Loot. Illness. Zombies.... Oh, My!

Credit: Adeline Mae Desings

Alright so I posted earlier this month about how I won a giveaway over at Where Our Heart Is/Adeline Mae Desings. My bracelet came in last week and it's SO FREAKING CUTE!! It looks like the one pictured << except mine has the midnight blue thread. I absolutely love it! Thanks, girl! She's having a giveaway EVERY.SINGLE.MONTH. So head on over to her blog and check it out! Here's a link to this month's giveaway! You have until the end of the month! GO GO GO!! She posts a ton of cute stuff along with her giveaways, oh and go check out her store also! I plan on getting a few of her running bracelets as soon as I run each marathon :) MOVING ON!


     So, I've been sick. Like, shoot me in the head, pull out my insides, I feel like dying - sick. It all started when The Stud got sick. He woke up running a temp of 103.7, so naturally - being the very prepared and level-headed girlfriend that I am - I panicked....Whaaa? It's nearly ER level!! Okay, okay, after I got my crap together, I had him take some Tylenol to lower his temp. Then, I drew him a luke warm bath, and had him ease into it. After about an hour, his temp was down to 100. A definite improvement. Once the Little Clinic opened up, we headed on over and got him checked out. No flu, but the doc treated him for that anyway since it was a "similar illness." So we went home and I commenced nursing him back to health.

     When I woke up Monday morning, I felt like dying. I went to work, and dragged all day long. After work, I was determined to go try out a gym in the area with a woman from work. I thought I could sweat it out, and feel better sooner... not the case. While the workout was awesome, and I scored a pretty sweet deal on the gym membership, I felt even worse Tuesday morning. I decided to call out of work and go to the health department since my health insurance through work hadn't kicked in yet (May couldn't get here soon enough). I called and set up an appointment for 10 that morning, and got there at 9:45. I sat for two hours before I saw the doctor for a grand total of 5 minutes, in which time she did everything short of listening to me. I told her what Jonothan had, and that I felt the same way. "Well, you don't have the flu. I'm not wasting a test. I know what you have. So, I'm not going to treat you for the flu." "Okay, well I also have some spots on my tonsils, and my gums and inner cheek are really swollen and sore around my wisdom teeth." "...Well I don't know why that could be. You just have a cold. That's all." ... Look, I realize you're treating a hundred people a day, most of which who don't speak English, and don't have insurance. I get it. I know you're probably underpaid. I understand. That doesn't give you license to be rude to me. Jerk.

Colorful enough for ya?

     So I was prescribed some over-the-counter meds - Robitussin. I picked it up to humor my humorless doctor, but have mainly taken 800mg Ibuprofen and some of Jonothan's cough syrup. When I wasn't feeling any better, The Stud's mom - Tabifeener - suggested I get out of the house and get my heart pumping. The funny thing was that, since Monday evening, I had been craving a good workout, but had abstained because I was told it would make me worse. I also wanted to test out this SWEET app I downloaded on Thursday (I'll get to that later). So I laced up my super awesome shoes that I bought a week ago, put on my cute work out shorts (er.. rewind and reverse that...), and grabbed Juno (our dog, for those of you that have somehow forgotten who she is) and headed out to get some fresh air. I headed to a park/rec area a little ways down the road that had a woodsy walking trail, plugged my headphones into my phone, and hit the trail.

     This is where the app comes in, so I'll break to tell you about that. I came across it when I was searching for fitness apps. FIrst, I downloaded Nexercise, an app that lets you track your workouts, earns you points, free goodies, and XP towards other sweet stuff (< not the sugary kind, either). You can also collaborate with the Nexercise community to all start a workout, take a walk for example, at the same time - so it's like you're all working out together. So that's neat-o. The second one was Zombies, Run! 5k Training. It's the prequel to the original Zombies, Run! app, and a jump-starter to getting in shape to run a 5k. It features 8 weeks of training runs, where you run from hoards of zombies and help build up your base camp by "collecting" items as you run. Just plug in your headphones and follow the cues, and stay one (or several - for your health, ya know) step ahead of the undead! SO CREEPY AND FUN!

     So here I am, with my dog, in the woods, listening to zombies chase me. I almost peed my pants a couple times. I mean, we're not talking nice, scenic woods like the ones pictured here...

Nay, nay my friend. I'm talking creepy, winterized, bare trees, a twisty-turny path, and lots of sounds. I saw a total of 5 people in the hour that I was there. Just me, my dog, and my (VERY) active imagination. It was about 4 in the afternoon, so it was starting to dim which made it worse. It also didn't help that Juno kept stopping in her tracks to perk up her ears and stare into the woods. All I could think was, "Where is Daryl Dixon and his crossbow and muscly arms when I need him??" (< Walking Dead reference for you readers not in the know). Once I got my head on straight and stopped looking around, I actually focussed and had a great run. It was the first one that I've gone on in a REALLY long time. I'm talking about 7 years. So, it was more of a walk/run. I didn't want to push too hard being that it was my first run in nearly a decade AND I was (am) sick. I am still really happy with it. I was out there for about an hour and I went for a mile. No it's not a great time. Yes, I walked most of it. But I got out there. I did it. Even though I felt like death on a cracker, I got out and pushed myself. On the uphill parts (of which there were many), if I slowed down or felt myself struggling at all, I pushed and sprinted up them. If I started to feel like I couldn't go any longer, I started to jog. Every time I wanted to quit, I pushed harder. I took control, and told my body to push. "I'm not spoiling you anymore, fatty," is something I actually spoke out loud to myself... a few times. Today, my body aches - in a good way. I haven't had sore muscles from working out in a long time, and it hurts SO good (calm down, Mellencamp).

    Today, The Stud and I walked around, hung out at home and went out for dinner. What I had wasn't entirely healthy, but I'm just starting out (<< not an excuse, blah blah blah. Shut up) and have been eating soup all week. Sue me. I have, however, upped my water consumption. I have had at least 2 bottles of water a day. I know, still not enough, but this is coming from someone who hardly ever drinks water. So for me, it's a real improvement. I've grown pretty addicted (the un-abusable addiction if you ask me) and find myself just craving water. Not that I'm thirsty, really, just craving it. So that's good. My sister, Mandy, suggested that I put lemon in my water to up my alkaline levels to help me get better, and stay better. So I've started doing that as well.

     Any tips for someone starting to be healthier? Have a recipe or two that you use as a pre-run/workout snack? Have a shoe/workout gear preference? Comment below! I appreciate any and all recommendations!

     Well, that's all for today. Until next time, readers, this sick girl is going to bed. Happy Saturday, y'all!