Today, my nose was like a fire-hose

My nose has been dripping all day. Not just dripping, but running and running. In addition, I've felt tired all day and haven't done much except walk around the house and sit.

Ran 3.5 miles in the cold

In the late afternoon, I ran 3.5 miles and felt pretty good during the run. The temperature was in the mid 20s (F), and the sky was mostly overcast. I had planned to only run 2 miles, but when I finished that, the sun was out and I felt warm, and I did the north-bound segment of the Parkway path for another 1.5 miles. After I started up the north-bound segment, the sun was soon covered with clouds, and I felt cold for the rest of the run. I really do have to start wearing more layers when I run. I'm older now and am going slower, and the three layers that I've worn in Utah for the past 15 years isn't quite enough. I have an old shirt from my days of doing telephone repair for US West that will make a nice 4th layer. I wore my ice shoes and had no problems with the ice and snow on the path.

Later in the evening, I could tell my drippy nose was getting worse. The mucus in my nose and throat had almost gone away, but my nose started to drip more during the evening. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

Wendy: Running After a Stress Fracture

I'm very excited to say I am truely back to running. Maybe not back to my usual mileage or speed, but definitely back in the game. Starting with test runs that lasted only a minute or two and working my way up from there, I ran 16 miles last week including, a 5K (race report here), a road run of 4 miles, and treadmill runs of 5 miles. The only bummer in the mix is that it is really cold here in South Korea, it is all of 5F as I type this morning!

About a week ago I had a bit of a nasty turn. I slipped on some ice and, although I did not fall all the way down, the process of catching myself strained my hip and RA quickly attacked. Fortunately, it bears weight fine, but it is tender when I start my runs and like breaking loose a rusty hinge if I have been seated for more than a few minutes.

Injuries and RA can feel very much the same at times, but what really makes it possible to differentiate them is that arthritis (RA or OA) improves the more you move. This is a great incentive! When you know that pusing through the pain and discomfort will bring relief, it makes it possible to get out of the chair. You have a light at the end of the tunnel and the more you move, the faster you will get there.

Strength and flexibility are incredibly important with arthritis. In order to deal with not being able to run, I have spent a lot of time in the gym for the last few months and recently highered a personal trainer. Normally, and expense like that is out of reach for me, but I used my birthday money because I knew it woudl be a worth while investment. So far we have met for the initial consultation (which was free) and she gave me a few exercises to get started improving hip strength. This week we will do our first full workout session together, I can't wait!!!

Went for a short run/walk

Even though my wakeup pulse rate was high, I felt pretty good, and I did a short run/walk of 2 miles during the late afternoon. The sky was overcast, and the temperature was in the mid 20s (F). The first 1/4 mile of the Parkway path was covered with ice and snow covered ice, but the rest of the path was about half covered, and I was able to go on the part that was bare. I did 109 left-foot-steps running and 66 lfs walking. When I finished, I was cold but felt OK. I finished during dusk.

I've noticed that during this first week of 2011, I'm feeling the cold more than I did in 2010. A month ago I would have run with a temperature of mid 20s and felt fine. Now, at that temperature, I feel like I need another layer. Three layers will likely be fine down to 32 degrees, but four layers will be needed for temps in the 20s and probably five layers for temps in the teens and below. Maybe in another couple of weeks I'll be recovered more and won't need more than three layers, but for now I do need more. I'm running slower than I did a few years ago, and my body generates less heat now than it did then.

My cough went through several stages

I didn't run this past week, because I rested from running and gave my body a chance to recover from a serious cough and drippy nose. My wakeup heart rate was in the high 60s and low 70s during the week, even though I slept well during the week. It is still high (61 this morning), indicating my body is still tired.

After my last run, which was on Thursday, December 30, I slept most of the next day and a good part of the first day of 2011. I didn't eat much during that time. I had a serious dry cough that sounded bad, happened frequently, but didn't bring up much phlegm. After a couple days of that, the cough changed to a wet cough, still occurring frequently, that brought up thick gobs of dark, greenish mucus. I started to get my energy level back, and I ate more food. After 2-3 days of the wet cough, it changed back to a dry cough that, infrequently, brought up small gobs of yellowish mucus. My energy level and my appetite continued to improve.

As a user of homeopathic remedies, I've learned to interpret changes in the symptoms of my illness as good news. The changes show my body is adapting to the illness and is starting to overcome the illness. As each change in my cough occurred, I took appropriate homeopathic remedies. Homeopathic remedies don't suppress or mask symptoms. The remedies do trigger my body to take action against the illness, and the symptoms change as the nature of the illness changes.

Three nights ago, a strange thing happened. I woke up, after about 3 hours of sleep, with a dry cough that wouldn't stop. It was like a continuous cough. The cough tried hard to bring up mucus, but nothing came up. I took a couple of remedies that didn't have any effect. I thought I was doomed to be awake the whole night. This was the first time I'd been kept awake by my cough. Then I tried Lachesis, and within 2 seconds the cough stopped, and I slept well the rest of the night. During the next night, I again woke up with a frequent, dry cough that wasn't quite as frequent or as intense as it was the night before. I immediately took Lachesis, but that remedy had no effect. After reviewing my homeopathic book for coughs, I took Rhus Tox, and within a few seconds, the coughing stopped, and I returned to bed and slept well. Last night the cough returned, not as deep or intense as it has been, and I took Rhus Tox, but that remedy had no effect. I took Phosphorus, and the cough went away and I slept well. I'm curious to see what happens tonight :)

There is a lot of contention about the use of homeopathic remedies. I've used them for over 30 years, and I know they work for me. However, as an electrical/computer engineer, I understand the physics involved, and I understand that the remedies are so diluted that there should be no molecules of the remedy left in the tablet. So, I use homeopathy and get the benefits of that approach to medicine, but I don't understand why the remedies work as well as they do.

My last run of 2010 was a "disaster"

I felt fine during the run, itself, and after the run during the evening. However, after I went to bed, I couldn't get warm. I piled on extra blankets, but I lay in bed shivering. After a couple hours, I went down to my computer room to sleep. I set the house thermostat to the daytime value, and I got warm and slept OK for the rest of the night. The computer room is the warmest room in the house, because it has a heat register just for that small room, and the computer and LAN equipment put extra heat into the room. I nibbled at some crackers for breakfast on Friday, but I didn't eat much during the day. I slept most of that day as well as my normal seven hours last night. I've had a cough for the past week, indicating my body-condition isn't good. That, and the stress of being hungry and running during the coldest night we've had this winter, apparently gave more stress to my body than it could handle.

I think I made some mistakes on Thursday before and during the run. I hadn't eaten much during the day, so when I went running/walking my body energy was low. During the run, the temperature was about 15 (F), and a 10 mph wind was blowing. I wore the same three layers that I've been wearing for temperatures in the 20s. I think I should have added another layer, and I definitely should have eaten more during the day before the run.

I feel better this morning, and I just finished a normal breakfast. My wakeup pulse rate (WPR) this morning was 67, indicating my body is awfully tired. I feel like my body is tired, too. Thus, I'm not running today (tomorrow is my normal rest day), and I'll see how my WPR is on Monday. I may or may not run on Monday, depending how I feel after I get up.