Body signs

About a month ago I was running one of my favorite 5-mile routes by a local golf course when I started noticing a weird twinge in my right leg. I stopped, stretched it out, and continued on. While I was running I was contemplating the pains we experience when we challenge ourselves. I had just signed up for my first half marathon (prior to that date, my longest run was just shy of 11 miles, so I felt totally on track as far as training was concerned). More specifically, I was considering the aches that I had gone through over the course of the semester (both physically from my running and mentally from the program). There were headaches, backaches, aches in my stomach, aches in my legs….but I iced, or stretched, or soaked, or rested. These aches were nothing new…in fact they were expected – growing pains as I expanded my abilities.

Then on the Thursday following my sign-up, I got a calf cramp. It was annoying, but nothing I couldn’t run through. It felt like a bad toe cramp (the kind where your toes involuntarily cross and you can’t move them) but directly in the center of my right calf. I took the day off, iced and stretched it, and went out the next day to do a 5-miler. A mile and a half later I was hobbling back to my apt…most certainly injured. A calf strain (somewhere between level 1 and 2) that later resulted in an Achilles and ankle strain. I haven’t run for 3 weeks, and I probably won’t for another 2...nothing left to do but baby my leg until it heals. No half marathon for me this winter. :-(

The question I have been grappling with is how was I supposed to know? I was sore often from pushing myself on my runs, and driving through it has always resulted in personal development. This time it cost me a race and over a month of training. What signs do we look for to know that pain is a sign of improvement or a sign of injury? What hallmarks can warn us?

On another note, Christmas break was great…I went home to see my family and then flew out to meet up with my boyfriend and his family and friends for a few days. Now that I’m back I’m feeling a little drained. There is no reason I can think of for it though....maybe I need to get myself back on a regular schedule to energize myself?

Oddly, I’ve been having a lot of nightmares lately. It’s so strange because they are so vivid and real, and even 4 minutes after waking I can remember all of the details clearly. I had a bad set while I was visiting my boyfriend, and then last night I had a series of nightmares. I would wake up between them, acknowledge everything that occurred and that it was just a dream, and then go back to sleep. After the third nightmare, I could still recall all of the details from the first two. I also experienced sleep paralysis again last night for the first time in perhaps 2-3 years. I used to get it in high school and college several times a year, but it was odd to go through it again. For those of you who have never gone through sleep paralysis, it is a bizarre (and initially terrifying) experience: your body is completely void of muscle tone, as if you were still asleep. You are completely dead weight. Your mind, however, is awake and in my case wholly aware. It actually feels a lot like when you are starting to pass out, right after everything goes black and you cannot feel anything or move, but you can hear everything going on. I’ve found during my episodes the worst thing to do is to fight it because it just scares me and makes me panic. The more I try to move my arms, open my eyes, move my mouth, the more frustrated and nervous I get. I’ve learned if I just breathe deeply and know I can ride out the few minutes that it lasts, I will shake it off more easily.

Another weird thing I’ve noticed is that my blood pressure has been acting up. I have always had very low blood pressure (standard for me is like 100/70), but lately I’ve had crazy waves of orthostatic hypotension. Not uncommon if I haven’t eaten a lot, but these episodes are occurring without warning.

So strange, though. Gosh. This, combined with my unusual fatigue and my constant freezing feet and hands....and now I’m starting to wonder if, despite taking a daily multivitamin, I may actually be anemic. Maybe I should get tested?