Small Set-Back

Well, as with much of life, I have good news and bad news. Good news first: I went to the doctor on Thursday and it's official...I'M OFF IV MEDICATION! The picc line is out! I'm freeeee! I can now train as much as I want and have less treatments to do.

Now for the not-so-good news: my doctor, along with my entire family, have forbidden me to participate in the Lighthouse Sprint Triathlon on August 2nd with my roommate. Even though my stubborn half knows I can do it, and wants to do it in spite of everyone's advice, I think this time, I'll sit out. I think I'm ok with it. My boyfriend, Tim, is thinking about making the Lighthouse Tri his first (instead of Redman) and my roommate is definitely still participating so I will be there to cheer them on. I can still train for the Redman Sprint Tri in September, and even though it goes against my competitive nature, my swimming could probably use the extra training time.

So today, I begin my official tri training. I found a program online that is meant to prepare a person for a sprint tri in 12 weeks. I only have 10 weeks until my tri so I'll be jumping into the 2nd or 3rd week of the program. I can do most of those distances now, but don't worry, if it's "too hard" (again with the relativity) I'll take it down a notch...really.

UPDATE: Since it's so hot outside, my mom freaked a little when I told her I was going running. It's my fault. I'm still trying to get used to how long these daily treatments actually take. I'll get up earlier in the future. So today I'll do the elliptical trainer. I don't know how long I'll do it. Is there some kind of conversion chart out there that can tell me how many minutes on the elliptical is equal to miles (or mins) running?

Roller Coaster

The last month or so of my life has been somewhat of a roller coaster. At the end of May, I moved out of my apartment and into an "apartment" that is attached to my parents' house in Edmond. My friend Melissa came down from Virginia to live with me. Originally, the plan was to train together for the Lighthouse Sprint Triathlon at the beginning of August. However, like many things in life, our plans changed.

For the past 3 summers, I have worked as a therapy tech at a local rehabilitation hospital. However, this summer, my boss informed me that he didn't have hours for me and I would have to find another job if I wanted to work full time. Crap. Knowing that in this economy my chances of getting hired for the summer anywhere else were minimal, I decided to talk to the head of nursing in the same rehab hospital and see if I could be a nurse tech for the summer. Nurse techs work 12 hour shifts and see some pretty nasty stuff. Let's just say that I now know exactly why I'm going into therapy and not nursing.

I think I've mentioned before my obsession with being "normal". I hate telling employers, coaches, teachers etc. that I have health issues. I don't want special regulations or concessions. I want to do what I do just like everyone else. So, I didn't tell my boss about my cystic fibrosis. I didn't tell her that fatigue can make me really sick, nor did I tell her that I'm supposed to be doing a lot of treatments which are difficult to fit into a 12 hour work day. I also didn't stop training for the triathlon with Melissa. Maybe I have a superwoman complex, or maybe I'm just childish, but I honestly thought I could handle it. You see, in my head, I'm not sick. I'm normal, and there was no reason (in my mind) that I could not work an extremely physical job for long hours and still train for a triathlon.

I soon found out how very wrong I was. I lasted a week before the trouble started. After a week (3-4 days of 12 hour shifts) I started to get really fatigued. I hadn't been good about doing treatments so I got sick. It wasn't a "bad" sick at first. It was the kind of thing I deal with often, and fight off either on my own or with a round of oral antibiotics. So, without getting too worried, I started myself on the typical antibiotics and started doing my treatments more (if not perfectly) diligently and continued to work my normal shifts. Instead of getting better though, my health continued to decline. I got sick to my stomach several times a day, coughed all day and all night, and lost my appetite. I lost around 20lbs. I couldn't walk for long periods of time without feeling like passing out, and stairs were almost entirely out of the question. It wasn't until a particularly painful bike ride with Melissa that I finally decided to call the doctor.

I went in to my appointment, they tested my lung function, weighed me, and immediately drew up my hospital admission papers. I spent 4 days in the hospital receiving iv antibiotics and liquids (I was really dehydrated apparently) before being discharged with a picc line and a long list of 3x daily medications and treatments. I am not allowed to sweat (it'll mess up the dressing), swim, or work until the picc comes out.

Looking back, it seems as though I have a tendency to take one step forward and two steps back in life. I get in shape, do the things I want to do, work hard, and then reality (I guess) catches up to me and I end up on the couch with tubes coming out of my arm, forbidden to leave the house (omg she might sweat!). On the one hand, I'm extremely grateful. I feel so much better (I can even do stairs!) and I know I'm fortunate that so little intense treatment "fixes" me. On the other hand though, I'm furious. I'm furious that this happened, that I may or may not be able to do the triathlon with Melissa now (I'll be fighting for that one), that my Dr. wrote a letter forbidding me to work over 8 hours a day and 40 a week, and most of all, I'm furious because I know deep down, that this was preventable (at least to a certain extent).

Basically my ability to see myself as normal is rapidly diminishing. I now have more daily treatments to do even when I'm not sick, and frankly, I'm semi-ok with that. At this point, if it'll keep me out of the hospital (which was a horrible experience btw), I'll do it. I guess my "normal" will just have to change a bit so that my entire life doesn't come to a grinding halt. Call it maturity, call it "all growed-up" call it what you want, but I've always been a path-of-least-resistance type person in most areas of my life and right now, that path is medical compliance.

I signed up for the Redman Sprint Triathlon on Sept. 20th, but I'm not allowed to start training until July 9th. So, until July 9th, I'll be here, grudgingly taking care of myself and treating my disease. :)

Schedules and Training

Well summer has officially begun, and it brings a whole new way of looking at training. This summer, I'm working 12-hour shifts at a local hospital 3 to 4 days a week.  Also, my friend Melissa is living and training with me this summer while she does her CPE.  

All of this means that my training schedule (and life for that matter) is very different this summer.  First of all, 12-hour shifts are long.  I mean...really long. I have complete and total respect for anyone who does them for a living and am unbelievably grateful that I'm only doing them for the summer.  They also make training on those days somewhat challenging. My first day, I got up and did the elliptical trainer for about 20 mins.  The incredible soreness and fatigue I felt throughout that long day may have been because I had run hard that Monday or because that day sucked in general. Either way, it successfully discouraged me from working out the rest of the work week (through Thursday).  If I weren't training for triathlons (one sometime this summer with Melissa and one in September with Tim) I would think that only working out on days that I don't spend 12 hours running around a hospital (3-4 days a week depending on how many I work) would be completely acceptable.  However, that's not the case. I'm one of those people who has to improve every time they do something. I'm also competitive. So since Melissa is a better runner than I am right now, and the swim during the King Tut tri was so atrocious, 3-4 days a week of training just isn't going to cut it. 

Here is my tentative plan. I work at the hospital Monday-Wednesday doing 12 hour shifts every week. Every other week, I also work an 8-hour shift on Thursday.  Every Friday, I teach Spanish at noon for an hour.  So, on Sundays I want to do my long run. Then Monday can be a rest day.  Tuesday I can get up early and go to the gym (taking my scrubs to change into afterwards) for a swim.  Wednesday I can take off again (or maybe just stretch). Then Thursday I'll go back to the gym before work for a swim. Fridays I think should be my double day. I'll probably rotate which two I do every week.  On Saturdays, there is a really fun spin class at the gym, so that'll be my bike day. I figure, once my mileage need starts to exceed the class, I can always ride my bike around and to the gym before class. 

I know my plan is lopsided. I just don't know of another feasible way to arrange it. I have to be at work (about 30 mins away) at 6:45 so working out in the morning makes for a very early day.  And other than watering my mother's plants and cooking (terms of my "lease" lol) I have no other obligations on my non-work days. What do you think?

Tentative schedule

Ok, so I feel like I have to get outside opinions on this.   Here's what I'm thinking: on Mondays and Wednesdays I have class from 8-2:15 in Okc which means I have to wake up at 5:20am.  So if I'm going to work out, it has to be after class (no earlier than 3).  The thing is, I'm completely and totally EXHAUSTED when I get home on those days.  Tuesdays are easier because I just have work from 9-10:15am and then from 6:30-9 pm.  Thursdays are the worst.  I've got work from 9-10:15 then class from 2-4:30 then work again from 6:30-9.  So if I want to get anything done on Thursdays, I'll have to do it before work in the morning, or go straight from work to workout.  Fridays are completely free with the exception of the one hour class I have to teach in Okc at noon.  Saturdays are off limits until football is over (sooner born and sooner bred baby!), and as far as Sundays are concerned, I'd really like to start going to church again, but even if I don't make it, chances are I'll be working anyways so mornings are off limits. 

As far as workouts go, I know I need to work out at least 5 days a week.  There are 3 events I'm training for so each of those needs to be done twice a week (one day will double just like it was with Jessica).  The only huge change I might be considering at this point would be doubling up on Fridays instead of Tuesdays.  On one hand, I have less to do on Fridays, and potentially more daylight to work with.  On the other hand though, I kind of like having Friday as my lazy day, and only having one activity on that day leaves the weekend more open for trips (that I never end up taking).

Well, I may have just wasted my time writing all of this out because I don't think I'm going to change anything just yet.  I'll change the times for sure though.  There isn't enough daylight to work out in the evenings, and I don't have to wait for Jessica to get off work so there's no reason for me to wait anyway.  I think I'll do my doubling up on Tuesday's after my first "class".  I'm out of the house and I usually haven't showered for the day yet. Wednesdays and Saturdays I'll keep as off days.   The rest I think I'm going to keep identical to Jess and my schedule, just earlier.  

 I might also try to make swimming a more constant activity.  I'm a horrible swimmer. Anyone who knows me, or reads this blog, knows that.  But I feel like if I don't start swimming more than once or twice a week, it won't get better.  I really want to make running like that.  I can run forever. I love it, and I'd love running to be something that I just do every day...like showering or eating.  However, my running doesn't need as much work.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm out of shape.  My lungs can't handle running right now any better than my great grandmother's lungs can.  Swimming is harder.  If I can make my lungs handle swimming, running will come because it's so natural for me.  I don't know though.  I mean, do I hate swimming because I suck at it or do I hate it because I hate it?  If it's the latter, then I don't want to spend more of my time doing something that I don't enjoy.  Thoughts?

Well, as you might have guessed from my incessant rambling, I'm sitting at work, bored. But I think it's time that I stop subjecting everyone to this and just call it quits and attempt to pay attention.