A link between our professional and personal lives exists, however much we might deny it. The question then is how do we bridge the gap between the two. What should we combine? What is best left apart?
This question comes up almost a year after I decided to try and remove dairy from my life. Dairy, you see, was causing problems with my running and at work I was coughing at odd times and experience large sinus drainage. Only by removing dairy could I get rid of it. Then, I took it a step farther last fall and got tested for food allergies and unwisely followed the advice of someone, who recommended I cut out all but the foods to which the test said was I not reacting. These were foods I could have without a problem, but I listened due to having no formal medical training. Then, I started not having energy and running got progressively worse. I pulled out of a race and reduced my participation on Runner's Connect. Running, you see, became a stresser and painful, because I did not question and ignored my instincts.
This lasted for a few weeks and I got the test results. After looking at them, things made no sense and I began to question the advice I had been given. Adding in foods caused little to no reaction. Replacing parts of my house caused a huge reaction, which made me question the validity of the tests. The underlying cause, you see, was not the food but the environment in which I lived.
I started this blog to help cope with what I was facing and found instagram to be fun. Right now, dairy is the biggest issue and soy, potatoes, and corn are minor annoyances. I can eat them, but not consistently and preferably not all together!
As someone, who instructs others on how to gather and to test the validity of sources before using them as citations, I failed. What's my point? Simply - trust your instincts. Shock, panic, bad days, emotions, sceptics, etc will all play a role in your emotional journey while running. Environments will play a role, if you have outdoor and indoor allergies as I do. Walking to work, for instance, aggravates my allergies, but running in the morning does to a lesser extent. Why? I think it is because I run faster than I walk usually and the exposure is minimal.
Also - recognize things that make a difference in your overall quality of life. For me, this means paying someone to mow my lawn rather than taking great pride in doing it on my own. Do I enjoy this? No - it does mean that I can run more consistently and feel better. I learned this a month earlier this year.
Being hard on myself will not help rectify my trusting of the person providing bad advice. Reporting said person to the applicable medical board will not either. Instead, I am returning to the one health care provider, who provides great information and backs up what she says with research.
Research is tough and figuring who and what to trust is equally trust. Having just completed the final report for my first grant and major research project, I can attest to this. Be ready to have questions posed to you. Get ready to accept not all partners are as invested. Justify your decision in conducting the research. Lastly - be thankful for the opportunity and improve in future studies, because a true researcher's work is never done.
Next week, my feet and I will be exploring Toronto. Right now, I run 2-3 days a week and try to walk at least a mile on all the other days except for the complete rest day. With a busy schedule, running first thing is not happening quite yet, because I need my sleep, but I hope to change this soon.
Happy Running, All!
Margaret
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