This is NOT a joke.
I started a new runners program today.
…..
I KNOW!!
Are you up off the floor yet?

I never thought that I’d see the day either, but here it is.
Today, on January the eleventh in the year two thousand and ten, I, Nello, also known to some as Kelly, started a beginners running program with the aim of getting my poor, broken down body into as good of shape as I can get it in to. Friends, this is NOT about losing weight. Mostly this is about showing myself that despite the fact that my body continues to fail me, that I still can do some things; and that includes keeping (or, in my case, starting to get) my body healthy. I’m getting older and I don’t want to wake up one day and wish I would have done this sooner.

I also happen to have a husband who is positively addicted to running. He runs at least three to four days a week and I don’t even want to tell you how many miles he puts in…. because it’s a lot. The man runs so much that he has to buy new running shoes every quarter because apparently you can only run so many miles on one pair of shoes. Did you know that? I had zero CLUE about that fact… I only thought that was applicable to tires for crying out loud! I had no idea that it applied to the rubber soles on your feet as well. Tyson also subscribes to Runners World. So every time I enter the bathroom I see that magazine glaring at me in the reading rack. I even read it every once in a while. (~gasp~) Well, after four or five years of watching my husband fall in love with running, and after hearing him suggest to me ever so politely (many times) that I try to take up running myself just to see how it made me feel, I’ve decided to give it a go. ~shock~

About two months ago I asked Tyson to find me a beginners program, something easy, something “Nello friendly”. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you know that I have RSD (CRPS) and you know that it afflicts my right foot. You also know it causes me much pain, BURNING pain, and that there are days that I cannot walk. RSD also notoriously causes swelling and nasty color change, all without a cure and all without a known cause. All that is known of RSD is that it is a neurological disease that affects the nerves (in my case, it is the S1 nerve) and causes the afflicted nerve(s) to “misfire” and wreak all of the havoc that I have just previously described. I have had RSD since November-ish of 2006 and am at this point considered “stable”. I still have bad days, but they are not that frequent and over the years I have learned many ways in which to deal with the every day pain of it all.

I just gave you the short version of my RSD story, and now you know why I needed a running program that was “Nello friendly”. I hate the BURNING pain of RSD and I try really hard not to trigger it. The other reason I need a “Nello friendly” program is because of a recent health problem that involves the swelling of both of my optic nerves. The Doctors I am currently seeing think I have a pseudotumor, but so far the medication they have given me to treat said pseudotumor hasn’t worked. Whatever is going on, pseudotumor or not, I am losing my vision in both eyes (but much more rapidly in my right eye), I am getting literally blinding headaches, and I am having major balance problems (people and walls keeping running into me a lot lately).

Ha!hahahahaha! I just gave you the short version of my papilledema/pseudotumor problems….. and I am laughing! Because I went back and read those last two paragraphs and realized that I have every reason in the world NOT to do this stupid running program! What a JOKE! Runners World would get either a good laugh out of my story (”Running is not for you sister… Swimming is more up your alley! Or water-aerobics!”) or they would consider using it as a cliche “anyone can do it” inspirational pieces. (That is, if I actually saw this thing through…) Can’t you just see it? The Full-Time Mother/Student with RSD and Papilledema Who Decided to Lace Up Her Trainers and Leave Her Incurable Health Troubles Behind Her. To me, this is soooo funny. So funny that this is me, that this is MY life. But I know, to a few others, this would be like one of those inspirational posters people put up in their cubicles at work…. ~shudder~ Well, whatever…. Enough with my weird inner thoughts. Moving on to what I came on here to tell you.

The program I’m doing is an eight week program, (Tyson found the program at Runners World if you care to join in on my fun) at the end of which I will, in theory, be running thirty minutes straight. Today, Day ONE, I ran one minute, walked two minutes, and repeated that sequence ten times. So I actually exercised for thirty minutes straight and ended up running/walking two miles just because of the pace that I kept. The great thing about this program is that you go at your own pace AND you GET to walk!! I know the walking gets phased out, but you work up to that part and I like it.

As far as how my RSD did with it, I thought it went ok. About half way through the workout, the BURN (do you like the all caps for “BURN” whenever I talk about RSD pain?… didja even notice?) began, but it wasn’t bad enough to stop me or even to make me want to stop. And, so far I haven’t had any residual pain because of the workout and I take this to be a very good sign. As far as how my swollen optic nerves did… lets just say that the balance issues were a definite problem. It’s a good thing that our treadmill has the side-rails to hang onto because without those I would have fallen off. And I am not exaggerating. I would have fallen sideways off the side of that thing within the first two minutes. I just have no balance. If I didn’t hang on I ended up walking on my out-step (not even sure if that is a real term or not…) and then would get all wobbly. You see, I haven’t had these “severe” balance problems long enough to remember that every now and again I need to hang on to stuff in order to stay upright. Ugh. So.Annoying. Anyway… Day TWO, tomorrow, is just a 30 minute walk which I am very much looking forward to.
My plan is to keep the blog updated with my progress. This is a big deal to me and I really hope my body is up for the task because I’ve got big plans.

The big plan?
The big plan is this:
If I can stick this out, and get through these eight weeks, and get to the point where I can run for thirty minutes straight, my plan is to run in one of the RSD half or full Marathons that no one ever hears about because RSD is just not very well known. I’m going to track down the next RSD Marathon and I’m going to RUN it (either half or all of it, depending on where I’m at and what my body will let me do at the time). I’m going to run the WHOLE freaking thing and that will be my way of really, truly telling RSD to go straight down to Hell, right down where it belongs.
I’m pretty sure I’m ready. I know I’m more than ready to be rid of RSD and since that is impossible, this is my next best option; to figuratively kick it to the curb. And if I can run any distance longer than a meter, then, really, I’ll have done just that in my opinion.
I feel ready…. I just hope my body (most importantly my foot) is ready!
Wish me luck. And if you want, stick around to watch to potential train wreck!

Oh! And Happy Belated Holidays!