It's funny how after doing something right can actually make you feel good. After one session of physical therapy I was actually able to get in a 30-min easy session on the bike trainer Tuesday night and a 30-min run at an easy pace on the treadmill yesterday morning along with a few minutes on the stair climber doing some foot exercises with only minimal pain in my wood. The rest of my body, however, has decided that I am not suffering enough.

For the past three days now I have been waking up completely covered in hives. This would cause most people to sprint to their nearest urgent care, but considering this is my body, I have gone through it all before. Years of on and off unidentified health problems and a family history riddled with autoimmune issues have made this pretty normal for me. Hell, when I was about nine I was put on high doses of allergy meds and an occasional steroid for chronic hives and a  few years ago the doctors thought I had shingles. The allergist, immunologist, and infectious disease physicians were all unable to identify the cause and just chocked it up to stress. Yup. When they have no idea what is happening to you that means it is pretty much your own fault and you need to learn to chill out... Does that mean I can blame them for the fact that I like bourbon?



Anyway, since that first session I have been feeling some progress in the foot area. I was planning to wake up this morning and get a nice swim session in, but I though it would be a bad idea to submerge myself into chlorine with dry and itchy skin, so I actually slept in - which is still probably waking almost two hours earlier than most people.

In other events, since we are officially in the holiday season, that means I have about another hundred things going on - because, you know, we are literally that family..you know the one who is always involved in something, whether it be school related, community related..you get the point. Do you remember that show Desperate Housewives? Well I am the one who is like the Bree Van De Kamp of the bunch - that one who shows up with baskets full of muffins and has the Martha Stewart-ish ambition when it comes to things. I'm just not that much of a b*tch...I also don't wear dresses...or want to kill people. 😄😄😄.

Every year for the past three or four years our family has been doing something for those homeless in the city. It is usually a hot dinner at Thanksgiving, turning our little house kitchen into a full on assembly line of turkey and stuffing or, like last year, a random weekend full of sandwiches, sodas, and toiletry bags full of soaps, lotion, sanitizing wipes, and toothbrushes. One year we even conducted a clothing drive for men's work clothes to bring to a local church who helps people find jobs. Well, out of everything we did it seems that the toiletry bags were the biggest hit with people. Thanks to our amazing friends, we have been making bags stocked full of even more necessities. Last night I finished adding some of the last items to the bags to get them ready for distribution. Once they are all done, we will usually hit a deli or the local Walmart and pick up dozens of packages of lunch meats, cheeses, snacks, and even things like gloves and hats. Then, my husband and one of our friends take the day and drive all over the city looking for people on the corners, subways, shelters,and anywhere else.

It has been far too long since I sat down and really wrote about anything. Since my last blog post there has been so much that has happened, both good and bad. I am hoping that by sitting here and typing this all out I can get a different perspective on the course of events that were 2018 later on in the future. I had a pretty full spring season of running, both short and long. Completed some awesome half marathons and my first full marathon as well as some nice rides. I smashed a 5K goal and actually placed in the top three of a 5K the day before my first marathon. I actually was able to place in most of the short races I did during the year in my age group - something I am completely astonished with. I remained pretty much on top of the world until July when I took part in my first triathlon. I had been working all year trying to build stamina and correct form in my swimming. Having never learned to swim as a child this was probably the most intimidating thing I have ever done before...and rightfully so.


After that, I went through a few weeks lacking motivation. My ego was bruised and I felt that the entire year was for naught. I had one more opportunity to complete my triathlon goal and that was a month later. It was around this time that my body began feeling off. I chucked it up to fatigue. I was really pushing myself in a completely different way this year and probably did a little too much. I wasn't really eating that well and was pretty much just eating as much as I could of whatever was easy and around to replenish calories burned riding, running, and swimming.

My final opportunity for the year to complete a triathlon came at Tri the Wildwoods. I invested in a decent wetsuit for this one - mainly as a confidence booster. I practiced treading water and tried to simulate what I called a "panic drill" in the pool, which is nearly impossible since out gym's pool is only 5.5" deep at best. What I found did help was swimming in the one open lane during the early morning hardcore swim fitness class. When 20 people are jumping up and down in the pool at once smashing pool noodles everywhere you can actually get some decent waves. :D In addition, the event was taking place on my "home beach;" the beach and town where I spent every childhood vacation, learned to surf (ok tried to learn to surf), and a place I know almost inside and out. The day of the event was crazy: we almost didn't make it there on time and I found myself entering the crowd with the swim start that was actually slower than my anticipated goal. That didn't bother me too much since I had no idea what I was getting into...again. Strangely, this chaos ended up fueling me more. I smashed through the high tide end ended up at the first buoy quicker than I though I would. There were a lot of people in distress in front of me, so I found myself treading water for a few minutes while the lifeguards helped get them aligned and breathing right again. I wasn't about to do to someone what was done to me a month earlier. Seeing me just floating there one of the guards asked if I was ok, and I actually was this time. Before I knew it I was in shallow water again and ran onto the beach...pretty much crying, this time from being so happy. Running up the shore I screamed to my husband, son, and friends who came down for the day waving my fist in the air. I was finally victorious. Not a major goal for most people, but those moments of happiness mended my bruised ego. If only it mended my health.


I didn't have a whole lot planned for the fall and winter, maybe four or five things, but they all pretty much went down the drain at the end of September. That feeling that began in July, that fatigue, began evolving. I was feeling more and more run down, body full of inflammation; headaches began and still remain 'till this day. For days at a time I would never feel rested. My body would ache even when I did nothing. In addition to that, the Morton's Neuroma in my feet started to get worse and worse. After the end of September, I was pretty much off of my feet. A combination of foot pain (that turned into calf pain, that turned into hamstring pain, that turned into glute pain...) with this lingering all out fatigue kept me from even going to the gym most days. In addition, stress levels began creeping up more and more. Due to my son's new school schedule I had to leave for work almost two hours before I normally would, meaning that if I wanted to even hit the gym in the morning I would have to do so when they opened at 4:40am and try to no fall asleep and drown in the pool and fall flat on my face on the treadmill. It also meant that I could no longer cycle to and from work and I normally would and my normal 2-a-days were gone. We're still not sure exactly what is going on with my body, but I was finally able to get in to see a new podiatrist and schedule some physical therapy for my foot and leg issues. In the mean time, can't help to feel saddened that I wasn't able to finish the things I had wanted to, including my first trail ultra run, but I have to just be hopeful that things will resolve themselves and I can come out on top of it all.