Soul Searching and a Decision

So I thought it through and talked it over a great running buddy, Doc, and my boyfriend.

Consensus is "if it doesn't make you happy, don't do it."  It's rather sad because running has made me happy for the better part of 13 years.

Doc and I  talked it over for the better part of 20 minutes.  He's worried that running may actually be doing harm based on my description of feeling toxic and smelling foul.  But he says since my neurotransmitters and adrenals are so low, I need more happy things in my life, so can the running for now.

Boyfriend was really supportive too and he totally gets it.  He's been worried that I overtrain, so not running for a while is good for the both of us I think.  If I ever feel like going for a jog, I'll do it.  But not unless I totally want to.

So I talked to one of my best buds, Gail, and she might be in for doing a relay at the Peachtree International Triathlon.  Yay!  Our other buddy, Chris, is probably doing the event as well to help prepare for Nationals.  It'd be fun to go with both of them.  :)  If Gail ends up not wanting or not being able to run the 10K for me, I'll register for the aquabike instead.  Then wait for Chris at the finish line.  :)

Rather excited about doing aquabike events.  Tri the Parks has a division for it as well.  More of Georgia Multisport Productions's events are including aquabike.  Should be fun.

I'm also on the look out for some century rides.  It'd be more of a milestone for me since I've never done something like that before.

So I'm going to have to rewrite my tentative training plan.  We'll see how it all works out.

Corn - Cheese - Can of....

Food avoidence is proving to be as difficult as I thought it was.  But I'm getting better at it.  Kinda.  Sorta...  Don't judge me!

I'm become addicted to Paleo style cooking.  The most common ingredient that I have to swap out though is onions.  So sad.  My favorite website so far is PaleOMG.  I even downloaded her cookbook, OMG That's Paleo? for my Kindle app.  What a great resource; not to mention a great source of entertainment because her randomness, sense of humor, and style of writing is right up my alley.

Certain things have been I have avoided fairly well: shrimp, oranges, tuna, almonds, crab.  There are others too, but I didn't eat them before, so it wasn't hard to say "no!"  :)  The first hardest for me though was wheat and gluten.  However, I can count on one hand how many times I "slipped up" since Christmas; and the last 8 days have been gluten and wheat free -- yay.  Corn is the next hardest.  I LOVE southwestern/TexMex/Mexican/etc.  What three things do they use a shit-ton of?  Corn, cheese, onions.  Well BOO!  I've done my best though.  Went to three Mexican places in the last 2 weeks and twice I totally avoided everything while once I indulged in nachos (corn and cheese).  I have now weened myself off of dairy coffee creamer.  I made my own coconut cream (of sorts) and now use that; not the same, but it is a good substitute.

Eating out is SOOOOOO hard to avoid shit.  Sometimes I'm successfull and sometimes I'm not.  My boyfriend thrives on authentic Chinese cuisine which uses a ton of onions.  I now just pick them off.  Last night we went to a seafood pub and I cheated a tad: deep fried scallops (cornmeal) and hush puppies (cornmeal).  Saturday we went to Mellow Mushroom and I cheated a tad: gluten free house special (onions and cheese).

Mmmmmmm......CHEESE!

HOLY SHIT!  I freakin' LOVE cheese!

It's the best thing ever.  Damn this is to hard to not eat.  I can have goat cheese, but it's not the same.  I've been getting better and better about not eating it though.  I go more and more days between cheating.  (That sounds so wrong.  Lol.)

I need to go grocery shopping....  BAD.  I had to improvise on what to take for lunch (otherwise I would go out and grab Wendy's -- BAD GIRL!).  So I made some carrot sticks, celery sticks, a McIntosh apple, a jar of sunbutter (to garnish the previous three), then I grabbed a pack of rice thins (crackers) and something I've never eaten before:

Sardines!  Yeah.  Never had 'em.  Never seen an opened can of them before an hour ago (yes that is my cluttered desk at work).  Smell fishy (surprise there).  These don't have too much fishy taste though.  Takes a little getting used to.  I can eat them -- first one was the most awkward.  Lol.  At least the heads are off!  ;)  How did I like my lunch?  It worked.  Would I do it again?  If I was in a pinch, like today.

Here fishy fishy fishy....  He he he he.

Finally... Some answers

So I've been struggling with chronic pain for most of my life.  (Mentioned that a few times, haven't I?)  ;) Well I got super sick back in September and I haven't been the same since.  And no matter how hard I tried and how much I tried to force myself, I could never get myself back into a training/workout mode.  Finally Doc sent me to a wholistic medicine specialist (Dr. B).  He's actually a legitimate doctor (med training and all), specialized in naturopathic medicine.  Pretty cool.

The first visit is nothing more than telling him my story and answering a bunch of questions.  However, Dr. B is convinced that everything is connected.  So he sent me home with a slew of tests (blood, saliva, urine, etc) that he needed done.  Oh and he gave me homework.  4 supplements and an epsom salt bath everyday.  Yeah so the salt bath thing didn't quite happen as often as he'd hoped.  But I did do the 4 supplements:

• WholeMega capsules (2000 mg/day)
• Rhodiola Rosea (500mg/day)
• Curcumin (500mg/day)
• Alfalfa powder (I couldn't find that so he said the capsules are fine)

After I finished the first bottle of the rosea (which was expensive and I had to take 4 capsules to get the 500mg I needed), I found another source at GNC where I can take 2 capsules to get 680mg.  A little more than my allotted dose, but I figured for one bottle it couldn't kill me.  Still cheaper than the other brand I bought at Whole Foods.

Been taking the supplements for about 6 weeks straight and my energy isn't what it used to be, but it is way more manageable.  And my appetite peeks its head out every now and then.  So it's helping taking the edge off.  I feel focused more often than I was so that's a bonus.

So I returned to Dr. B earlier this week.  One test never made it to the lab (stupid FedEx), but the others were there.  Vitamin D was at rock bottom.  Neurotransmitter test came back retardedly low on.... nearly everything. Except PEA and Dopamine; which has Dr. B really confused since the norepinephrine and epinephrine are nearly non-existent. Yay. More confusion. But those two things being so low explains why I am so sleepy all the time and why my body feels so sluggish. So... Some answers. There were other crappy results as well.

Food testing is what has my head turning right now. For the next 8 weeks, I am told to avoid all items "in red" on the list. Maybe later I can try adding some of the lower scoring foods back in. Essentially, no more: cow dairy of any kind (it scored SUPER high), almonds, asparagus, corn, crab, eggplant, gluten, grapefruit, haddock, malt, mustard, onion (scored very high -- makes me sad), orange, peanut, black pepper, shrimp, tuna, and wheat. Grrr.... Doc (original dr) said he'd help me with ways to swap out those items. Dr. B said he was going to put me on a Paleo diet, until he saw that almonds were on the list; Doc says it's still my best bet and that it can substituted in the meantime.

*sigh* I have about 15 more tests to get done. And I have 3 more supplements I have to take to start getting my numbers back up (already on 4 supplements). Still don't have any specific answers, but Dr. B and Doc seem to be rather confident that food avoidance will help kill most of my chronic pain.

I said I was going to wait until after Christmas until I start moving towards this food avoidance thing.  Well It's the day after Christmas.  And I'm looking at the can of tuna on the counter thinking, "I'd really like a tuna salad sandwich after my workout this morning."

Damn....

Sometimes it pays to click on links

Recently, I've become addicted to Drew Canole's website FitLife.  His "Alpha Reset" program is intriguing and I think it may be worth a try.  But what I like most are his articles, vodcasts and blog posts.  His information is sound.  There are plenty of research journals and articles that back up his information.  So why do I just read those?

The way Drew Canole presents the information is so much easier to understand.  Sometimes he gives a TON of information at once, but he mostly gives it in small doses with links to other pages where he provides more detail.  I like it a lot.

For example:

3 Fats That Are Good For You

He gives a small brief overview of the 3 fats to familiarize you with them.  Then he gives links in each category that helps provide more detail.  I'm always getting newsletters about the "wonders" of avocados; I so sick of all the same-ol same-ol.  I almost didn't click on his extra link.  When I did, his supplemental page had information that I was not familiar with.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Some of it was repeated, but most was not.  He got kinda technical with it too, but it's still easy enough to follow.

I also suggest reading the supplemental link for coconut oil if you get the chance.  I like using coconut oil, but I've never been sure what to do with it.  Just saying, "Oh!  You can do anything with it!  Just swap it out for -blah blah blah-," is not enough for me.  I'm not that adventurous or creative when it comes to food/nutrition.  He actually specifically gives multiple ways of using them in smoothies and a snack.  I'm actually rather excited!  I'm going to get my tub of coconut oil and give it a try tomorrow!

Time for a Restart

Within the last 6 months, I've had a number of fresh starts.  Some of which were unexpected and initially unwanted.  However, I have found myself in a much better place.

At the end of August, I fell horribly ill.  I had gastro-enteritis and a bacteria infection.  I lost 10 pounds in 30 hours.  I was severely dehydrated and malnourished because everything I ingested went straight through and never got absorbed.  I had fever after fever of 102+; I got tired of constantly taking showers.  I had to call my very awesome buddy to pick me up and take me to Urgent Care.  It was quite an experience.

A week later was my final race of the season, but I was so weak that I became exhausted just walking from my car to my office.  Doc grounded me from the race.  I knew it was coming, but it still sucks.

So I still haven't started working out again.  It's been about a week or so since my appetite has returned to normal and I'm able to stomach most foods again.  I haven't been eating like I should, but I haven't been eating complete junk either.

I'm also staying at a friend's place for a couple of months while I get my finances together to buy a new place.  Well...  He is a great friend, but he's my amazing new boyfriend as well.  Funny how when you become happy with yourself, that happiness is increased ten fold when you find someone completely compatible with you.

Nice thing is that I have a lot of support for getting back into that alkaline diet.  Now that my weight is back to near normal, I'm about ready to start juicing a bunch and dabbling with exercise.

I lost a lot of muscle and all of my fitness to that sickness.  I have no idea how to get back into training. Hell...  Now triathlon season is over; this gives me a great opportunity to actually plan a full year of training and racing -- the right way instead of my half-assed way.

Doc gave me orders to start working out again this week.  I have to start with 20-30 minutes of super light cardio and very light weight training.  My energy levels have been real low by the end of my workday  So I'm going to have to force myself to do this.  Good news is that I have access to a fitness center so my number of excuses have diminished.  Wait a sec...  is that good news or bad news?  ;)

Random Hydration Thought

I used to work for a police department.  I went through the academy and became an officer -- all that jazz.  The academy was run similar to a military bootcamp.  We did heavy PT often.  Needless to say, while in class, we were constantly drinking water.  I was drinking so much water that I had to make a trip to the bathroom every 60 minutes.  I was drinking over 60 oz of water Mon-Fri (it was variable on the weekends).  Once on the road, I was drinking 50-60 oz of water most days of the week.

My trainers preached to us that we need to be drinking nothing but water.  One guy drank a soda with his lunch and the trainers made us PT until he (and a few of us) vomited.  Nice huh?  Lol.  One time we were doing defensive tactics training (high intensity, high energy, 8 hour workout basically) and I started having tunnel vision.  Odd because I had drank a shit-ton of water for the days leading up the class.  I ate a breakfast of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, banana, and a very tall glass of orange juice; it was enough for fuel, full of carbs, and light enough that I wouldn't barf it back up at the academy.  So it wasn't like I didn't eat anything.  But I fell over while we were doing up-downs.  One of the fire instructors came by and gave me an oxygen mask and checked my blood pressure.  No real sign of problems there.  He asked me how much fluids I had been drinking and I told him.  He then reached into his bag and gave me a sports drink.  I felt 100% better within 5 minutes of ingestion.

So I learned the importance of balancing water and sports drinks.  But the paramedic said that I needed to be drinking 80-100 oz of fluids each day.  It has stuck in my head for all these years and still has me puzzled.  I'm 108 lbs.  Why would I need 100 oz of water?

So today I randomly did a search with the question "is how much water you drink based on body weight?"  The first link was a useful one.  Granted, it only gives you an estimate based a long series of questions.  Mine said "58.5 oz."  That's roughly what I've been drinking the last month or so.  So I guess I'm on the right track.  :)

More info on fascia

I randomly came across an article on fascia injuries.  It has a list at the end of things to do to keep the fascia working properly.  Yeah... #6 is the one I'm dealing with now.  Boo.  17 years in the making!  Woo!  So does that mean it'll take another 17 years to fix.  Oh good god.  Lol.  I'm sorry, but #8....   When you've been dealing with an injury like mine for so many years (and I'm only 30!  That means more than half my life I've been dealing with extreme pain)...  Patience is not going to be given easily.

Never ending cramp

Over the course of the week, I started having pretty bad pains at the base of my skull.  It almost felt as though my skull was trying to merge with the top of my neck.  I kept putting cold packs on it.  I got tired of taking Aleve, even though it did help deter headaches that seemed to ensue.  Shoulders still feel like there is a never ending cramp, but I have noticed that the toughness when I touch those areas is a little less.

I saw Doc Friday afternoon.  His first question was, "How did you feel last weekend?"  The next one was, "Did you hate me? ... "Good."  Odd man.  Lol.

He asked me if I had any new pains.  I told him about the problem at the base of my skull.  He expected it, which it good I guess in that it wasn't some abnormal thing.  He told me that the muscles in my back tightened (that we pissed off with the ESWT) and those muscles are connected to the base of my skull.  Makes a lot of sense to me really.  Maybe not to other people, but I do get it.  So he massaged it and stretched out the area along with my shoulders.  He asked how my "Wall Angels" we're coming along.  I said they were fine, but getting a little easy.  He told me to add soup cans or something to each hand and do them that way.  I told him I had ankle weights, but he was worried that it would be too much at this point.  We don't want to read re-damage my shoulders.

He decided to try some acupuncture (from what I understand, it's chiropractic acupuncture).  Since I was rather squeamish about the needles, he decided to only put four in and see how I took it.  At first, it was a tad.....unnerving.  The last needle stung pretty bad, so he had to try another spot.  Because I was rather sensitive, he didn't go for the electric stimulation like he wanted.  Afterwards, I was more comfortable with it.  He mentioned that he would rather put more in on various areas; he said to think about it and decide next week.  I think I am ok with the idea.  Especially since I don't see the needles, I am all right with it.  My boyfriend is a big skeptic, but I'm in so much pain, that I'm rather desperate.

Doc did tell me to get a foam roller.  He was surprised when I told that I didn't have one already.  I told him that I knew about them, but didn't know what to do with them.  He showed me some uses for my back (since I have never ending pain there), shoulder blades, shoulders, and neck.  He also added some stretching to use with the roller.  He said it could help speed up the healing process.  I hear runners and cyclists love foam rollers, but I didn't quite get it.  I figure my boyfriend could some use out of it after playing tennis and football.

I see Doc again next week as usual now.  For now, I like how he is trying to solve the issue; unlike the PCP and sports medicine doctors I've seen that just prescribe steroids and physical therapy to manage the pain.  So far, my experience with chiropractors has been positive.  I think it helps to find the right doc too.  Thanks to my buddy for recommending him!

Imagine that...

The treatments my chiropractor has been doing are actually working.  I have significantly less pain in my neck and shoulders now than I have at any point in the last 5 years.

After chatting with my boyfriend, I've started wondering something...  Are the issues in my shoulder and neck connected to the tightness and stiffness problems in my hands (primarily my left) when I play my bass?

During the last 5 years or so, I've noticed that my left hand just doesn't move as fluidly and nimbly as it used to before then.

That article I posted before mentioned that pain in the neck is usually sent as pain elsewhere.  Maybe what I've been thinking was carpal tunnel syndrome is actually directly linked to the issues in my left shoulder.  They started about the same time.

Or am I over thinking it?

Maybe these doctor visits will help me in more than just quality of life & triathlon training/performance; perhaps it'll finally open the doors for me to be able to do auditions and performances pain-free and issue-free.

Ehh...  I'm babbling.  But still...

A Pain in the Neck

I've always suffered from chronic back pain since I was an adolescent.  I complained at first, but the doctors said there wasn't much they could do, so I learned to live with it.  I have gotten real good at ignoring it.  On a normal day my pain is at about a 6 (on a scale of 1 - 10).  I get flare-ups, and they suck.  Then the pain is usually at about an 8 or 9.  Sometimes it gets really bad, like after I go cycling, running, and then give the dog a bath; that pain is a 10.  I'm out of commission for a good while.  I've stopped taking pain killers years ago mainly because I started developing a tolerance for them (not good...).  Hot salt baths, heating pads, stretching, and avoidance is usually my treatments.  Those that know me realize that when I say, "Man...  My back hurts," that it is pretty severe.

Over the last few years, I've gotten semi-regular headaches that many times cause nausea and light sensitivity.  I always figured it stemmed from my eyes and/or glasses.  I've also started having severe pains (8 or 9) in my left shoulder and all of my neck.  When that area begins to hurt, a throbbing/aching pain begins between my shoulder blades (7 or 8).  Last summer I was in tears quite frequently.  My boyfriend said that pain in the shoulders and neck were a regular thing for cyclists and to just get used to it.  I would back off on the amount of activity and eventually the pain would die down to about a 5 or 6.

I started running regularly earlier this month and those severe pains returned.  I refuse to live with this any longer.  I figured something was wrong.  So I took a friend's advice and called 1st Choice Healthcare to set up an appointment to see a sports chiropractor.  My friend recommended a doctor there.  I had my first appointment last Monday.

Turns out the cause of my agony stems from my profession and passion of playing the double bass.  :(  This makes me very sad.  Doc says that the scalene muscles in my neck (primarily my left side, but my right is all screwed up too) have intertwined themselves with all of the muscles in my shoulder.  Supposedly it's created a big rubber band ball.  Nice visual huh?  I had never heard of scalene muscles.

He said that problems in this area also trigger pain points beside the shoulder blade.  Imagine that.  I had that problem.  I found an interesting article about that very thing.  So Doc says my case is pretty bad.  I'm supposed to go twice a week for treatment until it starts to settle, then I go once a week.  I did manage to go twice this week, but I'll have to go once a week for the next couple because of work obligations.

I went again on Friday.  I was stupid sore for Monday - Wednesday.  On Friday, he "grated" my shoulders and neck, then used ESWT which pulverized my muscles.  One particular nerve on my right side was really pissed; it kept sending lightening bolts of pain behind my shoulder blade.  :(  Then he stretched and tried to push muscles back in place.  He says he felt a difference.  All I know is that my shoulders and neck have been ultra-weak and sore since.  Last night I had problems holding my head up on my own.

These scalene muscles have also pulled at least one vertebrae out of place -- C2 I think.  I can feel it protruding just behind my left jaw.  He said he doesn't want to adjust it for a little while -- at least until he feels that the screwed up muscles don't pull it right back out again.  He believes that is the source of my headaches.

Needless to say, I haven't run in a week and it has been really hard not to.  I bet I could at least try...  He said I could do all the swimming and strength training I wanted!  Bad part is my work schedule won't allow me to swim until Feb 12.  :(  So frustrating.  I hate strength training...

*sigh*  So...  I'm rather frustrated and I feel broken.

Lesson here is:  Don't ignore severe pain.  Don't accept severe pain as "normal."  If you live in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend giving 1st Choice Healthcare a call.

*sigh*

Another year begins.  Blah blah blah.  Lol.

I don't really believe in the whole "it's a new year!  I'm going to change all of my bad habits starting on the first!"  Ha!

New Year's Day is an annoying holiday -- especially when it comes to fitness and health.

A vast majority of society says, "I'm going to lose weight and get in shape starting on January 1!"  So those of us who have been training and working out at various facilities have to deal with the sudden influx of people over flooding said facilities for 3-6 weeks.

Example:  A few years ago, I used to live off of the Silver Comet Trail in Smyrna, GA.  Very popular for cycling, walking, run, rollerblading, etc.  I decided to go for a ride on the trail in early January.  It was so packed with people that I couldn't really ride.  I just turned around about 15 minutes in and went home.  90% of those people on the trail had no clue of the "etiquette" of the trail and had no common sense or courtesy.  I ended up avoiding the trail until end of Feb.

It happened in college too.  The student gym would be overrun with so many people nobody could get a decent workout in.

Unfortunately, I've gotten into a cycle of taking November and December off from training for anything and starting back up around NYE.  But not because of the "New Year's Resolutions," but more for starting on a training regimen for upcoming races.  However, I have to design my first 4 weeks of training around the New Year's crowd.  I won't be riding my bicycle after work at the SCT until mid-Feb.  I was going to go swimming today at the local aquatic center, but I figure I'll start next Saturday.

Don't get me wrong.  I think it's great that people want to lose weight and get in shape, but why use Jan 1 of each year to start?  Why couldn't you start Nov 8?  Sept 23?  August 3?  June 4?  April 11?  March 20?  Feb 15?  Why Jan 1?  You can decide to "get healthy" any day of the year.  I started on my triathlon adventure in the end of Jan 2011.  I decided to get better at swimming in April 2012.

Don't use Jan 1 as an excuse to get in shape.  Dig deep and develop your own reason for getting shape and shedding those pounds.  Don't conform to what society thinks and does.  Be unique and follow your dreams for YOUR reasons and do it on YOUR turf.

3 Articles I Have Found so Far

So I have found three articles regarding female athletes and menstrual cycles.  I found a good number of links, but I skipped the ones that didn't look like great sources.  The first article was pretty scientific.  Now I consider myself to be a smart chick, but I found myself rereading most of this article to make sure I caught a gist.

How Menstruation Affects Your Running

So the main gist of this article that I managed to pull from it is that there are two phases: follicular & luteal phases.  During the luteal phase (day 15-28) the body's metabolism changes and so does body temperature.  The body holds on to glycogen which can be a problem for long distance endurance athletes.  Doctors and researchers recommend increasing the carbs/hour from 40 grams to 50-60 grams.

I got a little confused when it began talking about plasma volume (sorry -- it's the musician in me).  I have bookmarked the article for future reference.  I hope one day to understand it better. I believe it was referring to actually increasing sodium levels before training during the luteal phase and increasing fluid intake.  Funny because us women usually feel bloated (which the article addresses).

Last major point I got from it was that there is ongoing research regarding women's iron levels.  The never-ending argument whether women become anemic each month or just simply have low iron levels for a time.

The Challenging Periods for Women in Training

 I liked this article.  It was a little more down to earth -- so to speak.  A common theme between all the articles is that there is scientific proof that women perform poorer during any particular phase of the menstrual cycle (unless she experiences severe symptoms).  Interesting....

The article says that a common comment made by women is an increased awareness of how the body feels while on day 1-5 of the cycle.  Personally, I find that many of my senses are heightened during the first five days of my cycle: sight, hearing, smelling, touch.  My sense of taste doesn't seem to change much.

Basically it says to listen to what your body tells you and follow it.  Big surprise there.  We should be doing this anyway.

Exercise and Your Menstrual Cycle: What Your Period Means for Your Workout Schedule

Now... I'm not a huge fan of "Shape" magazine.  It just has never set well with me.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  However, I thought the article was interesting in one major way.

For the most part, it restates the same information that the other articles said.  But one piece of information was different: A woman's cycle can make her more prone to injury -- specifically the ACL. Evidently, we (women) have poorer motor control during menstruation than ovulation.  We can overcompensate by letting the knee fall inward too much, letting the quads absorb the impact in the knees instead of hamstrings & glutes, etc.

I'll probably look more into this.  Why would "Shape" magazine mention this and not Runners Times?

My swim and weight training today went awesome which was nice compared to yesterday's awful feeling all day.  I guess I'll just stick to the adage: "Go with how the body feels."  Yesterday, most movement increased the cramps.  Today, I felt like I could go on forever.  Let's see what tomorrow brings...

Female Training Issues

I've always preferred working with male coaches.  I don't know why.  In softball, my favorite coaches were men, my favorite personal trainers were men, my swim coach is a man, trainers at the police academy were men, etc.  I had a female personal trainer once; she wasn't bad, but I like the way male trainers/coaches work.  They seem to encourage pushing through fatigue, push limits, strive for higher achievement just a little bit better.  They weren't nurturing, that's for sure.

I grew up a hardcore tomboy most of my childhood and part of my adulthood.  Dave even called me "Hardass" as a nickname for a time when we first started dating.  I am not nurturing.  As an orchestra director, I push my kids hard and work them hard to improve.  I set the bar pretty high, but not impossible.  My students will be the first to say that I live by the philosophy of "tough love" and that I am definitely not "nurturing."  Maybe that's why I feel so much more comfortable with male coaches/trainers.

As a woman, there is a downside to always working with men...  I can't get advice on how to train during the week when my cycle hits.  I feel like a lazy ass if I don't do anything, but there are days where I feel absolutely awful.

Sunday was a rest day for me.  I planned it that way.  I then planned on going to the pool for a long technical swim on Monday.  Then the cramps hit me all day Monday.  I didn't do any training.  So I did the swim today and I'm about to go lift weights for a short bit.  I still don't feel all that great, but I can't just.... not train.  I just have typical female symptoms -- no flu, no cold, no sinus infection (for once), no allergies.  After I finish lifting weights, maybe I'll do some research on the subject...

Foolishness

Maybe I'm foolish, but at this point I don't really care.

Last weekend, I started getting dull, throbbing headaches and they never ceased for four days or so.  Then on Tuesday I developed a stuffy nose and a fever blister on my lip.  Fantastic.  Sinus infection.  I slept a TON Tuesday and Tuesday night (thanks to NyQuil).  However, I knew I had to do something because the last two sinus infections (this is my third in 18 months) started off the exact same way; within 3 days I expected to be battling high fevers, dizziness, migraines, weakness, and more.  Then I'd be forced to see the doctor.  No thanks.

Last two times I took antibiotics, decongestants, corticosteroid nasal sprays and god knows what else.  What has that gotten me?  Three sinus infections in 18 months and lots of doctor bills.  Once again:  no thanks.

I'm tired of medicines, chemicals, and all the other crap.  I've been delaying buying either a sinus rinse or a NetiPot because they like torturing devices to me.  It ain't natural looking.  So I'm going to flood my sinus cavity with salt water?  What?

Tuesday night I felt like utter crap and Wednesday I was fighting the crap-ness off and on all day.  We had a pot luck lunch at work (last day of post-planning) and I couldn't smell or taste anything.  It looked so yummy.  The principal let us loose 3 hours early, so on the way home I bought a sinus rinse thing and some distilled water.

After taking a 4 hour nap, I gathered the courage to try this torture device.  I can't say that I like it very much.  Very unnatural feeling.  Very bizarre.  Not sure what I can say about that...

Needless to say, I feel better this morning.  So I went running.  not my brightest of ideas, but I lasted 32 minutes before my body said, "don't push it."  That was probably a foolish thing to do, but damn to I feel so much better right now.....