Upswing

This has been a great week. Whether it is a permanent upswing or just another crest of the roller-coaster ride, wont be clear for some time. I had a busy work week and got in some solid training miles. I did my first “long” run in a while, although it was on a flat rail trail I was still pleased to do a 20 miler. I also did my first run commute to my office. It is 9 miles each way. The way in was easier and I comfortably ran an 8:20 pace. The run home was a littler tougher because of the darkness and end of the day fatigue so I tacked on some time and ran an 8:44 pace. It will take some time getting accustomed to running on the road again, bad drivers make me nervous. I am lit up brighter than a Christmas tree with my Noxgear LED vest and my 600 lumen waist belt. If people are looking at the road they can definitely see me. Due to my schedule I wont be able to do this commute too often but I will be trying to squeeze it in as much as possible to work on my cadence and road running for Boston. My weekly miles are in the mid 50’s but anyone who knows me well understands that I wont be satisfied until I am back into my high mileage training of 100 per week.

Another big health improvement this week was being able to read without my eyes going bonkers. For a long time now I have had difficulty reading because the contrast of black and white makes everything flash. I am reading in short bursts but have been very excited to dive into some books about realigning the body through exercise. A topic that will help me and give me more insight and information for my job.

Well, partially because I am tired and partially because I have some almond carob hot cocoa with coconut whipped cream and a bag of Trader Joe’s Bollywood popcorn in front of me, I will cut this post short. I did a bad job taking photos this week but here are some of my running pics of new trail discoveries.

I’m Back

Apologies for not blogging last week. The political situation and several issues put me in a very foul mood and I was unable to find the right voice for this blog. I have always striven to keep the theme on a high note and I will do my best to continue on.

I was contacted by the Krempels Center about speaking to a group about my trans-continental run. They are a non-profit who work with brain injury survivors. I am hoping to make arrangements to go and do a presentation. I confess that I am a little bit nervous as my neurological symptoms still come and go and sometimes I stutter and have issues with lighting and vision. Brain injury survivors will probably be the most understanding and patient audience for me to be with. I am angry that someone who mocks people with disabilities was chosen to lead my country. I think that doing a presentation and trying to empower people with disabilities might be a very positive outlet for me right now. I told them that I would contact them after my medical appointment..but….

After waiting for months to get the testing for my nervous system done at Dartmouth Hitchcock, they cancelled on me. I had taken the day off from work, a friend had taken time off from work to bring me and they didn’t even notify me until it was almost time to be there. My referral is no longer valid so I did not reschedule. I see a new primary care person this week and will see what they think the next step should be. My experience with the medical system so far has been very disappointing. It is no wonder that medical error is the third leading cause of death in the USA. They can’t even find my records or schedule appointments so I have sort of given up on getting a diagnosis or treatment plan.

I am MAD MAD MAD. And although it has been a while I remember this sensation of anger and as a fiery redhead it actually makes me very efficient and productive. I have started treating myself for microbial infections with natural products and I have felt much better the last week and a half. I will continue the protocol and keep my chin up. I am back up to running 55-60 mile weeks. It isn’t pretty right now but I can feel a solid sense of determination setting in. I AM running the Boston Marathon this spring. I WILL run the VT100. I am going to continue my progress with PT at Anytime Fitness. I am currently trying to figure out how to run to work and back a couple of days a week and I’m doing everything that I know to improve my health. That also includes traipsing around the woods and spending time with good people who don’t disrespect others because of their skin color, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities or religion. I love you all ..I now begin a new training phase called angry running .

Ready to fight the good fight

Well, I have finally reached a point in this journey with western medicine where I am ready to throw in the towel. It has been 11 months and I still have no diagnosis and no treatment plan. I  plan on going back for the nerve testing but I am feeling confident enough that whatever is plaguing me is a microbial infection and I am going to treat it with herbs and diet. The doctor sent me a message saying that I did NOT have Lyme. My tests for Lyme have shown up as negative, positive, positive, positive, negative. Clear as mud right? I have apprenticed as an herbalist myself, and also have amazing resources on hand for herbal medicine, essential oils and dietary healing. I started treating myself this week and already feel like it is working.

I ran close to 50 miles this week, trail scouting, group runs and a bit of climbing in the Belknaps. I am trying to use the posture and technique that we are working on at Anytime Fitness to improve my running. I still struggle with my right foot (this is the one I have lost a lot of sensation in) but my overall balance and glute activation seems better. I also notice that my torso is not so spun out in pictures. So the overall theme of things is that I am ready to fight! Fight for my health and fight my way back into fitness. Take note of the picture of the grim reaper at the Halloween parade who came to sweep me away…not now buddy. I have to train for a marathon.