"Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect." -Alan Cohen
Yesterday marked quite the beginning for me. As the first day of Challenge Erie, I began my own 10 week journey towards wellness. It is one of those things I always said I should do, focus on me, yet never did.
Up until now, I was really good a finding excuses. First, I had a newborn, I didn't have time to bathe let alone focus on my eating and exercise. I told myself that if I did it before my wedding, I could do it again and didn't need to make it immediate.
Once M grew a bit, I found new excuses. I was going back to school. Between working, being a mom, AND being a student. I certainly didn't have the time for being healthy!
After I started classes and got used to how busy I was, I just found more excuses. The holidays, upcoming events, other people. For three and a half years I waited for the "perfect conditions" and instead just made excuses, until yesterday.
Starting Challenge Erie just marked another milestone in my journey. Although I have been working out with Team Adrenaline for a couple weeks now, starting the challenge is giving me the perfect change to focus on more than just exercise....I get to focus on me. (And I can assure you, the conditions now are less than perfect!)
To kick it off, we spent the morning at a ropes course. It was a fantastic way to get to know all of the other people involved. Here I was, flying down a zipline, being caught by people I barely new. Although normally being in that close of proximity with strangers would make me nervous, I knew everyone else was going through the same thing. I could be comfortable, and nobody would judge.
After looking through the binder of information we were given for the Challenge, my first step was to choose what type of nutrition plan I was going to follow. I wouldn't say that I've ever eatten "bad," I'm just not the healthiest all the time. With that in mind, I decided to go for it and eliminate sugar from my diet. Anyone who knows me, knows that this is going to be a HUGE challenge for me. Still, I figured that this was my opportunity to make a big change and have the support and encouragement needed to do it. Even if I failed, I could still say I tried.
So Day 1 and no sugar, I began to think I was crazy. Still, as I write this at the end of Day 2, I'm surprised. I haven't melted, gone into shock, or turned into dust. Is it easy? Absolutely not! Especially when your husband lovingly eats cotton candy the whole way home from the grocery store. Are the conditions perfect for me to succeed? No, they are no different than yesterday, but now I have the motivation to change what I need to and make them perfect. I figure any change worth making isn't easy at first. I'll keep you updated with how this goes! If you have any suggestions on what to eat, they'd be greatly appreciated!
"I was nauseous and tingly all over. I was either in love or I had small pox."- Woody Allen
That about sums up my experiences after the long runs I have been completing. True, I'm still madly in love with my husband, but after a long run seems like an awkward time for that to surface. And I can assure you, I do not have small pox (I just had my physical, figured they would have caught it there).
One problem that has plagued me after each distance run I've done has been an overwhelming sense of nausea I get about 10-15 minutes after finishing. I first noticed it after the first wine run I participated in. First comes the nausea, then my fingers and toes get a little tingly and numb. Since then, I've noticed that it only happens after I've run over 6ish miles.
This past wine run was by far the worst, leaving me in the back of a van on the ride home contemplating whether I could use the bag from my wine as a barf bag. It was also at this time I realized I wasn't the only one with this problem, as a few of the other girls reported a similar feeling. I decided it was time to get educated on why running made me want to puke.
Looking into there could be a variety of reasons for why I felt so green after running. The obvious was dehydration. I ruled this out pretty quickly, noting that we stop for periodic water breaks and I make sure to hydrate before and after my run. I also make sure that I eat a bit an hour before the run, making sure my body has enough fuel to get through the run.
The one thing that did strike me as a possible cause would be an electrolyte imbalance. When I run, I make sure to hydrate, thus replacing the water that I am losing through sweat. What doesn't get replaced is the salt that I'm losing through sweat. When this happens, it creates an imbalance in my electrolytes which could lead to nausea during or after the run. Seeing as I'm now running about 2 hours at a time during my long runs, this is a definite posisbility.
So what do I do? The one suggestion that seemed most plausible would be to drink a sports drink like Gatorade instead of water while running. These types of drinks help to provide additional electrolytes to replace the ones that I am losing. I've decided that I'll try this first before persuing any other options.
So although the nauseous, tingly, feeling could signal love or small pox (thanks Mr. Allen!), in my case, I'm thinking a lack of electrolytes seems like more of a likely culprit.
Want to know more? Here are some decent articles I found on the topic:
Livestrong: What causes a nauseous feeling after running?
Military.com: Nausea during workout
RunningAHEAD Forum: Nausea after running
Bob Dylan once said "Behind every beautiful thing, there's some kind of pain." This weekend's adventure really helped to show me how true that really was.
This weekend's run was the last run in the series of wine runs organized by a friend of mine. I missed the first two, but have been on the last few, and plan on completing the two missed runs within the next few weeks. This week's run, the longest of all, was daunting. According to the sign, it was to be 10.8 miles, we had already learned that sign had a tendency to be a bit off, so I knew it would be over 11. Up until this point, my longest run was last week at about 10.3 miles.
We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was gorgeous! Sunny, a slight wind (which felt like 30 mph gusts by the end), and warm enough that people were comfortable in tank tops, but not sweltering. I was also pretty excited because the more I have gotten to know the people that I was running with, the more I liked them. All signs were pointing to a great run.
As we got started, I was surprised at how good I felt. Knowing it was going to be a long one, I decided to stay back from the leaders, and keep a slower but steady pace. Reaching the first water stop, I was surprised at how good I was feeling!
Between the two water stops, there were about 5 or 6 miles. It seemed like 100! It was just one long, straight road, but luckily the girls around me kept up some great conversation. By the time we hit the second water stop, I could feel my legs tightening up quite a bit and my feet were starting to get sore.
Stopping for water a second time was probably a mistake. Once I stopped, I started to feel how sore I really was. I'll definitely remember this for next time! Once we left the second water stop is where things got tough for me. I was heading into the unknown territory of 10+ miles, and my body was screaming at me, "What the heck are you doing!"
Through all the discomfort and pain, the one thing that kept me going were the two wonderful ladies who stuck with me. They were beyond fantastic, reminding me to breathe, providing positive words, and helping me to make it through the last push. In fact, by the final 50 yards, I was sprinting as hard as I could! The feeling of reaching that parking lot was unlike any that I had during the past wine runs. I had just done something that I never imagined I could do. I was tired, and quite sore, but also flooded with a feeling of accomplishment.
As we headed into the winery to taste, you could tell I wasn't the only one feeling a little discomfort. As soon as you entered the winery, you went down a flight of stairs, which we all took very slowly and strategically. The winery itself was gorgeous, making the run even more worth it!
In all, we ended up running 11.7 miles. It was tough, but proved to me that the half marathon I signed up for in August is not far out of reach. Along with an incredible sense of accomplishment, I also walked away with two bottles of wine and one of the coolest tan lines ever! In the end, it was worth the bit of pain that came along with it.
