Rant: Run before you walk? Impossible!

I am not sure if this is just human nature or if we are a very entitled society.  Why would anyone want to run before they walk.   It's exhausting to see people constantly undermining themselves by wanting to run full throttle at the very beginning of an exercise program.  In the end, people who want to run before they walk get sicker or injured and then complain, complain, complain!!!!!!

Tell me why people think they can be couch bound for a year and then think they should get up and run five miles?  Why?  What can they expect to gain?  What's so great about going far and fast and running the whole way?  I really want to know.  It's not a very good idea and NEVER has positive benefits.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU RUN BEFORE YOU WALK

• You have an under trained body that's not used to the old, physical stresses.   Muscles, bones and tendons are weak.  The endocrine system is not used to being pushed.  You are probably fat which makes the above problems worse.
• You set your mind to the glory of doing what you "used to do a decade ago".  Woohooo for you, you ran a 10k ten years ago.  Since then you've been ill, put on 20 pounds and had a kid or two.
• You are ready, you go out and RUN.  It feels great at first.  You start to feel ill but push through to five miles.  You drag your sorry ass home.
• You are unable to get off the couch for two days because you are so sore.  You complain that running is not fun.
• Perhaps you persist in this regime for two weeks?
• You end up with a stress fracture in your foot and a pulled hamstring.
• You determine exercise didn't work for you.  You complain more.

REALITY

• Too much, too far, too fast will ONLY get you hurt.  Look at David Goggins.  Even excellent athletes that do too much, too far, too fast will get hurt.
• You will get depressed that your exercise "didn't work".
• You will whine and complain that you get hurt from exercising.
• Even if you are determined to exercise again, you will have to take a break so that you can heal and whine about that too.
• Most likely you will go back to your couch life and affair with Pop-Tarts and the TV and get fatter.
• YOU HAVE GONE ABOUT GETTING EXERCISE ALL WRONG.

A WAY TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

• Consult your doctor to see i f you are healthy enough to exercise.
• If your doctor says no, pin him/her down as to what WOULD make you healthy enough to exercise. Set health goals and reach them.  Go back and get the go ahead.
• If your doctor says no and you don't agree, find a new doctor who will support your goals.
• Hire a trainer who knows his ass from his elbow and can help you come up with a consistent, slow build program.  If you want someone who is currently uncertified but has half a brain, contact me, I can help you build a reasonable strength training and walking program and set goals for a fee.

• START OUT BY HAVING A GOOD WALKING ROUTINE.  WALKING IS GOOD, WALKING CAN BE HARD, WALKING STRENGTHENS BONES AND MUSCLES.  WALKING WILL BURN CALORIES.  (Why do people think walking is so uncool?  I don't get it.) IF YOU ARE GOOD AT WALKING, YOU CAN WALK FASTER AND FARTHER THAN PEOPLE RUN, THINK ABOUT IT.  READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO THINK WALKING IS COOL OR EVEN IF YOU DON'T.  This guy can kick your ass and he's in his mid 60s.
  Ultra Walking With The Master – Ulli Kamm

• Set long term goals, medium term goals and short term goals and don't be married to them.
• Be consistent.
• Be proud of your accomplishments no matter how large or small.
• Be more consistent. Be consistent, be consistent.
• Keep a detailed journal of your medications, exercise and how you feel.  You will see patterns on paper.  You will make up patterns if you try to remember things.
• Be more consistent. Be consistent, be consistent.
• Adjust medications as you progress or as needed.
• Know that you can achieve any goals you set.
• Be more consistent. Be consistent, be consistent.
• BE INSPIRED

That's it, rant over.  A rant along the same lines about Adrenal Insufficiency meds will follow...eventually.

October 2012 scenery and stuff

.99 cents, two balls (one not in picture) and a drill bit.  What a haul for a run!

Very different from my Teton runs but beautiful none the less.  Sunrise on the I 75 over pass.

Full moon and lady liberty.

I have no idea what the hell this dinosaur and apple are doing in this person's yard.

Pretty

I came out of the pool and found .46 cents!!!!!

Dressing up manatee mail boxes is BIG around here.  It amuses me.

Crime scene?

Sunrise over the Peace River

I was not on a run for this picture but I needed to post it.  It was noon when this dude was shaving at a stop light.

Sun rise from the public pool.

One of my favorite pics lately.  Sunrise over the Peace River.

Bliss, the beautiful public pool

Animals of October

Mud puppy that was crawling into the road.  It had tiny little arms and was very slimy.  I encouraged it to return to the creek with my toe.

Roseate Spoonbill at the lake by our house.  Spectacularly pink!

Fiddler crab.  They are all over the boardwalk along the Peace River.

Cool ant hill

Some kind of snapping turtle in a ditch by the sidewalk.  I tried to make it mad but it didn't want to bite the stick I was putting in its face.

Gopher Tortise

My little Dolly!

A tiny frog attached to my office window.

Bald eagle

Egret

Dead bat

Butterfly

Another butterfly

1,000 days, 1,000 miles

On February 13th, 2010 after being given the go ahead to walk on the hip that I broke, I decided to start streaking again.  I decided to do a mile a day.  I have done one mile a day minimum each and every day since then.  On Thursday, November 8th, 2012 I hit my 1,000th consecutive day of one mile a day!  That same day marked my 270th consecutive one mile a day running streak.

And tomorrow I run is my blog post from the beginning of the streak.  Unfortunately, the pull ups lasted about a week but the walking/running has continued.

Some random observations about a mile a day:

• It's helped me maintain some fitness when I've done nothing else.  Case in point, last October I was peer pressured into a 50 mile race with no training except the mile a day walking in the two months before.  It wasn't pretty but I finished and I'm glad I did it.
• Hardest day was the day after Vol State.  I had edema and it was hard to breathe, my legs and feet were swollen and I was TIRED despite a week of 100 mg HC.  Luckily, I didn't have to be on the road to do the mile, I ran trough a corn field.  Nice!  My "speed" of running was laughable for days.  I could only "run" 4.2 mph.  I can walk faster than that most of the time!
• Thanks to Colleen Woods for getting me started on wanting to streak.  
• Thanks to Steve Tursi who "counseled" me about running a mile a day as opposed to walking.  He didn't actually "counsel" me, he just told me I could do it when I was doubtful about it. :)
• After Barkley, I got my running clothes on and headed out.  Lisa Bliss said to me, "where are you going?"  I said, "I have to do a mile."  She said, "Oh, you're a streaker."  It happened at Vol State too.  It's so awesome to have my OCD be understood!
• Thanks to my husband for standing next to the treadmill on the days when I really, really don't want to do my mile!
• Maintaining a mile a day streak is NOT HARD.  Everyone should do it.  EVERYONE!  If it's so easy, why not?
• I almost always find money or gift cards or small toys.  It's like Christmas almost every time I'm on the road.
• On days I feel like crap, sometimes a mile is the best medicine.

A decade of adrenal insufficiency. Thanks Addison's Disease!

The last 10 years have gone so damned fast.  Faster than the first 30 some.  Being diagnosed with Adrenal Insufficiency has made all the difference in my life.  I am so thankful to be diagnosed with AI.  My health is the best it has ever been.  I'm no longer always cold and/or sick.  I've dreamed big and far surpassed all of the athletic goals I once thought impossible.  I was given many years where I was able to keep up with my son as opposed to making the poor kid cook for himself at the age of 5.  I started my own online community for people with AI and it's turned out to be so wonderful for me, full of friendship, love support and information.

Despite the struggles of AI, it has been a wonderful thing for me.  It's provided me with a life that I never knew I could live.  I've made friends all around the world.  Many of them, I will know for the rest of my life.  AI has also given me the opportunity to learn about the body and how it works, about pharmaceutical companies, medical studies and hell, I've been sent to Trinidad because of this disease.  I'm healthier now overall than I ever was growing up.  What a gift!

Thanks to everyone who has become my friend because of this disease.  Thanks to friends without AI and my husband for listening to me rant about the injustices of the medical systems around the world and here in the US.

Adrenal Insufficiency has provided me with an opportunity to discover where my passion lies (empowerment, medicine, advocacy) and has given me chances to see different sides of this disease and where I fit into it.  I know some form of advocacy, aside from the forum, is where I'm going with this disease.

Thanks to all for being a part of my life with AI!

Dusty

How to handle and Addison's emergency

This post assumes you already have an emergency injection kit at your disposal.

• Know your "low" cortisol symptoms, know what they are well ahead of time!
• If you feel like you are faint or about to vomit, GIVE YOURSELF AN INJECTION
• Make sure you take spare HC and meds with you, hospitals are not known for giving HC on time if you have to stay overnight.  They will wait until rounds to give you your morning HC which could lead to unnecessary low blood sugar and low cortisol symptoms.  Take your own HC as needed
• Call 911 or get a ride to the ER 
• Be sure to take your NADF emergency protocol so the ER knows what to do (most have absolutely no clue, really)
• Insist on IV fluids, antinausea meds and get more Solu-Cortef if needed

Notice what I'm saying here, you must inject before going to the emergency room.

Why?

You must inject prior to going to the ER because the delay between the call to 911 and when you finally see a doctor could be too long.  The vast majority of ambulances in the US are unable to carry Solu-Cortef.  They are unable to inject you even if you have it laying on your chest with directions.  Because an Addison's crisis is so little known and so little understood, the gravity of your situation will most likely go unnoticed.  YOU CAN DIE.

What happens if I give myself an injection unnecessarily?

Most likely, if you're thinking you need an injection, you need it.  It won't be unnecessary.  If you really don't need it and you're doing it for fun, you will end up out one injection kit, with temporary high blood sugar and you'll probably feel irritable.  If you do it all the time, inject when not needed, you will probably end up with type 2 diabetes and needing a hip or shoulder replacement.  You'd have to have a really stupid doctor to prescribe so many injection kits and not look at the cause of your needing injections all the time (whether it's mental or physical).

To shoot or not to shoot?

If at all possible, take your HC orally.  There's NO REASON to inject yourself before a dental procedure or stressful trip to the bank.  If you break a bone and don't feel nauseous (or whatever), TAKE YOUR HC ORALLY.  Frequently injecting HC can lead to hip and shoulder join necrosis.

Bottom line:  Inject on the way to the ER or as you're waiting for the ambulance.

Pictures from September 2012 (too many)

We dropped the dog off at a kennel.  These were the conditions.  There are a few more dogs you can't see.  The room wasn't much bigger than what you can see in this picture.  Luckily, she only stayed a few hours.

Miami, FL

I need a turban.  Miami, FL

In Idaho, I was always taking pictures of abandoned snowmobiles.  In  Florida, abandoned jet ski (or something).

Dolphins humping

My Winn Dixie grocery store does not like kids.

I'm told this flower is called clitora.  Even if it's not, it's good for a little giggle.

Doesn't matter where I go, I get filthy

I will try this 4WD road on a different day.

This is what's in the puddles above

Pretty

This just cracked me up

A bug loves me, it carved this into some food I was cooking

Bob cat that lives in the bushes behind my house

The beautiful, local pool.  A source of peace.

We have lots of these ugly ducks around.  The babies all looked very different and were cute.

Impressive!  Palm trees being moved.  The guy walking behind was holding a rope and stabilizing the trees 

A visitor

August 2012 pictures

I didn't feel like running outside in August so there are not many pictures.  I have TONS of pictures of boobs and bad form from the gym but I am saving them all for another post.  NOTE:  If your boobies are going to hang out at the gym, I will take pictures of them.  Keep that in mind as you're getting the girls all lined up and  pushed out.  

Yes, I am a horrible person.  Maybe I am a good person.  Take a little lookie see here.  What do you see?  Do you find it attractive?  Am I just getting old?  This looks like an awful lot of fat squeezed up and out of pants that are too tight.  I'm trying to change the world, don't wear your pants under these circumstances.

Nancy came and visited me.  She took me to get a pedicure.  They gave us wine!  Fun!!

"Chiz"

Nancy and I went to Audubon-Pennington Park and walked around with Esther who told us lots and lots and lots of stuff

Nancy and I at the Tiki Bar at 2 in the afternoon in Punta Gorda

Pretty

Pretty again