Tapped Out

Lately I feel as though my energy is like money (energy units if you will).  MS has left me busted, spent, and poor on these energy units as I am constantly spending my energy on work, relationships, mental health, and simply being alive and I find that at the end of the day I end up short.  I was frustrated the other day because we had friends over for dinner (after a full day of work), which I REALLY enjoy, but it just took so much out of me.  By the time they came over and all of the cooking and straightening was done, I found myself short of energy to really enjoy the time we spent together.  

I find that annoying and hard to explain, how do you tell people that you are just tired?  I feel like a crappy person to hang around because, well I am crappy.  Who wants to hang out with the girl that falls asleep on the couch while hanging out or yawns through their really good story.  Goodness, just another obstacle to maneuver around.  Wish I could just tell my body to work like I want it to.

Weekly Workout Update

January 18 - 24 2010

• Monday January 18 - 3 mi run
  
• Tuesday January 19 - 45 min weights/circuit, 2 mi run
  
• Wednesday January 20 - off
  
• Thursday January 21 - 45 min weights/circuit
  
• Friday January 22 - off
• Saturday January 23 - 1 hour Spinning class
  
• Sunday January 24 -  2 hours house cleaning
  

Was a down week for workouts, work has been busy and I was exhausted on Friday.  Oh well, some weeks will just have to be like this.

What, you can't have beer?

I gave myself until the end of January to get everything together for my gluten-free and dairy-free lifestyle.  I decided to hold off on going Legume-free, because it is difficult to give up so much at once, but I am moving forward on the new diet changes.  I started this month off by beginning to experiment with recipes, menus and what to eat for snacks for all of this new stuff.  Actually it is a lot easier than I thought, as long as you cook with simple fresh ingredients, it is pretty easy to eat well.

If you know me then you know that the two biggest things that I have to give up is beer (I love a good beer) and cheese (brie, sweet brie).  There are no good substitutions for either of these and I am going to have a bit of mourning before I am ok with that.  A few years ago when I was watching LA Ink, a guy came in to get a memorial tattoo of cheese.  He had had a major car accident which left him without part of his intestines and he could no longer digest the lovely, gooey cheese which made him happy.  So he decided to get this memorial tattoo, to really express how much he LOVED cheese.  At the time I thought it was hilarious, but I can now understand the sadness of giving up something that you really enjoy.

So if you want to be nice to me, please do not state how sucky it is to be giving up beer and cheese, I KNOW, trust me.   But not as sucky as losing my battle with MS.

Goodbye dear foods

Weekly Workout Update

January 11 - 17 2010

• Monday January 11 - 45 min Yoga class, 2000 y swim
• Tuesday January 12 - 45 min weights/circuit, 3 mi run
• Wednesday January 13 - Trainer Ride (50 min Spinnervals)
  
• Thursday January 14 - 45 min weights/circuit
  
• Friday January 15 - off
• Saturday January 16 - 1 hour Spinning class
  
• Sunday January 17 -  2 hours house cleaning
  

Wow looking back that was a pretty good week of workouts.  I have not been out running a lot because the ice on the trails gave me a nice little "tweak" in my calf (feels slightly pulled), but I have been making up for it in spinning, weights, and core.

:)

Balance Act

I have not updated much this week.  Work has been rough and I am worried that I am falling into my old habits.  When my MS attack happened in October, I was working consistently 50-60 hours a week.  Now that may not seem like a lot to some people but keep in mind, I only make $30,000 a year.  My neurologist kept emphasizing to keep my stress down and when I work that many hours, I feel like I am always playing catch-up; with sleep, eating, working out and just life in general.  How do you keep a job that expects that type of hours and still take care of yourself?  I am still trying to work that all out.  Am I crazy to be thinking about having a baby too?  Goodness.  How do people do it all?

I am scared that running myself ragged will cause another attack.  I also do not want to give up my workouts (they help as much mentally as physically).  What to do, what to do?

Weekly Workout Update

Back to the grind:

• Monday January 4 - 1800 y swim
• Tuesday January 5 - 45 weights/circuit, 3.5 mi run
• Wednesday January 6 - off
• Thursday January 7 - 1 hour weights, 20 min abs
• Friday January 8 - off
• Saturday January 9 - deep house cleaning 4 hours , 1 hour driveway shoveling
• Sunday January 10 - 4 mi run
  

Although this seems very small, it was the most I had done  in a while.  I have also decided to include other workouts (house stuff), because I must take into consideration every bit of energy I expend in regard to my overall energy levels.

My Body is Able

I never thought much of exercise mantras, probably because I have never been very competitive.  I love a good running race or triathlon, but I guess I was never fast enough to get SUPER aggressive with it.  After a complete switch in focus of training (trying to keep above MS and take care of my body at the same time), I realized a mantra was just what I needed.

The other night was my longest run to date (3.5 mi-I know sad), and at 3 mi I felt completely exhausted and a bit upset that my body was failing me.  To myself I repeated,"My body is able," over and over until I finished my run.  I was amazed at how that allowed me to dig deep and finish.  I finally see what they mean by sports psychology.

Polar Plunge

Wanted to put up some fun pictures of the Polar Plunge that Paul, Emily, and I did with my Cleveland Tri Club. 

It was at noon on January 1st - Lake Erie

Water Temp was 36

Air Temp was 22 with 13 degree wind chill

AND lots of snow.

Walking in - Note Water Temp

 

Em & I before the plunge

Right before the plunge, they called 90 seconds

 

Running into water - P is in bottom right (tattoos give him away)

 

Brrr, running out on the snow covered sand

 

After Plunge -I got dressed quickly

What a great way to bring in the New Year's! 

New Year and New Beginnings

Well the nine days off were nice.  I enjoyed a great holiday with family and the days off allowed me to really get some time for myself.

Christmas day was wonderful.  It was truly family time as my sister flew in from Florida on Christmas day.  We had not had a chance to be together since my final diagnosis.  It was a day of love and eating.  I received many wonderful gifts and the two items that I had asked for (which is surprising because Paul and I had decided not to exchange gifts).  My parents must have been paying attention and they got me a Suunto Heart Rate Monitor and a slow cooker.  

The hope is that the heart rate monitor will keep me in a good zone for training and keep me from getting too crazy during my workouts.  My doctor said to be careful with my heart rate getting too high (which I am still feeling out what the "too high zone" is).  If my heart rate is too high I will experience something called Uhtoffs Symptom in which my MS symptoms could become exaggerated due to high body temp.  Ironically, I am already experiencing this when I run.  Once my heart rate goes into Zone 2, the eye in which I lost sight gets worse (similar to where it was when I first lost sight).  So it was pretty funny during my four runs this week, I would lose vision and then stumble around because I could not see the difference between the trail and the snowbanks (snow is especially difficult when vision is lost).

The key to the last week off was the amount of working out that I did.  Compared to three months ago it was not much, but in a time of nothing I managed 4 runs and 1 hike this week (thanks Em).  I got my butt into working out mode again and I have a lot planned this week, hopefully my body will be ready for the Fools 25K in early April, but I am just glad to be doing something almost everyday.


I am off for my first swim in at least 3 months, yay for getting back to the grind.