The good, the bad...whatever.

Had some somewhat major milestones today. I said goodbye to my purple hair and hello again to brunette. My  hair is now back to a very deep auburn and in good light you can still see some of the purple shimmer through the auburn. I kinda feel strange having "normal" colored hair again...much like I felt weird when I first went purple. At least it should take less time to get used to this color than the bright purple. The thing I'm looking forward to after the first couple of days is the lack of the hair color bleeding. With the purple, a semi-permanent dye, anytime I sweat I'd have streaks of light purple sweat and actually ruined one of my running tech shirts due to the bleed. It was really strange though...got my hair colored at the cosmetology clinic at the college and seemed to be drained of all my energy. Could it be that the purple hair was some type of energy magnet for me? Hmmm...after going back to brunette I ended up sleeping through the local run club meetup and the first part of my hatha flow yoga class. Not a good thing.

The second major thing to happen today was finally getting my Tinkerbell Half Marathon tattoo to commemorate completing my first half marathon. For those of you counting, this is number 23 in my collection of skin art. This has been a long time coming...6 months to be exact! The place I got it at offered to do it the week before the race but I was like, "I don't want to jinx anything! I don't want a tat I haven't earned." So now that the race was done and I finished with a decent time it was the right time to have it done. Now I just need to finish my duathlon, and eventually a triathlon, to balance out my arm in May...

My training run today was a treadmill run of 6 miles and was truly a bear. My left hip/IT band issues are starting to rear their ugly heads again. I could only manage a max of 1% incline and a very short burst of max speed at 6mph. Otherwise I was doing 1/4 lap walking at 3mph and 1 lap at 3.8-5.5 miles per hour. Things seemed to loosen up late in mile 4/early in mile 5 where I was able to run up to 3/4 of a mile at a time. I'm beginning to worry what's going to happen at the half at the end of the month. I also beginning to think that Zumba is the root of my hip/pelvic issues so I'm afraid I may have to abandon it all together. :(

Overall my eating and drinking habits are sorely lacking...gave in to my lack of willpower and had a Pepsi today. I've really gotta get back on board as training really has to get serious. Time to really try hard to suck things up! Until tomorrow or the next day...

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 38
• 6 mile treadmill run in 1:30:10

What I Ate Today:

• 3 pieces of fried chicken (2 thighs, 1 drumstick)
• 1 cup of white rice
• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 24 oz low fat chocolate milk
• 1 Weinerschnitzel bacon croissant
• 1 Weinerschnitzel hash brown patty
• 8 oz orange juice
• <¼ of a Taco Box New Mexicali taco salad
• seasoned ground beef, refried beans, green chile, guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheddar, black olive slices, tomato, iceberg lettuce
• 34 oz Pepsi

Alkalete Review, Day 1:
Yesterday was my first full day taking Alkalete (manufactured by Yoli) which by all that I've read basically an alkalizing compound to neutralize the acidity of the body. I currently trying the product out on a 10-15 day trail for $9.95. It is supposed to help with delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) something I experienced after my first half marathon a week and a half ago where I felt pretty much fine for the first 3 days post-race but ended up with significantly sore feet an legs late on day 3 and most definitely through days 4-7 post race. I took the first half of a loading dose on Sunday in the evening after my 8 mile long-ish run and by Monday morning did notice a significant change in the soreness of my feet and lower legs. Yesterday I took the full 2 doses at loading levels and this morning my feet and legs feel fine although I am having some stiffness of the knees (nothing new) and some left hip/IT band pain (again, nothing new as I had been in PT for 2 months for this). The Alkalete is also supposed to help those suffering from acid indigestion/heartburn something that plagues me off and on. I am not a distributor...I'm simply sampling it for myself since I plan to run at least one half marathon a month this year. I'm hoping that it helps my recovery time so that I can start training for the next race as soon as possible.

DOMS has been described by some as occurring due to lactic acid buildup lasting up to 72 hours after strenuous activity and others describing it as being due to microscopic tears after heavy activity. However, most seem to agree that lactic acid breakdown (or neutralization) occurs within the first hour after activity. Since I added the Alkalete so late after my race I'm basing my review on using it during my training for my next half marathon late this month. After my run  on Sunday, I experienced very little muscle soreness considering how tender my feet were Sunday morning. So, stay tuned...we'll see how this goes.

Back in the classroom, again!

Today was one of the high spots for me each semester at the local community college where I used to teach. Since one of my dearest friends took over the psych content I used to teach to the fourth semester nursing students, I go over at the beginning of each semester when they begin talking about mood disorders. The goal is not to necessarily "teach" the book learning to them, but rather to give them the viewpoint of a patient with a mental illness. I do a little book learning such as the basic differences in the ranges of bipolar disorder and general symptomology but I spend most of my time sharing my perspective as a mental health patient...who just happened to be a nurse (I let my license lapse, after nearly 22 years as a nurse, at the end of January as I have now been deemed unemployable due to my 100% service connected disability by the VA).

One of the first things I always start with is to find out how many of them are "wary" or outright "scared" of going into a locked down, inpatient facility. There are always at least a few hands that go up and I try to do my best to reassure them that they will survive. In four years and 16, week long clinical rotations with my students I only had one freak out a little and that was resolved by the 2nd hour after I pulled her off of that particular floor for the morning. No, I didn't whip her into submission...I simply let her get acclimated to the setting a little longer!

We, or rather I, talk about my history, suicide attempts, medications, triggers, symtomology, etc. to give them a viewpoint to look at that they may never had thought of before. I try to encourage them to see each individual as just that, an individual...who happens to have a diagnosis of a mental illness. I try to remind them that the patient is not the disease...that the patient has a disease. I tell them how hard it is sometimes to not say "I am bipolar" instead of what really is true..."I have bipolar disorder." We talk about any and all things that they want to bring up...not just what I or my friend, the instructor, have in mind. My overall goal is to help alleviate fears of their clinical rotations and to help them understand that mental illness is just another disease process except that it's brain and chemical based versus just being able to look at lab, xray and other procedural reports to help make a determination. 

I had some good questions posed to me today..."Can a patient see different providers and be told he/she does not have bipolar or a diagnoses that they had been given earlier?" The answer is unresoundingly YES! With mental health there's really no cut and dry line saying this is what you have. A lot of it has to do with the clinical experience of the provider...have they seen this disorder, how much experience have they had treating the disorder, do they have the full story? Yes, diagnosis can differ from provider to provide, but it is also the responsibility of the person with the illness (or their caretaker) to learn about the diagnosis and bring up questions and concerns, if possible, to clarify the diagnosis. Another was "Was it a relief to finally be diagnosed with bipolar disorder?" For me YES!! I knew something more than major depressive disorder what wrong with me, but I didn't know what. When I was finally diagnosed and started studying the disease I could automatically see just how closely I fit the criteria for bipolar disorder type 2. To finally know what was wrong with me was a definite relief. Another question was about how the diagnosis affected the family. Well, when your kids find you, when they are the at the ripe old age of 8 or 9, after ingested multiple pills in an overdose attempt (several times), there's going to be some affect. My son harbors resentment, my daughter tends to avoid the subject, the husband tries to watch for my symptomology while at times denying his own (recovering alcoholic). So yes, it takes a huge toll and like I said in a previous post if I knew back then what I know now I probably wouldn't have had kids.

I did a little bit of a social experiment with my purple hair too, which is going back to a dark auburn or what ever color it turns out to be if I can't strip the purple out of it this evening. I just showed up and started talking never really bringing up the subject of my hair. Finally after the Q&A session and no more questions were posed, I asked them..."So who has been sitting there wondering if I was manic when I dyed my hair purple?" I had told them over and over again during my visit that I was completely open to ANY questions during my visit. I saw a few people kind of get that look of "OMG...how did she know?"  and finally I'd say about half a dozen hands went up. I told them that it wasn't a mania but fundraising that led to my purple hair and hopefully a bald head on May 11th. I wonder if I'm a little imposing or unfriendly that they were afraid to ask? Naw...probably more like they just didn't know how to ask. Well, hopefully they learned something out of this guest speaking gig. The last class I did it with seemed to have a good time. Some of them even remembered me as I was shopping in the local WalMart months after the presentation. I guess time will tell...

100 Days Challenge: 

• Day 37
• 2.43 mile walk with the grand pup in 45:46 around the neighborhood

What I Ate Today: (Still being updated)

• 12 oz low fat chocolate milk
• 5 pcs Albertson's fried chicken - 2 thighs, 2 wings, 1 drumstick
• 10 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 4 chocolate chip cookies

21 Day Training Plan

I committed myself to running my next half marathon on February 25th as part of my qualifying for the Half Fanatics Club. Exactly 21 days from now. Seeing as it has taken me a full week to really get back up to about 90% of normal that doesn't leave much time to train and get back up to speed (figuratively...still turtle slow). I hope that this plan will build on what I have already trained for and just bring me back to where I need to be. Between yoga, Aqua Zumba and Zumba I'm getting enough cardio and strengthening I think, although I'll have to start doing my PT exercises regularly again (which I'm having issues doing). I've noticed that since starting up regular Zumba again I'm starting to have some of my pelvic/hip issues start up again...I'm going to keep that class at only 1-2 per week and see if that helps a bit. The Aqua Zumba I don't think is a problem because there's not as much twisting as in floor classes...it's more about the water resistance. The yoga will hopefully help with core, strength and balance/stability and finally the PT exercises for specific area muscle strength. So, I'm having to come up with a 4 week training plan to include some kind of taper...maybe a taper that is not quite as long as it should be. So here's my plan:

Four Week HM Training Plan  (4 wks between races building on recent HM training)
SUN	MON	TUES	WED	THUR	FRI	SAT
HM #1	Rest*	2 miles* Hatha Flow	Zumba* Aqua Zumba	3 miles* Yoga	Rest*	Rest*
8 miles	Rest Aqua Zumba Zumba PT Exercises	5 miles Hatha Flow	Rest Aqua Zumba PT Exercises	8 miles Yoga Zumba	Rest PT Exercises	10 miles
Rest PT Exercises	7 miles Aqua Zumba Zumba	Rest Hatha Flow PT exercises	10 miles Aqua Zumba	Rest Yoga Zumba PT Exercises	12 miles	Rest PT Exercises
Rest PT Exercises	4 miles	Hatha Flow PT Exercises	2 miles	Rest	Rest	HM #2

*Recovery week.

What do you think? Too ambitious?                                                                        

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 34 (2/3)
• Missed :(
• Day 35 (2/4)
• 30 minute walk on the treadmill 1.38 miles in 30:04
• Day 36 (Today)
• 8 miles in 1:42:18 on Llano

What I Ate:

• Saturday (2/3)
• Totally forgot to track what I ate... :(
• Yesterday
• 1 Weinerschnitzel bacon croissan-wich
• ½ Weinerschnitzel bacon breakfast burrito
• ½ Weinerschnitzel sausage breakfast burrito
• 1 hash brown patty
• 8 oz orange juice
• 8 oz rib eye steak
• 1 cup garlic shells
• 3/4 cup mixed vegetables
• 3 chocolate chip cookies
• 32 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 20 oz Pepsi
• Today
• 1 pack chicken ramen with
• 1 cup mixed vegetables
• 1 cup shredded fried chicken, no skin
• 4 chocolate chip cookies
• 24 oz low fat chocolate milk
• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 24 oz G2

NOTE: Started my trial of Yoli Alkalete as a recovery aid. Will report more on it in the future. I'm trying this because I had significant delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after my half marathon a week ago. With having at least one half marathon schedule every month, I want to do everything I can to minimize the occurrence of  DOMS so that I can begin training as soon as possible afterwards.