See-Saw on a Cliff

When a person is training for a tough event (any event that is tough for that person...it might be walking a mile without stopping...whatever is outside what the can currently do)...the usual way to train is to "overreach" and then recover, reaching just a bit further each time until the goal is met.

But, when that person has an autoimmune issue (or maybe some other chronic condition they are working around), that person has to be careful not to go too far in the "overreach" phase of training. Because going too far can set off a flare (or reoccurrence of the injury).

My friend "Daisy" has an autoimmune condition that had been fairly stable for long enough she decided to train for a local 13.1 race recently. She asked me for my thoughts. I told her she was going to need to adjust her expectations for her performance and she was going to have to be diligent in listening to her body. She worked her way up to a 10 mile long run and the wheels fell completely off. She went into one of the worst flares she's experienced. She THOUGHT she was listening to her body...and...she didn't hear the flare coming.

She is understandably VERY concerned about me training for IMChoo.

I have been feeling pretty strong lately.

BUT

My data is giving me a very different picture than my feelings. My data is telling me I have to slow down.

this is what it should look like

Here's the thing...training effect builds up over time. It's cumulative. Fatigue is cumulative. Fitness is cumulative. The "trick" is to slowly build fitness without going too high with fatigue. Usually you want to have 2-4 building weeks and then a recovery week. Within the week you want to have building and recovery cycles as well. It's like a seesaw. But for someone with an autoimmune condition it's more like being on a seesaw with one side hanging over a cliff!

The truth is I really do not precisely know what caused my brain disease. The most likely answer is that in the summer of 2015 I was coaching about 12 adult athletes, I had about a team of about 20ish kids, I directed a kids triathlon and I was training pretty hard for IMChoo. I raced hard in September and then I let my diet fall completely apart. I think the embers were smoldering with the overload from all the mental, emotional, and physical stress I was under and my post-race diet lit a match. The doctors say there's just no way to know what caused it to happen, and, unfortunately, no way to know if it will happen again.

Sometimes I think I'm overly afraid. I haven't had a (lasting) flare in over 2 years. I honestly give most credit Juice Plus. Getting the nutrition from 30 fruits and veggies every day does wonders for the body! I'm also very careful with stress these days. Contrary to what many people think, I work hard to NOT work too hard. I'm aware I workout more than the average American. But we all know the average American doesn't workout at all...when you factor in the fact that I'm pretty darn close to being a menopausal woman that number goes down even more. 

I try to do all the right things... I don't typically have ANY caffeine, but "never" after noon. I try to eat "right" most of the time. I workout what I feel is an appropriate amount*. I drink about a half gallon of water every day. The one thing I really NEED to get better on is my sleep hygiene. I have this little routine that I NEED to change. We have been watching TV until about 8 or 8:30, then I get ready for bed, and play 5 games on my phone in bed before I shut it down and fall asleep. It's such an OCD routine that when I've tried to change it I lay awake for over an hour almost feeling anxious becuase I haven't done the routine! That NEEDS to change. I think the main reason I haven't worked harder to change it is because I don't believe it will make a difference in my sleep quality. But I won't know unless I try.

*Let's come back to what I consider to be an "appropriate amount" of working out.

If I'm 100% honest, maybe I workout "too much"...but this is where it gets tough. I only feel that way when I compare myself to those around me. But I am training FAR LESS than I "should" be at this point in time with IMChoo coming up in September. I "should" be swimming (I'm not swimming right now because there's a theory that chlorine impacts the thyroid and I KNOW my thyroid is low right now), I should be running a lot more (I'm not because that's the hardest type of workout for me to recover from), and I should be riding my actual bike more (I don't because my husband is TERRIFIED for me to ride on the roads, and I'm exhausted in the evening so I don't want to go back out to ride on the Arsenal, and I HATE the trainer...and it's hard to put that bike on and off the trainer so I can ride on the weekend).

Right now my week looks like this:

Monday: Spin, Hotworx, Teach Aqua Fitness (it's a bit like a step aerobics class for me)

Tuesday: Strength training, hotworx (next week I'm adding in a run before strength)

Wednesday: Aqua Fitness, Spin, Spin

Thursday: Strength training, hotworx (next week I'm adding in a run before strength)

Friday: Aqua Fitness, Hotworx (this is usually my easiest day)

Saturday: Long ride or run

Sunday: Long ride or run

But any day I feel like I need it I back off and skip something.  I hardly went to Hotworx at all this week and tomorrow will be a rest day because Monday is my fourteenth straight year to run the Cotton Row 10K!!

The thing about being on a see-saw on the edge of a cliff is to make darn sure what you're balancing with on the other side is just exactly the right amount! I certainly don't want to fall off into the abyss...but I also don't want to miss out on doing what I love...I don't want to be so afraid of what might happen that I miss out on what is possible. 

Thanks for sticking around. I'm excited to see what will happen next!