h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've really neglected my cardio, at the gym, a lot, since, probably the end of last year; As I've got more into weights, the cardio just became a quick ten minute thing, useually, before getting onto the bit I enjoyed more

Anyhow, have been trying to rectify this, and getting back into running again.... a week or so ago, I just* managed 20 minutes on the treadmill

So, on Tuesday, we did the treadmill again..... a couple minutes slow warm up, and then to a reasonable speed - aiming for at least 20, hopefully 25 minutes

went for 30 minutes.... and then a couple extra

And, this when my testosterone injection is Friday, so I oughta be at my lowest level of testosterone over the last 14 weeks

Next, I want to continue with just 30 minutes on it, but gradually increase the speed.... Oh, and did about 3 miles I think, in the half hour

Back to gym tomorrow so probably the treadmill again...

Also, Tuesday, after the running, I did an hour weights, including some bench, curls, and squats, plus upright row etc... and then some bar-pullups, whilst balancing on an inflated exercise ball and I did some more of the high double-footed kicks, against the back pad, inside the weird climbing frame piece of equipment.... - wow, suddenly I don't just* nearly get my feet towards the top of the pad, every kick went over the top of the pad, twenty reps, then a gap, then another twenty... the top of the pad, is probably just above my shoulder/neck height...

did more stretches, dynamic for the hamstrings... now I can touch my toes, fully straight leg/knee, I'm gradually getting closer to getting my palms flat on the floor

also, my hip-extensions etc, are really loostening up the hip area, a lot

back at gym in the morning, and Hospital Friday for testosterone IM injection

Weirdest thing ever. after the running, and weights, on Tuesday.
I felt.... normal. utterly totally normal; no dizzy, no brain fog, no disassociation and floating feeling, which is the first time I've felt that clear headed, since, well, since before I went onto steroids/started chemotherapy

seemed to have been short-lived, normal dizzy, brian foggy, disassociated dizzy floating vacant brain as normal today = no idea why... = some weird optamin level of steroid/testosterone/thyroxin, conincidentally at the same time... I think the extra cardio had a lot to do with it... - gona see if I can achieve it again tomorrow, it was so loverly whilst it lasted I nearly cried; I almost felt like I was me, for the first time in over three years

Might pop to the pub tonight, for something to do...

Oh, and popped out to charity shop earlier, took back some stuff of W's, and one item of mine, we didn't want anymore.... - I almost caved in and bought a pair of stilhetto hells, and a handbag.... the heels were all sparkly but they were a size 3.... I'm an 8... couldn't make my mind up about the handbag, so I didn't buy it I've loads of handbags, but all my nice ones are far to small to fit the massive box in, containing the bits to make up an emergency injection... just wish I could have an epipen version, but no one makes one - if only I could get an empty, universal syringe, and fill one chamber on it, with the powder solu cortif, and the other with the saline... then I could have something small enough to take in a regular sized handbag (plus I could use it myself in an emergency)

That is run weird indeed...

Given that you were so desperate for the T a few days ago, sounds like something in your system happened to compensate for that! "some weird optamin level of steroid/testosterone/thyroxin, conincidentally at the same time..." - yeah...

Will be interesting if the same clear headed thing happens tomorrow

Enjoy your evening, whatever you decide to do

We did go to the pub last night - to be honest, I've nothing to do if we don't do that in the evening... seeing as how I can't read anymore - I miss reading so much, especially as it just used to take up a lot of time, over a week, but since all this medical stuff, for whatever reason, I just can't read... Probably a mixture of things really, concentration not working, no emotional connection/empathy due to hormonal stuff, etc... and... I dunno... I've tried a few times, but whatever the book, I just 'don't care enough' to have any interest in whatever sort of storyline it might be damn annoying really....

Well, did a different mix at the gym today, no real cardio as such, but an aweful lot of deadlifting, bench pressing, reverse fly, some work with the kettle weights, and a load of squats...

Lots and lots of stretches too, mainly hamstring, and also quads, mix of dynamic and non-dynamic stretching.... those hamstrings are improving day by day.... - getting closer and closer to straight-legged stretches, and now I'm aiming for my palms on the floor, when I do ordinary 'touch your toes'... though I've still a fair distance left to achieve that, fully

The squats were the huge today....

Was doing them extra slow, engagueing the hips/pelvis fully for each, and aiming for depth.... was getting lower and lower down, each time... (the hamstring flexibility really starting to pay dividends)....

Then, I realised, the bar, at the bottom of the squat, must be fairly close to the side bars, on the squat rack, the one's either side.... so I diped a bit, each side of the bar, whilst at the bottom.... yeh, was about an inch I thought from hitting the side-bars on the cage/rack....

so I went down deeper... then deeper got it! so then did the final squats, all the way down, each time both side of the bar, on my back, landing on the side bars, in the squat rack - I couldn't believed it.... I mean, when I first started, I was really hardly getting very low with the move at all, and now, I'm as far down as it is possible....

head certainly hell ofa lot clearer after, not quite to th e extent of the other day, but not far off so its obviously associated with th e exercise in some way.... - exercise 'burns' glucocortacoids/cortisol, so I assume, also 'burns' through the prednisolone... if pituitary works, you produce more cortisol, due to exercise (its a stress on the body, afterall, exercising), the cortisol rise, can, in normal functioning bodies, then actually cause a reduction in testosterone (I can't recall why...) - but, in general, exercise, can stimulate the pituitary to signal to the body, over time, to produce more testosterone (I assume because your using up more testosterone, it tells the pituitary that 'we need more'...) - I assume exercise affects thyroid hormones too, I'd assume, increasing them, but I'm not sure....

but... how that works if my pituitary doesn't work... I'm not sure it does.... unless I've a bit of function 'poking' through the various exoginious hormones I take - of course exercise useually increases growth hormone secretion too, but that would secrete overnight, not during the exercise, as far as I recall.... and as I take GH each night, I assume that must be supressed fully with my replacement dose...

The personal trainer made an amusing statement, that got W and me in histerical giggles......

I was standing on the floor, with space in front and behind... and trainer said;
"feel between your legs, and see if you can find anything"! - he'd seribitiously placed a kettle weight on the bloor, between my widely spaced legs but... really...

Oh, and before the training today, we went to speak to the gym manager; as W and I had overheard a private trainer, who uses the gym, for his clients, talking about some illegal use of certain hormones, with his client.... - not the sort of thing this gym would like happening on its premises.... - and terrifying too; they were talking of 400 times the amount of testosterone I have every 12-14 weeks; but every week! err... seriously dangerous levels of illegal enhancement (I nearly nearly had it out with the PT concerned, myself, when we overheard it... but luckily perhaps, thought better of it... so we Emailed the gym manager, so went to speak to her today....)

no gym tomorrow, as off to hospital for the testosterone early in the morning, then visiting a friend, on the way home....
probably at gym again Saturday, when I will definitely try the treadmill again, but this time do the 30 minutes, but try a KM/h faster

had cous cous for lunch, with lettuce and cucumber, and corianda salad, with plain low fat yoghurt, and a grilled tuna-steak

Pork steak tonight, diced up (fat removed), with onion, mushroom, spices, canolini beans, and some tomatos to make a sauce with it oh, and garlic, of course... probably more corianda too

had strawberries after lunch with a low fat yoghurt - so sweet, if I'd not made up the bowl myself, I'd swear someone had sneackily thrown sugar on it

Oh; yes, and after gym, we went into town, to the bank, then home via the veg stall (hence we got tomatos, pears, strawberries, corianda etc)

hmm.... actually my head is pretty clear again.... - back/arms/chest just starting to notice what I did in the gym earlier now

we'll probably end up the the pub later.... - we go a lot, but I do try limit myself to only 3 or 4 pints a night/time, rarely drink any more than 4 pints, thesedays a session, actually - any more than 5 now, and I do notice it a bit the next day - afterall there is 4 stone less of me to fit beer into

finding female clothes sizing odd though; I've size 18 dresses/tops that fit fine, and others, size 22 that seem to fit the same I must be nearing a size 12 now, for trousers/skirts/leggings, as my 14 jeggings are gradually getting losser

doubt we'll do much more today.... just a bath or shower soon I guess a bath might be good, with lots and lots of magnesium salts (well, plus the bath oils, and bath bombs as useual)

Wow indeed with those squats - you definitely are impressively flexible these days

Glad the exercise helped you feel better, too

"exercise 'burns' glucocortacoids/cortisol, so I assume, also 'burns' through the prednisolone... " Yeah - that's my non-expert view from what you've been describing, that you somehow have too much cortisol in your system, so burning off the extra through exercise does you good

"but... how that works if my pituitary doesn't work... I'm not sure it does.... unless I've a bit of function 'poking' through the various exoginious hormones I take " Yeah, that's another of my non-expert theories, that your body is actually producing stuff underneath somehow, as that would help to explain why your reactions aren't as expected for someone with no hormone function...

"The personal trainer made an amusing statement, that got W and me in histerical giggles......"

Oooer

Yeah, there is no consistency in clothes sizing indeed, but that's great that you can find things that fit you just right, even if you can't rely on the labels...

Enjoy your bath!

Yep, like Sasha said, there's no rhyme or reason in women's sizes, which I'm holding on to so I can ignore the idea of you fitting into smaller trousers than I can now

Totally unrelated--how're the saplings coming along?

Oh... the saplings err... yeh... I must* try* to remember to buy some compost and suitable pots shall mention that to W again, so we might stand a chance of getting it done (you remember we started doing the house up?; two years ago.... we did one big hit on the upstairs, and front room, and.... sort of didn't get anything else sorted yet )

Had the injection this morning.
Oddly I notced more the canular going into my arm, to get a blood draw, before the injection, more than I noticed the intramuscular injection into my glutes...

The did an astonished sound as she did the IM injection... apparently there is a lot more solid muscle there now, than she's used to injecting into

She's a very observant nurse... she also noticed my freezing cold hands (probably raynords, due to neuropathy), so did thyroid bloods too (cold hands often happens with hypothyroid too).

going to have a testosterone test, in twelve weeks minus 2 days; if low at that point, I'll then have the next IM at the 12 week point... if not another blood draw at 13 weeks, minus two days, and then the injection at 13.... etc... which makes sense (why they've never done a simple month profile of my Testosterone levels, over the three months or so between injections, is of course... somewhat baffling - I might b sometimes awkward to find a working blood vessel to get blood out of, but I don't mind needles in the slightest, anymore oddly the one today on my arm didn't bruise, although she thought it would... but my glutes are now very sore... well, the right hand one is... actually, its almost more on the hip where they inject... sort of behind it, so right at the top of the glutes I guess

Walked most of the way home, as there was a bus, but we just missed it, so rather than waiting for the next one, we set off... and beat it to the stop near our friend, so we went visited him...

I was so thirsty... drank several cans of some posh natural fruit fizzy thing he had (I declined beer or wine, as I was just so thirsty...), then had coffee too... - may be the affect of the testosterone straight away; as it can 'allow' water to enter cells of the body, rehydrating them, so taking that water out of the blood and dehydrating one there

I noticed the affect of the testosterone injection, start, whilst still getting my things together to leave the nurse... all in the mind to begin with... a bit more clarity, and, a weird 'switching back on', of proper 3D hearing ability... - really notice that as leaving the hospital, and I can hear distances more in noises (really very odd.... a little like clearing water out of an ear, that got water in, in the bath... that sort of weird sound-returning sensation... if that makes sense )

cooked up some shish spiced diced chicken for dinner, with couscous, and salad, and plenty of corianda and youghurt... (spices were fresh ground pepper, cumin, fennel, and cinnamon, along with a little paprika)...

Dinner (which we just had), was rainbow trout, with chalotte salad potatos, and salad followed by strawberries ad a low fat yougart , and then an apple

A long bath next... more magnesium salts and Lush bath bombs plus bubble/oil

Gym tomorrow, to ease the now slightly aching top of my right leg