How does my neck look? 7/31/11

I've been holding off on posting another neck photo since I keep on seeing a red tinge on my left side in all of my neck photos (on the right side if you are looking at the photo). It's still there. The people at the Sprint store said 'maybe it's from your purse strap' since it didn't show up in the one non-neck photo I showed them. Well, I decided to take photos of lighter colored things in my bathroom, and to take photos with my phone turned on the other end. And sure enough, the red tinge switched places when I took photos the other way. So, I have to say it is the camera on my phone, not me, the lighting in my bathroom, or the strap from my purse that is making that red tinge in all of my neck photos. Hopefully I can take my phone in sometime this week, have them fix this, or replace it if it is defective.

So the funny feeling in my neck...is still there, after a week. A tugging feeling, only on the right side, not anywhere close to where the scar is. Still on the fence about emailing my ENT or my ENDO about it. I'm sure it is fine...kinda.

So in this photo, I turned my phone the other way around, so the red tinge is on the left side instead of the right side. It looks like I am sunburned on my right side. Oh well. So, despite the weird red tinge in the photo, how does my neck look?

Random commentary

I have too many random things going on in my head to focus on one for a post, so here they are, not in any specific order:

*PT is going....well, but yesterday it felt like I pulled my right glute, yes, my right butt muscle, while doing my PT exercises. Thank goodness it doesn't feel as bad today. Left knee is still acting up, though. Yesterday was my third session, so I am halfway through. I wonder how they will be able to tell if my hips have gotten strong enough, or if I will need to continue with more sessions. If it wasn't enough of an improvement, would they make me go twice a week in addition to doing my exercises twice each day? Why are more aches and pains showing up now that I am going to PT?
*My right arm still hurts, but I can't pin down exactly what is causing the pain. It was sore during my run around the lake on Saturday. It hurts on and off through pilates. It rarely hurts while I am climbing. I think the pain started after a yoga class the weekend of July 4th. Maybe I should ice it, when it hurts. If it doesn't stop hurting soon, I may have to get my PCP to call in some PT sessions for it. Right, possibly more PT.
*Bummed I am not climbing this week, but it will give the bruises on both of my knees a chance to heal, and hopefully I don't get any new bruises on my knees from anything else this week! (Climbing) Nick, is back from Canada/Pennsylvania/Germany next week, so I may get to climb next week. Still a bit of a surprise since he just moved back to Canada last December. Now if Serena would just move back....
*Still not so sure why my neck feels weird. It is not constant. It definitely does not feel weird when my right arm starts to hurt, so I don't think it is referred pain from that. I was trying to find my pulse on my neck this afternoon, and I felt a lump on the right side of my neck, not where the weird feeling is, but still a little worrisome.
*The guy at the kebab place is HOT! I have been in there once before, and I'm pretty sure I thought the same exact thing, 'So your kebab comes with falafels?...I'll have those, thank you!'
*Gene Simmon's hair just REALLY bothers me. Comb it, already! - it always looks so lifeless and fake. Maybe try a different style/cut, just do something to make it look real.
*Looking forward to using my Garmin at run club tomorrow evening.
*What is that red tinge that shows up on my right side every time I take a neck picture with my EVO 3D? It doesn't show up on any of the 3D photos of my neck, but it does show up in just about every single shot in 2D. WTF?!?
*Every week at run club for the past month or so I have been inching closer and closer to having a wardrobe malfunction with my workout pants falling down to my knees in mid-stride. I love these workout pants - they looked great on me 43 lbs ago, and I think they still look good on me now, but they have gotten too big to wear on a run, well for any kind of workout. So, this past weekend I broke down and finally bought some new workout pants. I have to admit that better fitting clothes makes you feel better about yourself.

Garmin Forerunner 210 - first impression, first run

As much as I didn't want to give up my Nike+ SportWatch GPS, the inaccuracy of the GPS mapping was driving me nuts. The mapping did improve a little over the past couple of months, but just when I thought I would not have the problems anymore, the GPS mapping would be way off again. I was not confident that the mileage for all of my runs was accurate, especially if I was mapped starting on another street, or on out-and-back runs, when the out wasn't even close to the back. WTF!

I actually wanted to exchange it for the same watch, but decided I may as well try out a different GPS watch. The Garmin Forerunner 210 was the closest in price range, and with the added shoe pod, it cost less than the Nike+ kit, so I was told. $179.99 for the Nike watch, and $224.99 for the Garmin, which included a heart rate monitor (HRM). The Garmin shoe pod, to track your indoor runs (treadmill), was an additional $62.99. They had a kit that included the shoe pod and the HRM for $269.99. For the record, the Nike watch came with a shoe pod (normally $19.99 if you need a replacement), and the Polar link Nike+ HRM is $62.99, for a total of $242.98, so for the record, no it was not cheaper.

I charged the watch last night, set-up my Garmin Connect account, then tried to see how fast the satellites, shoe pod, and HRM connected. The shoe pod and HRM linked really fast, I guess due to the ANT+ technology that connects them to the watch. Cool. The satellites took a little longer. I like being able to see the distance, elapsed time, and pace all on the same screen - you could only see two of these on the Nike screen. What I don't get is how to erase a run on the Garmin. I hit the start button last night, on accident, so I hit the stop button, then the reset button and I think the only option I had was to save the data, but I wanted to delete it. How do you delete it?!? I guess I still need to get used to all the buttons on this thing.

So, this evening was my first run. I decided to run a similar route that I did with the Nike watch a few weeks back because there were discrepancies with that route and the Nike watch. As expected, the  HRM and shoe pod linked right away, but even outside it still took what seemed like forever for the satellites to link to my watch. I stretched for about two minutes and I did not lose the satellite link, something that happened to me from time to time with the Nike watch. Not bad.

I was surprised that the distance was the same. Nice to see the HRM info. I will have to set up my target heart rate. So how did the mapping feature track me? Surprise again, the Nike mapping was better than the Garmin mapping. So is it just me?!? Am I just too detail oriented that I expect to see my run tracked on a sidewalk and not on someone's yard because I was running on the sidewalk, and not across the street? Argh. I plan to run all my usual routes with the Garmin so I can compare GPS tracking. Hopefully the overall mapping for the Garmin will be more to my satisfaction than the Nike mapping. And, hopefully I will figure out how to delete runs off this thing.

My neck feels....weird, like it did a couple of months after my thyroid surgeries last year. It started at my chiro appt this afternoon.

Trading it in....I am exchanging my Nike SportWatch GPS for a Garmin Forerunner 210. It comes w a heart rate monitor and a shoepod. Excited!

How does my neck look? 7/19/11

I haven't posted a neck photo in probably a month now. I've taken a few photos of my neck, but didn't have time to post them. So, here's the latest neck photo:

So, how does my neck look?



I was given another set of PT exercises to add on to the first set. The new exercises concentrate on my hip flexors and IT bands. I am also trying to take a break from sitting so much during the day at work. By my last PT session, it will take me about 60 minutes to do all of my PT exercises. I wonder how often I will need to do these exercises when I finish my PT sessions, to maintain my hip strength.

I have been on the new T3 prescription for a week now, and so far I have had maybe one afternoon where I was fighting to stay awake between 2-4pm. Thus far, an improvement.

So far my hips have not been bothering me during my runs. But this evening, my hips, right side, were bothering me while I was climbing. Not that I want to, but I'll be taking the next 2-3 weeks off from climbing since my climbing partner will be in Sweden on vacation. Although, it might be a good time to see if there are any climbing clinics at the other gym location, or maybe take a climbing class. Or what about a yoga or hip hop dance class on a Monday night? I'll figure it out.

I'm really excited about my local ThyCa group. We are working on changing our meeting format a little, and are hoping to get a speaker (a local ENDO) at our meeting next month or at one of the meetings before the end of the year. Pretty exciting stuff.

Oh soccer heart break...US Women's team lost to Japan in the FIFA Women's World Cup, in penalty kicks.