Now What?

I was feeling really good about starting a healthier 2015.  On January 1st we participated in the state parks' First Day Hikes.  We took a 4 mile hike through the snow at Chatfield State Park.  Then from January 2nd to January 4th we spent our time at Snow Mountain Ranch where we went tubing, ice skating, and cross-country skiing.  I was feeling a bit smug.  That's a lot of activity without a migraine.  I came home from our trip and added all of the BodyPump and Indoor Cycling classes from the Y that could fit into my schedule.  I figured it they showed up on my calendar (in bright yellow), I would be less likely to schedule over them and more likely to get to a few of the classes every week.  I spent yesterday, January 5th, running a few errands, getting a manicure/pedicure, and getting set for the kids to go back to school on the 6th.

January 5th, 3:17 pm:  Migraine Aura.  Are you kidding me?  What brought this one on? Six hours later, I started to be able to function again, but I just ate some chicken noodle soup and went to bed.

Now what?  Well, today I am dealing with my migraine hangover.  If you get migraines, you know what I am talking about.  If you don't, it's just like it sounds.

I am also not removing the bright yellow squares from my calendar.  I just won't be making the yoga class tonight.

On a more proactive front, I have to change my diet.  Diet and trigger foods have long been linked to migraines.  I did a lot of reading about the connection last year. Here's what I have concluded:

1.  According to books such as, The Migraine Miracle, Grain Brain, and Against All Grain, there is a link between carbs, sugar, and migraines.  There is a lot of evidence to support these claims.  I am especially referring to how it was laid out in The Migraine Miracle.
2. From my own experience (looking back over this training blog) I have found the link to be true as well.  When I was running frequently with out headaches, I was also following the South Beach Diet.  This diet cuts out carbs and sugars.  I was running without migraines.  As I added more and more of the grains and sugars back into my diet (also known as quitting), I continued to run.  Bam! Migraines! I attributed them to a lot of different factors.  I didn't make the connection to the carbs and sugars.  Now, I can clearly see the link.

So.  Yeah.  Good-bye carbs and sugars. Hello, Gym.

I will be chronicling how this all plays out here on The Sometimes Runner.  

Who knows?  I might even get back to running.  Surprisingly, I miss it.

New Year's Eve Day

My Facebook feed is full of Resolution Do's and Don'ts.  They run the gamut from make huge, big picture resolutions so you can change the world to make incremental changes in your daily routine so you can change yourself. My favorite was the Resolutions for lazy people. Yes, I read them all.

Still, resolutions are just a "thing".  Most people make them, most people don't keep them.

So what are you supposed to do?  If you look back over this Training Blog, 2014 was not a great year for me. After I completed the Make Your Way Across America Challenge,  I didn't spend a lot of time in the gym.  Or focusing on making myself better.  And as I look back, I can't see that I did much of anything in 2014 but hold on.

2014 definitely wasn't the year of Me.  Maybe in 2014, I was who I actually am.  But I wasn't who I want to be.

So bring on 2015!  And resolutions that aren't really resolutions.  Changes that aren't upheavals.  

See you next year!

Back in the Saddle

It has been awhile.  

After my dedication to Making My Way Across America.  I fizzled out.  I had a lot of valid excuses in Rhode Island:  It was cold, I was tired, we were busy with end of school year activities, we were busy getting ready to move, and we were moving. They were excuses.  Mainly I lost my umph and didn't feel like working out.

At the end of June, we moved to Colorado. Yay!  And I was ready to take advantage of the great outdoors that was spread before me. Small problem.  I didn't count on the migraines.

I had my migraines (somewhat) under control in Rhode Island.  I pretty much knew what would cause them.  Hence, no running.  And I knew if I did get one how it would play out.

1) Exercise 2) A migraine aura would start 20 minutes later 3) the migraine would start 20 minutes after that.  Not the best thing in the world, but somewhat predictable and somewhat avoidable.

Surprise!  It's different here.

Migraine #1 happened at the end of a long day spent at Water World.  This water park is consistently on the Top Ten Water Parks list.  We had a lot of fun, but we had been here less than two weeks. We definitely weren't acclimated to the altitude.  We spent all day, in the sun, walking up and down hills, dragging giant inner tubes.  Fun, but I wasn't surprised when the aura began as the day was winding down.

Migraine #2 happened one week later.  Still not acclimated, but not doing any crazy exercise either.  I took the dog for a walk. There were some hills, but all I did was take the dog for a walk.  Then, an hour and twenty minutes later, the aura started.  So, two changes from my normal migraine modus operandi. Bummer.

Migraine #3 wasn't a surprise at this point.  I signed us all up to go rock climbing in the Garden of the Gods.  This would be definite exertion.  (Remember, I hadn't been to the gym since March).  I climbed the rock. I had the scrapes to prove it.  We got home and about an hour and twenty minutes later. Bam! Aura. Migraine. Done.

So I am a bit leery about exercising. Or hinting at anything that resembles exercise. Still, I don't want to be a couch blob, so I keep trying.

Last week I went on an easy hike to Monument Rock.  It took about an hour and fifteen minutes.  It was pretty flat.  We kept an easy pace.  And then I waited. Twenty minutes. An hour and twenty minutes. Two hours.  Seems I managed to do something fun outdoors with out succumbing to the dreaded migraine.

Fast forward to today.  

The view from my bike at Tri-Lakes YMCA

In Rhode Island, I discovered that Spinning was "safe".  It never resulted in a migraine.  I wanted to get back and see if that held true here in Colorado, the land of weird migraine happenings.

I didn't want to jump into a full-blown spin class.  That would have been way too intense.  Instead, I opted for a 25 minute spin on the bike, on my own.  There was no dripping sweat, but I could feel unused muscles in my legs and I was out of breath quite a few times. Then the waiting began.  I may have been pacing around the house.  

Success.  I managed to workout and not get a migraine.  

Now to keep moving forward.  I am going to keep going to my lone bike.  I am going to add minutes to my workout each time.  I may do it at night so a migraine won't blow my entire day, or I may just keep my fingers crossed.

Once I am back up to an hour, I will join the spin class.  

Eventually, I may even take the dog for a walk.