Much desired but little time

With the kids back from their Cleveland visit and my renewed commitment to making better progress at work, I'm worried about being able to fit in enough exercise and weight rehab.  I'll have to find some way to balance it all better. 

I'm a bit overwhelmed with school starting again and the kids also starting religious ed, volleyball, girl scouts, and OSU club swimming.  I'd really like to get Val to swimming more often this year since she's 12 in the 11/12 age group.  Last year we were pretty lax about attending enough practices to maintain her level of fitness.  Of course, I have lots of other goals and wishes too.  I want to be more accessible and get more accomplished at work, clean the house more often, better maintain the yard, exercise 4 days a week, rehab my arms and core with weight training, and practice yoga to increase flexibility.  I know it's impossible to do all of those things given time constraints and my body's desire for 7-8 hours of sleep every night.

This eve I got back on the road and did 4.2 miles of walking and running.  My miles were 15:50, 10:49, 10:29, and 11:47.  As you can probably guess, I walked the first mile, ran the second and third, and walked/ran the last one (.2 walk and .8 run).  I think my last 5K was 34:10, if I got my math right.

I also did a little arm weight training before I went out (while waiting for my dinner to digest).  And I'll do a little more before I get in the shower.  I'm still trying to stop sweating from being out in the heat and humidity.  I hate getting in the shower right after a really hot run.  When I do that, it's like I defeat the purpose of the shower since I sweat during and after anyway.

Today my index and middle finger swelled when I ran.  The back of my hand is showing a little swelling now too.  I know the heat had something to do with that.  It's always much worse in the heat and I started to feel a bit over heated before I finished the first mile. However, I kept running to put in another mile before I walked to cool down a little.  Maybe that was a mistake.  Maybe I need to monitor and control my internal temperature better.  I am a little surprised at the swelling because I wrapped my hand/forearm in the full two-layer wrap before going out.  I think I'll start rating the level of swelling so I can review previous posts to see trending and consider the swelling  in context with exercise and nutrition.  What is crazy is that the experts say that being active is good for Lymphedema.  I'm seeing the opposite results, at least with a short-term view.

Lymphedema rating for day before run: 2 out of 10
Most present in index finger and between knuckles just under/left of index and middle finger

Lymphedema rating after run:  5 out of 10
Obvious in index finger knuckle, upper half and misshaped lower half
Less obvious but present in middle finger upper half
Obvious between knuckles just under/left of index and middle finger
Less obvious in back pad of hand

Food Journal (following South Beach Diet after a two week hiatus)

Day 1 Monday:
Breakfast: lunchmeat

Lunch: pulled chicken and low fat cheese and a V8
Snack: soy nuts
Dinner: left over roasted beef (crock pot) and raw red, orange, and yellow bell peppers
Drinks: water, Sprite Zero

Day 2 Tuesday:
Breakfast: lunchmeat
Lunch: spinach salad with roasted turkey, sunflower seeds, and hummus as dressing (also a cheese stick)
Snack: salted almonds
Dinner: small blue cheese burger (no bun) and steamed broccoli (plain)
Drinks: water, sugar-free Tea2Go Raspberry tea (with Splenda), Coke Zero