Moon Face

One of the many fun side effects of taking prednisone is developing a 'moon' face.

Feels something like this.

This may be more accurate.

I can feel the changes in my face and see it. Other people may feel like it isn't so bad, but when I look into the mirror all I can see is all the weight I strived so hard to lose back on my face and stomach.

When the photos were posted of my race last weekend, all I could think is how puffy my face looked.

Here is a picture of the same race last summer (the 10K).

And here are a few from this past weekend:

I was dancing a little at the finish, haha.

I almost didn't post these pictures, but I figure what's the point in having a blog if I don't document the good along with the bad? No these aren't pretty, but hopefully they will be a reminder one day of where I came from! Once I can resume regular exercise I will lose this damn weight. I've been doing better at not eating sweets and eating more fruits and veggies! So that's a good start.
 
Sometimes I get so mad and frustrated that I can't do my normal things, like running and biking right now. I have to remind myself that it's only temporary, but the further I go from my goals, the more depressing it all is. I should be thankful that I could do the race last weekend, and I am. I just wish these damn meds would hurry the hell up!

Speaking earlier of food, a couple of friends came over last night to have 'experimental cooking' night.  We wanted to cook something that none of us had ever done before. We decided to make flatbreads aka small pizzas with different toppings.
First of all, we used all-purpose flour, instead of self-rising, so the dough didn't really raise, but it turned out pretty well.

One of our masterpieces, I know it looks like a cheesy mess, but it was tasty! It included pizza sauce, chorizo, gouda cheese, peppers, onions, artichokes, and tomatoes. MMM! I also made a dessert that I got off Facebook from SkinnyTaste.com which turned out well, but I forgot a picture! It was a cookie with cream cheese icing and fruit on top. Here is their picture:

Source

 Mine didn't look like a flag though. My friend was supposed to find out the gender of her baby so I did half blueberries with blue icing and half strawberries with pink icing. It turned out pretty cute, but she didn't get to find out the gender! haha. Not sure this was exactly 'skinny' but it tasted pretty darn good!

Well I suppose I should get to some laundry before celebrating the Fourth with my family. Not looking forward to my dogs barking all night at the fireworks! Soon I'll do a post on how it's going training my dog to eventually run with me. Once we progress a little more. Have a good weekend all!

Biggest Loser 5K

I had originally signed up for the Biggest Loser Half Marathon in Charleston, but due to this pesky muscle disease I dropped to the 5K. I wasn't sure until Thursday that I was even going to do that much! But what can I say, I like a challenge, I wanted my medal, and I knew I would regret it if I didn't at least try!

I decided to skip the packet pickup the night before this year and just go the day of the race. I had other things to attend to Friday, such as eating delicious pizza that I was too busy eating to get a picture of. And I went to a baseball game

See important stuff!

Anyway, going the morning of turned out to be a mistake! They ran out shirts! I've been pre-registered for this race a long time and I had to choose between a shirt like the one I got last year or a generic run/walk shirt. Since the shirts last year were white and I hate white, I went with the red generic one.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm disappointed. The other shirts were kind of an obnoxious orange, but they had a pretty picture of the state capitol on them. And they ran out of bags! But I was able to go back after the race and pick one of those up. It's just crazy that they don't keep out a certain amount for preregistered people.

Anyway, so the game plan for this race was to finish! One way or another. My family doctor told my mother that I was absolutely not allowed to run or I could risk injury or cause the swelling to come back. So I tried to be conscious of that and not push it. But let's be honest I did some running. I also did lots of walking though. It kinda sucked. My legs would hurt if I tried to run too long and my arms started hurting in my bicep area. But it was totally worth it. I loved being out there again. And the good thing about the Biggest Loser races is that you see ALL different types of people. The emphasis that they put on the walk option allows for a lot more diverse people to show up. It really is inspiring to see so many people with challenges of their own get out there and move!

The last mile I decided I would walk from one light to another and then run from that one to the next one. I did that a few times, but then I could see the finish line and I couldn't let myself walk to the finish!
And I did it!

Finish Time/Chip Time:

41:51.9

Gun Time: 1:09:54.9

Minutes/Mile:

13:30/M

I actually had to email about my time. They had my chip and gun time as the same. But they quickly resolved that. I'm actually pretty pleased with my time considering my situation and the walking I had to do! A 13:30 mile average isn't too shabby! I'll post race pictures once they have them up.

The rest of my day consisted of going to heave, aka a Teavana tea shop. I'm trying to drink hot tea in the evenings instead of eating, so this place was fantastic! Wish we had one in my town!

Enjoying a cup of Caramel Salt Tea (with a splash of milk)

Then I rode with my mom after getting back home to watch my sister and boyfriend play softball in a charity tournament. It was a lot of fun! They lost horribly in both of the games they played, but it was still fun.

Starbucks Softball Team aka Bad News Bears! haha

After their final game and getting a bite to eat, we headed home. Then my boyfriend and I went to his parents house to celebrate his grandmother's birthday. They were setting up a pool so they were all doing that, but I was feeling tired and my arms were hurting so I decided to just go lay down for a few minutes on their couch...

TWO HOURS Later....

I woke up. I had completely passed out. I'm blaming it on the muscle disease, but it was slightly embarrassing.

As far as an update on how I'm doing. I still experience muscle pain and some trouble swallowing but it all continues to get better. I may have pushed it at the race on Saturday, but other than some arm pain and some tightness in my legs I feel like I'm doing pretty well. My weight is just out of control though. I don't even like looking at how round my face is right now. At this rate I'll have to buy a whole new wardrobe! The only thing I know to do is try my best to eat healthier foods, which can be a bitch because prednisone is making me want to eat all the freaking time! But I'm trying. I don't know if it will help slow down the weight gain, but it has to be better than just going free for all on junk food! And I'll continue to walk. I have to take days off in between to give my body rest, but it's just what I have to do right now.

I just have to keep in mind it's not forever, it's a temporary set back. And you better believe it will make me appreciate running and biking a lot more!

Fast and Furriest 5K/ 1Mile Walk

Hello there little Blog!

Things have been busy! I'll skip all the little details and get right to the fun stuff!

Last weekend I participated in the Fast and Furriest 5K/ 1 Mile Walk. It's an event to support the local Humane Society. As I mentioned before, my sister is involved with doing community work through Starbucks, so she offered to give out free coffee and tea. We also volunteered to walk shelter dogs!

I however, had the grand plan of walking my own dog to the soccer fields, where the event was held, walk the one mile and either walk back or get a ride back. The soccer fields are about a mile and a half from my home, so I didn't think it would be a problem. What I didn't count on is the fact that my little dog (the one that is friendly with other people and dogs) is out of shape and a bit pudgy now!

This is Sherlock, about a mile in.

About a mile or less into the walk, Sherlock was ready to go home! He stopped a couple of times and tried to turn around even! In the picture above, I was heading the opposite direction! But we finally got to the soccer fields and my pup was happy to be around other dogs and people. Haha.

This is a super small race, with all of the timing done by hand(!), so I quickly got registered for the 1 mile walk, got my shirt, and the volunteers handed out dogs to be walked.
My niece got the sweetest dog, Babe. She was timid around other dogs, but really friendly with people and listened well.

My sister on the other hand got the exact opposite. She received a very enthusiastic pitt bull, named Pebbles.

Here they are trying to wrangle him.

Pebbles was really fun, but a lot to handle! Thankfully we had a couple of extra people with us, so they all took turns being walked By Pebbles!

Headed to the start line.

Strutting our stuff on the mile walk.

This little guy didn't quite make it the whole mile. He got plumb tuckered out ;)

Starbucks Crew making people happy with caffeine!

It was a really good time. The only problem is, people had to wait around a long time to get the results from the 5K for awards and such. If the race continues to grow (this is only the second year of having it), they will have to figure out a different method for timing.

And by the end, Sherlock was done. My sister gave us a ride back to my house. Haha.

Afterwards, we got a bite to eat and we took my niece and nephew to see How to Train Your Dragon II. It was very cute! But I must have over done it a bit, because after that I took a good two hour nap! It was probably all the pulling I had to do to get Sherlock to walk with me!

Speaking of which, I have a bigger dog, half German Shepherd, half Lab maybe, that I've been trying to take on more walks. I'm going to try to get her to be my running dog. Since I'm starting over and just have to walk right now, it's a good time to start her out slowly. Hopefully she will do well. She doesn't do well with lots of other dogs and people, but I think she will be okay with just us. As long as we keep moving that is...

I'll update more about how I'm doing in my next post, which will include my first run/walk race since March when all of my muscle issues started!

Eating Everything In Sight

Damn you Prednisone. These steroids are making me crazy. I literally look like I'm going through puberty. My face is all broken out, I sweat more, my face is puffy, and I'm eating EVERYTHING I can get my hands on. Attractive, I know.

BUT I am mending. I'm still not whole, but I'm able to get my housework done and walk a bit. I've tried running/walking, but I get so sore the next day. My legs tend to feel like lead too when I run, but I'm going to keep trying it one to two days a week just to see how I progress and to hopefully build a little muscle back.

I've talked with the rheumatologist more about my polymyositis, she recommends not pushing myself right now. The problem is I can cause some serious muscle damage to my body if I push too hard. Right now I don't have any muscle damage that I can't recover from and I have a good chance of gaining all of my strength back (thanks to being young and in shape!).

I do have a small event this Saturday that I'm going to be volunteering with and walking a 5K. I did the same event last year, the Fast and Furriest 5K, but I didn't participate. My sister works for Starbucks and as part of their community outreach program, they are donating coffee and iced tea. She also got a small group together to participate in the 5K, so I told her I would do it with her! I just hope I can do it! I've walked 2+ miles so far, so I think I'll be okay.

Then on the 28th, I'll be participating in the Charleston, WV Biggest Loser Run. I thought about dropping out all together, but I want to see what I can do. I'll obviously not put any pressure on myself and if I'm hurting I'll stop, but I really want to try!

Hopefully those will give me something to talk about other than how much I eat in a day and how I feel like I'm 13 again!

National Running Day

The running world is on fire for National Running Day! Are you running today? Taking those first scary steps? Wondering if the world is going to judge you for 'pretending' to be a runner, when really you can't run for more than thirty seconds (and yes running is a loose term)?

My badge, to make one go here.

That's how my first steps felt. I prayed that people wouldn't see me or if they did see that I didn't look like a fool who didn't know what I was doing.

And now, two and half years later, I love running. It has changed my life.

I also miss it. I am not magically better yet. The initial consensus so far is that I have polymyositis. More information Here. And I agree. My symptoms fit pretty closely now.  Its basically the same thing I had as a kid, with just a few variations.

Basically my body is fighting my muscles instead of healing them. I have weakness, I get tired easily, trouble swallowing (from weak esophagus muscles), and it's moved into my legs as well as my arms.
I don't know everything quite yet, but I think it might be something I fight on and off for the rest of my life. Right now I am on 60mg of Prednisone. I don't know if I will have to take additional medications. I still have to discuss a plan of action with the rheumatologist.

BUT! I am making some improvements. I felt well enough Sunday and Monday to try walking and then running for thirty seconds and then walking for one minute, for twenty minutes. I don't think it was very wise to do two days in a row, because I hurt a lot yesterday, but I was just so excited to be able to do something.

It's a start.

I'm starting over. And it's going to be a slow process, but I'm not going to let my body rule my life. I'll find out over time what my limits are, but right now, I can start.

I've sent an email requesting to volunteer for a triathlon on Father's Day weekend. I haven't heard anything yet, but I thought it would be fun to volunteer since I'm out of commission. I'll update more, if I hear anything.

I also have the Biggest Loser Run/Walk in Charleston, WV on the 28th. I switched from the half to the 5K. Obviously, there is no way I can do a half marathon at this point. I really hope I can do the 5K. I know lots of walking will be involved, but it's nice having a 5K to work towards. Hopefully my body will let me get there!

New Form of Obstacle

Life has not been going that great since my 25K, a month ago yesterday. What started out as sore arms grew to major pain and my inability to do daily activities easily such as getting dressed and washing my hair. Also, my arms started to swell.

I went to MedExpress, they said it was just muscle strain. Well, it isn't. After countless medical tests, hospital visits, talking to different doctors, I still don't know what's wrong.

More than likely it is a connective muscle tissue disease called Dermatomyositis. Basically, my body is fighting my muscles instead of helping them heal after working out. Except, the pain doesn't go away even though I haven't worked out since my race a month ago. And I get really tired really easily, which is fun (not!). I had dermatomysitis when I was little, but have never had any problems since then. And as of right now, I'm not displaying any of the normal symptoms. A muscle biopsy is being scheduled to determine if it is in fact dermatomyositis.

Top picture, my hand right now, bottom, my hand a week ago.
 

What does this mean for my future with running and biking?

I have no idea.

Since I don't know what it is yet, no one can tell me. I don't have the energy to start running again right now and my arm muscles hurt at the slightest use. Thankfully, the race I was supposed to run this weekend was cancelled. I already paid for my yearly 5K in Tennessee too, which is in two weeks. I'm kind of hoping I can walk it, but I'm just not sure yet.

Also, a fun note. The probable method of treatment for me. Predisone. For probably a year. Predisone usually makes people gain weight. Frick! I'm trying hard to watch what I eat for right now which will hopefully carry over to when I start the treatment.

This blog might be more about food choices for a while until I get the clear to work out again....But I have to try my best to stay healthy and not let this become an excuse that sets me back!!

I will tell you this, all of this mess has made me realize how blessed I've been to be able to run, bike, kayak, and so on. People have faced harder obstacles and I know I can't and won't let this be the end for me.

Haulin' in the Holler 25K

Oh where to start??

I guess I could start with the fact that I finished! Yay! haha

I went Friday night to pick up my packet for the Haulin' in the Holler 25K since I had never been to this particular park before. It's an hour and a half away from me, so I stayed with a friend in Charleston which is about 30 minutes away from the Putnam County Park. My friend went with me, which was nice, since it was kind of out there!

Source - Putnam County Park, Eleanor, WV

Unfortunately, we had used my friend's phone on Friday, so when I pressed go on my Saturday morning, I thought it was just taking me a different way...nope. My phone took me to the wrong park! And my cell doesn't really work in Charleston, so the gps wouldn't pick up to find the right park! Ugh. I had left plenty early, but I needed to be at the park (the right park) by 7:00 am for the pre-race briefing. I was freaking out a little. Fortunately, I knew which exit to go to from the night before and I had the race page up before so it would still pop up. I just went from their directions and what I remembered from the night before. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one who was running late and they went back over which colors to follow along the paths and which to avoid, which was really good since some people would go the wrong way because they hadn't listened!

After using the port-a-johns, I was still worried that my stomach would give me issues. I only had one mini bagel for breakfast because I was so worried. I made sure to drink water and had a little hot tea, but well before the race started so that I was hydrated.

We lined up on the old fair grounds and started at 7:30 am. Thankfully it was a beautiful day. It didn't rain once and stayed in the sixties with a slight breeze. It was perfect! The route included about a mile of running on gravel before we hit the real trail. It was single track trail pretty much the whole time. There was a couple of spots that included 4-wheeler trails, but these areas were so gouged that it was hard to run on those. I'm not going to lie, some parts were scary. The trail would get really narrow and if I misplaced a foot, down the mountain I would go! And I had a right to be afraid of falling because I did fall, twice! Oh it wasn't bad, I just tripped over a couple of roots. To be expected of course. There was usually someone in front of me or behind me, but only a couple of times did I actually talk to someone. Trail running is not for those who need crowd support and lots of people around. I liked it though. The people behind me made me run when I didn't feel like it and if they passed me that made me want to catch up to them (which I never did, haha). The scenery was beautiful, even if it was still all brown from winter. I imagine it's really gorgeous in the summer. There were huge rock formations, little streams that had makeshift wooden bridges over them, beautiful trees, and of course beautiful mountain views. I should have taken my phone but I didn't want the extra weight.

This is a good running portion of the trail from last year's race. - Source

It was kind of hard to not keep thinking about how long I had to be out there. But I tried my best to just focus on to getting to the first aid station at mile 5 and then the next one at mile 10. The volunteers were really great. They were out in the middle of nowhere the whole day. I think the only way they got refills and such were from 4-wheelers (ATV's). I took a big risk at the aid stations and tried something new. They had Hammer Heed, which is supposed to be like Gatorade, I was not a fan. I took one drink and poured the rest out.

So I took some Mountain Dew for the sugar and caffeine. I didn't eat anything at the first one (was still worried that I'd have stomach problems), but I did take some grapes at the second one. They tasted fantastic and the Mountain Dew was good too. I did feel funny right after I drank it, but I think my body just had to take it in. I also took two Cliff Shot Blocks thirty minutes in since I didn't eat much for breakfast, and then I took a Vanilla Gu each hour. I think my nutrition was pretty good. I could feel my legs get extra tired when it was at the hour mark for my next Gu. They didn't upset my stomach and I feel like my energy kept up relatively well. Unfortunately, I think my handheld water bottle was leaking a little. I ran out of water before each aid station and when I had about two miles left. It needed to be just a bit bigger. I'm still glad I went with the hand-held versus the belt. It didn't get on my nerves the whole time.

This is the water bottle I used. - Source

In the end, I did a lot of walking. I think that is a big part of trail running though. Perhaps with more practice I'll get better though. I'm glad I went with my regular shoes since I didn't get blisters, but I think I definitely could have used the extra support. My ankle kept twisting and at some points I slid. One downhill was so steep I almost just sat down and slid, but someone was behind me, so I had to go sideways instead, haha. There were just a lot more steep parts that killed my legs just walking up them! The trail included various terrain really, from really rocky, to muddy, to nice leafy and dirt packed, to steep steep hills. And of course parts included all the above.

The hardest part was the last 3-4 miles. The trails snaked up and down the mountains, so at about mile 3 and half I could hear people at the finish line and I could see the white building that where we started, but I knew from my watch I still had a way to go. Being able to hear it though and see the road at various points and then going away from it, was so hard mentally. I was so tired at that point! When I knew I was close and I made, what I figured was the last turn, I picked up the pace and ran the last mile into the finish line. I didn't have anyone there, so the few people who were working and cheered for me was greatly appreciated. I also made sure to stay put until the two people that I had been near the whole race had crossed the finish line. One mind game I played with myself was to not let them pass me. They didn't know it, but they helped get me through.

So did I reach my goals? I didn't get the first one of four hours. I finished in 4 hours and 22 minutes! That's a long time to be running/hiking! I was slow, I know, but F* that, I finished something incredibly hard! And today, I can barely walk! haha. My thighs are burning and my left knee hurts, probably from either one of the falls or just from the terrain. My arms also hurt, I guess from holding the water and just keeping my arms at a 90 degree angles for that long.

I don't have the official times yet, but I know I wasn't last. But I do know that I finished, I gave it my all, and I didn't poop my pants! It's a win in my book!

My finishers 'plaque'. Handmade by the local boyscout troop. Very neat!

P.S. There was also a 50K, that did the same loop I did twice. I can't imagine! Good for those people!