Posted by Michelle Hering on Tue, Aug 11, 2009
I have found myself in unfamiliar territory—I can't seem to snap out of the fatigue, pain and fogginess that have bothered me for the past several weeks. I have always suffered from almost-daily headaches and on occasion, I've had weeks when I couldn't get motivated to do anything, but usually, this came on the tail of a stressful event, such as graduation from college, finishing my thesis, suffering a miscarriage and even going through a divorce.
It's a little strange that I'm feeling this way now when nothing very serious has happened in my life. Looking back, I think it probably started back in June when things got stressful at work. My joints began to hurt, and I couldn't hold my six-month-old son Reid because my elbows and shoulders ached so bad. Even walking was a challenge. All I wanted to do was sleep, and when I was awake, I couldn't remember anything, as though I was walking through a fog.
I assumed things would simply resolve on their own and I would eventually go back to normal when the stress subsided, but that hasn't happened. In fact, it has been eight weeks and the frustration and the pain are still here. Needless to say, this has thrown a major wrench in my plans to run a marathon because frankly, getting out of bed in the morning is a big enough challenge—let alone running.
I finally decided that it was time to go to a doctor. She's not sure what's wrong, but suggested that it might be chronic fatigue syndrome. (I'm going for more testing in the coming weeks to confirm the diagnosis.) I was overwhelmed at first, as I was tried to think of how this would change my training and affect everything that I love, like being an active person, someone who keeps a clean house, plays with her son and just enjoys exercise. But after a while, I calmed myself down and decided to re-work some of my goals. The marathon is still in the picture but I've moved it down a bit from the first spot on the list. Now, I'm looking at what I can do on a day-to-day basis, mini-steps if you will, to get me back up and running (pardon the pun!) again.
My goals this week are to walk my son to daycare in the stroller and to walk the dog at least once a day. If I can do that, I will be walking 45 minutes a day. I'm aiming to get up and move around and get my joints moving and blood pumping as best I can—without causing myself any pain. I have to admit that it's strange to be in this position; I've always been the one to offer support and ideas on how to adjust exercise when someone is ill, and now I am having to listen to my own advice.
Whatever I'm battling right now, I know it won't win because I'm determined to keep moving. I might not be running the 18 miles I had planned for this weekend, but I also won't be sitting on the couch.
For advice on staying motivated during an illness or injury as well as workouts that you can do when you're under the weather, check out TheBestLife.com.