three things thursday
1. I've been on the wild round of breathing meds for about three weeks now, and I think it's safe to say they have made a pretty significant difference in my life. As my body adjusted, my heart rates as related to pace in training balanced out to numbers that look familiar. The long run I did the week before I started on the regimen was averaging in the 12 minute/mile area, which I'm not sure I've ever seen. The one I did three days after starting the drugs averaged in the low 11s, net uphill out the W&OD trail to work, and the one I did last weekend was well into the 10s. My associated heart rate averages also dropped with these runs. Numbers = science = drugs are good. I'M NOT DOPING I SWEAR TO GOD.
The only symptom that is still lingering is a decent amount of congestion, but I've got my follow-up appointment next week so hopefully my doctor can slightly adjust a drug that will help me dry out. There's a decent chance that the congestion is related to the amount of puppy that is in my house, but I'm happy to live with that.
2. A few weeks ago, I managed to bend Beth's ear about supplements, something I don't know much about but have been taking for a while now (I know). I was mostly curious about the beta-alanine supplement. I've done a tremendous amount of reading about it and the research seems to indicate that it's a good one, especially for people who don't eat meat (which has been me for about a month now, again, but that's a story for another time, or maybe #3). At the most basic level, it's an amino acid that helps to fight the drop in pH that happens when you exercise. The natural dietary source for it is generally beef, pork, fish, and chicken. Anyway, I started taking it about two weeks ago and haven't noticed a significant difference yet, but as a science experiment of one I'm excited to see what happens.
The other supplements I've been taking regularly are a multi-vitimin (Flintstones chewable), glucosamine, and a calcium supplement. I added an iron supplement with a Vitamin C chaser in the evenings about a month ago, mostly for insurance, but if I don't notice a difference I'll drop it back out. Obviously I'm not a scientist or a dietitian so take everything I say with a grain of salt because it's entirely likely that I'm full of crap. However, I pretty firmly believe that trying out these things won't hurt me in the long run, which is why I'm doing it. If I decide that it's not helping me at all, I'll get rid of it. I have mixed feelings about taking pills and supplements instead of getting what I need from real food, but since I've dropped meat back out of my diet and am planning on dropping dairy any day now, I want to make sure I'm filling in those blanks. So we'll see how it goes.
3. Yesterday I got stung by a bee three times on my ride and this morning I swallowed a whole mouthful of gnats. It's good to be me.
Happy Thursday, friends! Do you take drugs like me? How many of these things I just talked about did you have to google?
The only symptom that is still lingering is a decent amount of congestion, but I've got my follow-up appointment next week so hopefully my doctor can slightly adjust a drug that will help me dry out. There's a decent chance that the congestion is related to the amount of puppy that is in my house, but I'm happy to live with that.
The other supplements I've been taking regularly are a multi-vitimin (Flintstones chewable), glucosamine, and a calcium supplement. I added an iron supplement with a Vitamin C chaser in the evenings about a month ago, mostly for insurance, but if I don't notice a difference I'll drop it back out. Obviously I'm not a scientist or a dietitian so take everything I say with a grain of salt because it's entirely likely that I'm full of crap. However, I pretty firmly believe that trying out these things won't hurt me in the long run, which is why I'm doing it. If I decide that it's not helping me at all, I'll get rid of it. I have mixed feelings about taking pills and supplements instead of getting what I need from real food, but since I've dropped meat back out of my diet and am planning on dropping dairy any day now, I want to make sure I'm filling in those blanks. So we'll see how it goes.
3. Yesterday I got stung by a bee three times on my ride and this morning I swallowed a whole mouthful of gnats. It's good to be me.
