It has been a while since my last update that isn’t a race report. The last month has been filled with ups and downs. I finished two triathlons both of them sprint distance and now I am preparing for my next race which is my first half marathon in nearly three years (yes I am excited and terrified… I have a ten mile training run on Sunday). While life isn’t all about sport it does keep me going to have a goal or three to work towards.
Outside of my workout schedule, my days are full of a busy work schedule, shuttling kids, and keeping the train on the track so to speak. Both of the kiddos are in school now with Joshua in Kindergarten and Abigail in fifth grade. Both kids are playing soccer (five days on the pitch this season with new coaches and teams), Abby is in band and choir, and I am still leading Abby’s Girl Scout troop. Throw in a geriatric cat and dog, a second nervous dog, a crazy kitten and a lizard… well It has been a bit of an adjustment for everyone. All of these school year activities on top of some other family issues took their toll on me and I knew I was not managing my stressors well.
I have also been having troubles with my sleep. I seem to wake up at 2 or 4:30am and struggle to settle back down, the big old cat fighting for my spot in bed isn’t helping. :) After over a month I fear I am dragging a bit. It all caught up with me a couple of weeks ago in a week long struggle with fatigue that left me toppled at home for a couple of days. That followed up with three days of wrangling a migraine.
It is obvious to me that I need to do more to manage my stress. I am trying to work meditation into my routine and am hoping to start up tai chi again once I am not running long miles. In the meantime I had my three month bloodwork done last week. My white blood count went from 5.5 (normal) before meds down to 2.7 (May) but has been creeping back up closer to normal 3.7 (July) and my latest test was at 4.1 (normal is 4.8). I am not bruising as easily as I was when my counts were lower and my body seems to be fighting off any germs that come at me so far. The meds are still giving me the morning muddles with a mild headache the day after taking them. It isn’t enough to have me breaking out the advil but frustrating and a bit distracting none the less.
I am still collecting data so to speak on what is working and what isn’t with managing my MS. I find I am struggling to do the injections. It was easier in the early months but now I feel like I need a longer pep talk and some thumb overriding to actually push the button. Not sure what that is about however I really do hate doing injections. At least it is only three times a week instead of daily and my side effects are mild. I am also still having random issues with my bladder, along with mild hand and feet numbness, and all this has me not knowing what to expect from my body each day.
I continue to manage my foods keeping processed carbs and sugars to a minimum, and focusing mostly on whole foods. I am finding however that the colder weather has me craving comfort foods so now I need to figure out some warm version of breakfast and lunch options to support my body. I never seem to have enough time to sit down with some recipes(depsite my growing collection) and try new things so looking forward to November and the end of soccer season to get a handle of some of this. If you have a great recipe to share send it over.
Well that is enough rambling for today. I am still working to raise my own spirits some days but all in all still optimistic about the future. Until then I will keep moving, learning, evolving… faking a little optimism here and there… but overall very grateful for my place in life and the capabilities I have. As always thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment