I feel alive when I'm active.  I'm not letting RA keep me down!

This post is dedicated to my Mom and Dad (below)  You can see by my Dad's hands that he suffered from RA as well (and so did his mother, my granmdmother Nanny)

Hello fine people. I'm back!  I decided to restart my blog again today in hopes to help anyone with RA who wants to keep exercising.

 It has been a while now. Update: I now work in my dream job for the last couple of years.   I have been an RN for 25 years. I have worked in med/surgical, women's health, cardiac rehab, pulmonary rehab, urgent care.

Now in my dream job in Cardiology I am performing clinical exercise treadmill stress tests to screen people for heart disease, and caring for people with cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators.

 I am now a Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist and a renewed my membership with American College of Sports Medicine.

I read many studies regarding rheumatoid arthritis and exercise and attend those lectures when I attend ACSM conferences.   I can't wait to share and discuss those studies and articles with people who have RA if anyone is interested!

I would love to hear your exercise with RA stories!!!

I am still working out regularly.  I have had some health issues since my last post including plantar fasciitis (heal pain), a stress fracture of my left metatarsal after running a half-marathon, a fully torn rotator cuff requiring surgery from doing a push up,  and a uterine fibroid tumor surgery. Being active I believe has kept RA flare ups to a minimum!   I have learned so much more about injury prevention of the shoulder and feet!

I also have increased my time mountain biking.   I will share some of things I have learned with you in hopes to motivate people with RA to keep on exercising.

Bye for now! :)

My Meds: Orencia injections weekly
Naprosyn or Relafen and for breakthrough pain Norco (I try not take any pain meds because I love my liver and kidneys !  :) )

I am sad to say...

I am sad to say that a large majority of the views from the blog I believe are programmed views. No are no true views from interested people , but they are just search engine views made to make you think that people are reading your blog.  :( : ( :(  ( I read up on it)

I thought I could possibly motivate people with RA to keep on movin'.  Sadly, I believe my time my have been wasted. 

I was wondering how I could have so many views with only one person commenting ( Helen thanks :))

I am writing this last blog in case there is actually someone out there reading this.  I enjoyed writing this blog and it motivated me to keep going. I ran a 5 K last Saturday and the next day a 10K!

Today I am ending this blog.  As my life is busy as it is, and I would like to put my time in to where I am most useful.

So, if there is some one out there that has RA and was motivated thanks for reading. I hope I helped in some way.

Thanks again for reading. :)

10k last night and 5K this morning; American College of Sports Medicine HR Guidelines

Did a 10 K on the treadmill last night and a 5 K this morning around the park.

Had some issues with shoulder pain last night on treadmill as well as the balls of my feet hurt but other than that, it was ok.

:) :) :) :)

Have a heart rate 02 sat monitor that I use I had found (bought it several years ago on Amazon or EBay).  Interesting to see how high my heart rate gets at times 160's.   See pic above for pulse oximter...

The American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines for heart rate are cut and paste below

"How Much Exercise is Enough?

The most consistent benefits appear to occur when exercise training is performed at least three times a week for 12 or more week’s duration. Exercising more frequently may elicit even greater improvements; however, if the program is discontinued, the benefits are lost within weeks (I hate that part!). The duration of aerobic exercise training sessions should include a minimum of 30 continuous or accumulated minutes (e.g., three- 10 minute exercise bouts) at an intensity approximating 70 to 85 percent of an individual’s measured maximal heart rate. Nevertheless, the prescribed heart rate for exercise training should be 10 or more beats per minute below the intensity that evokes abnormal signs or symptoms. Your doctor should approve the level or intensity of exercise that is considered safe and appropriate for you. "

Got it from their website: http://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/exercise-for-persons-with-cardiovascular-disease.pdf

According to the ACSM guidelines article the American Heart Association has this to say...

"A recent American Heart Association consensus statement on preventing heart attack and death in patients with coronary disease suggested a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity activity 3 or 4.....5 to 6 hours a week was suggested for maximum benefits. Increasing physical activity in daily living can be helpful in this regard "  

You ACSM maximum age predicted heart rate is 220-(your age). 


"Pick a Number

For endurance training and general aerobic conditioning, calculate 50 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate if you’re a beginner; 60 to 75 percent for intermediate level exercisers; and 70 to 85 percent for established aerobic exercisers. ....."

For example:

My age is 50.  220-50=170.

Endurance training:                    Beginner:   85 to 111 bpm
                                                   Intermed: 102 to 128
                                                   Advanced: 119 to 145 bpm

 Well my heart rate is 160's most of the time during exercise.... so I like to go by the ACSM guideline above where it says "10 beats a minutes below the intensity that provokes abnormal signs and symptoms."


Hope you all have a day free of arthritis pain!!! Thanks for reading :)

                                               

Happy Valentine's Day - Run - Nike Running App Rocks ! Video of Aquaduct Run.

Happy Valentine's Day :) :)

 

Made a cake for the hubby, nothing fancy but gets the message of the day across. :)

 

Then spent several hours with my Mom having lunch, then ice cream.

 

 

 

After that, the hubby and I went for a 4 mile run by the Aqua Duct in the desert - see video below.  ( I accidentally had forgot to take phone/camera out of the sports holder before starting vid.  Despite my filming technique having a lot to improve upon, I hope you notice the beauty of the desert.

 

I tried out the NIKE Running APP it worked fantastic after I figured it out (took me a 1.4 miles to figure I had it set for indoor run :o )

I highly recommend it the Nike Running App.  You can use it for inside or out.  I didn't have to buy an entire sports watch GPS, just strapped the phone to my arm and it was very accurate to my hubby's expensive sports watch GPS.

 

 

Unfortunately, I have hip pain right now about 6/10 pain scale, but the run was still worth it.  Other than that and eating too many sweets, I feel great.

 

 

Hope you all had fun today, thanks for reading!!

Difficult to get back on treadmill after being sick.... but I did it

Lost 6 pounds due to the stomach flu and continued to have symptoms for 5 days :(

BUT good news is I made it back to the treadmill today and did 4 miles, ran 3.1 miles and walked the rest.

My heart rate was too high.  Think I was still too dehydrated from being sick. :(  Thought I drank enough water but didn't.

Stomach flu and RA flare at the same time :(

Stomach flu and RA flare at the same time in the last two days  :(

Maybe I've run myself down, but I have been sick with the stomach flu and have a rheumatoid flare-up at the same time. All I can say is mizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsserable!

Not out of the woods yet but, a little better today and fever is down to a slight temp.

I did have a flu shot. Guess it missed this one. :o

Color Me Rad 5k RUN was fun!

                                     Thousands of AV people attended

                                        ABOVE: Before Color Spray

                                       ABOVE:  My friend Al

                                     ABOVE:  After color spray





Color Me Rad 5k RUN was fun!  Dressed up in a all white outfit that included a tu tu.  Was with my friends/co-workers and did a 5 K.  Then they pelted us and sprayed us with colors.   It was real fun!