Exercise is . . .HARD!!
I’ll be honest, I was one of the last kids to complete the
mile in high school. I walked when I
could and only ran when forced. I came up with every excuse possible to get out
of even changing for gym, let alone participating. If you would have told me that
years later, I’d be running by my own choice, I would have laughed at you.
Well, here I am, years later and trying to run. I believe that, as unpredictable as CF is, we
do have some control over the disease. I’m
not saying that if you are 100% compliant with treatments and you exercise
everyday, you will live to be 110, but I surely don’t think compliance and
treatments can do any harm. In fact,
I think it is one of the few ways we do have some control over our disease.
Exercise, as much as I hate doing it, makes me feel better.
I started exercising a few months ago, using my iPhone and
the app, Couch to 5k. I am enjoying using the app, even if I can’t complete the
rigorous course it provides in only 9 weeks. Unfortunately, I fell behind after
getting sick and gave up on it altogether.
It’s hard for me to find motivation to keep doing it because I truly
hate it that much. Now, however, the idea of a potential
pregnancy has me working at it harder than ever. If there are any ways I have control over my
PFTs and how my lungs feel, exercise and treatments are it. I would love to see my PFTs increase prior to
becoming pregnant and I will work my tush off to make sure they stayed
high. So, I’m jogging/powerwalking (continuing
the Couch to 5K app) and this time I’m doing it with my best friend which means
it keeps me on track and helps me not to focus on how hard it is to breathe or
how much my legs are burning.
It’s still difficult though and I still despise actually
running. I’m looking forward to the day
where I wake up everyday wanting to run – I just don’t know if it will ever happen. However, after today’s 1.5 mile walk/jog in
thirty minutes, I felt GREAT. My lungs
felt so much larger and I coughed and coughed and coughed for hours
afterwards. I didn’t get anything up but
I sure got it moving around and I’m ok with that (although, I prefer the
former, obviously).
I am SO proud of this screen right now!
So, here’s to my new workout program and hoping that I can
stick with this one. I want to walk into my CF clinic next month and have my
FEV1 higher!! If it’s not higher next
month, then in three months hopefully it will be where I want it. No matter
what, exercise isn’t doing me any harm so I will keep at it as hard as I can!!
Nice!! I never thought I would be a "runner" either, but I can't tell you how good it feels to run/jog that first mile. You'll get there, just keep pushing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ronnie! I came down with a bad cold starting last night so I'm wondering if that was why my lungs were giving out earlier than normal yesterday. Normally, my legs give out before my lungs but yesterday was an exception. I'm SO excited to be able to run/jog that first mile..I can't even imagine how it will feel! It's crazy how you perspective changes from what you thought you'd be to where you actually end up, isn't it?
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