half marathon

All posts tagged half marathon

Never Give Up!

Posted by Mildred Jane on August 4, 2013
Posted in: Acupuncture, caffeine free, dairy free, Diet, Energy, Exercise, Gastroparesis, gluten free, half marathon, health, Inspiration, running, sugar free, supplements. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

SAMSUNG

Thankfully there has been wonderful reasons why I have gone M.I.A. the past few weeks.  I have been SUCCESSFULLY training for a half marathon that I will be completing in 2 weeks.  Whenever someone with Gastroparesis goes M.I.A. for awhile, it is always cause for concern.  Are they having a flair?  Are they okay?  Are they regressing? or…sometimes it does happen…Are they living life?!  I am extremely happy to report that the last reason is why I have been M.I.A.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have either been going to the gym or running on the trail.  Friday night, I ran 9.25 miles at my best pace ever.  I am FINALLY able to push through the barrier without being afraid of triggering a Gastroparesis flair and becoming deathly ill.  Friday nights run was one of the best experiences of my life.

Several times throughout the run, I would think back to where I was last year at this time.  Those days were filled with not being able to get out of bed, vomiting for hours at a time, frequent IVs, and wondering if I would ever be able to get my life back.  Those days were also filled with the fear of potentially needing a gastric stimulator (aka…a pacemaker for your stomach).  During my run, I would think of these things and it would drive me to keep moving forward.  It was almost as if I was running away from Gastroparesis and trying to stay out of its reach.

I am here to tell you…NEVER GIVE UP HOPE!!!  Many of the Gastroparesis groups focus on GP being “incurable”.  However, this does not mean that you can’t make changes that will help lead to better days ahead.  Yes, I still have bad days but they are becoming few and far between.  I have worked extremely hard to revolutionize my diet and have seen life changing results.

Below are some of the things that I have done and am undeniably feeling amazing:

  • Almost all chemicals have been removed and I eat all natural.  GMOs are hard to cut out completely due to the lack of labeling, but removing as much as possible has reaped huge rewards.
  • Cow’s milk has been replaced with Almond milk.
  • Coffee is gone gone gone.  Tomorrow I will be 3 months free from its addictive powers and this has been one of the best decisions of my life.  I still have a minimal amount of caffeine through tea, but my daily caffeine intake has dropped dramatically.
  • High Fructose Corn Syrup is removed completely.  This means, no more ginger ale.  I found this to be much harder to give up than coffee and the withdrawal symptoms were significantly worse, but it was worth it.
  • Refined sugar has been replaced with Honey, Pure Maple Syrup, Agave Nectar, & Stevia.  It has gotten to the point that refined sugar will give me horrible headaches.
  • Eating on a strict schedule…breakfast (w/ protein) at 6:45am, lunch at 11 am, snack (w/ protein) 2:30 pm, dinner 5:15 pm.  A snack of berries at either the morning or afternoon depending on when I become hungry.  Eating protein at specific intervals of time has really helped my energy level remain stable throughout the day.  My favorite snack is an apple with all natural almond butter.
  • Replacing sugary sports drinks with all natural ones.  Vega Sport is my brand of choice.  It has helped give me the power to make it through long runs without making me ill.
  • Water, Water, Water, and more Water.  I drink approximately 80-100 ounces per day.  This has helped me keep my system flushed.
  • Going to bed by 10 PM.  Getting the proper amount of sleep has given me better results than I would ever admit was possible.
  • Taking digestive enzymes & probiatics every day.  (Garden of Life is my brand of choice.)
  • Last, but certainly not least.  ACUPUNCTURE!!  I can’t say it enough, acupuncture changed my life.  I honestly do not believe that I would be running 9.25 miles at a great pace without having acupuncture over the past several months.  If there is one thing off this list that I would recommend above all others it would be to find yourself a good acupuncturist.

They last big piece of advice that I could give is the following:  do not try to make all of these changes at once.  It is too overwhelming mentally and too much of a shock to your system.  Pick one or two items and stick with them for a month and then add a couple of additional items the next month.  There are always steps back while you are moving forward, but do not get discouraged, do not give up hope.  It is possible to start to feel better, but it will take a lot of determination, hard work, and staying positive through the set backs.

On another note, this post is not to diminish how hard it is for those individuals with severe Gastroparesis.  However, if you do have a milder case, I honestly believe that it is possible to feel better the majority of days if you make serious changes.

~Millie

Kicking Some Gastroparesis Butt!

Posted by Mildred Jane on May 7, 2013
Posted in: Energy, Exercise, Friends, Gastroparesis, health, Inspiration, Life, running. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 6 Comments

Somehow, someway, I managed to cross the finish line on Sunday even if it was hopping on one foot!  I was so thankful that my Gastroparesis did not flair up during the half marathon and my tummy actually seemed to do pretty well.  However, I cannot say the same for my knee & IT Band (the muscle that connects your hip to your knee).

Below is a photo of my actual race shirt, finisher’s medal, runner’s bid (with customized name), & trusty iPod.

marathon

My race shirt always gets comments during a race.  It comes at no surprise that I have to take things slow and occasionally walk due to Gastroparesis, so this leaves plenty of time for other people near me to comment on my shirt.  This race was no exception.  During the race I received at least a half dozen comments about my shirt.  It gets so emotional to be plugging along at a slow pace and have people say “cool shirt”, “thanks for awareness”, “you can do it”, etc.  The majority of society does not realize what a major accomplishment it is for someone with Gastroparesis to be able to complete a half marathon.  They do not realize how difficult it is for you to keep the proper nutrition in your system to keep your body going.  They don’t realize how a flair up can scrap all of the training that you have had to that point or that a flair can prevent you from training at all.  This is why I get emotional every time someone comments on my shirt.  It makes me realize that there are some people out there that “get it”.

My shirt also makes it easy for others to pick me out of a 30,000 person crowd.  In my starting coral for the race (the area where you wait for the starting whistle to sound), I ran into a good friend of mine who was fun to chat with while waiting the 30 minutes for the race to start.  I also had a former high school teammate see my shirt and gave me a big hug prior to the start of the race.  She said that she was so proud of me for continuing to run and that I was an inspiration.

Then the race started.  It started out pretty rough because I went at too fast of a pace but then had a 3 mile stretch where everything was going pretty well.  It was a gorgeous day to run, there was a lot of energy from other runners and the crowd, and my iPod was shuffling to the best songs possible.  I was even on pace to meet my goal time.  Then my legs started to cramp rather badly.  I attribute this to a couple of items:  lack of training due to GP flair ups & lack of proper nutrition due to GP.  Both of my calves were stiffening up and I could barely walk.  This occurred around mile 8 with 5 more miles to go I contemplated giving up and stopping.  Then the band along the course started playing some Johnny Cash.  So thank you grandpa for once again cheering me on to keep going!  Hearing Johnny Cash, missing my Grandpa, and feeling horrible pain in my legs made me an emotional mess.  I think that I cried for the next mile.

Thankfully a good friend came out to cheer me on and was around mile 9.  She saw me coming and gave me a big hug as I was crying.  She told me that I could do it and that I could make it.  So I dug deep and kept going.  This is where Gastroparesis is a bonus.  Gastroparesis teaches you how to dig deep and keep going in spite of being an absolute emotional wreck.  You have to keep going in life, you have to keep fighting to maintain your life so you learn to block everything else out and keep going.  Gastroparesis flairs are also extremely painful so I suspect GPers have a higher pain tolerance than most.  I also got extremely angry at GP for taking my training schedule away from me and this gave me some extra fight to make it to the end.

However, on the last mile my knee gave out.  (In high school I had screwed my knee up pretty badly and it has given me problems off and on ever since.)  After all that I had been through for the preceding 12 miles, I was not about to let my knee stop me.  I had to finish this race or it was going to be a HUGE mental blow for me.  A mental blow that was going to take awhile to overcome.  So I hobbled and half hopped my way to the finish.

I found my amazingly supportive boyfriend, who gave me a huge hug while the floodgates of pain & emotion opened up.  It really takes a special person to encourage someone to keep doing this in spite of the pain and emotional turmoil.  Most people would tell you to quit or take it easy or that you are nuts.  Yes, I am nuts but it takes someone special to realize how even though my body goes through hell, that I need the emotional victory of finishing more than I need my body in tact.

So now, after a visit to an orthopedic surgeon, I am due for a month of physical therapy to repair my damaged IT band.   It will be a great opportunity to educate another portion of the medical community about Gastroparesis!

Thank you all for the support & encouragement.  Your comments (and songs) were running through my head as I fought to finish my 13.1 miles!

~Millie

Suggest a Song to Cheer Me On!

Posted by Mildred Jane on May 4, 2013
Posted in: Energy, Exercise, Friends, Gastroparesis, half marathon, health, Inspiration, Life, running. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

running-woman-music-notes

Okay everyone!  It is time for some audience participation!  Are you ready?  I hope so! 

As mentioned yesterday, I am preparing to complete my third half marathon tomorrow!  I’ve received several notes of encouragement from my fellow GPers and was wishing that you could all be along the course route to help cheer me on.  As I was updating my iPod, I realized that you can be along the course!  You can be there through music. 

Here is my request (aka crazy idea which I personally think is awesome)…send me one upbeat song to add into my iPod for the race tomorrow.  Then tomorrow when the song comes on, I will think of you & my entire Gastroparesis family that is cheering me on from all over the world.  I have no doubt in my mind that hearing songs suggested by you will help giving me the extra boost to keep putting one foot in front of the other and finish the race. 

Music has always given me an extra boost while running.  Sometimes the right song can make all the difference in pace and determination.  It can help you stretch your stride out.  It can help you control your breathing.  It can help you remember that even though you are slow that you are still accomplishing something amazing.  It can help you control the tears of emotion.  It can remind you of just how many people have your back.

Tomorrow I will be will be wearing my Gastroparesis race shirt that states “At Least I’m Faster Than My Stomach” and hopefully my iPod will be full of songs that are the voices of my GPer family cheering my on!

Looking forward to seeing what will be on the playlist!

~Millie

One Foot In Front of the Other

Posted by Mildred Jane on May 3, 2013
Posted in: Energy, Exercise, Gastroparesis, GERD, gluten free, half marathon, health, Inspiration, Life, running. Tagged: , , , , , , . 6 Comments

A female road runner runs down a road at dusk at Independence Pass.

After a brief hiatus, most people would say that they took time to stop and smell the roses.  I did do some of that but most of this week was spent preparing for 13.1 miles of insanity on Sunday.  That’s right, I might have Gastroparesis but I’m still going to cross the finish line of a half marathon on Sunday!

I was always a runner growing up and it is in my blood.  I was never extremely fast but have learned the insane ability to get over the mental hurdle of physical endurance and pain.  There are times that I attribute growing up running long distance for my ability to remain positive amongst the pain of Gastroparesis.  When you are running for 2-3 hour long practices, you definitely learn the ability to have mind over matter.  There are times when this is easier said than done, but in general you have learned the odd skill of being able to torture yourself.

Last year I was able to complete 2 half marathons and was incredibly proud of myself.  I even had a race shirt made that says “At Least I’m Faster Than My Stomach”!  It is quite the conversation piece back amongst the slow pokes of the race.  There are periods of each race where I must walk due to Gastroparesis, but I don’t mind because I am proud of myself for being out there.  This are also the points in which other walkers ask me about my shirt and are in complete shock that I have a screwed up stomach and am still out there.  It always brings some tears to my eyes and I doubt that there will ever be a time that it won’t.  It means so much to be able to educate while taking on such a lofty goal.

My first half marathon was last year at this time.  I was quite ill for the months leading up to it and was not able to train.  I was worried and confused as to whether or not I should still attempt it.  My wonderfully supportive boyfriend egged me on to give it a shot.  (We are both competitive in a fun manner and I wasn’t about to see him with a medal and miss out on mine!)  There were several times during the race that I thought I was going to have to drop out, but then I would hear a Johnny Cash song coming from a band along the route.  He was one of my grandpa’s favorites.  My grandpa had recently passed away and we were extremely close.  I felt that all of the Johnny Cash songs were my grandpa also egging me on to keep putting one foot in front of the other and cross the finish line.  (Really? What are the odds of 5 out of 6 bands playing Johnny Cash?)

This also got me thinking about Gastroparesis.  We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving.  We have to keep fighting to find treatment options and cures.  We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other to try to remain positive.  We have to keep taking steps to try to maintain some “normalcy” in life.  We have to keep moving both physically and mentally.  It might seem like the race will never end, but one day it will.  Hopefully it will in our lifetime!

So my 13.1 miles on Sunday will be dedicated to all of the GPers and all of you will be in my mind as I keep putting one foot in front of the other!

~Millie