"Real Age" isn't that Real

A person recently told me about a Real Age test you can take. Dr. Oz, a frequent contributor to the Oprah show (so I'm told), created this test so a person can know their true age. A friend and I were discussing this test and then decided to take it.

I took the quiz online and was a bit shocked at the results. I asked a friend what they thought my real age would be, and they said 18. I was happy with that answer, I enjoy being younger. However, according to the quiz, my real age is 31.7 years old! That 7 years older than my actual age.

The thing that I found most interesting about the quiz was that although I put that I had diabetes, it asked specific questions related to how I take care of myself, such as my A1c and how tight of control I have. It also had a box to check for how many years I have had diabetes, where I checked the 13-20 box.

When I first saw my results of the quiz, I thought I had misread the screen. I feel like I am pretty healthy, and would say that I am healthier than the average person. But, the true thing about the quiz is that it is only a quiz, not reality. People often think I am younger than my true age and since I feel happy and healthy, that is all that matters to me.

Half Way There

If my leg is healing like it should, it should be half way healed by now. I am going to see the doctor on Monday and am hoping for some good news. I know that my body takes longer to recover and heal from things than most people, but I feel like I have been exceptionally good at following all of the rules he game me. Can you put me on the poster for "model patient?" just kidding...

I can feel that my leg still isn't healed, though. It doesn't hurt necessarily, but it just feels different. I don't even know how to explain it. I am just hoping it continues to heal so I can start running again.

Nighttime Numbers

Since I have not been able to run, my insulin needs have increased. My basal rates are higher than they were because I am not exercising. However, I've noticed something: I feel like I have better control of my numbers now that I am not exercising, which is weird.

There were many nights when my blood sugar would increase between 2 and 4 am, at which point my CGM would alarm and wake me up. I would test and often be higher than what was on my sensor. But then on other nights I would be fine. It was a mystery to me.

When I look at my blood sugar trends over 24-hour periods, I see only small increases or decreases in my numbers - which i like. I have not been high at night once since I have stopped running. In fact, my trend lines are so straight I often wonder if they are correct. But, when I test in the morning my pump has been right on, which leads me to believe that they are accurate.

I began thinking about why this was...was running part of my nighttime trouble? I am a late afternoon/early evening runner, so did the time effect my blood sugars? I recently read on Phil Southerland's blog that he takes 3 units of insulin right after his run to avoid going high. Maybe I was going high later on because of my run? However, that just doesn't seem right to me.

Hmm...I'll keep wondering what the deal is. In the meantime, I am hoping that my blood sugars remain level.

Cookies...

A weird thing happens when I go low...and it happens every single time I go low - I crave cookies. I really don't like drinking juice or eating glucose tablets when I am low because they don't taste good. All I want is cookies, preferably with chocolate in them. Is a cookie the best choice to treat a low? Probably not, because it does not kick in as fast as juice, but the taste is far superior.

I have only had one cookie that I didn't like - with cranberries, probably because I don't like cranberries to begin with. However, I love all other kinds and would happily consume multiple cookies a day if they weren't so many carbohydrates, had so much fat, and were bad for me. As for now, I'll practice self-discipline and not indulge in freshly baked batch of peanut butter chocolate chips in the kitchen.

Vitamin K

This past weekend my dad gave me an article to read about the older percentage of the population fracturing bones. He brought it home and handed it to me, saying "I think this might be valuable to you." I looked at it, set it on the kitchen table, and continued on with what I was doing. Last night I read the article, which stated that Vitamin K (I had never heard of this vitamin before) helps promote strong, healthy bones. The article recommended that older people take it because they have an increased chanced to fracture their bones.

Knowing this information and being determined to heal my stress fracture quickly, I decided to look for Vitamin K at the grocery store. I pa roused the health market aisles, looking for it, but did not have any luck. I spoke with the health foods manager, who told me that you must have a prescription to get Vitamin K. It sounded a little fake to me. I mean, why would it not say anything about getting a Vitamin K prescription in the article?!?!

Tomorrow I am going to search for Vitamin K around the "city." I am determined to heal this stress fracture as fast as possible.

FYI - My first race of the summer was Saturday. It was cold and rainy during the 4-mile race. They had many people registered that didn't show up. One neat thing is that they had chip timing, but the "chips" (actually a piece of black plastic) didn't' have to be turned in; instead, you could throw them away. I had never been to a race that had throw-away chips. People are getting smarter!

The Stick

Recently, I went to a running store with a friend. She is training for a 5k and wanted to get a new pair of running shoes. I met her there one afternoon and I was late (this is normal for me). By the time I got to the running store, she had already picked out, tried on, and did a test run in her shoes. I wasn't really much of a help.

Before we went to the store I knew I wanted to get The Stick, a message stick for runners. My brother got one a few years ago and I know some other runners who have them that have commented on their usefulness. I decided to purchase a nice, new, red-colored Stick.

I only used my Stick a few times, since I got it in late May and have not been running. However, when I was using it, I liked it. The white, circular tubes around the barrel of the Stick worked well on my leg muscles, especially my calves. I found that it was beneficial to do at night to work out the tension in my muscles from my run that day. The link above states that "The Stick is a must for serious runners." I don't necessarily agree with it, but I think that it definitely helps sore leg muscles. Although, I think it might market better if it was called the Running/Runner's Stick instead of just "The Stick." Just a thought...

Diagnosis: Fibula Stress Fracture

This past weekend I attempted to run, only to find out that I couldn't because I was in so much pain. My leg was feeling awful, and I knew a visit to the sports doctor was inevitable.

Luckily, one of the nurses used to be our neighbor and was able to get me in to see the doctor yesterday. I spoke with him about my issues and he understood both mentally and physically what I am going through, since he is a runner himself. I got 7 x-rays done and then came back to speak with him again. As it turns out, I have an extra bone in my foot (weird), and a stress fracture in my fibula.

The doctor told me it was the best bone to choose, since fibula fractures take the shortest amount of time to heal - 4 weeks. In the meantime, I can ride the bike or attempt the elliptical, but he told me to listen to my body. If something hurts - stop doing it. I still can't really walk today so I haven't done anything.

Every time I thought about my leg this weekend I started to cry. I can't race this summer, and my hopes of running a marathon in the fall have been wiped away. The first race I signed up to do is on Saturday, a local 4-mile "gallop" around an older neighborhood in the city. It is the second race I signed up for that I am most disappointed I cannot run. It is a 7-mile hilly race about an hour south of here. However, my uncle, cousin, brother and I were all going to compete in it together. I guess the showdown will have to happen next year.

According to the doctor, rest and calcium are the two things that help stress fractures heal the fastest. Given the fact that I do not drink milk, I have decided to eat a lot of yogurt- a dairy product that I kind-of like. Do you know anything else that can help, or what to do? I'm hoping for a speedy recovery.

I'm Going Crazy

Over the past couple days, I have organized almost all of my "teacher things." Now, I feel like I am a pretty organized person to begin with for the most part, but until Tuesday morning, I didn't know how unorganized I had become. I sorted through boxes of files, posters, bulletin board sets, trimmers, and window clings (all vital components to a colorful, happy, "I want to learn here" classroom in my opinion). I only have a couple things left to go through now, and it feels so good. Everything is neat, tidy and where it should be. Hopefully this makes setting up my new classroom in August easier.

Since my ankle/leg hurts, I have devoted numerous hours to organizing. However, yesterday I started to feel like I was going crazy. It had been almost a week since I really exercised. I don't remember the last time I took that much time off consecutively. I have been icing my ankle (thank you, Marcus, for the advice) and I think it helped. Today I went to the Country Club to use their fitness room. I knew that I should not run so I planned on going to bike and lift some weights.

However, when I walked through the fitness center entrance I immediately saw the treadmills staring back at me and got sad. I wanted to run on one so bad. It also did not help that on my drive over there I saw numerous walkers and runners out. And the weather is upper 70s and purely sunny today does not help either. Knowing in my head that I must heal, I walked past my beloved treadmills and got on the stationary bike for awhile. At 30 minutes on the bike, with my IPOD on and the TV on, I was bored to death. I decided to lift some weights and then get back on the bike to end my "workout." I was there for 1.5 hours, but it didn't really feel like I accomplished anything.

On my way home, as I passed all kinds of runners/walkers, I thought to myself: how come I can run for miles and be fine, yet bike for 10 minutes and go crazy from boredom? I think I just have a runner's mind, if there is such a thing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to run this weekend. Then, just maybe, I'll stop going crazy.

Injured!!!

Last week while running my ankle started to hurt. I ran on it the following two days, and then the pain got worse. I took the next three days off. I hate taking days off - I feel so lazy when I do. But, I wanted to get better. I have to be healthy for the summer and my races.

On Sunday I decided to run again on my ankle. I felt good right away, and did the first two miles under 7:30 pace. My legs felt fresh and strong and I wanted to get 5 miles in. Then, the pain started. It got to be so bad that I stopped after 2.5 miles, not wanting to injure myself.

Yesterday I stayed off my foot all day. I drove from Ohio to Iowa, an 8-hour car trip so I had lots of time to look at flat corn fields and think. I realized that when I lifted my heel and went onto the ball of my foot that way, I did not have any pain. However, when i flex my toes up to my body is when the pain is most prevalent.

I iced my foot last night in hopes that it will help it. There is nothing worse than being injured. I have decided that if this issue does not work itself out by tomorrow, I'll go to the doctor. I'm sad and frustrated about the whole situation. Do you have any advice for me?