Dancing Around the Edges

I've been silent for a while: a trip to the doctor in Denver, farewell get-togethers, a myriad of getting-ready-to-move details and sick children home from school all have put pause to my online musings. I also celebrated my birthday. I just turned 39, a year closer to the infamous 40, but for me, my sights are set on 50.

Last year my doctor told me that she thought I was never really going to get rid of sarcoidosis (it was the first time anyone had dared to tell me that and I so appreciated her candor).In many cases sarcoidosis goes into remission by itself and with time but in my case it has been too persistent, too difficult to control and seems to have too tight of a hold on me. However, she tells me that if I can make it to 50 then I may see it becoming easier to control and more willing to loosen its grip a little, and perhaps I'll be able to pull back on some of the heavy-duty meds I'm on, all I suppose as hormones change and the immune system calms down a little, as occurs naturally with aging. So, my birthday ritual this year included a silent homage to the aging process and a respectful salute to the next 11 years! And I'm dreaming of a big birthday bash when I'm 50!

Last week my doctor confirmed some more sarcoid symptoms. She told me that I was "dancing on the edge of some major disease activity". She brought up that stress issue again. Oh my, now I am trying so hard not to stress about being stressed! With some reflection though I have come to the conclusion that moving house and across the country is a major life transition and I have decided to try to accept that of course I am going to feel stressed. I shall try to just keep moving through it knowing that all shall be well again in time. In the meantime I shall keep dancing on the edges, and while I'm at it I shall dance with grace and joy and loving the music...

It's the third-day run

I spotted the Aviva stadium this morning as I descended from Deer Park. I had never noticed it before and it took me a second or two to figure out the strange configuration. It always amazes me to see curves in a building or architectural structure. One of the advantages of Winter running, of course, is the dearth of foliage on the trees allowing glimpses into otherwise hidden spaces.  It was a beautiful morning, cold, bright and just perfect for a morning run.
Yes, I think it's the third-day run that catches me. It's still only (3m)5k, completed today at a pace of 6.16k/h, but into the third mile I noticed the build up in my legs of the dreaded lactic acid. Many of you non-runners will recognise this as the tightness you feel in muscles unaccustomed to exercise or after exercise for an extra-long period. It's the Jane Fonda 'burn'. 'Feel the burn', she used to say in her exercise videos as she lunged around in her tight-fitting leotard and California glow.  Today's run may also have been affected by the shorter rest period between runs. I ran in the afternoon yesterday, leaving me with twelve rather than the usual twenty-three hours of recovery.  Despite these slight twinges, I still like to do three days of consecutive runs. I see it as an exercise in building endurance necessary for completing a marathon. It's also my understanding, that one is supposed to run tired as well, as long as not overdoing it.
I was not as overall tired as last Wednesday. I am getting to bed and now to sleep earlier, which is a whole act of training and discipline in itself. 
It was such a glorious morning that I had a moment's temptation to abandon work and just hang outdoors all day. Another Walter Mitty moment.

Making up the miles

Keen to prioritise a work project and working from home, I left my run 'til later in the afternoon. I feared it was going to be a disaster weatherwise as the dark clouds, rain and cold wind rolled in during the mid-morning. As luck would have it, I managed to dodge the worst of the showers and wind. 
I dislike today's route, but did not want to lose time travelling. The route is too short and difficult to extend. I end up circling round housing estates, doubling up sections of the route and so on. It's a bit of guess work and I am totally dependent on the app on my phone to keep the distance in check. The experience, as a consequence, becomes a bit like watching a kettle boil! I managed to do over 5miles at a pace of 6:18k/h which isn't bad considering I stopped to tie a shoelace, had to pause occasionally to cross roads and so on.  That said, today's run was meant to be done at 'pace' which would suggest that the difference should be more than ten seconds faster than yesterday's easy-run pace.  Not to worry, I had occasion to smile as I recalled my earlier attempts at this route. In its simplest form it is barely 4km and, in my initial forays into training, I would be delighted if I could run it all.  Now it's too short!  By the way, running it twice (which probably seems like the most logical thing to do) is not particularly satisfactory as it takes you through the town with pedestrians, junctions and other obstacles. Hence, the need to extend within sections of it.
To return to the quest to raise funds for the Irish Lung Foundation. I want to announce that customprint.ie (a friend of Etty's owns the company) is in the process of preparing active-run t-shirts for wearing during my training and for marathon day. I will post photos as soon as I have them, but I want to thank customprint for their generous donation to the cause. Wearing the t-shirts as I run around the suburbs of Dublin in early morning traffic means that I will also be raising awareness of the disease and charity. I am also grateful for offers of support on the day of the marathon, but that still feels like a long way away.  

16 Weeks to Go

A chilly morning! All layers were back on again this morning, although I didn't have a hat or gloves, for a 4 degree (C), damp start to the day.  It was a short easy run (3 miles) done at a 6.28k/h pace which is my average training pace, it seems.  I felt slower.  Mind you, I had an insight this morning about my breakfast. The speedy version - muesli with milk and a mug of coffee - is not a good pre-run combination.  It brings on indigestion. I apologise to fellow pedestrians or runners disturbed by my 'burps' or 'belches' as I pounded the pavement this morning.  Tomorrow it will be back to porridge and pre-poached pears, a combination that does not seem to bother me at all.
Now that we are settled into our marathon and blog campaign, it is a good time to 'officially' name our chosen charity. I am running on behalf of the Irish Lung Foundation who work throughout Ireland to fund support groups and research, and to provide information to patients suffering from a variety of lung diseases.  The Irish Sarcoidosis Support Network is supported by the Irish Lung Foundation.  I will now put up a link to the Irish Lung Foundation who are currently in the process of setting up a mycharity.ie account through which people can pledge their donations. As soon as that is organised, I will put up that link.  By the way, I have already received my first cash donation for which I am grateful!
Tomorrow I will update you on another kind donation made to the campaign. In the meantime, don't forget to share the love!

Long run with some differences

I managed the second long run yesterday, choosing the canal and the afternoon rather than suburbs and morning.  I do not have a definitive account of pace or even distance because the GPS-based app on my phone, which I use to measure these things, closed unexpectedly.  I am pretty sure that I did the best part of ten miles - five miles out and five miles in. There were a number of other differences to yesterday's run. I chose to leave off the thermal top I wear under my t-shirt and felt more comfortable; over distance one gets quite warm.  I also consumed one of those energy gel packs about half-way through my run. While preparing for my last half-marathon I learned that consuming glucose, about 40 minutes into any run that is longer than an hour, will enhance endurance. It does! I don't like energy drinks, preferring plain water to keep hydrated.  However, I do find that the injection of sugar (glucose sweets, gel pack or whatever) does help. Apparently, we begin to burn fat at some stage in our long runs, to do that efficently our system needs some glucose or carbohydrate too.  Whatever the science, I find it does help; I do not feel so depleted by the end of the run. The gel is disgusting though. It was like 7up in the form of toothpaste. Not good! It was also expensive at €2 for one little pack. Jelly sweets will do until the distance really increases.  One final difference to yesterday's run was the ground. It began with a soft tarmacadam surface and then became a mud path. This, of course, was easier on the limbs but required concentration so as not to fall and was a bit cold and wet.  After the first two or three splashes up my legs, I took little notice, but the white runners are no longer white! That's the end of this week's running which reached the grand total of 20 miles. Last weekend, I managed a cross-training stint of 2 hours with a walk, but that's unlikely this weekend. We're off down South to celebrate today the generation coming after us and, tomorrow, to remember the generation that went before us. Have a good weekend!

Memories

Today I travelled to Denver, probably for the last time. How strange it seems. To get here requires a three and a half hour journey by car to the airport in Phoenix and then a one hour and fifty minute plane ride and then a forty-five minute taxi ride. It adds up to a long day! I will meet with my doctor tomorrow morning, and have a chest x-ray and pulmonary function testing, a test that measures, among other things, lung capacity and how quickly one exchanges oxygen for carbon dioxide. The latter is the more important disease indicator for sarcoidosis as a slower rate of exchange indicates deep tissue congestion/inflammation.

I am filled with memories of my many visits here over the last three and a half years. I have witnessed Denver in every season. So many memories are flooding back....

Slow

I was slow to leave my bed this morning, slow to find fresh running gear, slow to realise that the porridge was not cooking because I forgot to turn on the cooker at the mains. I was so, so tired. The tiredness has been building over the last two or three days, so I was not surprised that it had come home to roost.  It was the kind of morning where I bargain before leaving the bed: I'll just listen to the news, the weather forecast, the traffic report and so on.  Needless to say, I am later leaving the house, the traffic is more congested, my run starts later, I am anxious about getting to my desk. Short as today's run was (3 miles), I stopped and started, distracted by my i-pod more than anything else. There was a song I wanted to listen to, but it kept shuffling on to the next song.  Anyway, the end result was ... you guessed it ... my run was slow. I either paid the price for the gallop on the later stage of  yesterday's run or the continuous training is beginning to take its toll. It's ok. I take pride from the fact that I did it and I take comfort from the realisation that tomorrow is a day of rest from running. 
Before I finish, in anticipation of Valentine's weekend, I would like to share the song that distracted me during this morning's run. It's from Imelda May's latest album Mayhem. I love her and I love this song, Kentish Town Waltz. The rhythm and tune are quite nostalgic, almost what your (my) aunts would sing after a drink or two, but just listen to the lyrics. I heard the artist speak in a radio interview about her parents, how they inspired her and, in particular, this song.  It speaks volumes about loving and relating and living ... and frees us from the tyranny of perfection.  Apt for today's dismal run perhaps.  http://www.muzu.tv/imeldamay/kentish-town-waltz-music-video/824748?country=ie&locale=en
Hope you like it.