Half-Athelete

I started my training a few weeks late because I was training for my Lancaster 50K bike ride. I modified the training program to fit the time I had to train. Oh, and I waited until two weeks before the race to read the Galloway book which was full of all sorts of useful training information I could have used when training for the Baltimore 10 Miler. But I did it, I ran a half-marathon. I ran 13.1 miles for the first time ever!

Not only did I run it and love it, but I ran it in 02:03:36. The best part, I had a 9:26 pace! I was hoping for a 10 minute pace! Woohoo!

Next year, the full marathon! Or, at least that's the plan. The only hitch with that? The fibromyalgia. I noticed after my 12 mile run in NC, I slept through the car ride home from NC to MD. I then slept for another couple of hours after getting home and I slept through the evening just fine as well. After the half-marathon, the same exhaustion hit and I went to bed by 9:30 pm on more than one evening last week. Is it the shear act of running 13 miles or is it the fibromyalgia? Is it a combination of both? If I'm this exhausted after 13 miles, what's going to happen when I'm trying to run 20 miles?

Next up, I have the 5 mile Celtic Solstice on December 18th. Last year, they ran this race in a blizzard. After that, I'll be looking forward to the Tough Mudder competition in April. Time to focus on not just cardio but strength training. If I'm going to make it through a 12 mile obstacle course, I need to start working on my upper body strength.

Tough Mudder, here I come!

I'm still being referred to as an athlete. Still feeling rather blah about that word. Feeling more like a half-athlete really. Maybe after Tough Mudder and hopefully completing the full marathon, I'll be ready to call myself an athlete.

Discombobulated

It's been a week now and still, I am hurting all over. Not only am I hurting all over but I apparently have a lack of coordination this morning.

By noon, I had walked into the "tower" on my desk, bumped my elbow into the wall, spilled hot tea in my lap and tripped over my own shoes, at least twice. During lunch, I spilled tea on the book that I was reading. What the heck?! I feel completely and totally discombobulated. My brain and my body just aren't conversing the way that I'd like.

I'm not sure that I'm tired as I went to sleep last night at 10 pm and slept wonderfully until 7 am this morning. Though, I did nod off during lunch today while reading a book that I am really enjoying, so perhaps that is an issue. I don't believe I have over exercised - I ran 4 miles last Tuesday, skipped my Thursday run and rested until Saturday, when I enjoyed a strenuous 4 mile hike (if that) and a had fantastic 16 mile bike ride on Sunday. Obviously, I am not lacking of exercise either. So why is the Fibromyalgia still acting up!?!?!?!?

Today I rest. Tomorrow, I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be up to a 4-6 mile run. Same on Thursday. Saturday will be spin, come hell or high water and another long bike ride on Sunday. I am still skipping my strength training to give myself proper rest days and as of today, doubling up on my meds. I will not let this slow me down, even if the pain is taking it's toll. Unfortunately, what worries me the most is the extreme exhaustion which is bound to set in soon, if I can't get this under control.

If ever there were a time I were to pick up faith and pray, now would be the time, haha.

To run or not to run?

This is one of those rare days, when no amount of medication can stop the pain.

When I woke up yesterday I noticed I was feeling a little achy but nothing too horrible. I have a mystery bruise on my right knee that is extremely tender, as is the skin around it. I have a long bruise on my left thigh that is also inflamed and painful. At least I know where that one came from (biking accident with the mentee on Sunday). Bruises, injuries, these can cause some flair ups, but are not usually too much of an issue.

Given the bit of pain I was feeling tired so I went to bed at 10:30 pm last night, thinking I'd be rested and get up at 6 am this morning to do my CardioX routine. Boy was I wrong.

I don't think it was the pain that kept me up initially, but the constant chatter in my brain. Of course, the storm that hit pretty hard last night around 11:30 pm, didn't help either. By midnight, I was on my laptop uploading photos for a girlfriend, something I was suppose to have done a week or so ago. By 3 am I was on the laptop again, googling scenes from "Reality Bites", don't ask why. By 5:30 am I realized that hey, I am actually up and could get out of bed to exercise at 6 am but by this point, due to the lack of sleep, it seemed as though every muscle and joint in my body was just down right pissed off and was not going to exercise, even if I did ask nicely.

When my alarm went off at 7 am, I got out of bed, slowly got dressed and made my way to work. I am moving like an 80 year old woman this morning and am wishing I could cover my entire body in bio freeze or soak in a hot tub or at the very least, need to pick up some Epsom salt for a hot bath this evening.

Thankfully, I don't have these days too often but wish I had the key to figure out what triggers them. The lack of sleep doesn't help. Stress doesn't help. Too much or not enough exercise doesn't help. Which brings me to the dilemma of the day. It's Tuesday, my day to run. Do I feel like I could physically run 6 miles right now? Hell no! But, will running help exhaust me enough to get a decent night sleep? Maybe. Or will I wake up tomorrow morning in worse shape than I am now?

It's days like these that I understand why there are people out there who say the pain is debilitating. But, I find strength in knowing that for me, this usually passes in a day or so. I hope that is something I will always be able to count on.

Wanna box?

After a long day of working out, I sat down to watch Biggest Loser. During this episode they had them boxing. Something about watching them box and really work off the frustration they were feeling, inspired me. Since then, I've been on a mission to box.

I promptly grabbed my laptop, sat on the sofa and googled boxing lessons in MD. Who knew boxing lessons can be so expensive. I didn't even find any private lessons! They were all boxing "gyms" so to speak and with some very high monthly membership fees at that!

After realizing that wasn't really option for me, after all, I already belong to a gym, I remembered just that...Hey! I already belong to a gym and that gym, has a punching bag! Lets not forget that I also already have a personal trainer! Go me! So, not long there after, I had a little chat with the most awesome personal trainer in the world and asked him to teach me to box.

Tonight, instead of our usual personal training session, I got a boxing lesson and loved every minute of it. Nothing like being able to hit that punching bag with every ounce of strength and frustration you have.

Lesson 1 - Don't hit the personal trainer in the face. - Thankfully, I didn't. Go me!

Lesson 2 - You always have a stupid side...mine is my left.

Lesson 3 - OMG, boxing is painful...my knuckles were bright red, my hands hurt so badly after that they were shaking and I could hardly write out my check to pay for the session. Apparently that is normal since I don't spend my day punching people. Lets hope it gets easier!

Lesson 4 - When kicking the punching bag, don't kick with your toe. Kick with the top of your shoe, the laces. Kicking with the toe is extremely painful.

Lesson 5 - Boxing when the Fibromyalgia is acting up, not the best idea. But I did it anyway. =o)

Score!

Good Dr - 1! Health Care Insurance - 0!

I take two different prescription drugs for the Fibromyalgia. The first is an anti-inflammatory called Celebrex and the second is for pain, Lyrica. Up until 2010, my mail order costs were $30 for 90 days worth of Celebrex, which I took once a day and the same cost for 90 days worth of Lyrica which I took twice a day. In January, my prescription drug costs doubled to $60. I did not anticipate this and I certainly hadn't budgeted for it in my flexible spending plan for the year.

In order to afford the cost, I started taking the Lyrica only once a day. Unfortunately, this meant more symptoms. As for the Celebrex, I had no choice but to continue taking it as prescribed.

I recently saw my Good Dr and explained to him the situation. His response..."Two can play at that game" and he promptly wrote out a prescription doubling my regular dose of Celebrex to twice a day with the theory that the cost would still be only $60. I thought, you're crazy...never going to work, now I'm going to get a bill for $120. Why on earth would the cost be the same if you're doubling the dose, therefore, doubling the amount of pills they have to give me?

Imagine my surprise when my shipment arrived yesterday and they gave me 180 pills of Celebrex for $60. The same cost as 90 pills. So whether I take it once a day or twice a day the cost is the same. The difference...how the prescription was written. I was shocked and pissed off too! Are you kidding me? How much freak'n money are these companies making?

Next up, the Lyrica. The Good Dr was kind enough to give me free samples of the Lyrica he had in the office so I wouldn't have to continue taking my medication only once a day and in the meantime, he had also doubled that prescription. I'm excited to see what will happen when I mail that one in too! Lets hope it's the same!

Score one for the Good Dr!!!

To those of you that have mail order medication....talk to your Doctors. It's worth a try!

Which is it?

For those of you unfamiliar with Fibromyalgia (FM), it's a little like Arthritis and a whole lot more. You get your aches and pains in various joints, but might also have temperature issues (extreme hot/cold), soft tissue tenderness (you bump into a wall and you can't breath because it feels like your skin is on fire). For some people, there is even the extreme fatigue. For me, my biggest hurdles are the pain and the soft tissue tenderness.

On a good day, all or most of the pain is managed with medication and exercise. However, exercise too much or not enough and I could have a flair up. Sometimes, after a good/tough work out, my joints hurt, my muscles hurt and I'm trying to differentiate between what's normal post work out soreness and whats the FM pain. Even during a work out with my personal trainer I'm pointing out what hurts and asking, is that the workout? No, he says, that's the FM. After a run and my lower back hurts - did I screw it up? Did I throw it out? Should I not do that work out or is it the FM?

These days, there seems to be a lot of flair ups, making it difficult to want to work out, making it difficult to get motivated. Last night as I lay in bed the pain was in my right hand for a bit, then it moved to my left foot, then up to my knees. Sometimes the pain stays in one place, those days I am thankful. But when it randomly moves through out the body with no pattern, those are the days when I reach for extra dose of medication and hope its enough becuase I know I need to do it all again tomorrow. Last night was one of those days.

Today...today it seems manageable. Just finished a 3.5 mile run and feeling decent and hoping to make it through an upper body work out.

Oh, by the way...got on the scale this morning as Sunday is my usual weigh in day....141.5. Ouch. But seeing those numbers today is what helped get my arse out the door to do my run this morning. Sometimes we all just need a good reality check from time to time.

Where I've Been...Where I'm going

On January 1, 2008, I weighed in at my highest ever...209 lbs. I was in an unhappy relationship, an emotional eater, unmotivated and recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and pre-diabetes.

To be 29 years old and just told that I was pre-diabetic, that scared me. That is what motivated me. I didn't want to be sick. I didn't want to be unhappy anymore.

It took some time to get the medication worked out for the Fibromyalgia, but I signed up at the gym and began taking water aerobics classes. I found that even though I couldn't walk on a treadmill for 3o minutes, I could be in the water and work out for an hour and not hurt as much.

I lost 40lbs in the first year and began working out with a personal trainer to lose another 30+ lbs.

I reached my goal of 135 lbs in October 2009. I had been hovering about 136/137 until now, which brings me to the reason for this blog. The last three months have been pretty tough. I had a tough breakup, fought a staph infection for a few months without even knowing it then and an allergic reaction to the medication for it and loads of family drama. Even got on a plane to fly to CA to say goodbye to my mother because were going to take her off life support, only to have her live. Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

So now, here I am, above 140 for certain, but afraid to get on the scale and still eating and not really exercising. I'm suppose to be training for a 10 mile race in June and I'm struggling to get focused again and need something...need someone to get me there. I posted on Craigs List in hopes of finding a running partner, but no such luck just yet. So I thought why not start blogging about it, why not start talking about it. Maybe it'll motivate me to get back on track again, maybe if I feel like I'm reporting to people, it'll keep me more in check.

So here I am, a Woman on a Mission, to get focused again, to get back on track, to get back to my goal, to maintain and to tone up and be where I need to be.