got them.  They were both saintly after a few self-corrections which I barely felt.

Now, I will probably continue to use these so that we can have more pleasant walks.  I will continue also to train them to walk next to me on a normal collar, and will be working on the “silky fingers” technique to make them both much more responsive to neck pressure.  But that could take months, so during that time we’ll probably use the head halters.  Even though I am against them, it was that much more pleasant to walk with them on the dogs that I will use them.  The dogs don’t feel the head halter when behaving anyway.

But these are training collars and will be used as such. But between two dogs and major dizziness - well, the head halters let us go on a walk at all, so it was worth it.  They also didn’t seem to mind the head halters once they figured out how to not get the correction.

So, in short: I give up.  I surrender.  Head halters it is.

(Can you tell I feel a little bad about this?  But they work, so yea…)

However, for the first time in many years, I finally have an exercise routine that I look forward to and enjoy.  Right now most exertion increases my dizziness from about 2 to 8.  The concept of running sounds pretty dangerous.

On top of that, I have two fairly young dogs that can’t go to daycare because of Giardia in Milton.  Now, as most competent dog owners know, dogs need exercise to be well-behaved family members.  My dogs have not gone to daycare or on a proper walk in nearly two weeks due to first my neck, and now the dizziness.  I’m somehow incredibly lucky.  Around 7pm they go and wrestle and run around the yard, and spend the rest of the day chewing bones and being wonderful.

I do not recommend others try this experiment, most young dogs would become unbearable pests, digging, destroying, barking, and being overall brats if they went this long without exercise.

I am going to slowly ease into my exercise routine by going on a 20 minute walk with the dogs; essentially around the block and to the mailbox (the long way to the mailbox).  Because it will be a slow walk and because my balance is questionable at best, both dogs will wear Gentle Leaders, either the harness or head halter version, because it would take a very small pull to get me to the ground right now.

I’m very much looking forward to a resolution to my ear pressure and included dizziness.  I want to be running every day, and I want to walk the dogs every day.  I miss these activities more than I might have 3+ months ago before I had started the exercise.  To not even be able to scale my stairs without become extremely dizzy is one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve encountered.

Still hoping this is just allergies.  5 days until I have more of an idea what the future holds in regards to this issue.

On the happier side, he thinks it may just be allergies.

On the scarier side, it could be Meniere’s Disease; a possibly as my mom suffers from that.

So, I’m on Prednisone for the allergies/potential hearing loss, and Meclizine for the dizzy.  The Prednisone should help my cough as well, which we think is just allergies.

I’m really hopeful it’s just allergies.

When mom asked what I was going to do if it was Meniere’s, the first thing I responded with was, “get a service dog”.  Elka was never trained as a balance dog, isn’t big enough, and doesn’t enjoy the work.  If I really do have Meniere’s, then that’s a new situation and I will seek out a highly-trained giant breed (Dane/Mastiff?) to be with me at all times, both to alert and to catch.

But I’m really, really, really hopeful it’s just allergies.  I don’t want hearing loss, and I don’t want a life of dizzy spells.  I certainly don’t want to be trapped in an MRI, which I will be on Monday if the meds don’t help, or if I go off them and this comes back.

Please, please let this just be allergies.

Please?

Pretty please?

With sugar on top?

Ok, thank you.

I ran yesterday.  For .5 miles, then I got light-headed and stopped. I thought it was just because I tried this before breakfast.

Now I just think I’m sick.  I ended up sleeping 5 hours mid-day yesterday, and then last night I slept a good 12 hours and I’m tired again.  I’m very dizzy and slightly shaky, though I’m not constantly sweating like I was yesterday- I’m more cold than hot.  I’m not really feverish, 96.7.  I’ll have to re-check that today.

I’m also coughing a lot.

But nothing wants to stay still.  I already have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday.  I’d really like to get back into running but I imagine being dizzy and running as a bad combination.  The dogs really need to go for a walk but that, too, I can not do. I may do some treadmill training with them today - that involves me sitting down and giving them treats for going on the treadmill.  Of course Elka is already thus trained - it’s just Milton.

I have a lot to do: I badly need to clean, I need to walk the dogs and they both need furminating.  I’d like to do some garage organization as well.  But as long as I’m dizzy and shaky I’ll be doing z) none of the above.

This doesn’t feel like the flu, I wonder what I managed to get this time.

But the dogs will finally get a walk. They got a short one last night.  We went the long way around to get the mail, wherein I received my EECI 2010 DVD and my Kaos Skin Eyelets in Ultra Violet.

It’s been a long week, with the ExpressionEngine 2.1 release and site refresh.  I am looking forward to having some downtime and rest this weekend, and even asked for a few days off when Chris is visiting.

I’m too tired to write more now.  Good night.

I don’t mean that lightboxes are a pain in the neck, though they are.

I woke up this morning feeling great, except for the minor issue of a full plant being in my hallway on the ground (thanks Milton and Elka!).  I pulled out the vacuum to clean up the mess and while I was vacuuming I felt my neck do that thang.  I could no longer move.

I finished vacuuming because it was necessary, then took some Advil and showered.  My doctor was closed so I found an urgent care facility and she put me on muscle relaxants and tramadol; apparently they won’t prescribe narcotics at this clinic.  I could really use some real drugs. The tramadol is taking the edge off but I’m still in an incredible amount of pain.

In any case, so I’m on restricted activity.  I’ve been meaning to implement some lightbox action on d,em for some time so figured I’d do that today.  I fought with about 5 jQuery lightbox plugins then whined on Twitter about my ongoing failure to get anything to work.  @carvingCode came to my rescue and recommended FancyBox.

‘lo and behold - it worked!  So I went ahead and implemented FancyBox for the images in the footer, and more importantly, for the in-entry image collections I’ve been doing lately.  I can now include a whole bunch of thumbnails without making a really hard-to-read, long page.  All you have to do is click on the image and boom - the image shows up bigger in the middle of your browser window. 

Check it out on the recent duck post.  I’m sure that most of my visitors, being pretty well seasoned in the web arena, are very familiar with this effect.

Anyhow, my dogs are already a bit stir-crazy as I can’t really walk them right now.  Milton has giardia, so I can’t take them to daycare, so we’re going to have a long week.  I suspect that the treadmill will get used a lot - by the dogs - until I am recovered.  At this point I definitely can not run.  *sighs*

Just as it gets bearable outside and I can’t take them out.  Utter stinkage.

A beautiful dusk shot

Milton, Elka, ducks

Milton and Elka staring at some ducks

Milton and Water

Milton learns about moving water

Milton and Water

Milton is excited about moving water

Milton

Beautiful solo picture

Milton

A post walk lay-down in the Forester

Elka

A post walk lay-down in the Forester

Chris and Wendy have been telling me about their trips to the paths outside the library, with a bunch of man-made ponds.  Last night it had cooled down nicely so I IM’d asking if they’d like to join the dogs and myself for a stroll around.  They said yes and Chris brought his camera along.  All of the photos were taking by Chris

Other than swarms of gnats, it was a beautiful night for a walk.  Milton got to put his paws into some flowing water, and discovered a giant rock that he appeared not to like and barked at for some time.  Both Milton and Elka learned about “ducks” and the joys of eating duck poop - which I tried to not let them do.  Elka attempted to pull me to the ground several times to discover what ducks themselves taste like fresh.  She failed.  I doubt she would have caught one….

I also brought my Forerunner along to map the walk:

We’re going to head out to Hagg Lake when it cools down a bit, and the dogs have several day trips to Seaside/Cannon Beach planned this summer.  Going to be a blast, especially now that I have a dog that willingly goes into water and seems to quite enjoy it after some initial hesitation in new environments.

I also got reminded just how bad Elka’s walking has gotten with Milton around, so we’re going to pick up on the loose-leash training.  I should have brought hot dogs last night, but we’re going to go there a lot and walk there instead of the neighborhood, I think.  So we’ll learn.

Good times with my favorites: great friends and my pooch patrol.  A wonderful start to a much needed weekend.

(photo taken by Chris)

This morning Milton was his normal, energetic, happy, hungry self.

Around 3:30pm Milton went out for a minute (presumably to pee), came back in and laid down.  About 10 minutes later he got up suddenly and zoomed to the bedroom.

After 4:15 I started preparing dinner for Elka and Milton.  Elka came over immediately as normal, and I called Milton: nothing.  I checked the bedrooms and continued to call: nothing.  I opened the back door and called into the yard: Milton came jogging out from the bedroom.

So, he was hiding in the bedroom under the bed.  That’s Elka’s spot, but Milton does not normally venture under the bed.

I give Elka her food and give Milton his tug-a-jug.  He looks at me with a sad expression.  He loves that toy.  So I dump it into a bowl and he eats 2 small bites then lays down.  My super-duper fast-eating food-motivated puppy is not eating. 

Panic.

I call the vet and give a description of what’s going on; she asks for him to come in with the fear is that the zoom was a petit mal seizure.  That he got scared and hid.

Here I was worried about the not eating; I hadn’t even considered the “immediate wake from nap zoom and hide” as a symptom.  I just thought he was being my goofy Milton.  Thanks to Mali I’ve learned to give really in-depth descriptions of recent behavior as even the most minor behavior can be a major indicator of an issue - and that learning paid off for Milton today.  If I had just said, “Milton isn’t eating, should I get him in?” it would have been much harder to identify possible issues.

20 minutes later and we’re at the vet.  He’s lethargic for him, but not terrible.  Then he has a gas problem, so the doc thinks maybe his tummy is hurting: possibly he had a sudden pain and ran and hid from that. 

Two possible diagnosis’ based on his symptoms.  The doc grabs a fecal and has me wait while they process it.  While we’re waiting I hear a pop from Milton and 1 second later he has zoomed to my side for help - he had gas, probably had a tummy spasm, and got scared.

It looks like he may have some bacteria in his stool; so right now we think he did not have a petit mal seizure but instead has a very bad stomach ache.  He’s on Forti Flora and Metronidazole (2-4 hours apart) to help his tummy.  Tomorrow we’ll have a full fecal scan from the lab and will have more of an idea what’s going on.  It still may have been a petit mal seizure, but based on his symptoms and behavior at the vet, we think it’s his tummy.

We’re very, very, very hopeful it’s his tummy.  Seizures can be very difficult and complicated to deal with; tummy troubles are generally easier to get a handle on and clear up.

Anyhow, he seems to be doing great now; we had a 1h 20m walk this evening (well 30 minutes chatting with neighbors) and the dogs are now in the bedroom passed out - which is where I’m heading shortly.  Looking forward to the weekend and very much looking forward to the end of this damn heat wave.

... and really, really, really hoping Milton is ok and seizure-free.

First the bad: it was .1 -.2 miles off what the treadmill says.  When you’re running a total of 1.2 miles that’s kinda big.  But I think I can calibrate it and it beats the hell out of my iPhone solution which was .5 off.

Then there’s Garmin Connect.  I’ve read a bunch of negativity on this and I’m not sure why; I’m blown away by it.  It gives an absolute ton of information, graphs, and moving graphs.  It uploaded seamlessly from USB on OSX. 

If it manages to cool down some tonight I’m going to test out the GPS function while I walk the dogs around the neighborhood.

I’m psyched, what a nifty little toy! I mean, fitness device.  So it’s a bit gimmicky, but this ability to compete with myself over time and see my progress is awesome; and I’m betting that the accuracy and tracking that the GPS offers will make me fairly giddy with excitement as well.

By the way: I started running on June 4th.  Today is July 6th.  This is, so far, my longest running fitness routine that I’ve stuck with, and I love it.  I look forward to my run every day; though yesterday I did bike to give myself a break.  The biking helped an absolute ton with giving my legs a rest while getting my heart going.  I ran totally barefoot on the treadmill today and felt wonderful.  Had my fastest mile at 28 minutes as well; then cooled down from there on out.

I rock, yes I do.  Yes indeed.

So, I did 35 minutes on my bike.  8.1 miles.  It felt great!  I had some foot cramps in my right foot which has been an ongoing issue with my recumbent bike; I need to figure that out.

I did do 10 reps on each arm with a swing yesterday with the Kettlebell.  I haven’t been doing that as much.  As much as I enjoy the kettlebell it’s also a lot harder and keeps me a bit more sore, so I’m taking it really slowly and keeping my workloads low.  I’m happy that I did that first 1500lb workload so that I would know what my current “max” was, though.  It will increase with a slow and steady progression.

Tonight I will likely walk the dogs though they’re being really good considering we’ve stayed in all weekend.  They have a full day of daycare tomorrow, I think.  I have a busy day planned and just need some down-time from my wonders.

Speaking of which, they did amazingly well for the festivities last night.  They got LOTS of hot dogs and even played during the biggest bangs and loudest noises.  I was bursting with pride.

Back on track: So far I’ve been exercising every day; tomorrow I receive my KSO Treks and my Garmin Forerunner 305.  I’m really looking forward to these two items.  Might start finding some light trails to take the pooches on and hike for some fitness instead of just running/biking. Biking today did teach me that I could get a basket and do my grocery shopping on bike rather than by car.  That would be pretty awesome and I do fairly light shopping trips anyway.  I really would love to get a recumbent bike for the great outdoors though, I just find that so much more enjoyable.

Lastly I’m considering investing in one more pair of shoes - VFF Bikila or VFF Speed. Both get awesome reviews, but the Speed seem to get even better reviews as they don’t have in-seems and the like that the Bikilas have.  So far I haven’t raised any blisters with my running as I don’t run too far or over-do it.  But as my distance goes up I’d like to avoid any sort of “rubbing” that might cause blisters.

Still need to fix my diet so I’ll actually lose weight, though…. it’ll happen, and it’ll happen this week, I’m thinking.

Last night, while climbing into bed, I hurt my left ankle. 

It felt much better today, but I didn’t want to risk running.  I was wandering around the Birthday Shoes Forums when I happened on a thread about Kettlbebell.

It sounded intriguing, so I looked it up some more.  These psychos swing a heavy cast-iron ball called a kettlebell for exercise.  Crazy.

So I went and bought one from Dick’s.  I’ll invest in a much better one if I keep this up—probably from Dragon Door which comes highly recommended.

So I tried this out for 15 minutes while watching John Q.

Round one:

set 1: 10 reps - swing
set 2: 10 reps - swing
set 3: 10 swings 1h left
set 4: 10 swings 1h right
set 5: 10 reps - swing

750lbs

Round two:

set 1: 10 reps - swing
set 2: 10 swings 1h right
set 2: 10 swings 1h left
set 3: 10 reps - swing
set 4: 10 reps - swing
set 5: 10 reps - swing

750lbs

Total work load: 1500lbs; at least, I think that’s how you tally it up.  I should probably do this in kg since this originates from Russia; but I think in pounds, so pounds makes more sense for me.

I’m sure I’ll also get the move names right someday. 

This was really hard.  Really, really hard.  I almost couldn’t finish my 10th set, but I managed to.  I kept forgetting to move my hips; moving hips makes this a bit easier, since it gives you momentum and strength.

I’m a long ways from moving on to other moves; but it’s a beginning.  This kettlebell takes up almost no space - either to store or use -  and I can do it in short spurts (10-15 minutes while watching tv) and it cost me only $30 to get into.  I suspect this one kettlebell will do me for a number of months before I’m ready to move up, at which point I’ll get one of the Dragon Doors kettlebells.

This is the perfect exercise to mix in with my running.  Love it already, and it was a great way to give my legs (and my poor ankle) a break while still working out. And it’s definitely aerobic, no doubt about that.  It also appeared to get abs, back, arms, and upper legs.

Whoda thunk something so simple could be so effective?

(. . . and the best part?  I have a full fitness routine here without leaving my house.  Perfect!)

The truly barefoot runs outdoors were a real help in getting to my form.  Running on a treadmill is a bit different than running with forward motion outdoors.

But today, on my treadmill, after the first 2 minutes I realized I felt awesome.  I was forefoot striking perfectly, I couldn’t hear my feet landing, my weight was centered and I felt peaceful - the whole thing just felt right.  My calves are getting better too, able to go longer and recover more quickly.

Today I ran the longest: 33 minutes, and the furthest: .67 miles.  I didn’t run the whole time.  Remembering that my goal is to stay at my target heart-rate for 35 minutes I tried something else.  I had noticed that when I had the dogs with me; every time Elka pulled, or pee’d, or stopped to smell (Milton too, of course), I would stop.  But I wouldn’t STOP, I’d run in place, and toward the end I’d walk in place.  After that slight rest I would feel energized to keep going much longer.

So I tried it on the treadmill today.  I ran at 2.5mph; and after the first 8 minutes my calves felt really sore, so I walked for 2 minutes at 2mph.  Then I ran again for 2 minutes at 2.5mph.  I did this for approximately 22 minutes: run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute.  My heart stayed in the target heart rate the entire time and my legs felt amazing.

For cool-down I walked and then did some stretching, sit-ups, and yoga, carefully bringing down my heart-rate.  I noticed during this that my flexibility appears to be increasing as well.

It’s been nearly a month since I began.  I’m over the 21 day “new habit” break-in and I am addicted.  Around 8pm tonight I got “the itch” to run, though prior to that I felt somewhat drained and feeling like skipping.  Now that I’ve run I feel energized and happy - not a real surprise there: exercise is known to release good stuff into the brain.

My goal now is to be going a full mile by the end of July.  I think I’ll hit that goal and then some; but I want to “keep it real”.

For the first time today I had the thought that I might one day be able to enter a race.  How cool would that be?  I don’t know if I ever would, it seems doubtful; but I’ve never, ever, ever before been able to think of that as a possible future goal.