Such a Big Deal

A few setbacks to my training and progress but nothing major.  We had the barf bug sweep through our house impacting all four of the family at some level. So the day I felt good enough to run, the 3 year old was not.   And so on and so forth.

I did run outside for the first time and managed to pick the coldest windiest day ever, which resulted in a weak 2 mile run and major pain in my chest, but I did it!  woo hoo!

As I'm typing, my screen is significantly blurry since I just returned from the eye doctor.  Just a check-up. But for my fellow diabetics, you know this is always a stressful appointment as you wait to hear if this stupid disease has had any impact on your vision that you haven't already noticed.  Luckily, I have two healthy eyeballs that will stay that way if I keep the big D in check.

What I found particularly entertaining about this doctor visit was the way my optometrist tried to drop some diabetic knowledge on me.  First, he compared me to a Type 2 diabetic.  And no disrespect to the Type 2's out there but there's a BIG difference.  Then, he decided to let me know that as long as I keep my blood sugars controlled, I can live my entire life with no complications!  Breakthrough!  I never knew that!!!!  That said, I should have expected this input since this is the same doc that told me that the best way to get pregnant is to stop worrying about getting pregnant and just do what you gotta do to make it happen.  I'm still having a hard time understanding why he's an optometrist and not a brain surgeon, but I will save that question for my next appointment.

Now, you may be asking why I keep going back to this doctor if he's essentially a tool?  And my answer to that is I'm not entirely sure but I think it's due to intrigue and convenience.  I'm always anxious to see what he's going to school me on next and he's in a network of doctors that gives me very easy access to specialists in the event that I ever need one.  I also have a weird guilt thing about asking to see someone else in the practice.  I have a lot of weird guilt issues but I'll start that blog another time :)

The point of my mention of the doctor's appointment, though, is that these appointments always remind me that while I live with this disease every day and it's a part of my life, I can't forget that it's a big deal.  All of the little parts of diabetes, when separate, disguise themselves and little details that are easily attended to.  It's a pain to test my blood sugar, but it's not that big of a deal.  It's annoying to have to be aware of every thing I eat, but it's not that big of deal.  But when you take all of the small pieces of the puzzle and put them together - BOOM -  big deal.  Losing your vision, heart disease, nervous system failure, kidney failure.  Big Big Deal.

So, if you are battling a health issue, whether it's diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, cancer, immune diseases, etc., don't forget that it's a big deal.  Don't take a few days off from being healthy or improving your health because you deserve it.  You owe it to yourself keep at it full-time.  And if you have happen to fall off the wagon due to some evil carb-heavy culinary delight, don't forget to jump back on as quickly as possible.  Because you are worth it and that's what you deserve.  And if you don't believe that, then talk to the people that love you.  They will remind you.

Back to running tomorrow.

Peace out.

Feeling It...

With my husband out of town for 6 consecutive days, I was presented with a bit of a challenge with my progress.  Lack of sleep.  When he travels, I don't sleep much.  I am exhausted by 8pm and then by 9pm, I'm hit with a anxious second wind that keeps me up until midnight.  This is typically followed by the dog barking to be let out at 3am or a child crying due to the non-existent wind.  Miraculously, I was still able to run this week.  I even managed a Saturday run, which is just unheard of in my world!  

Running update

One very exciting thing happened this week.  I actually felt good while I was running.  This may sound bizarre but its very true for me.  I am a generally fit person.  I'm 5' 3.5" tall (I usually get a snicker from the nurse when I add an extra 1/2 an inch, but when you are short, it counts!) and around 127 pounds.  I would say that I'm strong but not fast.  I guess endurance is my strong suit but speed is not.  That is a lot of information to share, but my point is that, no matter how strong or fast or fit you are, if you keep making your body do stuff, your body will adjust eventually and what hurt a lot at first, will get easier and easier and you may actually find yourself wanting more (that is very unintentionally dirty sounding).  

On Saturday I ran 4 miles and I found myself wanting to run further.  I couldn't because of an impending 3 year old floor hockey game, but it was a really good feeling to want to keep going.  It made me feel like 10 miles is actually possible.  Not that I didn't think it was possible before.  Now I also feel like it's possible.  

Diabetes Update

From a diabetes perspective, I'm really looking forward to sending blood sugars to my endo's office this week.  They are much more predictable now that I'm running regularly, and I haven't told them I'm running Broad Street yet and I know they are going to be excited for me!  Also, my next 3 month appointment is 2 days before the run.  I have an amazing endocrinologist.  He's happy and supportive and loves my kids.  

Diabetes Challenge

One Type 1 challenge that I'm constantly facing is recording my blood sugars when I test.  It's a habit that I never got into as an adult (unless I was pregnant) and after downloading apps and trying notebooks, I still struggle with it.  And while my meter and my pump have a memory, it doesn't really help if there are no patterns to look at.  So that will be my goal for this week.  To record before every meal, minimally.  Hopefully at similar times each day. So I'm going "old school" and filling out the sheet from the office.  Gotta start somewhere!   

Have a great week!!!

I forgot one thing...

I am the type of person that gets REALLY excited about the prospect of a new challenge.  I get REALLY REALLY excited in the beginning and I do things like start blogs and buy new gear and join groups.  AND THEN, I remember that I have two kids and a husband that depend on me for a lot of stuff!

So, this week has flown by but quite a few good things have happened.  I started running on the indoor track at the Y and am now enjoying that much more than the treadmill.  Next goal is to get outside but it's still just too cold for me.

I'm getting the hang of my blood sugars before and after working out but I still haven't hooked up the Continuous Glucose Monitor, which seems to be something that is very easy to avoid.
I've officially suffered my first running injury (snicker, snicker).  I decided last Thursday to drop my son off at pre-school and head the Y for a quick run before I ran to my daughter's school to volunteer.  All of this craziness entailed showering at the Y.  Now, the locker room at the Y deserves an entire blog post to itself, so I won't go into detail about that, for now.

After showering on this particular Thursday, I opened my locker (picture top and bottom 1/2 lockers with thick plastic doors) and then dropped something.  I bent down to get it and stood right back up and immediately heard the crack of the corner of the locker door on the back of my head.  That was not as loud as me yelling a "not-so-family-friendly" word several times.  Luckily, I was by myself.  Well, assuming that I wasn't going to lose consciousness and assuming that people were not walking to the door to the locker room and turning on their heels upon hearing the crazy lady yelling obscenities.  After sitting for a moment and finding a grape sized lump on the back of my head, I proceeded to finish my routine while chatting with the seniors and acting like I didn't want to start crying in pain.  Still made it to Meg's school on time and pop two Advil on the way.

Most runners twist something, tweek something, pull something.  Not me.  I just sustain minor head injuries after showering.  And while I know this is not a "true injury", I just thought I would convey a little bit about myself by telling a story that is just so typical for my life and quite possibly the reason I have never been a competitive athlete.  Grace is clearly not my middle name.

Following the "locker incident", we had a crazy busy weekend that included skating competitions, school dances, first hockey games and a date night.  Woo hoo!  And that is when I was reminded of how life can sometimes be a challenge when you are trying to achieve your fitness goals.  I was also reminded of how much I love my family and that I'm so excited to run this race with my husband that no matter how busy life can get, it can't keep me from achieving my goal!