Kathleen's Adventures

Grrrrrrrrrrrr....its coming back to haunt me.  I had a POTS episode Thursday night and Friday night while running.  While I've had a history with it, I cannot tell you the last time I've had any issues come up.  I guess it was in the spring?  If even then?  I had almost all but forgotten about it.  Monday night I had a great run, Tuesday I had a great swim, and Wednesday I had a great bike workout.  When I say great about all of these, I mean good and hard, but I felt strong at the end, not positively exhausted.  However, come Thursday evening, on a measly little 2 mile run, it came back.  Seriously?  Really?  Now?  Why?  The lack of predictability of this stupid thing has been the most frustrating part - not necessarily knowing what causes it or what makes the symptoms go away.  Thursday I went on to do our weightlifting class and felt okay, but decided to skip on on my swim workout and get some rest.  ...

Wow - what a weekend! Friday afternoon Mom and Dad came through Houston and picked me up on their way to San Antonio. My nieces' school was doing their first ever production of Beauty and the Beast . Molly was Chip, the teacup, and my sister was the choreographer. I was one proud aunt and sister that night! They did a fabulous job. I was absolutely beaming throughout, and couldn't stop from laughing out loud when Bennett, my 3 yr old niece, was singing along at full volume on some of the songs. She's heard them for months now and saw no reason not to sing along this time since she had every other time they played previously. Saturday Mom and Dad handed me off to Jon in San Marcos at the outlet mall. The place was an absolute zoo - I guess because the sun came out for the first time in ages. I did score a few things at Nike and a little clutch I'd been wanting from Kate Spade for a while. We didn't have tons of time because I still had to get to the expo for packet p...

Wow - this is long. Maybe I should blog more often so I wouldn't have as much to say at one time. I'm impressed if anyone actually reads the whole thing. So I think I am learning the hard way that being sick can bring me back to square one with POTS. I'm not entirely sure that is what is going on, but it seems to be the case. How awesome is it that I can finally recover from 6+ weeks of bronchitis only to be slapped in the face with POTS all over again? I have had no heart rate issues since maybe July, and that was my recovery month from IMCDA and it was 100 degrees outside, so understandable that it was harder to keep my HR under 85% max then as opposed to April or October. I remember I was a bit worried on a few runs then, but any issues I may have had faded as the temperatures slowly dropped and my mileage slowly ramped back up for IMFL. Not including July, it has been a good 10-11 months since I have had major POTS issues. I cannot even tell you when they really started...

Well, my race was not that bad, all things considering. But of course it was not what I wanted. I have to keep reminding myself to take a step back and look at what my last two months have looked like (sick and very little training), and what the last year looked like (awesome long-distance triathlon season - could not have asked for better quarter/olympic, half and full ironman races). I know I cannot have it all, and that I have to rest sometimes, whether I planned for it or not, but it is also hard to see some people transition from triathlons to running or vice versa seemingly effortlessly. Several who raced IMFL went on to pop out PR's in the half and full yesterday. I hobbled and gasped my way to a less than stellar race and am pretty bummed out about it. But I have to realize the last good run of any kind I have had was over a month ago, at the Jingle Bell run, and even there I had the beginnings of an asthma attack halfway through. I had run 11 miles total in the two weeks ...

Yup! That's me. I obviously have some explaining to do though. Last year I ran the Jingle Bell run just a few weeks after I started back up again after being so sick (later found out it was POTS ). I ran there saying I had to keep my heart rate at or below 85% max (170 for me). That produced a stellar run at 12:50 min/mile, with an overall time of 1:03:16. It was so hard for me to go that slow, but I knew it was the only way I could ensure (or at least hope) I was not going to do any more damage, and was the best way I knew to slooooowly come back. Well, I think my approach worked. This year I ran 21 minutes faster and finished in 42:06. That equates to an 8:25 pace (I actually think it was faster than that - everyone's garmins measured the course long, at 5.1 miles, giving me an 8:17 pace. Doesn't matter for results as everyone ran the same course, just a good bit of info to file away in my brain to use for comparison, etc going forward). The weather this year...

Click here for more pictures! Wow. What a day. I wish I could bottle up the awesome high you get during an Ironman to make it last just a little bit longer. Pre -Race Team W (my parents, Dr. Doug and Linda, Jon, and myself) did not arrive in CDA until about 1am Friday morning. You just don't realize (at least I don't...) how far across the country northern Idaho is from Houston! It takes a long time to get there no matter how you do it. Friday morning I did a quick swim before standing in line 1.5 hours to register. Note to self: get in line before 9:45am or after noon to register (opens at 10am). I got in line around 10:15 and stood in the cold windy rain for way too long - I guess it was good practice for braving similar elements that were to come on race day! Saturday was actually a fairly pretty day - the calm before the storm. Jill, Jon, and I did a quick 30 minute spin along the lake before our group met for a big group picture. After that I did a quick 15 min...

I woke up this morning and could not go back to sleep so I decided to get out of bed and pulled out the suitcase...guess this is really happening! The sun is coming up earlier and earlier and I think I really am a true child of the sun - when it is up I am awake. That will be very interesting when we get to CDA and the sun comes up at 4:30. I hope the hotel room has good curtains! I have been asked by several people over the last few days "how's the ticker?" Seriously - the term "ticker" was used over and over again. It was kind of funny. I haven't blogged about the POTS stuff lately mostly because it has not really been on my mind, which is a good thing. I did sit down and read back about 6 months on my blog the other day and I am blown away at how sick I was then and how healthy I seem to be today. I say seem because I have learned that you just never know. Over the past few months, things have seemed to be okay health-wise. I have not been cons...

I have felt like poo for about the last 4 weeks. I had a great week in the middle of March, and it seems like it has all been downhill since then. I have no idea if it has anything to do with POTS or not, but I assume it does. I'm over salt and compression socks. Eating Ramen and Easy Mac on a daily basis just isn't good. I feel like I've fallen off the training wagon too which sucks. I had all sorts of momentum heading into Lonestar and feel like I have somehow just lost it all since then. Granted I've had a lot of other stuff going on, but still. Lonestar meant that I did not run or ride long that weekend. The weekend before that I ran 15 miles and biked 80 on a moderately hilly course. Both of those went pretty well. This past weekend though I only made it 12.5 miles on my long run and our hilly century at the Easter Hill Country Tour turned into 75 miles of hell. The run was hot and humid and a good :30-:45 seconds/mile slower than I have been running. My heart rat...

I'm not sure what, and I'm not sure I should ask questions, but something is going right. I have had a great training week, despite the fact that I got to the pool on Tuesday only to find out it was closed, thus no masters workout. No problem, only an hour of my life wasted sitting in traffic. I did a spinerval workout at home both Tuesday and Wednesday. I forget how good they are - far better than me being left to spin at my own pace. I turn the DVD music off and turn my radio on and I'm good to go, surprisingly. Wednesday night at track I had a good workout too. The workout was 6x800 at I pace with 2 minutes rest then 4x200 at R pace with 2 minutes rest. My vdot last year at this time was 39. This year I started at a humbling 32. My 10k a few weeks ago brought me to a stout 33 - watch out. As I was walking out the door on Wednesday, with my 33 vdot times in hand, I thought I'd check to see if my 2:03 half marathon time from the weekend changed anything. Sure enough i...

I found a good link here, after discussing my issues with a fellow triathlete over the weekend. He said he remembered US Soccer player Michelle Akers had something similar. I have just started looking at info about that, as it might give some insight into orthostatic intolerance and athletes, but the link I included above is a good, basic description of what is going on when someone has orthostatic issues.

Almost.... Yesterday I ran the Seabrook Lucky Trails Half Marathon , to be exact. I ran it in 2:03...a mere 7 minutes shy of my PR I set just over a year ago, and 13 minutes faster than the HM I ran this January and 8 minutes faster than the HM I ran this February. My second half was only a measly 4 seconds slower than my first half, which is huge for me. I went in having no idea how the race would turn out, considering the 2:11 I ran exactly 4 weeks earlier in Austin was all I had. My first mile was around a 9:02 and I thought to myself that that was pretty dumb and that I should be running closer to 10:00 pace. I slowed a bit, but even when I thought I was slowing way down, I was still a bit faster than 9:30 pace. I just kept surprising myself mile after mile as I was able to hold on to that pace. Around mile 10 they have girl scout cookies and I think those turned me into high gear! I was so excited about the cookies, the next 3 miles were great. Mile 13 was my fastest at a 8:59. My...

I found a new website that has all sorts of good info about POTS: http://www.potsplace.com/ If you are interested in reading any more about it, go there. On the left, you will see a menu with symptoms, causes, what to avoid, etc. I will highlight some of the stuff here that has kind of set off a light bulb in my head. Symptoms Lightheadedness Fainting or near fainting 60.5% of patients report near fainting Generalized weakness Shortness of breath 2 Chest discomfort and/or pain Loss of sweating Excessive sweating (Loss of sweating and excessive sweating are more common in patients with elevated norepinephrine levels) Delayed gastric emptying (23.7% of patients report gastrointestinal complaints, including bloating) Bloating after meals Nausea Abdominal pain Fatigue (which can be disabling) Sleep disorders (can cause unrefreshing sleep and an increased need for sleep) Dizziness Tachycardia Exercise intolerance Intolerance to heat Feeling cold all over Noise sensitivity Light Sensitivit...

That's what we do as triathletes, right? I guess I'll write a little about each. Swimming update: I finally got myself to masters on Tuesday night and it was a good workout. I swam 3100 yds and did not die. That included 4x250 of pulling, which is good for this time of year and good for triathletes who don't really kick anyway. I also got out of work early last Friday and got in a 1600yd swim then with a 1000yd time trial. I haven't looked yet for any old times to see how it compared, but the time was nothing impressive, so I'm looking for some substantial improvement over the next few months! Biking update: Did Rick's Brick again on Sunday. It was awesome, as expected. I was surprised how hot it got though considering I'd started my previous 2 long rides dressed up looking like a snowman because it had been so cold. Looks like I'll be dressed that way again on Saturday, but probably soaking wet as well. Can't wait. But back to Sunday's ride. We...

Have a good amount of sodium....120mg for a 45 calorie stick. Yummy. It is going to be very hard to get as much sodium as I need from regular food without doubling my caloric intake, and I don't want that. I am already worried about the water weight I will be carrying around once I get to 5000-6000mg of sodium a day so I don't need real weight to be added on top of that. Yesterday I was thrilled about finally having a diagnosis, but now the reality of that diagnosis and the uncertainty around POTS is starting to set in. Yes, it is an answer, but not a great answer. There will still probably be more questions than answers. The dr. even said with some sort of structural defect they know what it is and how to treat it, not so with this. I guess I'm just worried it salt and compression socks won't bring me to my next PR and that perhaps nothing will. I don't think or expect that everything will be back to normal as soon as I eat some salt and slap on some compression so...