Latest Eye Appointment

Well my right eye is +.44 and my left is -1.2 That's right where we want it to be for distance (R) and reading (L). My astigmatism (causing the double vision) is still due to the edema and slow healing. Turns out the steroid drops are there to slow down the healing so I don't get haze. But I'm past the worrisome stage now so he told me to stop the steroid (Flarex) for 2 weeks and said I should see some definite improvement in the next few days. I continue to be optimistic. I guess I'll avoid fast rides for another week or so. Stick to the trainer for endurance and maybe do some hill repeats.

I went for a swim today. Took Jesse and did some lengths during public swimming. it was pretty cool to have better vision with regular swim goggles and even more so, to be able to see around the pool deck when I took them off. I wasn't up to par so only did about 40 minutes, maybe 800m? I lost count a bit so I'm guesstimating. I alos loved my new silicone swim cap. It was awesome. Smooth, tight, and no hair pulling! My hair was still dry when I took it off!

Later today, I went for a run. I did not feel like going but the sun had come out (after snow showers of all things!) so I couldn't resist. My shins/calves are sore from the MT yesterday but I decided to just go for it anyway. They didn't really hurt all that much while I was running anyway. I did mostly 5 min run intervals today and decided to do a full 5km run. The 5 minutes I walked as a cool down. My run total was 17:00 though, a bit too big a jump from my last run I think. Well, maybe not. That was 24 min and that's still about a 10% increase right? OK, I feel better. Hmm, didn't know I could talk to myself on a blog. Weird girl. Anyhoo, I am happy to have done 5km even if it took me 40 minutes. I'll try to do that 2 more times this week. Yeah.

Late. Hope my eyes are better tomorrow. They sucked today.

Mini-Update

I had my massage appointment this morning. I thought my calves were still sore and lumpy and maybe had reverted back to my previous condition but I was happy to find out there were MUCH better than last time. There is still some point tenderness, but the big lumps are almost gone and she was able to dig in there pretty deeply without hurting me. I am optimistic that I'll be able to continue increasing my running now. This week, I'll do a full 5 minute run with 1 minute walk breaks and see if I can do a full 5km. Should easily be able to do 5k in 30 minutes I think.

I called to see if I can get in with the orthoped but unfortunately she's booked up until April 8th. Ugh. So, I will keep running without the orthotics I guess. What else can I do? I figure I have a few options - get new orthotics made. Buy new runners to use with these orthotics. Get new runners and use without orthotics. Buy cheapo orthotics from the drug store? I dunno... In the meantime I am going to try wearing my orthotics with my regular shoes but quit at the first sign of pain in the toe joint.

I also called to make an appointment with the eye doctor tomorrow morning. Since I started using the Muro drops again, my eyes are definitely clearer. I read a lot online about the 'ghosting' I'm seeing. It looks like this.




It's very frustrating but I guess it's pretty well par for the course for up to THREE MONTHS or sometimes even longer. Argh. There can be several causes for the ghosting or double vision. The most common, and most likely, is the corneal edema. That takes time to reduce. The other causes could be from uncorrected astigmatism, or possibly new astigmatism. Hopefully this is not the case. I guess they can't really tell the cause until times passes. I guess as long as it keeps getting better, I can tolerate it. I am still going to go in to see about contacts or glasses tomorrow though. I REALLY need to be able to see when I ride fast.

I went for my first road bike ride of the year today. It was sunny but cool out so I was dressed in shorts and tights, warm jersey, short sleeved jersey, wind jacket, and long gloves. I had to rig up my sunglasses so they didn't hurt behind my ears so that meant I couldn't wear my head band. I had to stuff kleenex in my ears instead which isn't the greatest but what can you do. We did part of the Lakeshore route but I chose not to do the big hill because it's a fast, windy downhill on the way back and it's hard to go slowly. There is often a lot of gravel on the road there to. instead, we turned around at the park and then headed down Lakeshore to Mission Park, then over to Gordon, and up the big hill home. It was my first climb up Gordon this season and I was anxious to see if my training since January would help my time. Last year, my best time was 3:30, my avg time was 3L:45-4:00. My first time last March was 4:15. Today I did 3:50! That made me really happy. It was cold and I know I can do the climb faster if I'm warmer so I am optimistic that I am in better shape than I usually am this time of the year. Other than that, it's hard to tell what kind of shape I'm in. We didn't do a regular route so my avg speed but isn't very indicative of my condition. (only 23.2 km/h I think).

Overall, my eyes were ok on the ride. The riding I did last week, gave me more confidence to ride on familiar terrain. I certainly was more cautious than usual but Erik was great and let me lead the whole way so I could see close up and in the distance.

Getting back at it

Well I got back from the coast yesterday and now I have to get back into training mode. I'm happy to say that I was able to keep up with my running while I was gone and we even did some easy riding but I haven't been in a pool for 3 weeks! Aaack! I know I can do the runs, I hope I can do the biking, and the only thing stopping the swims is that I can't drive myself there.



Eye Update

Guess I should do this first. I am frustrated with my eyes again. They fluctuate SO much! Some days I can read, some days I can't. Right now I seem to have way more distortion and double vision than usual. I tried riding without glasses and quite frankly, I was terrified going over 20 kmh, especially on the downhills with the rougher roads. And there's no way I would go off-road.

I think my vision is actually good enough to drive now but I am not comfortable doing that yet either. And especially not at night. I can't really watch TV. Sometimes I can't read magazines or smaller print. And I am just plain tired of not seeing clearly. REALLY tired of it. Tomorrow, I am going to call for another appointment to see if I can get some contacts. I'm not sure if I can wear them but ideally, I'd like those continuous wear type that I don't have to play around with them too much. I don't really know how it works, but I'm assuming I could get weaker ones as time went by if my eyes actually improve. Anyway, I really find that my poor vision is impeding my ability to get on with life. I can function, but not in a comfortable way. I am tired of living like this. Ugh.

Training Plan

Last week, I went for 3 runs while I was away. I did 4 min intervals of running with run totals 22-24 minutes. I felt good but my calves hurt. My shins hurt to touch but dont' hurt much when I run so I'm not stopping. I've been running without my orthotics because they hurt the top of my feet. I will call her tomorrow to make an appt for that as well. Argh. Argh. Argh.

I also rode my mountain bike - some of it just toodling around, and some of it some hilly rides that made me work harder. The highlight was riding on the beach in Tofino. My bike was salty and sandy after that but it was worth it! We did about 85km in total over the week.

I bought some regular swim goggles today so hopefully I can make myself go for a swim tomorrow. Maybe I'll go during public swim time so Jesse can play as well? I also bought a nice blue silicone swim cap and some new hair elastics. Looking forward to that. :)

I guess until I see the eye doctor, I can't plan my biking. I really do need to get on the bike and it seems awful to have to ride the trainer now. I'll wait utnil tomorrow to decided about that.

My gym pass only lasts until the end of this week so I might go 1-2 more times.

Well, that's all my whining for now.

Vacation Time

Well, I'm all packed and ready to take off tomorrow morning. We'll stay in Tsawwassen tomorrow night, catch a ferry to Saltspring Monday morning for two nights, then Tofino for 3 nights, and back to Langley for one night before heading home on Easter Sunday. I can't wait!!

I went for a good run this morning. The tops of my feet were hurting as soon as I put my shoes on so I took the orthotics out and that felt better, although still a bit tender. I did a min warm up walk, then one 3 min. run, followed by 1 min walk, 4 min run intervals. Did a total of 4km, in 30 minutes with 19 min of running total. It felt fine, no shin pain, and I felt like I could probably have run longer, but I resisted the urge.

Over the next week, I hope to run a few times, and we're taking our mountain bikes so we can do a bit of fun riding. I might swim at the hotel on the last night, if I can find some goggles.

I just want to add - hubby and I both had car crash dreams on Wednesday night. Weird. I thought I'd write that down here for posterity, just in case, ya know? Not that I believe in that kind of stuff... :)

Eye Update and First Run!

Well I'm still hanging in there. My vision is still up and down, more down than I'd like, but everyone tells me that it takes time so I'll continue to be patient. But I don't feel like myself and it's hard to get out and do things I need to do. I took my running gear to school yesterday but by the end of the day, I was so tired and felt really crummy so I ended up dragging my butt (and my gear) home and having a nap, then going to bed early. My vision was pretty crappy yesterday as well. This morning, it was a little better, but only back to what it was on Tuesday. I really do noticed now that it is distortion as opposed to blurriness, and it's annoying and disconcerting. hard to explain, hard to understand. I can't quite put my finger on it - I just don't feel 'right". Anyway, again I took my gear to school and again I dragged it home unused. My vision was pretty blurry by the time I got home and I was tired so did a bit of work and went to lie down for a little while. I listened to a new running podcast called Phedippidations and found it quite interesting and amusing. Steverunner, the guy who does the podcast was just going out for a 14 mile run and he talks while he runs, as well as inserts other bits and pieces. I listened (and dozed) for about 20 minutes, then felt motivated to get up out of bed and at least TRY to go for a run. By now it was 5:45 but it was still light out so off I went.

I did my 3:00 min. walking warmup, then started 3:00/1:00 run/walk intervals. The tops of my feet right away as soon as I put my shoes on, even my right foot! It was the first time I've tried running with the cut down left orthotic and I have a feeling I AM gong to have to get it recast after all. After the first run, I stopped to loosen my shoes a bit, and eventually, they stopped hurting and only I felt a bit of 'discomfort'. Argh. My last run was without any orthotics and I felt great before, during, and after. Anyway, I'll give it a few more runs and then if it's still a problem, I'll deal with it after our vacation.

I felt all sorts of stiff aches and pains - my body rebelling after 10 days off. But I kept going and I didn't cut back from my last run interval time. I figured, why bother. Overall, my vision didn't seem to bother me too much. I wore sunglassses, even though it was cloudy, and I continued listening to the podcast throughout the run (It's 1:30 hours long I think.) I was cautious where I put my feet and made sure there were no rocks or anything I could trip over. I tried to stay off the gravel on the sides of the road - it will be nice when it's all cleared off the roads.

Anyway, I did 3.8km, in 30 minutes. 18:00 running in total. I think it was great to get out and run - more for my mental state than anything else. I think I will try to fit in a run on Saturday as well, and maybe go to the gym tomorrow??

Gotta get back at it...

Friday - eye doctor appt at2:45.
Saturday - pack, run, snow tires on
Sunday - Sunday - Sa;tspring, Tofino, Vancouver!!