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Overcoming Challenges: My Journey Back to 10 Pull-Ups After a Stroke

Written December 16, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

For the first time since I stopped doing pullups every day, I could do 10 consecutive pullups. It was quite a big deal for me. When I was a teen, I was doing gymnastics. Before the brain stroke, I was able to do pull-ups. When I was paralyzed after my brain stroke, I stayed on the bed for over one month, losing substantial muscle mass. 

I started using a pull-up machine, which my wife bought me on my birthday a year before my brain stroke. I used to use a door frame pull-up bar. It was convenient because the device was mobile. After we moved to this house, she thought it would be better to have the machine since I used it. The machine even allows me to work on my abs.

Once I was more comfortable with my running schedule, I started to work on my muscles. So I reassembled the machine. I struggled a lot, even completing one at the beginning. However, gradually, I gained more and could do 5-6 times. During the summer, I had to reduce the amount of muscle exercise because I had to do so much yard work, which was quite exhausting. So, when introducing the muscle exercise, I realized I lost my muscle again.

I’ve been working on my muscles every day. Although I do different parts of the workout daily, I train my muscles daily. Despite losing my muscles, it took much longer to rebuild them.

It is still hard work. For example, while the last three were hard today, finishing the final pullup required a lot of grit. I’m pretty pleased to get back to this baseline.  I’m sure it’ll get easier to do all 10 in the following weeks, and if I’m able, 

I will push myself to higher numbers. If I reach 15 before next summer’s demands, I will shift my schedule back to running before breakfast and cease my other exercises. Then, when running is again pushed to after breakfast, I can start back at 10 pull-ups.

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Reflections on My 1,000 KM Running Goal: Lessons and Adjustments

Written December 15, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

So, I checked my progress toward my 1,000 km running goal again to ensure I wasn’t wrong the other day. I reconfirmed that I will reach my goals within this year. All I need to do is do another round of 10k runs. 

While checking my logs, I analyzed why my total distance run was much lower than the prior year. After all, I aimed for 25k per week, so I should have hit 1300k. Then, I realized I started using this app on February 23, 2024. Then, we went on a vacation. Missing nearly 2 months makes a massive difference in the distance, approximately 200 km.

Additionally, before I adopted my early morning running schedule during the hot summer, there were days when I skipped running due to the heat. I figured out how to deal with the summer heat in Tennessee, and it will be good for next year. Some days, I shortened my 10k runs to only 5k due to excess heat.

Since I know I ran during January and early February, I suspect I have already run over 1000 kilometers this year. However, since I’m using my app as my official record, I still want to get those numbers to meet my goal.

Why am I doing this? My wife calls it variance analysis. Variance analysis analyzes the GAP between goals and the prior year. It helps me create realistic goals. During 2024, I learned many things, such as switching my running schedule to extreme weather. 

I will shave off 1 minute from a 5km run for the following year. I am considering mixing my run with long and short runs to improve my speed.

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Pushing Through Challenges: My Journey to 1000 Kilometers

Written December 13, 2024

reviewed 12/21

Hello Dear Readers,

It has nearly ended with my last-minute goal adjustments. The change was in effect only for one month, but it was more challenging than I initially thought. 

We are having chilly weather, which is my biggest obstacle these days. Seriously, running 10 km can be daunting. I don’t even remember how I managed it since I used to do it regularly last year. , even though

Today is chilly, so every breath hurts my nose as if I were eating horseradish or Wasabi. I don’t mind this type of nose shock when eating delicious food, but it is not as pleasant when trying to run 10 kilometers. Despite the chilly temperatures, I succeeded in completing my scheduled 10-kilometer run.

At this point,  I think I’ll only need to do one more week of 10km to achieve my 1000-kilometer goal for the year. I’m glad that I’ve already completed my speed goal for the year since I find it very difficult to run faster when I’m pacing myself for a 10k. Once I complete this goal, I will accomplish one or two. 

My general plan is to try for speed again next year and shave a minute off my time for a 5-kilometer run. It was difficult to shave off 1 minute this year, so I expected it would be difficult again. I am also considering doing more 10-kilometer runs than this year. A regular 10-kilometer run will help me increase my lung capacity. I will consult with my body and log all I can do. 

Before I had a brain stroke, the first year I started dating my wife, she introduced me to running. I was never a runner, but my wife introduced me to the Couch to 5k program. By the end of the program, I learned to jog 5k. Then, my sister started doing the Couch to 5k program. I stopped running, though.

This was my 2nd attempt at developing a serious running habit. I know how not to complete my running goals. While learning how to run in my 2nd effort, I realized something more substantial: consistency and persistence with your decisions. Don’t be a perfectionist when it comes to your goals. If you fail at doing it a day, return to it the next day. If you don’t do very well, then adjust your goal. Just be consistent with the goal. Even with some improvement, it can be significant after several years. 

I will consult my running with my wife and a friend to see if it makes sense or get their advice. For now, I will be happy that I am about to complete my 2nd running goal for the year.

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Chasing Milestones: How Running Transformed My Life and Goals

Written December 11, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Since I adjusted my running goal for the year, I’ve increased my routine running to 10k. We had cold weather for several days, and it’s taking a bit of extra motivation to start my regular run. On a day like this, my 10k can seem more daunting.

Here is a thing: I am within 100 km of my 1,000 km run goal for 2024. If I follow this schedule this week and next, I will reach the goal even if I switch to 5k again for the rest of the year. As the goal is near, I’m pretty confident in achieving it.

Since 2024 is nearly over, I must set my goal for 2025. I don’t think I will drastically change my goals, though. I just want to make 2025 a little better than 2024. Since 2024 is almost over, I will need to think about it before the end of the year. Fortunately, I also have a friend who runs, and I will ask him whether my goal makes sense.

Achieving goals makes me feel good, mainly because I must invest hard in them. My goal is an endless journey. I will never stop working out. I never thought I would be committed to running when I started it. I even used to tell my wife that I ran for her. However, I know she seemed to get disturbed by those comments. Things changed once I started. My wife gave me the proper running equipment because I initially ran with an everyday shoe. I still remember how much better running is with a proper pair of shoes. I was still running for my wife. I don’t know when, but the running goals became mine. I improved my running much better once I internalized the running goals. 

When I started to see the difference between myself, I understood the importance of setting goals. You will only reach your goals if you want them to be achieved. My wife likes to go on adventurous adventures, like hiking in the Grand Canyon or exploring nature in Key West. I hiked well when we went to the Grand Canyon, thanks to all my running. I don’t think I have a healthy kidney anymore. But I want to maintain my health. We want to do many things, such as going to many other national parks in the United States. I want to enjoy such activities instead of getting tired from the adventure. Running helps me with that.

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How I Balance My Fitness Goals in a Busy Season

Written December 8, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Since I started running 10k more frequently than ever, I have been experiencing body exhaustion. This morning, I woke up pretty sleepy and succumbed to tiredness by sleeping an extra half-hour. Luckily, there were no time-sensitive demands on me this morning, so my lateness has no lasting consequences. The volatile weather made my work harder.

Undoubtedly, the more frequent 10K runs have impacted my energy level. I did a few 10k runs last week. I have chronic kidney disease, so I cannot eat even an average man’s protein amount. The food restriction impacts me when it comes to exercising. My body doesn’t seem to recover as fast as I would wish. The sudden change in exercise goals affects me more than I would like. Too much exercise can lead to muscle loss since I cannot eat enough protein. So, I must be extremely mindful of how much I work out.

I just have to sleep more than expected on days like today. I take this as a signal from my body that I need to rest more than usual. The year is about to end anyway, so I will only work on adjusting my goals now. I am nearly hitting the target, and I know it is doable. I still take a rest day on Sunday. I canceled everything that was occurring during the Christmas holiday.

We started to plan what we would eat for this Holiday. My family in Tennessee decided to spend Christmas Holidays at my sister’s house in Virginia. My wife can only take a few days off since she is the sole accountant at her company. There is so much year-end prep work she has to do. She has been automating so many tasks that she runs the finance department alone. Her company is still publicly traded, and the office where she works has nearly $50 million in sales. She says they are hoping to get one more accountant, which will ease her workload in the future. I support my wife however I can, so I will stay in Tennessee to spend our holidays together. 

Hopefully, the extra half hour will be enough to rejuvenate me, and I’ll be able to resume my desired schedule.

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Running Through the Cold: A Journey of Mobility, Goals, and Resilience

Written December 6, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Today was so cold that I thought I was running in an enormous Freezer. Since I had new running goals, I had to run 10k in this weather, but I was reluctant to do so because of the weather.

Despite the cold weather, I managed to complete my run. My wife, who ran earlier in the morning on the same day, complained that the cold weather made her body stiff. I understand what she felt. I also needed to expend much more energy in cold weather to run and keep myself warm. I couldn’t beat my pace time, but I got close enough to be satisfied with my effort.  

I have been exercising stoicism when it comes to running. No matter the weather, I try to keep my promise to run. At first, I started running because my wife wanted me to walk toward getting better. She wanted me to have more endurance and the ability to walk or run. Since the brain stroke, I no longer drive cars, so I always have to ask my wife to drive me around. The ability to walk or run is my freedom of mobility outside the home.

We moved to a house near a doctor’s office, a dentist, and everything else I wanted to visit alone. Unless it is bad weather, I do not even ask my wife to drive to those places. The house is approximately 1.3 miles from these offices, so I can easily walk there. It was my freedom of mobility. 

Several years since I started running, running became my goal. It is no longer my wife’s goal. I internalized my vision and created the goal. They may not be aggressive, but I am steadily improving my running ability. 

I came to understand that it is right to approach your goal more slowly. I adjusted my running goals as per my capacity. The most crucial part is you are committed to the goals. I create a yearly goal with another layer of small goals underneath it. I adjust them quite frequently. It happens to me that things don’t work out very well on many occasions. I often stumble upon stagnation. If you read my blogs regularly, you already know that. It could be daunting and frustrating. Over time, I learned to make frequent adjustments to the goals. I may tweak how I achieve the goal. I sometimes tone down my goals. The important thing is not to give up and to commit to your goals.

I’ll also need to run a 10k tomorrow, but at least the weather will be more conducive.  Aside from running in the cold, I completed all my routine Friday chores and ate my usual Friday food, along with the last cider we got last Saturday.

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So Close to Achieving My Journey to 1,000 Kilometers

Written December 4, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

I’m pleased with how my run went today. I managed to run my fastest 10k on record. Since my first and second 5km were quick, I reduced my target pace time to its lowest point thus far: 9:49 for 10km. 

I plan to do two more runs this week: a 5k on Friday and another 10k on Saturday. I am doing extra running this month because I decided to hit 1,000 kilometers this year. I have been concentrating on pace for most of the year, so I did only a 5-kilometer run three times a week until November. I hit my goal pace timer last month and added an extra goal for 2024.

Following this plan, I’ll have 897 kilometers for the year with three full weeks remaining. So, I have a few more extra 10ks to run in the following weeks to reach my end-of-year goal, but I’m pretty sure I can get it even with the likelihood of missing a run on Christmas day.

It is nice to achieve goals. When I started running faster, I struggled a lot at the beginning. Caring about my pace and time was extra pressure for me. The summer in Nashville is humid and hot, preventing me from running faster. So, I ran in the early morning when the temperature was still tolerable. Last month, I changed my running schedule back to normal. I didn’t know that temperature impacted my running pace until I started caring about my running speed.

I’ve never been a runner in the past, so running is my newly acquired hobby. Running used to be a pain for me when I started. Now, I don’t feel like running that way anymore. I started walking and running after my brain stroke because my wife pushed me to my brain recovery. Now, I am beginning to like running. The year 2024 is almost over and has been quite good for me.

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Winter in Nashville and My New Health Monitoring Ring

Written December 3, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Nashville is so cold. Last night, we were cursed with a light dusting of snow. Now, I am confident that winter has come to Nashville. While it hasn’t been quite cold enough for long enough for the ground to keep much snow, it certainly has been cold enough the past two days.  Tomorrow’s forecasted temperature is much warmer than today’s, making tomorrow’s run more pleasant. Luckily, I don’t expect the snow to complicate my intended run tomorrow, but I’ll have to make that final judgment immediately before my run.

Today, I am trying out my new health/fitness monitoring device. It arrived yesterday, and I spent some time today charging and configuring it to suit my needs. After I got a brain stroke and broke my kidneys, my nephrologist told me to monitor my blood pressure. I am taking medications to control my blood pressure, so my doctor needs to know how well I am doing. 

Initially, we used the old-style blood pressure machine several times daily and logged the results in a notebook. Several years ago, my wife suggested using a watch. I started running. My wife had used a Fitbit for over a decade. Unfortunately, her FitBit did not track her blood pressure, so I purchased a watch that could do it. Whenever I get a new watch to replace the old one, my doctor checks how accurately the blood pressure is measured. The watch is entirely accurate. However, my last watch started failing to track my steps. This time, I wanted to try a ring. 

It is a ring to track my vitals, just like the watch. Instead of a watch, this one is a ring and promises a much more robust battery. So far, I like it better than my watch, although it doesn’t have a display. Since I rarely have my phone, that’s not much of an issue, and I can still wear my watch using it as a basic watch. 

I also suggested my wife get a ring, but she still has a Fitbit. She likes to see the time. One thing she wants to do is be on her phone only some of the time. She says a smartphone is a kind of destruction for her. 

So far, I am happy with the ring.

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Tweeked Around My Schedule To Achieve My Running Goal

Written December 1, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

When you have a strategic vision, it is vital to check your progress status. To reach my goal, I still need to run an extra 38 kilometers on top of my regular 25 kilometers weekly. So, I recalculated how close I was to achieving my goal to run 1,000 kilometers by the end of the year. If I increase 8 of my runs to 10km over the next 4 weeks, I’ll make 1,000 km. However, that would mean running a 10k on Christmas day, which might not be possible.

My sister and mother plan to celebrate Christmas at my other sister’s house. They invited us as well, but my wife couldn’t take so many consecutive days off as she had to prepare for the upcoming year’s end. So it looks like we are going to spend our Christmas by ourselves. My sister will also be moving by the end of the year after returning from the trip. They may need our help. So, I don’t want to have a too tight schedule. 

After tweaking my goals, I concluded that I’ll need to increase all my runs this upcoming week and likely do so again the following week. My plan is still tight. I’ll need to recalculate my weekly progress and update my plans as more information becomes available.

I like it around this season, but it can be challenging, especially if you adjust the goal at the last minute like I did. My wife started to post book reviews on Goodreads. She started updating what she read in July this year. Since it was only 6 months left when she started, she wanted to read four big books, each containing over 1300 pages. So, she initially made the goal 50. She ended up adjusting to 60 in November. 

My wife has long-term goals and vision but adjusts her tactics and goals weekly. I’ve never done this as frequently as she does with her visions, but maybe that is why she generally completes whatever she decides. She also ditches something that does not work very well. She said that sometimes, you don’t know if the goal is feasible until you have tried it. If you have too many goals running simultaneously to the point you have no time, it is important to let some of them go, especially if the goal is not attainable due to a lack of resources. She tells me that she made a fair number of mistakes in the past by not letting go. 

I usually schedule my time according to priority. I consider running a high priority and will maximize my running time. Then, I get into trouble when higher priorities than running, like spending time with my family, pop up. I do not manage my schedule like my wife, but my method works for me. That is the most important thing about strategic management.

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Running Through the Chill: Lessons in Patience, Resilience, and Recovery

Written November 29, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

It has been so cold in Nashville the last couple of days. In the morning, it is less than 32F (0C). For example, this morning, it was about 30F. I considered running an extra 10k today. It was pretty chilly, and I’d neglected to wear my gloves, so my fingers were cold after the first 5k. So, I decided to run only 5k for today. 

This is more from the after-effect of brainstroke. My body somehow lost the ability to regulate my internal temperature. I’ve talked about it to my doctors before. I can do nothing about this except prepare myself for any temperature. 

It was silly of me not to have gloves on for running on a day like today. I always check the temperature before running because exposure to cold or heat is impossible. My wife found a pair of my running gloves a few weeks ago because I would need them soon. Then, we had a mild temperature, so I completely forgot about them.

Luckily, it is just Friday. Due to the holidays, my wife has been off most of this week, and I felt like it was already the weekend. I still need to put in an extra 19km to achieve my new goal for 2024. I’ll run a 10k tomorrow and likely again on Monday to get another 10k in before the year’s end. I am planning to run another 10k.

I learned a definite lesson from today. I should go outside before running and ensure I am wearing enough clothing for running. If I am running a 10k, considering my body condition, it could do more harm than good. After all, I am running to maintain my body. I want to be healthy again. Since I cannot cry over the spirit milk anymore, I don’t want to mourn my lost days in the past. I will look forward. 

After I started working to be better, I started to realize something. I should still know whatever I am accomplishing is good. My wife mentioned the statistics about how many people would survive and then recover to my point. She said one lucky thing was that I was still young when I got my brain stroke. She was somehow stoic and pushed me to walk and a little run. 

Moving my legs has a lot of impact on my brain. I started to plan for my day. I started with making the weekly medication setting. Then, my wife started making me do the medication ordering. She was involved for a while, but I do this alone. She still plans meals for the week and packs them daily with a recipe for the day. I prepare the meal. I prepare approximately 50ish different recipes. I started to cook some dishes without a recipe. One day, I can do the meal plan from the start. For the baking for the holidays, my wife has already let me do the planning and baking by myself. 

I’ve damaged my brain, and this is what happened to you. Then, I know the brain can repair in some way. That is why I can run or bake again. Sometimes, I still make mistakes, as I do today. I was frustrated about it, but I know I must be patient. We still have 31 days to put in an extra 19 km.