My new love interest...

I think I might have fallen in love; his name is … Nike+ sensor.  What an amazing little invention!  In a matter of a few days, I think my world has been turned upside down.  I had heard of Nike+, seen the app on my ipod, but I never quite knew what it was and how I could benefit from it.  It all started after our last run.  I decided to take advantage of a session with my chiropractor, who is also a serious runner.  Little did she know that I would ambush her with many running-related questions about how to train, to interval or not to interval, how often, when does it become enjoyable, etc.  Among many other tips and words of encouragement, she highly recommended that I pick up the sensor, it only cost $40.00 total, and this includes the sensor, the “holster” and tax.  I have never before felt so excited to go for a walk, not even after I got my pedometer (broken) or my heart rate monitor.  The day after purchase I took the opportunity to walk home from work, I had a rough idea of the distance, but found out that in fact it is 3.26 km from work to home.  

Glamour shot of my Nike+ sensor (while stretching).

In terms of my running, tonight was only my second run of the week, this has been for several reasons, one of which is that my IBS has again been bothering me, so much so that I had to come home and lie down for an hour or so because I could no longer sit on my bum.  Again, I seriously contemplated whether or not I was up for a run; I did not relish the thought of more burning-bum syndrome.  Sometimes the IBS just sidelines me and makes me want to avoid any activity or social engagements, but most of all it just makes me want to lie on my side in bed so it does not hurt quite so much.  But, I pushed myself, I made myself get out of bed, and quite honestly, I just wanted to take my sensor out for a spin.  Let’s be clear, the desire was to test drive the sensor, not me, but, as I could not do one without the other, I had to go along as well.  Tonight’s performance was not what I would call stellar, I did more walking than I had planned on, and the distance was less than I had envisioned, but, I ran.  I also did not poop my pants; I consider this to be the mark of a successful run.  More importantly, I have analyzed the information from my run on the online Nike database thingy.  I discovered that I travelled 4.19 km – by travelled I mean a combination of walk/run.  I figure that I probably actually ran about 2.75 km and the rest was walking; I determined this by assessing the fabulous online graph which also informed me that I burned 294 calories, that my average pace was 7’0”/km, and the fastest pace I had was 5’47”/km.  Who knew that such a wealth of untapped information was out there?  I suddenly find myself feeling informed, but, not only that, the online “coach” has given me a schedule that will prepare me for the 10k in 12 weeks!  

In terms of the stair climb challenge I mentioned in my previous post, I have not yet subjected myself to round two, mostly because I am trying to teach my legs how to walk again after the brutal beating they took on Monday.  My husband has coined the term “penguin waddle”, a loving description of the new gait I have acquired as a result of my insanity.  I did not think that challenge through, why I did it on a run day I will never know, but it was obviously a sub-conscious effort to punish myself.  Not even an epsom salt bath was able to cure me of this pain – it is highly embarrassing to have to shuffle sideways down the stairwell at work, and crossing your legs should not be something you psych yourself up for.  I will try this again when I am back in the office on Tuesday, when my legs are nicely rested and ready for torture. 

No regrets

I just got back from a very rewarding run, we exceeded our own expectations and I think we managed to push ourselves more than we have in the past.  I certainly was not expecting tonight’s run to be overly successful – we had an extremely poor performance yesterday, we lasted only about 3:40.  Unfortunately, you read that right.  What was supposed to be a run turned into a walk, and we have chalked it up to being a case of the Sundays.  We have such a poor performance record for Sunday runs that we have sworn off any future Sunday training days, it just never ends well. 

Today at work, when lunch rolled around I decided to avoid the cold weather by doing some stairs in my office tower.  After several weeks of running I expected myself to be half decent, but, boy, was I surprised.  It was a staggeringly awful performance.  I only managed to complete 2 x 8 up and 2 x 8 down, for a total of 32 flights. I started off rather ambitiously trying to at least jog up the stairs, but after only two sets of stairs I thought I might just tumble backwards to my death.  With that, I walked the rest of the way.  I found it so difficult that I had to run back to my desk for a water bottle after the first set.  Then, I repeated it all again, and as my jello-legs carried me back down to my floor, I decided I had had enough.  This is the truly shocking part – all of this only took about 4:30.  How embarrassing.  So, as I headed back to my desk, beet red, I grabbed my yoga mat and an empty office and stretched out.  Never before have I seen my legs shake that much doing a down dog or a sun salutation.  Today’s lesson: I must do more stair training.  Never have I been so fearful of meeting someone in a stairwell, I must do better, if only to repair my bruised ego. 

Given my lunch-time experiment, you can see why I was not looking forward to the run, the stairs had taken the wind out of my sails, or at the very least, out of my lungs, and I did not relish the thought of moving in a way that resembled speedy, if at all.  My husband called to check in while he was at work; I told him I was going for a run, but that I did not want to go, that I thought I would only be able to last about two minutes.  He very wisely told me that I should go, because at no point in time will I regret going for a run.  As much as I hate to admit it when he is right, he was right.  And now I have it permanently recorded in the black hole that is the internet…   So, with this advice in mind, I met up with my running partner and we decided to try something new – just run and see what happened and how long we lasted.  What a brainwave!  The first round we lasted approximately 11:24, followed by a bathroom interlude where he so kindly wandered around the neighbourhood until I could rejoin him.  For round two I believe we lasted an impressive 13:43, followed by no bathroom break!  We capped it off with one last kick at the can and clocked in at 9:25.  So we were pretty close to our six sets of six, and we covered somewhere in the region of 5-6k. It was much more enjoyable because we weren’t waiting longingly for the sound we covet so much – the alarm ringing in break-time.  I was anticipating an extremely cold temperature given the windchill, but it was actually quite nice, so much so that my visit to the bathroom provided the perfect opportunity to shed both my gloves and my scarf.  It even started to snow and lightly coat the ground, it looked almost magical.  So, there you have it, I do not in any way regret the run, and my husband was right for the first time in our marriage.  

Here is a shot from our Sunday run...

It appears as though there might be an issue in this area of the city.

You can barely tell, but it is just starting to snow.

I felt exactly like this shopping cart by the end of our excursion.

An almost pleasant experience

As a quick information bulletin to my readers, and potential readers, there are several reasons why I have begun this blog, some of which I examined in my first post.  However, there are other reasons that I have yet to touch on.  This blog is an opportunity to share my experiences with people who have IBS or other digestive issues in an effort to give an honest account of what these experiences might look like.  Having had a few occasions to connect with other sufferers, I can say that it is always a welcome change to open up to someone who is going through the same issues, we seem to be forever silenced by that social taboo called poo.  To this end, I will endeavour to speak honestly about day-to-day life with IBS and also GERD, but, be warned, some of you may find these accounts to be too honest.  I will share as much as I feel comfortable with, but for those readers who may have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  My hope is that by sharing my experiences some of you will recognize that there are others out there who have struggles very similar to your own, and, maybe we will be fortunate enough to learn something from eachother.  For those of you who do not suffer from IBS or other related issues, think of this as a window into that world.  There are far more IBS sufferers than you think, likely many people that you know, but nobody talks about it.  There is one very important thing to note, I have very mild digestive issues compared to those who suffer from other bowel-related problems such as Crohn’s and Colitis.  I do consider myself lucky to be in a place where my IBS is manageable; having experienced what I consider to be some very painful episodes, I cannot begin to imagine what those with severe digestive problems must endure on a daily basis.  It is always important to be thankful for the blessings that you do have… 

Last night was my first run with my running partner in quite awhile.  I was so relieved to be heading out with him again; I find it so much easier to run with a partner than to run alone.  No matter how fabulous my playlist might be, running solo feels like a chore.  

I was very apprehensive about last night’s run as my IBS has been acting up quite a lot.  I have spent the majority of the last week in the washroom, in the last two days alone I have used the washroom 13 times.   I have no idea why I have been having so much trouble; I have not eaten anything that would normally set me off, if anything, I have been extremely prudent with my food selection.  Furthermore, I can think of no possible stressor that could have triggered this flare-up.  However, as I write this post I have only used the washroom twice, by this time yesterday I think I was at four or five.  So, for some reason there has been a drastic improvement today.  What a treat to finally have a break.  One of the worst things about having IBS is trying to handle it in a public environment.  It is always difficult to determine at what point I should call it a day and head home from work.  A friend once asked me this question, and I guess my rule of thumb is that if I hit double digits while at work, it is time to leave.  But, often the pain-tolerance threshold can be a more accurate judge of when enough is enough.  If I find it too painful to sit on my office chair, it is a sure sign to call it quits.  

Given my washroom track record this week, I shuddered to think what a run might cause.  I seriously considered cancelling the run, but, as I had made the commitment to go, and I have signed up for the 10K, I decided to honour those commitments and hit the pavement.  Of course, true to form, I was late for the run because I was stuck on the toilet.  After I finally managed to peel myself off my porcelain throne, I experienced what was probably the best run I have completed in recent weeks.  We managed to complete six sets of six-minute intervals and covered roughly 6k or so.  What a shock!  With that being said, we did take two-minute walking breaks in between our running sets, I had mixed feelings about this, as it was not the six to one ratio I had been aiming for.  On the other hand, I certainly attribute the two-minute breaks to my ability to complete the full six sets without going to the washroom!  Woohoo!  In addition, it was actually an almost pleasant experience, the weather felt spring-like, the sidewalks were clear of both snow and black ice, it was not raining, and we went early enough that it was still light out.  We are scheduled for a run on Sunday and with yesterday’s success I am hoping that we can build on it and finally move on to seven minutes.  I certainly feel more positive given both our collective improvements and my personal improvements.  I might just be looking forward to tomorrow’s run!