Friday, January 17, 2014

flow. not the good kind.

LESS THAN ONE WEEK UNTIL VEGAS 7s.
 
 
 But I've literally just bulldozered into a huge wall of health issues:
  •  I'm not out of the running yet for a mono-stricken rugger
  •  just found out yesterday, while at the doctor seeing if I have mono, that I randomly have ASTHMA?!
  • sequentially after finding out I have asthma my body decided to hang ten on the "crimson wave," aaaaaand my body literally feels like this:
 
Should be fully "back on land" just as I'm arriving in Vegas, but THAT'S CUTTING IT PRETTY DAMN CLOSE.
I feel like a sloth that just ate another sloth and put on cement shoes. This is TERRIBLE! It's like my womanhood is naturally trying to make me to everything I am animatedly NOT trying to do in order to prep for the tournament:
1. be a lazy sack o' potatoes in bed all day
2. eat chocolate LIKE IT'S MY JOB
3. have a SUBSTANTIAL lack of endurance while working out
 
Luckily I haven't caved in to chowing down on complete crap, but I'm still less productive than a lump on a log. DAMMIT!!!
 
 
I don't want to lose all the fitness I've worked so hard for in these next few days; I feel like they're so crucial! But luckily I was able to DRAG myself through the Chicago arctic tundra once again to make it to the gym. It definitely wasn't my best performance (I couldn't believe how quickly it took me to be absolutely out of breath/exhausted on the treadmill....SCARY), but it's especially frustrating that this stupid female bodily function is totally out of my control. I'm hoping that the next few days I'm still able to keep up the fitness, even if it feels like I'm running with a sack of flour on my back, and then feel totally lightened once I'm at the tournament and free of this stupid time of the month bull crap.
I also don't know a DAMN thing about asthma....I was pretty shocked when my doctor was running tests on me for mono and then said, "You know what? You definitely have asthma!" and prescribed me an inhaler. It's also an "as needed" inhaler, so she told me that I should use it "whenever I feel out of breath, and not go skimpy on it." But whenever I feel out of breath working out or even anywhere I have just told myself that I'm just tired or out of shape. I have NEVER EVER EVER thought any of that could be remotely attributed to asthma. So now what?! On the treadmill today, of course I felt out of breath because I was pushing myself and my body is in sluggish mode. But does that necessarily mean I puff it out (ha ha) via inhaler? I don't want the inhaler to turn into a crutch, and the minute I have trouble breathing start telling myself "WHOOP! INHALER TIME." And I don't want asthma to be an excuse for not being in shape and/or not having enough endurance. But then again, if my doctor prescribed it and really told me not to hold back when I need it...BLAAAH what do I do?! What is really considered a time where I "need" it?!
 
 
 
This is kind of turning into a "sounds like a personal problem to me" post that has nothing to do with rugby. But I will relate it back to rugby with this: where the heck would I be right now if I wasn't playing for this team and rugby wasn't a part of my life? I'd be sitting in my bed feeling saggy, shitty, and the absolute lowest of the low of energy levels while eating everything and everything under the sun that is terrible for you...and thus contributing to how nasty I feel. But instead, RUGBY got me out of bed and trekked me to the gym. RUGBY kept me on that treadmill and made me do "one more set of reps." That's because all of these things have such a deeper meaning to me when connected to rugby. Without rugby, they have NO meaning and are rendered useless. And rugby rewards my hard work by naturally making me feel happier, healthier, and more energetic. My body is my shining armor for rugby, and the more good and care that I put into it the stronger it will be against my foes (sweet Jesus....I've been reading too much Game of Thrones). These really aren't "chores" anymore or tasks that I feel like I "have" to do in order to be healthy and/or lose weight. It's like my ritual sacrifice to the rugby gods, asking them to bring me strength and agility by giving them all I've got and then seeing the rewards out on the rugby pitch. It's really AMAZING and fascinating!!!
 
Phew, that last little rant just pumped me up and pumped out some of the whiney lazy PMS-ridden me.

2 comments:

  1. OMG, I found out I had asthma when I was a senior in college! I also thought I was just out of shape; turns out that wasn't the case. I'm supposed to use my inhaler before I work out, and it has made me feel SO much better. My body actually gives out before my lungs do now, and it's amazing how much MORE I am capable of than before! Also, I learned that if I use it and don't get my heart rate up in a timely fashion, I get really panicky and uncomfortable... so it's a great way to force myself to do something haha.

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    1. Interesting!!! That helps a lot, thanks for the response! I like it that you designate a time to use the inhaler so you don't "abuse the power," so to say.

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