Ouch! I ripped something alright!

So my abs hurt.  And my glutes are a bit sore.  I suppose it could be worse...

Week 7 Weigh In

Week 1: 162.1
Week 2: 159.4
Week 3: 161.4
Week 4: 160.1
Week 5: 158.1
Week 6: 160.2
Week 7: 159.7

Jillian Michaels Wants Me To Get Ripped

Bought this at Target a couple of weeks ago.  Decided to break it out today.  OMG!  What a workout.  I don't think I get that sweaty in 30+ minutes of running, on an average day.  My muscles are tingling, but surprisingly are not sore yet.  Either I'm going to hurt later, or my body has gone into shock. 

On one hand, it's not that hard, exactly.   It's quite a sensible sounding program.  You get 4 routines, 1 per week.  Each routine lasts for 30+ minutes, which is then divided into 6 minute circuits x 5+.  In each circuit, you get 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio & one minute of abs.  It keeps you on your toes, mixing it up this way.  For best results, you do this video five to six times a week. 

If it doesn't kill me, it will hopefully make me stronger & more toned. 

For future reference;
week 1 is 37:00 minutes
week 2 is 34:36 minutes
week 3 is 30:49 minutes
week 4 is 34:10 minutes

Sporting Life 10K

I saw a few people I knew before the race.  We took some pictures.  My boys hung out with me until it was time to race. My corral, Orange, started the race at 9:20.  The first corral started at 8:00.

I know that last year there was a traffic jam of sorts at the finish line that took some people 20 minutes to clear, which is amazing that so many people were finishing at the same time. I understand why they had a staggered start, but still I find it ridiculous that I am starting so far after the first corral.  It's not like it's a Disney race!

Perhaps more corrals with less people in them would be a better option, spaced 5 minutes apart?  Maybe 10 minutes?  I don't know.

Anyways, the experience was good.  Nothing in particular stands out.  My pace started awesome, and gradually slowed.  The last km was hard, as usual. 

Oh, wait.  I just remembered.  Bernadette walked the race, or most of it.  She was supposed to be in the orange corral with me.  Bonnie gave her a leg up, by putting her unused purple corral sticker on Bernadette's bib, so she'd have a 20 minute head start.  (Bernadette thought it would take her 2 hours to walk 10K).  So by having a twenty minute head start, it took me until 8 km to catch up to her.  Until then, I had assumed I'd just passed her and not noticed.  I couldn't believe it.  She couldn't believe it either.  She said she'd started to get worried about me when I hadn't shown up by a certain point.

Also, my stomach held up, unlike last year.  It was actually really good until the drive "home" to my parents house.

Myotonic Dystrophy

I got my results back from the genetics lab at NYGH today - I do have myotonic dystrophy too, (DM1), albeit a mild case.   It wasn't really a surprise, given my "claw hand", morning back stiffness, and the doctor's suspicions based on my smile (due to weaker facial muscles I guess - not the same lines as people without DM1)

Comparatively speaking, I have 100 repeats of the genetic code, my Dad has less repeats (65), and Christopher has more repeats (over 500).

Usually, people can have between 3 & 50 repeats of this code, and they would be healthy & normal.

It is thought to have come from the Tevendale side of the family.

Here's a link with an interesting chart about what DM1 can affect...
How DM affects your body Perhaps my GI issues are part of this whole thing...

One big question now is - do we get Jeremy tested, or wait until symptoms present themselves?

Mississauga Half

I ran the Mississauga Half yesterday, despite my longest recent run was "only" 15k.  It was a scramble to cram it in last week, so I would feel somewhat prepared. 

In the race, I was doing pretty well, nicely paced, not stressed out in breathing & whatnot.  My knee started acting up around 15K, and I gave it time to rest.  I made it through the remaining 6K by running a bit less, and walking a bit more.  My knee lasted with no real pain. My time wasn't great, but not only was it quicker than my last half, but I enjoyed it way more than Chilly. 

I purposefully tried to put myself in a positive frame of mind, and smile a lot, and it worked.  It helped that it was a beautiful day.  It started out cold & dark clouds seemed to be rolling in, but then the sun came out.  I even got a bit burnt.  It was windy, but sometimes the wind was at my back, which was nice. 

Unfortunately, my body aches today.