I'm now among the employed!

Well,as they say, be careful what you ask for cause you might get it. Well, I asked for and got a job. I haven't had a job since 1999 when I left AT&T so it will be a little weird. I interviewed for the job for a massage therapist at the spa in our health club exactly one month ago to the day and today they called and officially offered me the job. Looks like I've passed all the references and experience requirements. Tomorrow I go for a drug test and finish up the paperwork and then get to order my uniform, yes I'm going to wear scrubs. How attractive is that??? And to make it even better, they're beige. Pretty flashy huh?! It'll be good though and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm only scheduled to work two days a week from 2 to 6 but from what everyone has told me, I'll get all the work I want. I think it will be a good place to work and hopefully it'll get me to work out more consistantly as I'll be there already. I know a lot of people at the club so it will be really fun to be "one of them". I don't think I've ever been "one of them". Maybe I'll be able to trade for personal training!

I've been doing well with my running and have been throwing in "speedwork" so hopefully that will pay off. I still don't have my goal race picked out yet but am working on it. So many races so little time. I think about a road marathon and then I think, why would I want to do that? For now I'll just continue rebuilding my base and getting my running to a more consistant level. I am running in a 5 mile race on Saturday so it will be a good gauge as to my true fitness level. It's supposed to rain though so it may put a damper on it. (get it?) I'm hoping to break 50 but don't really see that happening but it would be a sign that I'm making good progress.

I'm supposed to go biking with a women I met at the club in a spinning class. It's supposed to rain though so I don't think it will happen. I think the thing I like best about this area is how everyone seems to know everyone and everyone is pretty friendly although some groups are clicky for sure. I'm hoping to establish a womens biking group for the more mature biker. The women at the club mentioned she would like that as well since we're not able to keep up with the speedsters anymore. I won't start that until next spring however. I take over as president of the running club in January and that will be a big job as I want to make a lot of changes to how it's being run currently. (who do I sound like?) Anyway, there is unnecessary spending and my campaign was to lower taxes. Just kidding. I do have lots of plans for the club though and I think it'll be successful. Working at the club will enable me to bring in more beginner or wannabe runners just because I'll have an opportunity to meet more of them and talk it up!

Off to bed. Got a busy day tomorrow. I'm going to try to blog daily although with my current track record it may be a little to ambitious. Stay tuned!

Catching Up

I've been lax again with posting on my blog. I guess I've been busy but am not really sure with what. I have to figure out how to schedule my appointments in a more productive manner.

I did get the job at First Health FirstSpa and I'm very excited. I'll only be working two days a week and only about 4 hours each day. Not a bad gig! I'm sure I'll have to work additional hours in the future but for now, this is more than enough. I get free membership to the club and also can work out in-between clients if I have a gap! Plus, I figure that once I'm at the club it'll be easier to stay and workout. It's always hard for me to get back over there in the evening on my own but now I'll be there! No excuses now! Okay, I'm sure I can always find an excuse but it'll be harder to skip an extra workout.

My rolfing sessions are going great. I think it will really help get my body back into great condition. My posture is already better and I feel taller and am breathing better. It's great and I think everyone should do it. Unfortunately it's pretty pricy and tough to justify unless there's a real issue that needs to be fixed.

The girls are coming down this weekend to celebrate Frank's and Erin's birthday so that will be fun. Can' wait to see Ella and how much she has changed over the last month. Pictures to follow!

Tate and his girls

Picasa Web Albums - Julie - New Album 10/8/08 2:47 PM
Here's a recent photo of Tate and Adalyn and Zella. Can't wait to get back to Ohio and see them again. Zella is really getting big apparently much bigger than Ada was at 2 months.

Back by popular demand

It's been a little while since my last post so I need to catch up.
First, the good news/bad news. My stress test came back fine so that is good news however, I still don't know why I get out of breath walking up stairs and why my chest burns when I expend too much energy without a proper warm-up. I'm going to work on improving my endurance (if that's possible) by following the Maffetone principle which is running aerobic for substantial period of time. I've been working on it for the past few weeks and have already seen an improvement so hopefully that will be the answer.

I'm still waiting to hear about the job at the health club. I'm not sure if no news is good news, bad news or just no news. Hopefully I'll know before the week is out. If I don't get the job there, I will probably pursue renting space at the salon where I get my hair cut. I think it would be a great space and with the clientele that goes there I think I'd get more than enough business. I still would prefer to work at the health club and let them get the clients and supply the supplies. Call me lazy! Actually the best benefit would be that if I didn't have a client during my scheduled work time, I could leave the spa and go home or work out. How perfect is that!!!!!

Running is still not totally pain free. I'm still only running every other day and ended up only running the half marathon race instead of the marathon distance at a race we went to over the weekend. Frank ran the 40 miler so I had a few hours to wait around for him. Fortunately it was a beautiful day to just hangout in the sun. We both won our age groups so that was fun.

It's frustrating to not be back to pre-Umstead condition. I've done about everything I can do so now will just concentrate on not overdoing it as well strengthening it. I can't believe that this has been going on for so long but hopefully it will be a thing of the past in the not to distant future.

Gotta Run!

Heart Rate Training

formationflier

A visit with Ella!

 

Frank and I went to Colleen's yesterday and got to see Ella. It had been a few weeks since we've seen her and it's always fun to see how much she's changed. She's sitting up and rolling over and trying to crawl. Such a big world to explore. She still has those huge blue eyes that can melt your heart.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks so I need to catch up. I overdid my running last week and am now trying to figure out just how much I can do. I went to the Rolfer this morning and that was great. It was pretty uncomfortable yet I do feel much better. I also went to see my medical doctor and told him about my heart concerns and now I have to have a nuclear stress test tomorrow. I told him about the burning in my chest and that I have difficulty climbing stairs or steep hills. I just can't get enough oxygen to my big muscles. After learning about the heart disease that Toni Braxton brought to light on Dancing with the Stars, I'm convinced that I have the same disease. It's called Microvasxular Angina also known as Cardiac Syndrome X. The symptoms she had are exactly what I have. It'll be good to either rule it out or rule it in. It would be great if it is the answer and there is a treatment that will help me be able to exert myself or at least to know why I'm not able to do what I used to be able to do. It'll be interesting to say the least and I'm very excited to have the test done and find out what's going on. Dr Mercier does think that my hamstring issue is much improved and suggests that I continue to strengthen it as well as to start running some hills. Who knew. I've been avoiding hills!

Another thing going on is that I had an interview last week at First Spa at First Health, the fitness center we belong to. I wasn't sure if I wanted to work there or not but after learning more about the position and responsibilities, I really hope that I get it. I won't find out until next week so it's a little unsettling but at least it gives me some time to be more objective about it. I think I have a pretty good chance as I have experience however, I am quite a bit older than the other applicates. Which will triumph, youth and inexperience, or age with experience. We'll see! I vote for the experience factor!!!!

Okay, I guess that enough for now. Later!

ChiRunning

ChiRunning