Apparently, I could do a better job of doing exactly what the title of this blog post says..”always listen to your body”

Many of you have asked what my current training schedule looks like and what races am I signed up for.  Well, for the first time ever I’m not signed up for any race  

The last time I was not  racing or playing soccer is when I was so little and young I couldn’t.  Seriously, its true.

I’ve been competing in running and sports my entire life (thanks to my 3 older brothers it was just a way of life growing up). 

The only reason I’m not is because I’m dealing with some health issues…yet to be completely figured out, but most likely thyroid and hormone related stuff.

The reason I bring this up is because I believe I’ve been dealing with this issue long before I decided to accept “something is wrong with me”. My last 3 races were sub par (meaning I was a good 5 minutes slower on my finish time).  Even though we can have our bad race days, this was different.  It wasn’t a “oh, its just not my day”   Something inside was telling me something wasn’t right.  And, i was experiencing symptoms I’ve never had before.

For example, I would be racing a half marathon and going at my 6:55 per mile pace for a good 8-9 miles than my body would completely shut down.  It wasn’t a hit the wall feeling, it was my body saying NO MORE. Stop.  Of course, I never did stop and did all I could to push through.  Its hard to explain but I would get shaky and could feel my heart pacing.  IT wasn’t because I was dehydrated or lack of food, because I’m always good about refueling and I haven’t changed my race day routine in years, so why now am I feeling this way.

The first time this happened, I ignored it.  The second time, I ignored it again.  In fact, I was disappointed in my race results that I tried to train harder telling myself I must be out of shape if I”m slower in my races.  However, deep down I knew something was up with my body…I was just in denial.

Last December i did the Las Vegas Rock ‘n Roll half and that’s when I decided something really is going on with my body and its not right.   I was feeling great and running a sub-7 pace and at mile 10 it all fell apart.  That’s how sudden this “whatever is going on with me” happens.  I was practically in tears and had to take walk breaks.  I pushed and pushed just to get to the finish line with a 1:40 time (even though I was on pace for 1:33).

In addition to these weird race day happenings, I am experiencing night sweats, migraines, fatigue and extremely cold body temperature.  But, these symptoms come and go, so one the days I feel good I tell myself “I must be crazy.  I feel fine”  then the next day is a migraine and no energy and I decide I’m not crazy and something is not right.   Plus, I’m really good at faking it, so even on the days I feel like crap, I put on a smile and get through it.  No one has noticed, but I certainly do!

Long story short, this experience made me decide to see a doctor.  Funny, I don’t even have a doctor because (knock on wood) I don’t get sick and haven’t broken any bones.  I went to a doctor at Group Health and explained all my symptoms.  He did a bunch of blood samples and  called two days later to say everything looks fine and maybe I should consider an exercise plan and eating a balanced diet!  Ha, now thats funny… I guess he really wasn’t listening when I explained to him what I do for a living and even handed him over my 2 week food journal. 

Hmmm…well, now what?  I really am CRAZY! 

The symptoms were not going away, so I decided to see a naturopath.  She asked to see my blood work results and she had a completely different opinion of my results.  According to her, my iron was anemic level, my glucose was low, my Thyroid hormone was tanked, and Vit D was tanked…by the way, everyone in Seattle is low Vit D. 

She also had me do a health assessment so she could know my eating patterns and exercise pattern.  Even though I’m not able to run long distance, I am getting in 30-45 minutes of weight training, light jogging, and swimming.

Anyhow, I found it very interesting how the naturopath (Eastern medicine) took a whole different approach to analyzing blood work and in fact, did find some red flags on my results.  This gave me some relief to know something really is going on.

I’ve been to 3 doctors (2 naturopath and 1 endocrinologist) and trying to find the right balance to help me feel better. I’m not a big fan of pharmaceutical drugs, so right now I”m trying to fix my issues naturally.  I already eat well and include a ton of fruits and veggies in my diet which was one recommendation.  I’m also taking a bunch of herbs and using natural creams to see if this helps any.

I’m getting very impatient and hope to see improvement ASAP!  It kills me to not be able to run more than 3 miles and to not be signed up for a race.  BUT, it has made me slow down and appreciate good health.  My condition could be worse and I’m thankful its not, but I’m also ready to be back to NORMAL. 

apparently, my issue is a common one with female athletes. Low iron, thyroid, and estrogen dominance apparently all work together to strike against the body when any one of those is out of balance.

In the meantime, I”m staying plenty busy with my new business and am looking forward to getting back to normal so I can get back out and kick some A**.

anyone else deal with these issues I explain above?  if you have any insight or advice, please share. 

I’m currently working with doctors at the Tahoma Clinic in Renton.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 6:59 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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