Checking In

How, HOW I ask you, can it possibly be the middle of August already?? We're going to blink and it will be Christmas. I remember when I was a kid, summer would stretch out endlessly. This aging thing is getting on my nerves. 

Anywhoo, as I have nothing new or exciting to report (shocking, given the high stakes life of intrigue that I lead), I thought I'd use today's post as a status check on posts of the past. How's marathon training going? Did I ever lose those 7 pounds? What's that ganglion cyst up to these days? Let's check in and find out!

Marathon Training. In early July I posted this entry about being psyched to start my marathon training. I'd been struggling with my running and was hoping having a focus--the Savannah marathon--would straighten me out. I'm happy to report that this seems to be the case. It has been a heat bath here in the South all summer but I'm still enjoying training. I'm alternating between using training paces for a 3:30 and a 3:35 marathon. I cut back on the amount of weight training/boot camps I attend and feel better for it. Much more energy for my runs. The goal now is to find time to slip in some yoga. This coming Saturday is the first of five 20-mile training runs. I'm making sure I eat right, hydrate, and stay on pace vs. going out too fast. So far, it seems to be working.

Those Damn 7 Pounds. Did I lose the 7 pounds I wrote about in this March entry? You may recall I'd lost just under 5 pounds a little over two weeks after the initial post. Then my appetite came back. 

Did I lose the weight? Sure! I just put it back on again. Down three, up three, down two, up two... over and over. And now, 4 months later, after hours of backbreaking work at bootcamps, hours spent logging miles in soggy, humid temps, I'm right back where I was. 

I still believe the key to my losing weight will be nixing sugar. I just don't know if I believe I am capable of this. Still, hope springs eternal in the mind of a dieter. I'm still hoping to lose the weight by the marathon in November. What I need is a plan, as apparently just hoping the pounds will go away isn't working for me. Who knew?

Ganglion Cyst.  In January (Wow, it doesn't seem that long ago. What did I say about time flying by?), I shared the hideous deformation (is that a word?) of my foot. Iris correctly guessed "ganglion cyst." In my reading I learned that cysts can shrink and grow larger over time and will sometimes even disappear for long stretches. Unless there is a nerve impingement and pain, it's not recommended to remove the cyst as there's a greater than 60% chance it will grow back. 

Well, I don't know about the shrinkage part but I've definitely experienced the growth. I look at those January pics I posted and can only wish the cyst was still that small. I've been carrying a small bowling bowl around on the top of my ankle for months now. I've been playing with the idea of having the liquid drained out of it, even though it's likely the cyst will reform. Just 'cause it's icky. 

This concludes today's post, updating you on things you'd either forgotten about or never really cared that much about in the first place. Join us next week, when we go on a fascinating inner journey of "Why I say I want to write a novel and then proceed to avoid doing any and all work associated with it."

Cheers,

Dena