Author: Angela Pea

Wife. Mother. Engineer. Cancer Survivor. Knitter of Marvelous Things. Rider of Multiple Bikes. Fabulous Cook. Reader of All the Books. Eternal Optimist. Perpetually Happy.
healthy

PSA #2 – Exercising When Sick

Angela Pea3 Comments

Hey Chickies!  Many of us – or our kids – have been sick during the past few weeks. Many of us are working our tails off trying to shed the body clutter and reclaim our health.  So what should we do when illness and exercise collide?

I wondered myself, so I did two things.  Checked out info over at MayoClinic.com and called my Nurse Practicioner. They both said the same thing.

As a rule of thumb for exercise and illness:

  • It’s okay to work out if your symptoms are “above the neck” — such as runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing or sore throat. Be prepared to reduce the intensity of your workout if needed, however.
  • Postpone your exercise if your symptoms are “below the neck” — such as chest congestion, hacking cough or upset stomach.
  • Don’t exercise at all if you have a fever, fatigue or widespread muscle aches. (Gentle stretching is okay to help relieve the muscle aches.)
Mild to moderate physical activity is usually okay if you have a cold but no fever. Exercise may even help you feel better by temporarily relieving nasal congestion. If you choose to exercise when you’re sick, listen to your body. If your symptoms get worse with physical activity, stop and rest.
Yes, rest.  Your body is an amazing machine with self-healing super powers, but it needs rest to do its work. So if you feel like crud, don’t go running!  Resume your workout routine gradually as you begin to feel better.
Gradually is the name of my game this week.  Half of my household, including me, has been sick for what seems like the entire month of February.  Nothing serious, just a nasty energy draining mega snot producing upper respiratory virus that would not go away. It was bad.  I did not exercise.  I slept as much as possible, consumed gallons of fluids and let my body fight the germs and heal itself.  I started exercising again this week.  Slowly.  Even though I feel better and am no longer coughing up a lung, I’m holding back a little bit.  I pulled out my old C25K tracks and did week one pacing with walking and slow jogging.  Next week I’ll work out with Buff Chad, and then start ramping up the walking and running. 

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faithful

20{4}40 – A Lenten Challenge

Angela Pea1 Comment
We are wading into the Lenten season, a time for reflection, for re-evaluating our lives and afor clearing out the spiritual clutter.  Part of my own Lenten journey this year is to stop and be thankful, truly thankful for the abundant blessings in my life.

Lenten Challenge Following Ann, counting my blessings. 

  1. Lent, and the privilege of soul searching
  2. Prayer
  3. Wonderful husband, who loves me more than himself
  4. Healthy kids
  5. Grilled cheese sandwiches
  6. Running Shoes
  7. Oldest daughter – who comes home from college and cleans every bathroom in the house
  8. A car that runs
  9. Daffodils peeking up from the ground, especially the itty bitty Tete-a-Tete
  10. Bob the Cat who loves me because I feed him
  11. A refridgerator that works
  12. A freezer in my garage that is stocked with food
  13. My healing ITB that allows me to run again
  14. Bananas – how easy we can get them!
  15. Homemade granola
  16. Tea – warm in the winter, iced in the summer
  17. Friends who pick up the slack when I fall behind
  18. My job – and I’m so grateful to get to keep it!
  19. Christina A. – such a steady, peaceful influence in my life
  20. The privilege of lectoring at Mass

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fun

The ABC's of Me

Angela Pea2 Comments

Jumping on the Bandwagon here… 

A~Age: 47
B~Bed Size: Queen
C~Chore You Hate: Cleaning the oven. There’s no easy or comfortable way to bend yourself sideways, stretch over the open door and reach the back corners.
D~Dogs: Yes! Maxwell Noir. Wonderdog Extraordinaire.  Then there’s Bob the Cat…
E~Essential Start of Your Day: breakfast, which usually consists of steel cut oats with dried cherries, walnuts, brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon.  As of today, I’ve given up coffee.  EEEEK!!
F~Favorite Color: Green.
G~Gold or Silver: Silver – the platinum variety.
H~Height: 5’2”, 5’3″ if I stretch
I~Instruments I Play: Clarinet(s), as in multiple ranges and piano
J~Job Title: Professional Engineer; Senior Project Manager
K~Kids: Four – Teen Adult Daughter #1, Teen Daughter#2, Teen Son#1 and Teen Son#2
L~Live: Texas
M~Mom’s Name: Geneva
N~Nicknames: Angie, Grace  Grace?  Yes, Grace.  Because I’m not.
O~Overnight Hospital Stays: Only one, when Adult Daughter#1 was born, simply because she showed up after dinner and I had to wait until my Doctor made rounds the next morning to get discharged!
P~Pet Peeve: purposefully misspelled words, such as “Kwik”. Grrrr….it annoys me so much that I won’t patronize any establishment with a quirkily spelled word on their sign.  Babies out in public with nothing on but a diaper.  This list could expand exponentially over the next week.  See “E” above.
Q~Quote(s) From a Movie: “You’re a legend in your own mind”, Sudden Impact
“Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need – roads.” Back to the Future
R~Right or Left Handed: Right
S~Siblings: Sisters. Several of them. I’m the oldest and it shows!
T~Time You Wake Up: 5:30 am, even on weekends.  I have a stubborn inner clock.  Miss Olivia sets the alarm.
U~Underwear: clean
V~Vegetable you Dislike: None – at least none that I’ve tasted so far.
W~What Makes You Late: See Letter “K” above. Those first two in the list? They don’t subscribe to the brush-your-teeth-shove-on-a-headband-head-out-the-door philosophy of life.
X~X-rays You’ve Had: Not so sure of the total – dental over the years, broken foot once, broken thumb…
Y~Yummy Food You Make: Meatballs. According to Teen Sons, I make the best meatballs in the world. They are best leftover and stuffed into a sandwich roll with extra sauce and cheese.
Z~Zoo Animal Favorite: Giraffes!

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