Seeing a Dr Who is Not a Runner!

For the past few weeks I have been feeling completely rubbish - tired ALL the time, totally lacking in energy, tearful, moody, unable to get warm and a whole myriad of other symptoms which were beginning to drive me  nuts.   There is a family history of Pernicious Anaemia and Underactive Thyroid and I have been tested previously for both.   With all this going on in my head I decided enough was enough and made an appointment to see my GP.

The initial appointment went well, I listed all my symptoms and told her about the family history and she immediately agreed that a blood test would be a good idea to eliminate them.  We also talked about stress and the "D" word was touched upon but first she wanted to get the results back before we took things further.

Appointment for a non fasting blood test was made and completed and a return appointment to the GP for today (25th March) to get the results.

I hate going to the Doctors - you make an appointment and then you have to wait until they're ready to see you - 40 minutes later I was sitting in front of the GP looking forward to finding out what was wrong with me.   No such luck - blood tests were all normal (B12 normal; thyroid normal; liver normal; kidney function normal - not even a little bit of iron deficiency).    OK so yes that's good news but doesn't exactly help me find the reason for why I feel completely rubbish!

The conversation turned to stress - have I got anything stressful going on in my life?  Where do we start?  Ageing parents (one of which is awaiting a diagnosis for dementia/Alzheimer's), a teenage daughter who is studying AS/A Levels and thinking about University and of course there's hubby who is waiting for his referral for bone/knee replacement surgery.   Oh and then there's work, not particularly stressful but not particularly enjoyable.  I don't feel stressed, I feel quite chilled about the whole lot but the Dr did explain that our bodies deal with stress in different ways - in my case it could be that stress is manifesting itself with all these symptoms.

She then went on to say that I needed to take some exercise and do something that I enjoy.  I explained to her that my symptoms had started whilst I was training for and after the Half Marathon.  I had been running quite a few miles and also walking the dog every day for at least 1 1/2 hours, some days twice.  She then went on to explain that we put our bodies through a lot of stress when training for long distance runs and that it could be my body telling me it's all too much.  She then made comments about running being really bad for us, puts a lot of strain on the heart, lungs and joints and we weren't designed to run long distances.   OMG I really had to bite my tongue.  She agreed that we need to take exercise and eat a balanced and healthy diet but exercise should be gentle and enjoyable, not hard slog!

She then said that my SAD was also probably worse this winter because of the continual rain and cold we've been experiencing.  The only thing she could suggest was taking some Vitamin D supplements - after all I was already doing as much to help myself through SAD as I could.

So that's where we are.  Jogging, walking, gentle exercise, as much daylight as I can get, Vitamin D tablets and eat a balanced, healthy diet!  Back to the GP in 3 weeks time to review how I'm feeling!   I feel like a bit of a time waster now !

What's Next?

Having completed the Brighton Half I've only been out for a couple of runs - one of which ended up with me having to urgently avail myself of the toilet facilities at my local MaccyDs (probably way too much info but it's true).   The wind has been so cold these last few days that I really haven't felt like going out in it after I've walked the dog.

There had been talk between me and hubby about running either 10 miles in Tempest or Eastbourne Half, both races are on this Sunday.  Tempest as you will know I ran last year with Alma & now ex running buddy Sue.  Eastbourne Half is an unknown entity other than I know the route sort of.   I decided in the end that I wasn't ready to relinquish my running tunes to run Tempest (yes music is banned) or 13.1 miles on my own.  I just don't feel ready mentally and so have decided to give body and soul a rest after the stress of training post injury, get back in touch with my running mojo  and not take part in either race. 

I'm now in the throes of setting up a proper training plan to improve my 10k time.  I've downloaded some interval training tracks from   AudioFuel to help!

I have registered for Brighton Heroes Run 10k with Alma in May.  

I'm also considering the Bedgebury 10k in June which is a trail run.  I'm going to start running some of the local footpaths in a few weeks to prepare myself, and maybe a re-run of the South Coast Run 10k in July.

Shaun is also signed up for a couple of cycling events the South Downs Spring Sportive and the BHF London 2 Brighton as a member of the Hairy Biker's Team - he's out on his bike whenever he's on a rest day!   I am now a cycle widow! 

As we've heard nothing about whether Shaun will receive treatment on his leg this summer we also booked a holiday to Tunisia for the end of July/beginning of August (just the two of us for the first time in absolute years!)  We're flying with BA so get a fantastic 23kgs of luggage for 10 days - the running kit will be travelling even if I end up in the hotel gym/fitness suite if it's too hot to run outside in the hotel grounds!  Shaun did jokingly ask if he could fit in his bike!

There is then definitely Rise Undercliff 8k, Brooks Brighton 10k, potentially maybe either Tonbridge Half or Bacchus Half in the autumn.

A Never Ending Peace Lily

Sorry running readers, not a single mention of a run in this post but please read on.

When my daughter was in Year 6 (aged 11) we went to her school fete.  I'd given her some money to spend on the stalls thinking that she would either blow the lot on the tombola & come home with a tin of Pea & Ham soup or the cake stall and eat her purchases before she got home!   Instead she spent her few pennies wisely and bought a plastic cup  filled with potting compost and a green leaf growing in it.   She proudly placed it on the windowsill in the kitchen with strict instructions for me not to kill it (she'd found out previously I'm good at killing flowers and plants).  I didn't even know what plant it was, we watered it and waited for it to flower so we could identify it. There it stayed, growing and growing and eventually flowering.    

After about year with the poor leaves having grown out of their plastic cup and been repotted in various pots it finely flowered and we were able to identify it as a Peace Lily.

After a few years the plant got so big it no longer fitted on the windowsill so we cut it in half and gave one half to our lovely next door neighbours.   

As many of you will know my daughter is now nearly 17 and yesterday we received a present - half a Peace Lily, an offshoot from the half we gave away a couple of years ago.  

I never imagined that this poor weedy little leaf that came home would still be alive let alone continuing to give pleasure!