...and We're Back!

And just like that my plateau turned into 7 months of no posts. 

Quick summary?

In August I started running to train for Disney’s Wine and Dine 5k and 10k.  I hit a bump in the road in mid-August when I found myself heading to the hospital in an ambulance because…because I don’t even know why…long story about how I was in training and the instructor was talking and I looked up and felt really nauseous and then I couldn’t walk straight and my blood pressure shot up really high and they took me to the hospital as a precaution and then I was eventually OK and released a few hours later.

But I didn’t return to the training that week and it took me about 3 months to NOT have a panic attack anytime I did anything outside of the comfort of my home.  Ok, sounds dramatic but really? 

Yes.  I had headaches like crazy.  Then I’d get lightheaded and feel like I was either about to pass out or close my eyes.  I was treated for vertigo, given scripts for balance studies, sent to physical therapy. It was a mess.  And I kept running, kept pushing forward to my goal.  Even if it meant taking half of an anxiety pill every few days to get through the rough patches.

I went to my primary care physician and he started working on my neck and found that I was really tight and my cervical spine was not aligned.  Once he did that, I felt like a new person.  For a few days.

And then I sprained my ankle 3 weeks before Disney.  And ran on it anyway.  Because.  Because it’s my back ankle and I thought it would be fine.  It was…sort of…(as I’m writing this and my PT appt is in a few hours…oops).

Disney was a success.  I was a nervous wreck—so worried that whatever happened in August was going to randomly happen again while I was away.  It didn’t.  But I still had to take half of an anxiety pill every day to get through.  I ran the 5k and the 10k, traveled the parks and made it home.  A few weeks later, I came down with a 24 hour stomach thing and then I was completely fine.  I still have moments where I randomly feel lightheaded and I start to panic, which just makes it worse.  But they’re fewer and farther between.

(Last week, I had the opportunity to repeat the training I had been in when the whole thing started.   It almost felt full circle.)

My “TurkeyBowl” team won the competition this year.  That kept me focused on working out.  Bragging rights, an awesome trophy and a gift certificate for a massage were pretty motivating prizes!!

I made it through the holidays and started doing more “spin” and less “running” activities—even purchased a bike for home and signed up for the Peloton app.  It’s fantastic. And great for my ankle!

So now that you’re all caught up, what in the world have I been doing?  Well, more than what my WEIGHT has been doing.  It has been pretty stagnant for the last 7 months.  The stress of not knowing what was going on, the panic attacks, the constant feeling of lightheaded-ness has been consuming.  If I wasn’t panicking, I was making sure I had a snack to stave off the lightheaded-ness…they were healthy snacks but still more than I should have been eating, seeing as my workouts had changed.

I finished up my 6 months with Retrofit: Nutrition last Friday, which is the next phase after the regular program, which I had finished at the end of August.

While I was in training last week, I took a break from Retrofit. Not for any reason other than I was in training and didn’t have time to sign up again and then because I just wanted to have a few days where I didn’t have to talk about what I was eating or how much I had worked out. 

I signed up again today.  So this afternoon I’ve been working on my goals for this time around.  I almost feel like the last 6 months were a holding pattern while I figured out what the heck was going on with me. I’m scared to set a goal again, and fail.  I’ve picked up a few pounds since August—maybe 3 or 4—but nothing noticeable on an average day.

And I decided I need to spend more time in my blog again, more time focusing on what I need and making exercise a priority.  The warmer weather and longer daylight should help with that. 

Stay tuned!!