The Little Things
February 26, 2013

This post is part of a series on postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and how this affects my journey to running. For my previous post introducing pots, click here.

What Causes POTS? 

From my understanding, the simple answer is that it isn’t completely clear, although a few means have been identified. “Viruses are thought to be the provoking factor in approximately 50% of POTS patients (Low & Schondorf, 1997, p. 279)” (source).

“Those at greater risk of the disorder are high-achieving teenagers or adolescents as they enter a growth spurt… The disorder is also more likely to occur in people who are very flexible or double-jointed and those with other affected family members. But even though some people may be genetically predisposed to developing POTS, Dr. Fischer said in an interview that an environmental insult seems to trigger its onset — an illness like mononucleosis, flu or a bad cold; an injury; major surgery or trauma; or even weight loss. Dr. Fischer said prolonged bed rest often precedes the condition” (source).

How my POTS journey began:

Over Thanksgiving break in 2003 I got a cold, which turned into a sinus infection. This was a particularly nasty sinus infection, and it took three months of lots of different medications before I got over it. Unfortunately, that was enough to get POTS. By the end of January I was feeling really sick, and by the beginning of February I felt a stabbing pain (like someone was jabbing a knife into my stomach) each time I ate, and I had a really bad migraine. I immediately found a neurologist who was able to find a good mix of medications to help deal with the migraine so I could function again. However, even on days I didn’t have a migraine, I still had a headache (chronic daily headache). (And, in case you’re interested, that headache hasn’t gone away. Every single day for the last 9 years I have a had a headache or migraine in some varying level of intensity). While the neurologist was helpful in dealing with the migraine part of pots, it didn’t go any further than that. I spent the rest of my semester going to school 3 or 4 days a week, feeling really sick and pretty miserable. This continued throughout the summer, and by the fall I finally went to the doctor for the stomach pains that never stopped. In October of 2004 I was diagnosed with POTS through a tilt table test…

(to be continued…)

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and this post should not be taken as expert medical advice. I’m simply someone who has lived many years with POTS who has found resources around the internet that help to explain this syndrome. Please contact a doctor if you have questions about POTS or think you might have it. 

February 25, 2013

Eating disorders are something that we each deal with, in one way or another. Even if we ourselves haven’t experienced an eating disorder or disordered thoughts or patterns of eating, we all know someone who has struggled (even if we don’t know they are struggling!).

Here are a few startling facts:

The theme for NEDA week is “everybody knows somebody”. And, as I said before, we all know someone. It’s important that we each know the warning signs and learn how to communicate with those around us who might be struggling. Education is so critical, and in that vain, I’ve provided some links below. PLEASE, at some point this week, spend a few minutes reading and educating yourself.

Now it’s your turn to share: What have you learned through reading or experience about eating disorders? 

 

February 24, 2013

A month of training done… already. The first few weeks were a little rough, and my excitement was pretty low, but I finally feel like I’m getting back into the groove of training. Here’s what the week looked like:

*This is an app that I downloaded, and decided to do instead of going to the gym (which I just wasn’t in the mood for!). This got my heart rate up and definitely used muscles I don’t typically use!

It’s been hard for me to run only once a week. I sort of feel like I’m just not really training. However, I’m trying to not run too much as I work on PT and other strengthening exercises. I just want to avoid injury. I’m doing a lot more strength training and pilates this time around, so we’ll see how it all ends up after I cross the finish line!

Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever tried the Nike Training Club App, or do you have another app that you like to use while exercising? 

February 23, 2013

When I woke up this morning, I actually didn’t think this run would happen today. You see, yesterday I lifted with my brother for an hour, and we did some ab exercises I’ve never done before. I woke up at 6 am with really bad, aching pain in my abs; apparently they were not so happy with what I had done. I spent the next two hours dozing on and off with a heat bag on my abs. OUCH. I tried to get up and start moving around and stretching, and finally around 11 am I finally felt like I might be able to run ok.

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I got a garmin for Christmas. I really like it, but when it does this for very long, I get a little annoyed. At least all the pink is cheery:)

As I’ve gone on runs since Christmas, I’ve realized that I really cannot tell my own pace well at all. I’ve realized that 10:15 and 12:30 feel almost the same to me. That must account for my somewhat erratic splits on my runs. On my long runs, I’m trying to hold myself back at the beginning of my run so that I have something at the end to give. I’m not able to read my body much right now, so that’s something that I am working on this training cycle.

I really struggle with knowing what to wear on runs. I know that by about 48-50 degrees I can go in shorts and a tank top and be great, but anything below that is a little fuzzy for me. When I left it was 30 degrees, sunny, with a “feels like” of 20 degrees. I ended up wearing running tights, a long sleeve nike shirt with thumb holes, thin gloves, and a headband for my ears. This was pretty much perfect, except I took my headband off after the first two miles because I was getting too warm.

The run itself was pretty good. We had a bad ice storm on thursday night, but yesterday it got warm enough that a lot melted. I had to run around frozen puddles, and mile 3 was a bit tricky with slush and ice, but overall it was fine. My abdominal pain didn’t bother me at all during the run (runner’s high? focused on other things?), but now it’s back to hurting again. And my knee and it band pain was almost non-existent, except a few twinges after 3.5 miles. I continue to do cross training, PT exercises, and stretch, and I hope it’s helping.

Mile splits were ok, not great:

Today was the most excited I felt running since Thanksgiving Day, so that’s a great sign, since training didn’t start on a great foot.

Three cheers for a great run:)

February 21, 2013

I’ve felt particularly thankful lately, which seems a little odd for February (usually not my favorite month). Here’s the thing. I think that the more I focus on thankfulness throughout my days the more things I find to be thankful for each day. I think I focus on the little things a little bit more in life. I wonder if any of you notice that too? Here’s what I’m thankful for right now:

I’m thankful for sunshine. In a strange break from the regular patterns of February, the last two weeks have been oddly sunny. Most days have been sunny for at least part of the day, and I’m so happy to see the sun! Once an hour at work I try to walk over to a window and look outside for a minute or two, and enjoy the moments instead of complaining about how cold it might be or the hours that are gray. I’m thankful to see the rays of sunshine dance into my living room, come into my car as I’m driving home, and hit me as I walk after work!

I’m thankful that the birds are back! From November to February I don’t see many birds, which I’m frequently a little sad about. My kitchen and living room back up to my back porch, and within the last week or two the birds have come back to the porch! I love to see them hoping around and hear them chirping as I go about my day!

I’m thankful for a really great speech last week! Last week I was out of my office for two days on a business trip. I got to give one of my favorite lectures, and I had maybe the best crowd I’ve ever had at a speaking engagement. They were eager to learn, taking notes, participated at appropriate points, and laughed, cried, and were attentive. It was perfect, and the hour flew by far too quickly!

I’m thankful for the new Chobani bites. Have you tried these things yet? Being smaller than the normal Chobani containers, these are the perfect snack. I’ve been anxiously waiting for my grocery store to get them, and finally, after weeks of waiting, they did! I immediately tore into the fig with orange zest, and it was AMAZING. Please do yourself a favor and RUN to your store to pick up some of these bites:)

photoLook how cute this container is! It’s even tastier too, and still has 8g of protein!

I’m thankful for a good run. After giving myself a harsh talking to about my negative mindset with training, I tried to go into my 5k race last week with a good mindset. It worked, and I had a really great run! I’m thankful that one bad run or workout doesn’t mean that the next one has to be bad at all.

I’m thankful for game apps on my phone. It’s not that I play them all that much, but to be able to play games with friends and family across the country is really fun! It’s a great way to stay connected and “do something together” even while we’re on opposite sides of the country.

I’m thankful for a relaxed work day yesterday. We had a mini retreat for part of the day, and it was a nice break from the normal flow of my day. I have to admit that I was a little stressed about it because it meant shuffling clients and my schedule the rest of the week, which I don’t prefer. However, it was nice to sit around an indoor fire pit, have a tasty lunch delivered, and get to know people from my office a bit better. It was nice (and I LOVED the fire!)

Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for this thursday? Have you tried any of the new Chobani Bites? 

February 20, 2013

I LOVE Greek food. LOVE IT. Give me some good greek seasoning and a greek salad and I’m a happy girl. This weekend while meal prepping, I decided I wanted to make greek veggie wraps for lunches the next week. I didn’t want to add chicken since I had just made greek chicken the week before, but I knew I needed to add some sort of protein into the wrap. Enter quinoa and tofu!

Ingredients (servings: 3)

Here’s what I did:

I mixed the olive oil, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, greek seasoning, and dill weed together in a container, and then dumped the pieces of tofu into the container. I let it sit in the marinade for about 2 hours. After sitting for two hours, I placed the tofu in a heated frying pan with a small bit of olive oil. Cook until golden and let cool.

photoMarinade for the tofu

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While tofu was cooling, I laid out three pieces of aluminum foil and three pieces of flatbread. I spread out a layer of hummus over the flatbread, and then placed a large hand full of  spinach in the center of the wrap. I then piled on red pepper, onion, quinoa (which I had cooked in the microwave while tofu was in the marinade), and tofu on top. I sprinkled more greek seasoning over everything.

Greek Tofu Wrap

I wrapped it up tightly and then wrapped it in aluminum foil. Pretty easy, isn’t it? Not only was it easy, but it’s packed with protein and deliciously filling! They held up pretty well in the refrigerator and made for easy lunches throughout the week!

Now it’s your turn to share! Do you cook (or enjoy) tofu? What’s one of your favorite “easy lunches”? 

February 19, 2013

POTS. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. 

I struggle to know even where to start with this subject, which is why I haven’t really mentioned it in the months that this blog has existed.  I’ve mentioned pots a few times when it comes to exercising, but I’ve sort of danced around the subject. To be honest, most people in my life don’t even know that I have been diagnosed with POTS, or what this means for me. I’ve never wanted to be defined by this, and therefore have chosen to not speak about it.

At this point, I am ready to speak out. I want to raise awareness to this illness, both to help others who may be struggling with the same issue but haven’t been diagnosed and to aid in understanding for others.

Because this blog is about my journey of fitness and wellness, I would be remiss to pass by my daily struggle with POTS, as it is a huge part of my journey. I plan to share some basic information about POTS, but will primarily focus on my personal journey. Feel free to ask any questions along the way, and I will do my best to answer them.

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What is POTS?

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is an abnormal functioning of the Autonomic Nervous System (dysautonomia). The ANS is responsible for helping to keep many things regulated and working properly throughout our body. “The autonomic nervous system is responsible for regulating a multitude of organs and functions throughout the body. Some of these functions include temperature, respiration, pupil dilation and constriction, salivation and the digestive tract. A patient experiencing ANS dysregulation may experience abnormalities in the many organs and functions the ANS regulates” (source). Imagine every time you stand up your heart races and you feel dizzy; perhaps you even faint. That’s what happens with POTS.

“But a racing heart, dizziness and foggy brain are only three of many symptoms of POTS, which can include any or all of the following: fainting, extreme fatigue, headaches, stomach pains, nausea and vomiting, difficulty concentrating, weakness in the legs, unusual feelings of hot or cold, excessive sweating, blue or purple discoloration of the legs or feet and, perhaps as a result of all of the above, feelings of anxiety or depression.” (source)

Obviously these symptoms change the way the individual has to live his or her life, at least for awhile. Doing every day, simple tasks, can be quite difficult or exhausting. “The symptoms of POTS are life altering and debilitating at times. POTS patients use about three times more energy to stand than a healthy person (Grubb, 2002). It is as if these patients are running in place all the time. Activities such as housework, bathing, and even meals can exacerbate symptoms (Grubb, Kanjwal & Kosinski, 2006). Research shows that POTS patients’ quality of life is similar to those with congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Benrud-Larson, Dewar, Sandroni, Rummans, Haythornthwaite & Low, 2002) Twenty-five percent of people with POTS are disabled and unable to work (Goldstein, Robertson, Esler, Straus, & Eisenhofer, 2002). Most patients will have to make some lifestyle adjustments to cope with this disorder.” (source)

What are the symptoms of POTS?

There are a number of symptoms related to POTS. Please talk to your doctor if you are experiencing these symptoms. For a full list click here. Some of these symptoms include lightheadedness, fainting, palpitations, nausea, vomiting, feeling bloated or pain after eating, fatigue, migraines, etc… POTS sounds really lovely, doesn’t it?

Like I said, I have POTS. I do not let it define me, and I have refused to let it hold me back from doing anything I’ve wanted to do. But that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been difficult, and that I haven’t had a little more to fight through. But that’s part of my story for another day, as it starts to mix with my journey to running.

Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever heard of POTS before? Have you ever been diagnosed with something that has made exercising difficult? 

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and this post should not be taken as expert medical advice. I’m simply someone who has lived many years with POTS who has found resources around the internet that help to explain this syndrome. Please contact a doctor if you have questions about POTS or think you might have it. 

February 18, 2013

When you think about health and wellness, what do you think about? How do you decide if you are healthy or well?

It’s tempting to determine our health based on the absence or presence of negative things. It might go something like this: “I’m not depressed, don’t have anxiety, never had an eating disorder, I’m not overweight, so I’m a pretty healthy person”. This line of thinking is tempting, but inaccurate. The thing is, the absence of the “negative” in life doesn’t equal being “positive”. It’s simply just neutral.

This is what’s critical in working through our health and wellness: Health isn’t just about the absence of the negative, but the presence of positive factors. While it’s important to get the “negative things” in life to a more healthy place, we also need to work on adding positive factors in our life as well. Working through various dimensions of wellness, we have the ability to add in positive factors to our lives, and reach a point of health and wellness.

The question is– Will you do what it takes to add the presence of the positives into your life? 

February 17, 2013

Oh boy this week was a tough one. A business trip on Monday and Tuesday plus extra work hours this week to make up for my Monday and Tuesday out of the office led to an incredibly busy week! I’m hoping that after this week my schedule will return a bit more to normal, and hopefully I can fall into a consistent work out pattern again for this training cycle! Here’s what the week looked like:

I’m really happy to be including so much pilates in this training cycle! It’s helping to keep me stretched out and is strengthening muscles I need for running! I’m really enjoying it, and love that I can watch TV while doing it:) I’m also really happy about my run this week. I feel like I’m mentally more engaged in training and more excited when I hit the road!

Now it’s your turn to share! What did you accomplish or overcome this week? If you’ve done a 5k race before, which one was your favorite? 

February 16, 2013

Back in January I announced that one of my 13 challenges for 2013 was to run 13 races. I knew that I would need to find some virtual races, and as I was looking online, I stumbled on The Sweet Cupcake Race! I LOVE cupcakes, and I knew this race would be perfect for one of my 13 races. After my tough 5k race two weeks ago, I was hopeful that this one would be better.

I ran my race on Thursday instead of Saturday because it was supposed to be 20 degrees warmer, and I really wanted to run while the sun was out (and on Valentines Day, the day of doing things I love)! There was one slight problem to this plan; the winds were blowing at 23 miles an hour!

I headed out and straight into the wind. It was TOUGH. I’m talking head down into the wind and eyes watering so badly that I couldn’t see at times. About half a mile in I turned a corner and things were ok until about mile 2.7 when things got pretty tough again.

Picture 33

While this wasn’t my fastest 5k, I finally feel like I’m getting back into my running routine. In fact, this 5k race was four and a half minutes faster than my 5k race two weeks ago! I’m definitely making progress:) After acknowledging last weekend that I wasn’t so excited about training for my half marathon, this race really did a lot to perk me back up and get me excited!

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Plus, when it comes down to it, who wouldn’t be excited about running for a cute cupcake medal and a cupcake headband?

So, overall, race #2 for 2013 was a success! This was the fastest 5k I’ve run since Thanksgiving, and I feel like I’m finally getting back into my running groove again!

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s your favorite medal you’ve gotten from a race?