Listen To Your Body

Training last year, I didn't feel like myself at all. I started "dragging" last spring, and the whole summer I felt like something was wrong. I follow the "listen to your body mantra", but sometimes you just want to push through. And push through I did, on a regular basis.

It turns out I did have something wrong. I didn't figure it out until the end of the season. I went to the doctor for my yearly, and told him I was tired all the time, dead tired, and my training was suffering. He said at my age (ugh), chasing after children, and working full time, I should expect to feel tired. Add training, and he had no sympathy for me whatsoever. As a matter of fact he looked at me and said, "Janine, what you are doing is awesome. You obviously are fit and taking care of yourself, and that's good. But" (the proverbial but!) "you are expecting too much. You are going to get slower with age, and anyone doing what you are doing would be tired." Was that a compliment or a criticism? I indicated my understanding by saying, "I'd like you to test my thyroid, because something is wrong with me." That seemed like a good place to start, given the majority of females in my family have thyroid issues. He said ok, but I shouldn't be surprised if it turned out fine.

I think he was the one to be surprised. Two days later I got the call that I was (am) hypothyroid, and I should start on synthetic hormone. All last year I did my triathlon training hypothyroid... as if training's not hard enough. No wonder I was so tired! The synthetic thyroid medication hasn't been a cure all. My doctor was right, I do have a lot of stress in my life, and I am still tired a lot of the time. But I'm glad I listened to what my body was telling me, and didn't chalk it up to "my age"! (I'm a spring chicken after all!) :)

What If

I was thinking about Natasha Richardson, and was reminded once again how fragile life is. One day here, on a ski getaway with her sons, and then gone. It's something that scares me... the thought of life being so tenuous. What if she would have known that in a day she would be gone? What would she have done differently? What would I do differently?

I was out on my run today, a moderate pace for an hour. I was thinking about Natasha, and what her family is going through right now. It brought me to tears. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day chaos of living. Get up, go to work, get the kids, get dinner, clean up, homework, laundry, fit in a workout, run the kids where they need to be... run, Run, RUN. Get to bed, and do it all over again. If you knew you were going to die in a day, what would you do differently? I'm sure a lot of things, but it's too hard to think about. Even if you could come up with an answer, is it possible to "live every day like it's your last"?

Thoughts like these leave me feeling like I'm missing something... but I can't quite put my finger on it. I want my life to have some greater meaning than just being here, but I don't know what that looks like. I know my kids are great, and will be great, and who knows what contribution to society that they will make. But I have this nagging feeling that I am meant to do, or should be doing, something more. This isn't new for me; I remember talking to a friend about it about 20 or so years ago, but it's something that remains unresolved.

On thing is for sure, I feel lucky to be alive. I know I've mentioned this before, but I fell on the ice last winter while running, and cracked my head quite hard on the ice covered concrete (http://comojanine.blogspot.com/2008/12/ice-ice-baby.html). I can't imagine the head knock Natasha took was much harder than mine. I happened to be wearing a stocking cap, and thankfully fate delivered me a different blow. I am now appreciative of that fact.

Costa Rica Adventure Vacation

I found my next vacation! Costa Rica...

Trip Itinerary, Day
1: Airport or San Jose Hotel PickupDay
2: Beginner KayakingDay
3: Mountain BikingDay
4: Whitewater Rafting, Pacuare River LodgeDay
5: Canopy Tour, Zip Lines, River LodgeDay
6: Whitewater Rafting & BeachDay
7: Snorkeling and SurfingDay
8: Airport or San Jose Hotel Dropoff

http://www.costaricarios.com/costa_rica_adventure.asp

Exercise Induced GI Distress

I'm up late tonight, getting reading to head into work for an all nighter. Up to a couple hours ago, I was wondering if I was going to be able to pull it off. We are having a major system upgrade, and it wouldn't be pretty if I didn't show up.

What happened today is something I've battled since I started racing. It's severe abdominal cramping following a strenuous workout. Today I ran 10.5 miles at about an 8:30 pace. I actually felt good until about the last two miles, and then I felt like I "had to go". Nothing urgent, just could feel slight discomfort. After my run, I did "go" (and go, and go, and go), with severe cramps the entire day. Ughh...

Last year following a half marathon, it was the worst I experienced. I had severe cramps for about 10 hours following the race. That time I didn't "go" at all; it just felt like my intestines were being ripped out. Today I decided to Google the condition and find out what was going on; I'd say on average I suffer after half of my races or extra long or strenuous workouts. Today, after a 1.5 hour workout, it was a little surprising. But I did push to get a good time, and I am not exactly in great (race) shape yet.

What I found out after a little research is that I am far from alone. Depending on where you read, 60-70% of endurance runners suffer from abdominal cramping during or after a run. Cyclists also have a high rate, although less than that of runners. Women seem to be slightly predisposed to the condition. It's amazing what happens to your body when you push it as you do on a hard run... the intestines receive up to 50% less blood flow than normal as the body directs blood to the muscles that need the oxygen most. The impact on the intestines can be distressful, to say the least. Dehydration also has an impact; it reduces blood volume, which further exacerbates the situation.

The recommendations were to wait 3-4 hours after a meal to run, and to make the meal you eat before your run a low fiber one (fiber takes longer to digest). Hydration is where I really fall short, especially given my propensity to sweat. I don't worry about food or drink for a run less than seven or eight miles. I take off when I can, and usually I'm fine. This morning I got up and had one piece of toast and two cups of coffee (caffeine is also a culprit if you deal with this issue), and a couple hours later I took off. With hardly anything to drink last night, I really didn't hydrate well enough (um... at all). I won't even say anything about proper nutrition...

You can bet I will be paying more attention to this stuff; today was terrible. Oddly enough, what seemed to finally help me tonight (in addition to pushing water all day), was a swig of Pepto Bismol... and two Advil. I know taking Advil (ibuprofen) for abdominal cramping is totally counterintuitive, but I really think it worked. Thirty minutes after taking it, the cramping subsided.

Now I'm off to work! :(

It's Been the Longest Winter Without You

I was listening to Leona Lewis last night on the spin bike, using the slower tempo song for a hell... I mean hill... climb. I'm out of the saddle - one, two, one, two, just keep to the beat of the music:

It's been the longest winter without you
I didn't know where to turn to
See somehow I can't forget you
After all that we've been through

Momentarily my approach to anaerobic threshold is interrupted by my interpretation of the song, and a subsequent giggle. Racing! It's been a long winter of workouts, without any race plans, and I am "all the sudden" ready to race again... I've actually missed it. So, while this may change, I've reached the conclusion that I want to race this year. I don't think it will be my best year, but it won't be my last, either.

With that in mind, my training plans have now taken on a new life. No more "I think I'll just run today" or, "I haven't been on the bike in a while... think I'll go to the gym." I have to actually put some thought into how I want to train. Or, let me rephrase that... how I can maximize my training in the time I have. One thing that I haven't done in quite a few months is utilize my lunch hours. For quite a while I managed to use my lunch hours rather effectively for a workout of some kind, usually a swim or a run. My overall goal for training is to get in two quality (q) workouts a week for each discipline, and make half of those a brick. So I might do bike intervals (q) followed by a two mile run, a thirty minute ride followed by a long run (q), and swim intervals (q) followed by a short ride. The other quality workouts might be a long ride, a speed work run, and a long swim. That leaves for one day off, which I always need for a makeup day. Now, how this pans out in real life is almost gauranteed to fall short, but the best I can do is make an attempt... and not feel enormous pressure or stress when it doesn't work (no if there).

One thing I am going to do differently this year is focus on bettering my times over last year's races, rather than competing in my age group. Really doing this is hard for people with a competitive mind set; it's a race, after all. But it is just a frame of mind, because regardless, I'm going to do the best I can do... I just don't want to be disappointed with that.

My plans could change, and I haven't gone so far as to plan a race schedule. Planning a schedule will be difficult until I have my daughter's soccer tournament schedule (which will likely include six out of town weekend tournaments), and my son's summer schedule with his dad. And scheduling a race is not as important to me as scheduling time with my mom; I'm really wanting to be with her as many weekends as I can. I don't want to look back and have regrets about misplaced priorities. So, already, just writing this, my bubble's starting to burst and it's not feeling like I will get to race that much... but I am going to tri! :)

Mentally Peaking (Not!)

Sometimes I think I really should have two blogs... one for the training\running\triathlon aspect of my life, and one for the "other" aspects. They impact one another so much, though, it might be hard to separate them.

I had a good week of running despite being out of town on business. I managed to run three of the five weekdays, so not too bad. I ran 6.5 yesterday (Friday) morning before getting out of Austin in the afternoon. Today I really should have gotten out on my bike, but the 20 mph wind gusts were too much for me to contemplate for my first ride in well over a month. So I ran 9 miles of hills on concrete. (Bryan, I had to look up what "fell running" meant, and found out in the UK that's hills!) :) It was a hard run, literally and physically... concrete is not good for the shins and knees, and has taken some getting used to. Good shoe inserts (Arch Molds for me) have made it tolerable.

For some reason on every one of my runs this week I have become emotional. I had a rough winter, but have really held on strong. For some reason, this week has been tough. When I'm running, it seems everything in my life, present and past, streams through my mind. I think because I run alone, it's more of an opportunity for my brain to run amok. Sometimes (like I've blogged about even recently) I hit upon some pretty cool stuff... and other times, I find myself thinking about some of the more painful things in my life and the emotions are right there.

I think this week was particularly difficult because I was away from my friends and family. That emotional isolation catches up with me pretty quickly (evidently). I really missed my son; he was sick while I was gone, and I happened to call him when he was crying. Yuck... I wanted to hug him so bad! My brother committed suicide in June of 2007, and there are times I just really miss him. He was an incredible musician (guitar player), and being in Austin made me think of him a lot. And then my mom... I'm just so worried about her. She's not calling or writing any more, so I know she's only getting worse (dementia). I dream about her a lot, and my dreams always tell me what's really on my mind.

And then there's relationship stuff, and the situation with that guy I blogged about last week. Get this... while we were having that drink, I mentioned a friend of mine. After that sob story of an email he wrote me, he actually emailed her (got her info from my Facebook page) and asked her out for a drink. I really don't care about him or what he does, but the level of dysfunction frustrates me... it's disheartening.

Geesh, I am so sorry for being such a negative Nelly! However, this is my blog. :) Thanks for putting up with me and reading; I'll start feeling better now that I'm home... I promise!

Physio-illogical

Whenever I run I have all these things I think about and think 'I need to blog that'. Then I collapse in a heap when I get home, and can't remember what I wanted to write. So, despite being in Austin, I'm going to take a minute and write this!

I had a good run on Saturday, and thought maybe I'd get one in on Sunday after I got to Texas. Unfortunately, not only did I get to bed late on Saturday, I woke up a mere two hours later with a hellacious sore throat. And that's point number one. My one week bonking episode caused me to get sick! Yes, that's what happened. After I started running and doing triathlons, I noticed I never got sick. I used to get chest colds/coughs a few times a year... and that completely stopped. So I became a true believer that exercise really does impact your immunity. Whenever I take off a week or more, I catch a cold. So, I caught a cold, had a fever and two hours sleep, late flight, and... they lost my luggage! I got to the hotel and passed out, and was awakened at 8:00 by a phone call indicating they were delivering my luggage. Thank God! So, no run on Sunday.

I slept great last night, but decided against the 6 a.m. fitness run. I made it through the day fine, and decided to kick this cold in the rear and go for a jog. There is a great park/trail here that runs along the river, so I just planned on jogging down there from the hotel, and seeing how I felt. I went ahead and put my gps watch on, because I'm stupidly addicted to it... I don't care how slow I am, I want proof! I hit the road and felt surprisingly good, despite difficulty swallowing and snot flying everywhere (nice visual for you). I got on the trail and latched on to a girl in front of me. At 2.54 miles I turned around, but didn't look at the time. At 3.2 miles I happened to look at my watch, and it said 23:54... now visualize my head swiveling on my shoulders as I do a double take. I'm running a sub 8 minute pace, and I'm sick, low on sleep, and traveling! That's when I thought up the term physio-illogical!

I also saw someone who looked familiar on the trail... and had another 'thank God' moment. None of my exes live in Texas! :)

p.s. I wrote this from my phone, so if it looks like crap... well, you know why.