2017 a look back

I have a lot to be grateful for this year.

1. My RA is well controlled. I managed the whole year without methotrexate or a major flare. This allowed me to gradually build my running mileage through the year and finish a 10k race and a half marathon. I listened to my body (for the most part) and rested when I needed to.

2. Being able to see Arkells and Marianas Trench live again. Both bands put on a good show and I am grateful that I have the means to get there and people to share it with.

3. Friends and family that care about me and love me for me. I know there are times where I am not the best person to be around but I am lucky to have unconditional love from them.

4. Finishing 5 courses towards my personal fitness trainer diploma, maintaining my 4.0 GPA and now only having 3 courses and 2 practicals to go and I will be finished next year. 

As most people do, there are areas that I could use some growth and maturity. I continue to let some people live rent free in my head and they don't deserve to, yet there they are. I need to kick them out. I need to be accepting that some relationships aren't going to be what I want and I should stop hoping that things will change. I could always be kinder to myself.

Overall it was a good year and I am happy to close this book and start a fresh one tomorrow.

Shit's real, yo.

Last week I saw the gastroenerologist.

A few month's a go I had a very bad run, bad enough that I finally called my doctor to talk about it. He ran some tests and discovered I have an intestinal parasite. I was actually away when they called me with the results, and when a doctor calls you on a Friday night, you know it's important. He also said he was putting a referral to a gastro just to be same and rule out any other autoimmune illnesses.

I started the antibiotics and then repeated the test and all was clear. Yay! I get a call from the gastro saying that I have an appointment. I need to repeat the tests for their office. No problem. I am a pro by now.

Turns out the parasite is still in my body so I am on a stronger antibiotic, tetracycline. I take it 4 times a day and it has to be on an empty stomach, so that means at the very least I am eating every 4 hours, taking it in the middle. Long story short. I'm hungry. I also set my alarm to take it before I am supposed to wake up for the day so I can have a morning coffee. I'm also tired.

However, my school classes are done and I don't teach until January 8, so lots of time for relaxing and destressing!

Some days I'm just hanging on

This weather needs to stop. It's seriously fucking with me. The wind is making my body ache. Last night I took 3 Advil so I would be able to sleep, and thankfully I was able to sleep the whole night through. I have taken more pain medication in the past week than I have in the past 4 months. I am really tired of this.

So I am not the best at updating...

I have been busy with the final weeks of my classes. The end is near. I just have the last quiz in both classes to do this week and then it is relaxation until January.

I have also been sick. Still. Seriously. This time it was pink eye. My husband had it first and the worst but I ended up having to sub out one of m classes because I was still infectious. My eyes are still dry from all the drops I put in and still look tired.

I have still been participating in the running streak. Last week totaled 36.2km with a 11.4km long run. Both are the highest numbers since I went to Vancouver at the end of September.

I am hoping to hold steady at that for at least this coming week. I know I need to build and maintain slowly.

December begins

I have caught pink eye from my husband and I hope it avoids all the kids.

I'm tired of being tired. Will there be a time when I am not tired? Looking forward to that.

This week I managed 24.5 km running which really isn't that bad. The mile a day is helping me but it adds to the fatigue. I need to make sure I am eating enough. When I get busy I forget to eat. I'm just like that.

November wrap up

The month finished with 103.6 km so I am still achieving my goal of staying over 100km a month. It can be tiring at times though. It can be a struggle for me to weigh listening to my body and resting when I know I need to against looking ahead at a running goal and focusing on the training that I need/want to do. I know the importance of rest and that it's important in the long run because if I am tired then I know there will not be a race anyway.

I also taught 8:30 in cycle classes and did 5 strength classes. I know I need to lift more weights so I should find the time to do that. Given my recovery time from activity I'd rather run then lift weights.

Looking ahead to December I will be done my online classes by the 15th and the classes I teach wind down in number. I am looking forward to the reduction in stress and the increase in downtime. I even scheduled the first week of January completely off: I won't be teaching and my next classes won't have started yet.

Intervals!

I was starting to get bored with my steady state style of running, so I mixed it up with intervals.

Last week I did a mile in 8:22. I don't think I could hold that for 5 or 10km right now and I remember feeling really spent at the end. So miles were out. I decided to do 200m, mainly because my treadmill is in km and that would be an easy distance to run. A little over a minute at a time. Easy peasy.

If you look up the Hanson half marathon training plan the intervals start in week 6 and they are 12 x 400m @5-10k pace with 400m recovery. Right there that is a 10km distance without warm up and cool down. Right now my weekday runs hover 6-8km, so I have a long way to go. I decided to keep the spirit of the run and I did 12 x 200m "fastish" with 200m recovery.

1 mile warm up (runners challenge)
12 x 200m @ 5:27/km + 200m 6:00/km
cool down

I found that pace very manageable and the whole workout went quite quickly.

Streak day three!

Today my oldest son had a soccer game so I spent that time running around the indoor track. I only had a couple of short walk breaks and was able to run for 8km. This track is unique in that it has an incline/decline. Have I bitched about it before? It's also 34 laps with 4 clockwise turns per lap. I was having some sore feet issues towards the end but stayed focused on the idea of running the entire soccer game.

Here's a washed put picture of me at the end of the run!


Before the 8km on the track I also did a mile on the treadmill and then another 1.5km at home to bring my daily total time to over 1:10. I want to be able to run over an hour every other week before I start my half marathon training. I was a bit tired after the track run, but felt like I could have run on the treadmill at least another 10 minutes or more. My body needs more recovery than it used to, so I have to be careful to build up my mileage slowly so I am able to get enough rest and recovery for the next one.

Let's Get Streaking!

I am a part of the "Runners with Rheumatoid Arthritis" group on Facebook and there is a challenge to move a mile every day up to and including New Years Day. Given that I want to start training for a May half marathon in January, this is a safe way for me to increase my weekly mileage.

My current fitness schedule is the following:
Monday - group strength class and run
Tuesday - TRX exercise class
Wednesday - 2 x 30 min spin class
Thursday - 30 min spin class and run
Friday - rest
Saturday - longish run
Sunday - easy run

I will add the 1.6km to the 3 days that I don't normally run.

Today I ran the mile as a test around the indoor track. It is 6.8 laps and has an incline/decline on one side. It is a perfect square and easy to chunk up. I was able to complete it in 8:22 which was only a couple seconds slower than what I have done previously, although I don't think today had any repeatability. But, I have a good baseline and something to shoot for if I get the desire to try that again!

Making peace.

A straight-forward question that isn't necessarily answered.

My mother-in-law and I go for a floats together once a month and on the table there is a deck of conversation cards. We each pick a card and ask each other and then give our answer. This was the question she picked for me.

I really had to think about things in my life and there are a number of things that I think I am at peace with but upon presentation of a situation I am not actually there. The majority of those things have to do with the actions of others towards me. Like the support I get/don't get from people and how I wish it were different and I say I accept it when I really don't. But that's an unpublished post for never.

I think I honestly have made peace with my RA. I accept that it will always be a part of me but I don't have to define my life by it. I accept that there are some things that I have to modify because of it. I accept that things can change quickly and that it can be out of my control. I accept (but certainly don't like) that I may not always be in control and sometimes "good enough" will have to do.

For me, being at peace with something means you accept it but you don't have to like it. Now, to apply that to those other areas.

Less is more

I had an appointment with my rheumatologist today. I am so happy and grateful to say that things are still well controlled and I don't have to see her again for another 6 month. Happy dance!

Why the title? Because she said that I can reduce my plaquenil to 100mg daily, rather than alternating 100mg and 200mg. At my next appointment in May then we will talk about reducing/eliminating the Arava. Being medication free is a goal of mine, and I am happy if I am well controlled on as little medication as possible.

At the end of September I finally made an appointment with my GP about the gut distress that I have while I'm running. Because I have been dealing with it for so long, it just because a new normal to me, but this run was easily the worst one I have ever had. Long story short I had an intestinal infection which was treated with 10 days of antibiotics. At this time I started taking a probiotic and that has been working wonderfully for me. Everything is now predictable and I have even been able to run without needing a stop (more often than not). At the follow up appointment I was tested again and now there is still a bacterial infection somewhere as I had bacteria in my urine. My GP said he wasn't convinced that it is a UTI since I have no other symptoms indicating as such, but I am to keep an eye on it. At this appointment he also brought up that my ferratin is very low <10, so I am to start taking supplements and I will follow up in a few months, but to do a monthly blood test to see if there is improvements.

So I have taken a picture of everything that I use to help me feel as best as I can. I have been using oils for about a year and I find they work well for spot muscle soreness and inflammation.

From Ironman to now - the update

The following is a generalization of what I have been through since Ironman. I will expand on some of the time points as I move forward in this blog.

December 2012-June 2013
I was having neck pain which evolved to tingling on both sides of my body. I had difficulty standing for long periods of time and dropped about 10 pounds suddenly because I was too nauseous to eat. i eventually had an MRI done to rule out a neurological dysfunction and the diagnosis was inconclusive as to what caused it. It eventually "sorted itself out and these symptoms never presented themselves again. I started increasing my activity again, but by April 2013 foot pain started and I couldn't weight bear for that long. I was still teaching fitness classes and that was about the limit of my activity. I did start to walk more during the summer.

July 2013-January 2015
My activity level slowly increased to the point where I was starting to be able to run and eventually built up the endurance to complete a half marathon in May. Unsatisfied with my result I took advantage of another race opportunity in October. I had an amazing training cycle setting a PB in the 10k en route to my first ever sub 2 half marathon. I was looking forward to an amazing off-season which I was going to use to increase my speed and aim for a better half marathon time in the spring

January 2015-May 2015
I was starting to notice foot pain creep up again, and it escalated quickly. I was having difficulty being on my feet and even though I was still teaching fitness classes, I started teaching more by sitting on an exercise ball or in sandals, because I couldn't stand having my feet enclosed. i was noticing pinpoint blood blisters on my feet and was starting to uncontrollably gain weight. My doctor referred me to a rheumatologist. At that first appointment, she looked at my knees and feet and diagnosed me with rheumatoid arthritis on the spot and prescribed medication to help control the pain and reduce swelling. I was on prednisone for 2 weeks and then started Methotrexate and Plaquenil. I dropped 20 pounds in a very short time on that initial therapy and have put about 5 of that back on.

May 2015-May 2016
I spent a lot of this first year getting used to the medication and building myself up again from the inside out. My activity was limited to the classes I was teaching and outdoor walking. I was also noticing changes in my feet, however at that point there was no physiollogical damage. I spent a lot of time researching medication, holistic treatments and basic activity recommendations.

June 2016-today
I have been well controlled with medication. October 2016 was my last MTX injection because I was tired of the nausea so she switched me to Arava and that continues to work well. I started running again but built up too quickly and then had to take a break because of overwhelming fatigue. I restarted again in August very slowly based on the advice of my physiotherapist and have not had to restart again. I have since completed a 10k and a half marathon and I continue to run..

Let's dust this off!

It's been a long time since I have written here. Let's not worry about the details. A lot has changed in the 5 years since that Ironman finish and I will get back at this blog shortly.