It's All Good

I think whatever was plaguing my body for the past couple of months has finally left the building. Yes, I'm feeling like myself again!

If you've been following me, you know that I've been struggling with fatigue and general malaise since February. While my rheumatologist tells me it's not RA, my internist and I believe differently. I received the new shingles vaccine in February and probably what happened is that the vaccine triggered a flare. I'm certainly not anti-vaccine but I do have an autoimmune disease and it makes sense to think that this could have flared my RA.

Regardless, it was frustrating for me.

The past couple of weeks, I've had more energy and this week, I've felt pretty much "normal" again. I had 3 good runs totaling 19 miles, which is the most I've run in several months. Bootcamp and strength training went well too.

It's all good!

And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program Already in Progress...

Oh.My.Gosh.

Can I just say how good it feels to feel good again? I knew I had been feeling bad, but looking back over the past month, that was probably the toughest I've had to endure since my initial diagnosis with RA 2 1/2 years ago. I did my best to stay positive, especially here on the blog. I just want to thank everyone for sticking by me while I worked through the flare. The pain is so much better and the fatigue is resolving.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Well, I brought some strength to my workouts this week! It's back to work.

A Change in Perspective

In the midst of the never ending winter and my ongoing health issues came an invite from my southern sister from another mister. Holly, who used to co-host the Weekly Wrap link up with me, convinced me to book a flight for a weekend visit to her new lake house. She found a trail race for us. I looked for flights and found a great deal.

After I booked my flight, I had second thoughts. What if I don't start to feel better? Will I be able to run? Even more important, will I be able to water ski? Will she still want to hang with me?

What the heck was I worried about?

My 6 Favorite Recovery Tools and Why They Work

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Runners love their recovery and they love their rituals. A few months back, I read Good to Go, by Christie Aschwanden, in which she explored all kinds of recovery techniques. The conclusion of her exploration was that in spite of all the recovery tools and methods being marketed to us, none of them have been proven to be beneficial.

Or are they?

Research has proven the power of the so-called "placebo effect". Your brain can convince your body that a treatment or procedure is useful, even if it isn't if it really isn't. When I reviewed Aschwanden's book, the feedback on my post was not at all surprising. People commented on how much better they feel after they foam roll or take an Epsom salt bath. It may not be the foam rolling or the bath that is healing, but the ritual of taking care of oneself after a hard workout or a run.

Speaking for myself, I love to run but I'm not so great about recovery. I do have a few tools in my recovery toolbox that I regularly use, regardless of whether or not science has proven their effectiveness. All I know is that they make me feel better. That's what really counts, isn't it?

I've Got a Good Feeling About This...

It was another frustrating week, health and fitness-wise. I won't harp on it, but my patience and my emotions were starting to fray. I had an appointment with my rheumatologist this week and I spent time prior to the appointment studying up on my condition and my new symptoms so I could be prepared to ask the right questions. Sometimes being a medical provider is a blessing and a curse! I have the knowledge and ability to interpret medical literature but I think that sometimes ignorance is bliss.

On the other hand, it felt really good to take control. At my appointment, my doctor and I discussed my concerns and options. She made some changes in my medications, including stopping the steroids which were making me really emotional. I left the appointment feeling more optimistic than I have in a while. Time will tell if the new medication will work but based on everything I learned, I have a good feeling about this new plan.

Beautiful Picnic Point overlooking Lake Mendota in Madison

Ramble On

Disclaimer: I received Aspire and Maxus Zero socks from Swiftwick in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

"I guess I'll keep on rambling
I'm gonna
Sing my song
I gotta ramble on, sing my song
Gotta work my way around the world
Ramble on, yeah..."
~Led Zeppelin

Doo doo doo, I can't stop singing this song! This was such a better week. Is the medication finally kicking in? Is the inflammation just calming down? Whatever it is, I am thrilled. I found some endurance, rambling down the bike path and around my neighborhood.

Forward is a Pace

I want to keep on running.

After a little tough love talk from my very wise friend Marcia, I promised myself that I would start to train at an easier, slower pace. After running all these years, when I lace up and hit the road, my legs just go. Sadly, right now my heart doesn't want to keep up. Training these old legs to find a new normal, a slower speed, is much easier said than done. Dialing it down requires a focus on pace and diligence that I haven't used since training for my last marathon 4 years ago.

I'd have to call my week on the road a success as I finished all 3 runs with the distance I set out to do and feeling good.

Fighting the Good Fight

This week seemed to be a turning point for me with both running and my disease. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I am battling the worst flare of rheumatoid arthritis since my diagnosis 2 1/2 years ago. You may be tired of hearing about it. Trust me, I'm tired of dealing with it. As a runner, I'd love nothing more than to share victories than the string of struggles I've been experiencing for the past couple of months. I am frustrated and there are days when I think I should just walk away. I know that would be wrong and because I'm stubborn, I keep trying.

You never know what's around the next corner. So you just keep on fighting. Adjusting the game plan. That's what warriors do.

Learning to Listen to My Body

Apparently, I've been overdoing it.

That's basically what my rheumatologist told me this week, in a very nicely worded diplomatic sort of way. When I protested that this is my usual level of activity, she told me what I already knew but needed to hear it again: I'm fighting an aggressive inflammatory illness and I need to scale back to allow my body to calm down.

I already knew this, but still. It kind of sucks.

Things that Make Me Go OOooh!

Disclaimer: I received a pair of OOfos Sandals in exchange for my honest review. 

Feeling good and back at it again this week! There was so much to OOh about. Spring is finally here and along with that warmer temperatures. Best of all, RA, while still making its presence known, has simmered down to low. That in itself was a reason to go oooh!

Facing My Fears

I received a pair of SoleHealers in exchange for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Running has done a lot of good things for me. Health benefits aside, probably one of the best things I've gotten from running is confidence and the ability to do hard things. After failing so horribly at my first attempt at the marathon, I didn't think I could ever face that distance again. But...

Three years later, I lined up and ran a 1 hour and 10 minute PR at the marathon. What changed for me?

During that time frame, I started working with a CrossFit coach to correct some imbalances that were causing recurring injuries. As she worked with me to strengthen my posterior chain, she pushed me into the red zone on the comfort scale. She made me challenge myself and had me lift heavier than I ever thought I could. As part of my marathon training, along with strength training, she had me do MetCon style workouts which pushed me almost to the point of vomiting. I didn't vomit, and as a result of the hard training, I saw my mile splits improve to times I never dreamed I could run.

I'm not a natural athlete, so none of what I do comes easily to me. Confidence goes a long way to help a person overcome their fears. So does having a person who believes in you and pushes you.

Runfessions: February

It's the last Friday of February and that means its time for runfessions! Is it just me or did February just fly by? Anyways, Marcia has opened the runfessional, so let's head in and cleanse our soles...

It Was One of Those Weeks...

This was not my week. Taking a cue from Holly, I've come up with a few alternative titles for this post:

"Now I know why penguins walk the way they do"

"Ice, ice baby"

"I need a backup plan for the backup plan"

"Come on, Man!"
"The Mondayest Wednesday Ever"

Hell is Actually Freezing Over

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold even the snowmen want to come inside...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold that my college son is considering wearing boots...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold even Elsa is bothered by it...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold that I look forward to hot flashes...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold that I ran on the treadmill...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold that:

Proceeding with Caution

After a rough start to 2019, this week things settled down nicely. I was ready for a do-over! After my back injury, I was a little nervous about my plans to travel south to Mobile to run a half marathon with Holly, Teresa, and Karen. I'm preparing this post in advance, so I'm optimistically telling you to check my Instagram to see how things turned out for us. For the most part, I behaved myself all week, so there's no reason to believe anything would go wrong....

I'll recap the weekend and the race on next week's wrap up. For today, I'm sharing some highlights from my very low-key week. 

2018: It Was a Very Good Year

As a runner, it's always fun at the end of the year to reflect back on the year of running. At last year's end, I wrote that for 2018, I was going to "dial back the intensity a bit" and "be a little kinder to myself". I didn't set any goals for 2018, instead deciding to let the year unfold as it would. Still adjusting to living with RA, I didn't want to set myself up to fail and I sure didn't want any DNS. I also wanted to continue to practice yoga and work on strength via CrossFit.

Regular readers of the blog know that 2018 was a very good year for me. I've shared my triumphs, which were many, as well as my trials, which were few. For the most part, RA was pretty quiet. I had a few flares which always freak me out but were well-controlled with a burst of steroids. I did have my knees injected during the summer. My most recent bloodwork shows low RA activity. I still agonize over my loss of speed and endurance, but I've come to the conclusion that instead of blaming RA, menopause and aging are the more likely culprits. I can blame them for my thickening midsection too!

It's been a fun year, with less of a focus on the destination and more on the journey. I've had a lot of company--on my runs, at my races, and off the road too. I'm so grateful that I have been able to continue running! Here's my year in review. I'm not going to share specifics about races--you can find links to this years' races under the tab above.

What a Difference the Sun Makes!

This week, I continued on my plan of recovery after my last half marathon. I still feel good with minimal symptoms of RA, but with another half marathon coming up in January, I'm looking to ramp up the miles once again. I have to play it smart and I'm going to try not to run 2 days in a row this time. Thankfully the cold weather didn't bother me much--symptoms of RA were really minimal.

Talking myself into heading out into the cold was a challenge. The gray skies were not inviting at all. Towards the end of the week, the sun came out.

We haven't seen much sun at all the last couple of weeks and wow! It sounds corny but what a difference the sun makes. People were kinder and overall everything felt...easier. With that, the week definitely ended on a high note!

photo credit to my husband

After the Steroids

Cue the violins and sing along!

"So it's back to the same old

after the steroids,

With stiffness and swollen hands,

As I ease out of bed, 

Stretching my knees and rising to stand. 

It's so hard to explain

everything that I'm feeling,

Without sounding as if it's a whine,

'Cause it hurts me so much

To just want to feel fine.

Thanks for making me

Realize that I'm the lucky one

And thanks for turning me

Into a grateful someone

So it's back to the same old

after the steroids,

I lace up my shoes for a run.

The feel of the road, the wind in my face,

Reminds me of what I have won.

And I know that my song 

Isn't saying anything new

Oh but after the steroids,

I  just love what I can do.

~adapted from After the Lovin' 

and apologizes to Engelbert Humperdinck,
although it was a pretty cheesy song to begin with.

Could I be any cheesier? After last weekend's half marathon, I promised myself an easy week and easy is what I did. I finished the steroid pack on Tuesday and yes, while mild symptoms of RA returned, I felt overall pretty good. It's always scary to go off the steroids and after such a painful flare, I am so grateful to basically be back at my baseline.

There's a Happy Ending

Last Saturday's snowy trail run really wrecked me. By wrecked, I mean that I was hurting worse than if I had run a marathon. I'm not sure what caused me to feel so crappy after that run. It was only 8 miles, we only got a couple inches of snow, the trail is packed dirt, but whatever it was, I paid dearly this week for that run.

It started with a rumbling down under (TMI) and over the week, morphed into a full-blown RA flare. Since I was feeling so crummy after Saturday's run, I was worried about that happening. Hoping to keep the sleeping giant asleep, I made the decision to keep my training low-key this week. With a half marathon less than a week away, it was kind of like a taper, right?

F--king RA didn't care. I didn't want to write a weekly wrap post this week, because who wants to read a sad story? There were some workouts, so I'm recapping them and trying to keep it positive. Unfortunately, every time I did any kind of physical activity this week, I paid for it.

There is a happy ending, though!

Pipeworks Lizard King IPA
My reward after a hard race.

Running in a Winter Wonderland

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Garmins beep

Are you listening?

On the trail

Snow is glistening

A beautiful day

We're happy to say

We're running in a winter wonderland

-Apologies to Richard B. Smith, lyricist