Preparing for an Office Turkey Trot

From Leigh Anne Van Doren, publisher of Fredericksburg Parent:

One commitment that the staff of the magazine has made to our own health is to make sure that we get plenty of cardiovascular exercise during the week. As a way to challenge ourselves we have signed up for the Friends & Family YMCA Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning and plan to run it as a group! Having the pressure of training for a race will encourage us to get and stay moving. Here's how I fared this past week...

This week I am facing an unexpected challenge: As I was driving Jamie to the specialist in Charlottesville, my mother called to tell me that my grandmother had been tied up and beaten in the night during a home invasion. I am currently on the road from Fredericksburg, Virginia to Clarksville, Tennessee to help out. I packed workout clothes and running shoes, but have no idea how I am going to manage. I was too frightened in my room at the Super Eight in Bristol, VA to go out running in the dark. There was a really scary guy in the room next to me. He looked like a cast member from Deliverance. Ate a chicken sandwich, no fries, per April.

Got to the hospital about 3 pm. I am too shocked by Grandma’s condition to exercise. Spend the night on the hospital couch. She has a huge fight with the nurses in the night, because she doesn’t want them to help her in the bathroom. “Some things are none of your business.” Ha. She also won’t tell them her age in the morning, but finally gives them “36 plus 36 plus 18.”

Grandmother goes to physical therapy between 9 am and noon, so after sleeping on the couch all night in the hospital I drove back to the house, which has finally been released by the police. I dragged in my suitcase, found my workout clothes and ran with my dog Cheers for 30 minutes. Then I threw in some pushups and squats for another 10. I felt much, much better. By the time I showered, dressed and ate lunch it was 1 pm. Grandmother was extremely agitated when I got back to the hospital, crying and saying that the speech therapists had showed her pictures of different ways for people to kill her. They hadn’t, she just couldn’t see that well and was having a flashback. I spent another night on the hospital couch. Dinner: Ate a disgusting, cold chicken breast in the hospital cafeteria.

I am exhausted this morning. I haven’t had my CPAP machine at the hospital for my sleep apnea and have been up and down in the night to work with grandmother. I absolutely don’t want to exercise. I stagger back to the house, manage a 25 minute run/walk and a 2 minute shower. I do feel better afterwards despite my concern about getting back to grandma quickly. I race back to the hospital to get back before grandmother finishes therapy. I put makeup on her and put rollers in her hair. She looks more like herself with the bruises on her face partially covered. Dinner: Chicken sandwich, no fries.

We sleep at the house for the first time. A nice K-9 policeman checks the house for us before we go in and Cheers barked at any noises. I’m running out of steam, but I manage a run/walk that is mostly walk, but goes over steep hills. The exercise wakes me up enough that I make it through a long afternoon despite overwhelming fatigue. Dinner: Chicken sandwich, no fries.

My cousin in Louisville has a breakdown. I drive mom up to see her, promising Grandma we’ll be back by tonight. I start to take Cheers for a walk, but my boot heel breaks off at the top of a steep flight of stairs and I fall all the way down them. I retire defeated from the field of exercise. Can’t face another chicken sandwich. Dinner: Aunt Helen’s white beans, pork chop, pineapple salad, peach cobbler and rolls. Yum.

Long drive back. No exercise.
I made it to Body Jam Tuesday night.

Worked out with April Wednesday morning.

Ran with Stacy D. Thursday morning

Heavy weight session at Gold’s Gym Friday.

No exercise Saturday or Sunday due to Halloween, Juliette Lowe Day for Girl Scouts, church, Jr. Cotillion and Youth Group. Exhausted and achey.

Measured with April this morning. I lost half an inch off my calves and shoulders. When I went boot shopping, I was able to fit into regular size boots, and didn’t need the wide calf styles. Purchased a pair of Kenneth Cole boots to celebrate and replace the pair I broke at Aunt Helen’s. Waist and hips are the same. But considering I ate out every meal for two weeks, I consider that a victory! Now I have to plan on some serious running this week to catch up from my out of town challenges.