Ride em' Cowboy!

We will be flying out in the morning at 6:00 for Cody, WY. We will spend Thursday, Friday and Saturday sightseeing with friends in Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. Sunday we will have a wedding for Clark's best friend from North Carolina. He and his fiancee' wanted to join us on the mission trip and decided it would be a good time to get married! They will be married in the small Baptist church there by our associate pastor of Ridgecrest Baptist Church. Isn't this just so neat! Everyone there is so excited about the wedding. They are providing the cake and decorations, etc.

Three days next week will be spent painting, repairing, cleaning and landscaping the church and park and really just whatever else needs to be done. On the 4th of July some of us will go to the parade and the others (Clark and I included) will go white water rafting. Thursday will be spent preparing and cooking catfish and fixins for the church and basically the whole town. Going to the rodeo is on the agenda somewhere. We will fly back Saturday. This trip is a lot different from the mission trips we are used to. We have been on numerous medical trips to Mexico and Nicaragua where you are working hard all week. This will seem like a vacation!

Clark got a new fancy camera yesterday. He wants to renew his photography hobby so hopefully he will be able to take some really good pictures. We will try to post some.

Hopefully, I will be able to walk and keep my training up while we are gone. I have packed all my cute little wogging and biking clothes so I will have to! You know, it IS all about the clothes! I may have to get a cowboy hat to wear while I am walking so I will fit in! LOL

We will miss all of you folks the next two Saturdays.

Yall be careful out there!
Jana

Sunrise...............

Would we have seen this wonderful expression of God's love for us had we not been on the causeway at 5:45 Saturday morning?

WOO! HOO!

Elliptical - 13.1 miles
time - 2 hours 49 minutes
calories burned -1500
feeling afterward - priceless!

I did it! I just had to prove to myself that you guys were not going to leave me standing at the starting line in Chicago! I know I had 10 TV's to watch at Fitness lady, bathrooms close, water fountain close and air conditioning but I DID IT! I feel so much better. I feel like my endurance is where it should be at this point!
I did two/two intervals of easy then harder. I went for one hour then refilled my water bottle, went to bathroom and ate a GU. That was 4.55 miles. The second time I went for 1.10, 5.45 miles, and repeated. The third time was the hardest, 3.1 miles. It was so much easier to have the short breaks in between. I would always go to a new machine also to break up the monotony.
My knees are really sore but my heel feels fine. YEA!
We will still be there Saturday riding our bikes. I plan on making up my hour today on the bike Saturday.

Babysitting a Mini

For those of you who have volunteered to babysit my mini while we are gone - I am interviewing.
You must be able to :

1) diaper a mini
2) burp a mini
3) feed a mini
4) sing a mini lullaby
5) rock a mini to sleep
6) she likes to watch her favorite show "Cars"

SICK - I know!

Blogging Blues

I haven't blogged in a while. Sorry about that but just haven't had much to say. I have been enjoying my new car. Clark and I look like a couple of kids riding around with the top down.
I have been reading everyone's blogs about heel pain. Please don't ignore it. I have one more week before I have another xray to see if my stress fracture has healed. We leave for Cody, WY next Thursday for a mission trip and unless my heel has healed enough to walk (for exercise) I will not get any exercise other than working on the mission. I don't think we will be staying any place fancy enough to have an elliptical or bike! If it is okay I plan on just walking that week and start back running the next week. I want to go as slow as necessary to keep this from happening again. I went today and got a foot imprint for orthotics. I don't know if it will help prevent a future stress fracture but it is worth a try. Jennifer at Methodist Rehab told me I have very weak ankles and that hopefully these will help keep me from a sprain.
I exercised on the elliptical for 40 minutes today and then did water pilates for one hour. I am doing everything I can to keep up endurance. It is hard because I never feel like I do enough. I didn't do anything yesterday. After church, having lunch with my family, and then visiting Clark's dad there was no more time. I was also lazy from eating so many barbecue ribs! Maybe that is why I can't lose weight? Naw............................
My daughter and son-in-law are moving to Kansas City, MO. That leaves us with only one kid in town! I have been very down about her moving. She is my baby! I would never hold her back though. Everyone should have a chance to experience other areas of the country and get away from their parents for a while. I am sure going to miss her! Hopefully it will only be for a year.

Okay, I did nothing in the way of training today. Why, you asked? Because we were too busy riding around in my new red convertible Mini Cooper! Yes, that's right! Clark and I drove to Baton Rouge yesterday after he got off work and picked it up. It is so much fun! It is red with black interior and so cute!
I did work out yesterday. Water pilates, elliptical and bike totaling 1 hour, 35 min. It is NOT the same as wogging. I just don't feel like I did when I was able to run/walk. Not the same level of workout it seems. But, I will be a good patient. My heel is still really sore so I don't actually think it will be healed in two weeks. We will just have to see. Don't want any permanent damage or an actual break. I see people suffering with permanent injuries every time I go to work and it is not for me.
Maybe Saturday while you guys are running I will drive my Mini along beside you. I think it will fit on the trails and not take up much more room than my bike! LOL

Jana

Proud father.

Jana

Bone Scan and other fun things

I went this morning for my bone scan and did not get good news. According to the Radiologist I have a calcaneal stress fracture of my left foot. Great, huh. I have not heard from Dr. Sullivan yet so don't really know how bad and what restrictions I have.
Clark and I rode bikes 8 1/2 miles yesterday and I did the elliptical today for 30 minutes. Dr. Sullivan actually told me not to do anything but I have come too far to regress back to where I was! These two exercises are not weight bearing on my heel so I think they are okay. I can already tell that I am losing conditioning by not running or walking. Hopefully, this will not be bad and I will have a fast recovery. I have read a lot about this fracture and in general it seems to take around 6 weeks to heal. It is caused by osteoporosis or adding too many miles too soon or overuse (also, other things but didn't think they apply to me such as flat feet, feet deformity or obesity). As everyone knows (who reads my blogs) I am a rule follower so I don't think I have done too much too soon. I do have osteopenia which is a precurser to osteoporosis but have been taking well over the daily requirement of calcium.
I will just have to wait and see. I'll keep you posted!

Jana

BTW, I finished a new painting this week.

Remember "The Shining"

This is a picture of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO. It was used in the movie "The Shining." Pretty scary looking.

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is the wedding was beautiful. Everything went off without a hitch. We will send some pictures to Photo Bucket or somewhere so you can see if you want. We had a really good time.

The bad news is I hobbled around all week. I went to see Dr. Tip Sullivan this morning and he is sending me for a nuclear scan Wednesday to see if I have a calcanal (sp) stress fracture. He was able to see something that looked like a fracture on xray in his office but couldn't be positive. The weird thing is I can walk perfectly well in high heels! With my low heel casual shoes and tennis shoes I look like I am crippled. He said if I don't have a stress fracture he would probably put me in 1/4 inch high heel insoles. I am not supposed to do any running, etc. until after the scan. I rested from running and walking last week and only did the elliptical three days. I can go forward on the elliptical without any pain but not backward. I am so worried about having to build my endurance back up!

I told Dr. Sullivan I was training for the marathon and he asked me if I was going to cry. Well, I wanted to! When I told him it was in October he told me that even if this is a stress fracture I will be able to train for the October marathon. Thank you, God! I will just have to change my program somewhat. I don't know what to expect but will hopefully find out Wed.

I will let you guys know. For all of you with heel pain - the way he diagnosed it was - he pressed the right and left side of my heel with both hands and I had a lot of pain.

Matt, you made my day. Clark has been making fun of me for listening to Michael Buble's "Perry Como/Frank Sinatra" music! I am sure he said he couldn't believe he was married to such an old person! Well, you must be old too!!!

Can't wait to see everyone Saturday. I may be on my bike with Clark and Robin. Hopefully, I won't be totally grounded.