I have those flip flops!! yep my mother bought them for me!!!! okay so a real live SHINK!!!! I mean shrink. oh shoot, our brains are always ON too.. and that is why riding in zones 4 - 5 on a bike are great!!! cuz finally your brain stops multitasking.. and you are riding with boogers coming out, just a great feeling to be thinking about one thing.. and think to yourself, hey is this what it feels like to be a guy and only think about one thing!!! sweeeeet!!! so you will enjoy training for Tris!!! because all of that dadgum thinking.. gets channeled into a narrow focus and the fighting racing side of you comes out as you high five the other women running beside you!!! and "Shink Linda" is not boring anymore!!! and I doubt you really are!! hey it was sunnier and warmer here so I rode outside over the lunch hour and actually over dressed!!! two tights was too warm as it was in the 40's!!! very windy though. I put on my fav faded blue jeans and race tee!! and am now enjoyin Sponge Bob on the TV!!! not. had a great lunch with my mother!!! so life is good... and I hope your day went well too!! m
Yep I did... scientific you know!! related to the intensity of the workouts.. if you care about the boogers, then still in zone 3 -4, if you don't care = zone 5.... I don't have a PM, so use the "booger test".... now next time you ride and you start to be nice about your drainage, then know you are not working hard enough... when you look down at your black tights and see what looks like to be gross mucus, then you know you hit your zones!!!! ha ha.....
okay trying to get the signature block, and I went to community and then to profile and then my setting and instead of forum pref all I got was journal. I can't seem to find the way in.....
Love the boogers comment Marianne! How about the nose blow when you're running? You know, where you close off one nostril and blow...let it fly (to the outide of the course)! Isn't it fun to talk like guys??? LOL!!!! And, um, to actually ACT like them when doing the whole booger, nose blow, etc. thing! No offense guys! Just sayin'!
okay I still don't do the snort boogers on the sidewalk..... yet. or on the bike either. they just get wiped off onto my gloves!! ewww I uploaded Lose it on son's Ipod touch and it takes forever to enter in the food!!! maybe cuz I don't have an IPHONE so not used to buttons but every food.... okay so I only have bfast entered in but right now have 300 cals left to eat!!! going out to dinner with son to PTA dinner cuz he won something for photo entered, my 10 year old. just thought I would see what the hype was on Lose It. this is at 1/2 lb per week! now today I only walked fast 2.5 miles and rode easy for 10 miles....cuz it was in the 50's here!!! AND sunny.
Gotta say, don't get the snot rockets. I'm a wiper (as if you need to know that bit of detail about me ). I don't like the wet feeling that the rockets leave on your nose. Rather just wipe it away. It is a problem though when your gloves get, "full." Yuck.
I have not graduated to snot rockets yet either. Maybe it was growing up around the pool and watching the guys on my team blow them into the pool gutters but I still think they're gross. I carry tissues in my bento box and do a quick blow at red lights. I WILL hawk loogies with the best of them...
nope I am not doing snot rockets, !!!!! and I don't hawk loogies either!! nope not at summer camp....!!! ha ha. yeah group one, "Loogie Lovers", group 2 "Sassy Snot Rocketeers," and Group 3 "Wonderful Wipers"! girls you gotta laugh I am on the day one of the "gain it", you know Lose IT app but in reverse. yes I am up 233 calories and not sure if I entered everything accurate as I subbed stuff I couldn't find, but are you ready??? Day one and I ate 26% Fat, 51% carbs and %23 protein!!! at this rate I will have gained 5 lbs!! I just have to laugh.... cool little app if not annoying trying to find the foods... just had BBQ for dinner though... yum and no way was I gonna turn that down..
Ok, well my snot just pours and pours, sometimes it is so bad I just shoot it out without holding one nostril in place, then I think it is going to land on the ground (I look first for other riders as I get passed all the time and don't want to loogie on him) and it ends up all over my biking pants. I can never believe how much SNOT i can muster up. I told my son the other day that is where all my hydration goes. Then because I am training indoors on my brand new Cyclopse cycle I can see how much sweat just pours off of me, doesn't happen outside (snot doesn't happen inside which is kind of interesting). I seriously have puddles of water, I never see females on the videos I train to sweat or even mess their hair up! I often wonder what the deal is with all this "fluid". I just got this fancy bike so it is my first time with a power meter and I have not been working out like I thought I was, again on the video all these guys are up in the high 200s and low to mid 300 watts. I am not even close, got depressed from this today. THEN....I had my first formal swimming lesson (I am 56) and I HATED it. But I know it will make me faster at least a little, but i sucked up some serious water (back to my nose) and I left the pool feeling like a looser. I have to seriously earn my way into this group. I know I will but I have a very long ways to go, half the time I don't know what the questions mean (e.g.2x12 @ FT then 3 (3x4) AT Z5. That's 36' at VO2max ) but I will eventually. Hey, it has been almost 19 years since my IM......ohhhh I have so far to go, gotta get my knee back in shape . I love reading these logs. Just thought I would share some snot stories......
sweat inside?? do you have a fan, think of it outside there is pretty much wind so dries you off plus more clothes on... so you need a fan and old posts talk about fans (Nemo?) also a towel underneath your bike to catch the sweat. 2 x 12, = two sets of 12 minutes each at functional threshold, then do three sets and each set is three times four minutes and all of those are at zone 5 which is the highest. left the pool feeling like a loser, been there done that! I wasn't a HS swimmer either and like you took lessons and still do... try this mantra "I love the water" (but I don't think you do!!) so try this one "I am racing this summer"..."I am 56 and using all of my muscles" .... I read your medical about your knee, some good advice in there! anyways....you fit in for sure and don't have to "seriously" earn your way in...!! ha. okay I wear a wrist band and use at as a kleenex. way less stressful cuz my nose is already down low anyways!! Yesterday I was tired and napped, but did ride outside for 10 miles, my new min.... just riding along (JRA)
LindaH--just a word to say NO ONE, not one of us knew what the heck we were doing when we joined EN. This training is unlike any other, and that's the truth. It's like taking a class--you do have to put the time in to read and study, and eventually is all becomes clear as mud. No seriously, it becomes second nature after a time. So glad new women are here!
Have to confess, it took me a long time to give in to the snot rocket thing but you ride outside long enough, it becomes a necessity. Also impresses the guys (since I usually end up riding with the boyz around here)! Just not coordinated enough to spit and ride at same time! :-)
Doing a little happy dance this morning... coach from masters told me my stroke already looked much better than last year- woohoo! No where but up to go from here!
Woohoo Kris! I'll happy dance with ya on that one!
OK- Snot Rockets save my nose. All that wiping just chaps the heck out of me- especially in the cold. But Snot Rockets are soooo much better!
OTOH- I have never been able to hock a lougie. So if someone wants to teach me THAT at Cowgirl Camp- I'm all for it! I've tried- I just can't get it to work! So when that postnasal stuff starts happening I end up having to swallow it- which is really gross!
OK- I gotta get outta here. I'm taking the day off work and going to Va Beach/Norfolk for the day with my hubby to celebrate my B-Day! We're hitting up the Bass Pro shop so he can buy me a new Swiss Army Knife for my b-day. Geeee, I'm such a girl, huh?!
My nose runs when it's cold. Outdoor winter riding is a disaster, as it's just clear fluid running and running and running... Summer, not so bad. Interestingly, if I put the fan on while riding the trainer my nose runs every so slightly but without the fan it doesn't run at all.
Linda H, hang in there with swimming. You need to build up muscle memory in muscles that never really get worked in real life (at least not in the same order - to be grossly simplistic, running and biking are essentially really fast walking, which we do every day. Swimming is, uh, nothing like what we do all day). It's exhausting and completely awkward at first but it'll get easier faster than you'd think. And then if you're changing your stroke to get more efficient you feel even weirder - kind of like learning to drive on an automatic and then learning stick - suddenly you feel like you're learning to drive all over again!
Yeah, I'm a wiper. For many reasons. Mainly I get totally grossed out if I get hit by someone else's goo, so I won't take the chance of doing it to others. I have a perpetually runny nose. I need those terry cloth gloves, the bigger the better! Yes- I can hock luggies but rarely need to do it. I keep lots of towels on my bike when riding indoors. It protects everything. Yoga matt underneath as well. Fan blowing on me makes intervals easier and I have less sweat landing around me as it dries up. Can't do much when riding out doors though, bike just gets gooey.
LindaH- swimming is all technique and you definitely need to give yourself time and LOVE. Swimming is harder to learn than that pretty new PM! Be kind to yourself. I have been swimming all of my life and every pool session I work on technique. Of course I won't get in the pool until late April, but you know what I mean.
And to those not doing the pushup challenge, I made it! I did 100 pushups today. So 6 weeks was not possible, took me 10 weeks to get there, but I did! I'm going to keep up weeks 5 & 6 and see if my swimming is better.
still can't go no handed on the bike! what can I do??? ha..... let me think... something clever, can't do snot rockets, loogies or ride no handed, horrible at flat changing or other mechanical, not good on duration on time as I lose track of time out there, can't remember what people ride, can't tell by looking at the grass which way the wind is coming, like from the North or southwest, what else?? can't raise or lower my seat on the fly, never have cash on me, umm..... I can't corner well, or descend for that matter,
Oh, I got it!!! I don't remember the ride, but I remember what a person wears, socks if they match the kit, gloves and glasses and what skill is that??? oh yeah the dude that was wearing mismatched socks with his kit and glasses with red rims???!! i mean really.... "new jersey" I ask??? and why are you not wearing your red gloves with that??? have no relevance to race day performance at all!!! ha ha..... I always have my camera and can document the fun and am so friendly that I make friends in the convenience stores and other.. and can ask for help!! y'all remember the time that I bummed a Coke from the cashier working at the store cuz I had a migraine on a race sim and had no money!!! I have a lot to work on! oh one good thing about me, I can ride aero for hours!! and I can follow a map. and I can con (I mean talk) others into joining me on adventures!!! ha ha gotta scoot.
*edit so excited that KrisF is joining the group of girls at Madison!!!! okay I just can't even imagine what 17 chicks in EN singlets is gonna look like!! but I think pretty good!! and KrisF shared this video and I gotta say it is my favorite one!!! so laugh today....
Linda H. - Oh, swimming. I was also not a swimmer until I took up this sport. I'm still in the part where I'm trying to make friends with the water.
I started reading Coggan last night. I like it! Having a power meter is like having someone suddenly have access to your cycling underwear drawer. It knows everything! Last night, I stopped worrying about that and realized it was a good thing. I always get to be as good of a cyclist as I was without it -- and that was definitely worth something. Now, I feel like I have a map to being a smarter cyclist -- and I get to choose which pieces to work on first. There was a quote from cyclist in the book about how his power meter, again and again, has shown him his legs are fine and given him great days when he thought he was destined to have bad ones. I liked that.
This is SO NUTZ!!!! Love it, and love that Kris is in!!!!
Re loogies--that I can do! But lviing with 5 men, I can tell you that I can't get the gutteral, throat clearing, primal sound they can when hocking one up. How do guys do that? Yuck.
Morning, I absolutely love waking up and reading these "confessions". You are all very helpful, uplifting and I can tell as I begin "revealing" i am going to learn a lot more. OK, this is really bad.............I can not go down on my aero bars yet, uhhhhhh thats vulnerable like I am kind of naked with that comment. 19 years ago I was ALL aerobars, then took all that time off and have been to afraid of falling (all the medical issues) that I just havent been able to do it. So on my indoor trainer I use the lower bars all the time, but I am going to have to get off coumidin (for the blood clot from the knee surgery) before I can risk falling, don't want to bleed to death. Now I feel like this has gotten all serious if you know what I mean. I can't change a tire yet (even before while competing in IM) I was awful. I came out of the swim went into T1 and had a FLAT (had brand new tires) so I started the bike with a flat, had to get off and it took me 30 mins, I was crying and of course no one could help me so I would have been OUT OF THE RACE~ Nevertheless, I did get it changed but was LITERALLY almost the last person as I started my bike course. THEN as I was coming out of T2 and beginning my run, Paula Newby Frazer (sp) was just FINISHING the run, so again another sinking feeling. But here comes the good news, I just got serious and begain picking off men , by the middle of the run I was passing tons of people and I just started feeling stronger and stronger. I started in the dark and ended in the dark (a decent time too!). Back to the present..... I take my triple A card, I am serious, and some cash and my phone. Until I get a "lesson" on changing my tire (which is in the planning) I would seriously have to pay another cylclist should one come by or call AAA, which would be really crazy as I am out on the Santa Ana Riverbed which goes forever and there would be no way for a AAA to rescue me. I am going to be number 18 for the EN Cowgirl 2010, have to find where to sign up. After a very long personal email exchange Rich and I agreeed that doing the California Bike Ride is not a good idea this year, really bummed but it is the right decision and will be a goal for next year. It is also two weeks before my key race (1/2 IM Kona). So I will just continue to learn and share with all my new girlfriens who are as "sick in the head " as I am, love that!!!!! Thanks to all of you for your feedback, I am a sponge for knowledge and learning and it is comforting to hear that everyone at one time didn't know what the heck they were doing either. My hubby and two pups are off to the desert (Palm Springs) for the weekend, bike attached and looking forward to some long SAFE rides, it is aweesome out there in the desert, no lights, no cars, lots of flat roads and the weather is awesome. Bringing my computer so I can stay in "touch"!! Happy Friday to all+))
Hi girls - coming in as a probably downer at this point. I just feel like I need my chicas right now and so I need to let you in a bit.
I posted in one of the IMSG forums that I'm suddenly suffering from all sorts of whacky stuff. Dizziness, nausea, headaches, visual disturbances etc. Did proably 1/4, if that, of this week's workouts. Had to stop my long run yesterday after 40 mins because I felt like my horizon was moving too much and it was throwing my balance. That's a sensation I get frequently among other whacky off kiilter sort of sensations. After what happened 8 months ago I don't question balance or nausea issues. I've been really fatigued this week too, unable to do much of value at work or at home. Sleeping a lot and trying not to get discouraged with the lack of physical "go" power to match up with my will and desire.
On top of (or maybe the cause of or the result of) that physical stuff, it also seems like the impact of the trauma that I suffered in my accident is starting to surface. After having a couple of "moments" at work this week I determined that it was time to get working on dealing with whatever that is that's starting to come up. Especially given the potential relationship between the physical sypmptoms and the emotional (or not---TBD).
So here I am, started psychotherapy yesterday, went to a dr. today. So far I've validated that I very likely am still suffering from and haven't fully managed the trauma and what it did to me beyond the broken bones and teeth. I'm working with someone who specializes in a physical and psychological approach to managing trauma response, so that suits me really well. Today at the doctor's office, as expected, they first made me pee in a cup for pregnancy test before even talking to me about my full range of symptoms or refreshing themselves with my case. (Dr. - "are you sexually active" , Olivia - "Yes...with my husband") Anyway, as expected that was negative. Hearing tests were fine, a dexterity type of test was "OK". So now I'm going to be referred to a neurologist to check to ensure there is no further damage to the nerves in my head particularly related to my eyes I need to be aware of.
Funny how the journey goes...one minute you're going along strong and throwing down some amazing work, and then things just have to stop.
I'm not calling myself out yet for IMSG. Going to see what I can handle this weekend after some additional rest tonight. I do have to reframe my goals for the race though. Assuming I can resume training and building volume, my goal will be to simply start and finish. I'm still working on accepting that and realizing that just being able to get out there and do this event at all will be reward enough, time or AG place not withstanding. What I think is really great about all of this is that my psych work will help me get unstuck from and release all sorts of things that I might be storing up and hanging on to just because I was trying so hard to get back to "normal" ...I'm kind of looking forward to that. Maybe my NEW "normal" will have some fun possiblities associated with it.
Thanks for "listening." Sorry to dump this on you! I'm sure you can relate to the fact that when I think about who I want to know about what's going on for me it's ALL OF YOU!! Anyway, gotta get to work now...HUGS!
Hey Olivia, sorry to hear of all the stuff that is going on for you right now. Hang in there! You know that you have your Chickas behind you! I know it so difficult to recover from a traumatic accident. I have been there. Mine was more mental than physical, but whacked me out just as well. Keep the faith that your doctors will run the tests you need, to determine what is going on, and that you will work through your psychological stuff too. Try not to focus on what you can/can't do right now. Focus on getting better, stronger, and working through your issues. Get some rest as well. If it helps any, there are a LOT of people on the team who have been posting about how exhausted they are right now, myself included! And, even my colleagues here at school, are saying how this week has been terrible for them energy wise. So, atleast that part of it may have something to do with the weather, barometric pressure, or something, as it is affecting everyone! Take care kiddo! We are here for you and for each other!
Olivia -- Oh, how scary! It sounds like you are tackling this like a true Ironman -- by being smart, exploring options to pinpoint the cause, and looking forward to working on it. Take care and totally come here to vent anytime. I like to think of this forum as a big, sunny kitchen where all of you are, with good tea (and strong coffee in the mornings).
Comments
snot rockets....
You can also tell the runners from the non-runners by excitement when there's a terry-cloth snot wipe built into a glove.
It's ALL sick!!! HA!! Love it! I'm using it!
Gotta say, don't get the snot rockets. I'm a wiper (as if you need to know that bit of detail about me
). I don't like the wet feeling that the rockets leave on your nose. Rather just wipe it away. It is a problem though when your gloves get, "full." Yuck.
girls you gotta laugh I am on the day one of the "gain it", you know Lose IT app but in reverse. yes I am up 233 calories and not sure if I entered everything accurate as I subbed stuff I couldn't find, but are you ready??? Day one and I ate 26% Fat, 51% carbs and %23 protein!!! at this rate I will have gained 5 lbs!! I just have to laugh.... cool little app if not annoying trying to find the foods... just had BBQ for dinner though... yum and no way was I gonna turn that down..
I just got this fancy bike so it is my first time with a power meter and I have not been working out like I thought I was, again on the video all these guys are up in the high 200s and low to mid 300 watts. I am not even close, got depressed from this today.
THEN....I had my first formal swimming lesson (I am 56) and I HATED it. But I know it will make me faster at least a little, but i sucked up some serious water (back to my nose) and I left the pool feeling like a looser. I have to seriously earn my way into this group. I know I will but I have a very long ways to go, half the time I don't know what the questions mean (e.g.2x12 @ FT then 3 (3x4) AT Z5. That's 36' at VO2max ) but I will eventually. Hey, it has been almost 19 years since my IM......ohhhh I have so far to go, gotta get my knee back in shape . I love reading these logs. Just thought I would share some snot stories......
2 x 12, = two sets of 12 minutes each at functional threshold, then do three sets and each set is three times four minutes and all of those are at zone 5 which is the highest.
left the pool feeling like a loser, been there done that! I wasn't a HS swimmer either and like you took lessons and still do... try this mantra "I love the water" (but I don't think you do!!) so try this one "I am racing this summer"..."I am 56 and using all of my muscles" .... I read your medical about your knee, some good advice in there! anyways....you fit in for sure and don't have to "seriously" earn your way in...!! ha. okay I wear a wrist band and use at as a kleenex. way less stressful cuz my nose is already down low anyways!!
Yesterday I was tired and napped, but did ride outside for 10 miles, my new min.... just riding along (JRA)
LindaH--just a word to say NO ONE, not one of us knew what the heck we were doing when we joined EN. This training is unlike any other, and that's the truth. It's like taking a class--you do have to put the time in to read and study, and eventually is all becomes clear as mud.
No seriously, it becomes second nature after a time. So glad new women are here!
Doing a little happy dance this morning... coach from masters told me my stroke already looked much better than last year- woohoo! No where but up to go from here!
Happy Friday!!!
OK- Snot Rockets save my nose. All that wiping just chaps the heck out of me- especially in the cold. But Snot Rockets are soooo much better!
OTOH- I have never been able to hock a lougie. So if someone wants to teach me THAT at Cowgirl Camp- I'm all for it! I've tried- I just can't get it to work! So when that postnasal stuff starts happening I end up having to swallow it- which is really gross!
OK- I gotta get outta here. I'm taking the day off work and going to Va Beach/Norfolk for the day with my hubby to celebrate my B-Day! We're hitting up the Bass Pro shop so he can buy me a new Swiss Army Knife for my b-day. Geeee, I'm such a girl, huh?!
Linda H, hang in there with swimming. You need to build up muscle memory in muscles that never really get worked in real life (at least not in the same order - to be grossly simplistic, running and biking are essentially really fast walking, which we do every day. Swimming is, uh, nothing like what we do all day). It's exhausting and completely awkward at first but it'll get easier faster than you'd think. And then if you're changing your stroke to get more efficient you feel even weirder - kind of like learning to drive on an automatic and then learning stick - suddenly you feel like you're learning to drive all over again!
Yes- I can hock luggies but rarely need to do it.
I keep lots of towels on my bike when riding indoors. It protects everything. Yoga matt underneath as well. Fan blowing on me makes intervals easier and I have less sweat landing around me as it dries up. Can't do much when riding out doors though, bike just gets gooey.
LindaH- swimming is all technique and you definitely need to give yourself time and LOVE. Swimming is harder to learn than that pretty new PM! Be kind to yourself. I have been swimming all of my life and every pool session I work on technique. Of course I won't get in the pool until late April, but you know what I mean.
And to those not doing the pushup challenge, I made it! I did 100 pushups today. So 6 weeks was not possible, took me 10 weeks to get there, but I did! I'm going to keep up weeks 5 & 6 and see if my swimming is better.
I'm in the same category as Kris F and Nemo...snot rockets no problem, but have never been able to figure out how to generate a productive spit.
Although, I just learned how to ride no-handed a few months ago, so there's still hope.
Ok, now that's out there, I feel much better.
still can't go no handed on the bike! what can I do??? ha..... let me think... something clever, can't do snot rockets, loogies or ride no handed, horrible at flat changing or other mechanical, not good on duration on time as I lose track of time out there, can't remember what people ride, can't tell by looking at the grass which way the wind is coming, like from the North or southwest, what else?? can't raise or lower my seat on the fly, never have cash on me, umm..... I can't corner well, or descend for that matter,
i mean really.... "new jersey" I ask??? and why are you not wearing your red gloves with that??? have no relevance to race day performance at all!!! ha ha..... I always have my camera and can document the fun and am so friendly that I make friends in the convenience stores and other.. and can ask for help!! y'all remember the time that I bummed a Coke from the cashier working at the store cuz I had a migraine on a race sim and had no money!!! I have a lot to work on! oh one good thing about me, I can ride aero for hours!! and I can follow a map. and I can con (I mean talk) others into joining me on adventures!!! ha ha gotta scoot.
Oh, I got it!!! I don't remember the ride, but I remember what a person wears, socks if they match the kit, gloves and glasses and what skill is that??? oh yeah the dude that was wearing mismatched socks with his kit and glasses with red rims???!!
*edit so excited that KrisF is joining the group of girls at Madison!!!! okay I just can't even imagine what 17 chicks in EN singlets is gonna look like!! but I think pretty good!! and KrisF shared this video and I gotta say it is my favorite one!!! so laugh today....
http://www.youtube.com/Like this Marianne? Ck out my new sig line.... Make that 17 EN cowgirls!! I'm in!!
Kris! For reals?? Welcome to the cowgirl party!
Linda H. - Oh, swimming. I was also not a swimmer until I took up this sport. I'm still in the part where I'm trying to make friends with the water.
I started reading Coggan last night. I like it! Having a power meter is like having someone suddenly have access to your cycling underwear drawer. It knows everything! Last night, I stopped worrying about that and realized it was a good thing. I always get to be as good of a cyclist as I was without it -- and that was definitely worth something. Now, I feel like I have a map to being a smarter cyclist -- and I get to choose which pieces to work on first. There was a quote from cyclist in the book about how his power meter, again and again, has shown him his legs are fine and given him great days when he thought he was destined to have bad ones. I liked that.
Nemo -- Swiss army knives rock.
This is SO NUTZ!!!! Love it, and love that Kris is in!!!!
Re loogies--that I can do! But lviing with 5 men, I can tell you that I can't get the gutteral, throat clearing, primal sound they can when hocking one up. How do guys do that?
Yuck.
I am going to be number 18 for the EN Cowgirl 2010, have to find where to sign up. After a very long personal email exchange Rich and I agreeed that doing the California Bike Ride is not a good idea this year, really bummed but it is the right decision and will be a goal for next year. It is also two weeks before my key race (1/2 IM Kona). So I will just continue to learn and share with all my new girlfriens who are as "sick in the head " as I am, love that!!!!! Thanks to all of you for your feedback, I am a sponge for knowledge and learning and it is comforting to hear that everyone at one time didn't know what the heck they were doing either.
My hubby and two pups are off to the desert (Palm Springs) for the weekend, bike attached and looking forward to some long SAFE rides, it is aweesome out there in the desert, no lights, no cars, lots of flat roads and the weather is awesome. Bringing my computer so I can stay in "touch"!! Happy Friday to all+
I posted in one of the IMSG forums that I'm suddenly suffering from all sorts of whacky stuff. Dizziness, nausea, headaches, visual disturbances etc. Did proably 1/4, if that, of this week's workouts. Had to stop my long run yesterday after 40 mins because I felt like my horizon was moving too much and it was throwing my balance. That's a sensation I get frequently among other whacky off kiilter sort of sensations. After what happened 8 months ago I don't question balance or nausea issues. I've been really fatigued this week too, unable to do much of value at work or at home. Sleeping a lot and trying not to get discouraged with the lack of physical "go" power to match up with my will and desire.
On top of (or maybe the cause of or the result of) that physical stuff, it also seems like the impact of the trauma that I suffered in my accident is starting to surface. After having a couple of "moments" at work this week I determined that it was time to get working on dealing with whatever that is that's starting to come up. Especially given the potential relationship between the physical sypmptoms and the emotional (or not---TBD).
So here I am, started psychotherapy yesterday, went to a dr. today. So far I've validated that I very likely am still suffering from and haven't fully managed the trauma and what it did to me beyond the broken bones and teeth. I'm working with someone who specializes in a physical and psychological approach to managing trauma response, so that suits me really well. Today at the doctor's office, as expected, they first made me pee in a cup for pregnancy test before even talking to me about my full range of symptoms or refreshing themselves with my case. (Dr. - "are you sexually active" , Olivia - "Yes...with my husband") Anyway, as expected that was negative. Hearing tests were fine, a dexterity type of test was "OK". So now I'm going to be referred to a neurologist to check to ensure there is no further damage to the nerves in my head particularly related to my eyes I need to be aware of.
Funny how the journey goes...one minute you're going along strong and throwing down some amazing work, and then things just have to stop.
I'm not calling myself out yet for IMSG. Going to see what I can handle this weekend after some additional rest tonight. I do have to reframe my goals for the race though. Assuming I can resume training and building volume, my goal will be to simply start and finish. I'm still working on accepting that and realizing that just being able to get out there and do this event at all will be reward enough, time or AG place not withstanding. What I think is really great about all of this is that my psych work will help me get unstuck from and release all sorts of things that I might be storing up and hanging on to just because I was trying so hard to get back to "normal" ...I'm kind of looking forward to that. Maybe my NEW "normal" will have some fun possiblities associated with it.
Thanks for "listening." Sorry to dump this on you! I'm sure you can relate to the fact that when I think about who I want to know about what's going on for me it's ALL OF YOU!! Anyway, gotta get to work now...HUGS!
We are here for you and for each other!
Olivia -- Oh, how scary! It sounds like you are tackling this like a true Ironman -- by being smart, exploring options to pinpoint the cause, and looking forward to working on it. Take care and totally come here to vent anytime. I like to think of this forum as a big, sunny kitchen where all of you are, with good tea (and strong coffee in the mornings).