A Big Black Tub Of... Hope?

Sometimes life tosses a surprise your way.  Sometimes that surprise is bad.  Sometimes it is black and moldy.  Why would there be any reason to be happy about that?

At least the P5 got it's Grand Traverse Bay Photo Op.

I have been mentioning ever-increasing breathing problems in my posts.  Things on that front kind of came to a head last week when the shortness of breath not only prevented workouts but normal daily activities as well.  I went over the the clinic associated with the hospital to get some answers.

A one way ticket to jitterville...

Make that a round-trip.

While everyone could tell that my breathing was definitely impaired the test just kept coming back normal.  This actually raised some concern that there might be a clot in the lungs, a pulmonary embolus.  Fortunately, that test also came back clean.  The conclusions were that I do not have any of the big "terribles" associated with the lungs, clots/cancer/etc, but that I have high level of inflammation and irritation, not to mention asthma.

The beautiful Michigan coastline.
It's killing me to not be out there all day every day!

As all of this was conspiring to ruin another training block, I have been doing some work on the camper as well.  I found a great RV repair guy that would work on the camper here in the park and had him come out and get started on a list of long overdue repairs.  I also made more progress on the floor.

One of those long-overdue repairs was to address the fact that the AC wasn't clearing it's condensation properly.  I really hadn't since before I owned it.  As we took the AC apart, we discovered a horror.  The entire inside of the unit was covered in mold with the largest concentration on the fan blades.  In other words, the tactic of controlling mold/mildew in the camper by using the AC as a dehumidifier was actually causing massive amounts of mold spores to be blown into the camper.  By halfway through the clean up process, I was so ill that I had to sit outside in the grass and just focus on breathing.

The mold is all the dark color to the liquid.
The foam is the stuff they used to clean it.
This was just a portion of what came off.

 I won't ever know for sure if the mold is the cause of the breathing issues, but 24 hours after it's removal, I was as sick as I have ever been and 48 hours after it's removal , I had the best workout day I have had in a long time.  They think they got it all, though it will remain to be seen if it tries to grow back.  I won't hesitate to replace it if I start to have difficulty again.  I am not 100% and can definitely feel that damage has been done but this body is surprisingly strong in it's ability to heal itself whenever I stop torturing it, so I am optimistic right now.

This is what I have been missing in favor of clinic walls and nebulizers.

I have blogged so many times about feeling like there had to be a root cause for the sudden downturn in my health about a year ago (fatigue, chronic hives, asthma, etc)... I can only hope I have that answer.  The timeline and symptoms certainly fit but at this point I am hesitant to declare anything solved... largely because I am afraid to jinx it.  Hoping though....

In the meantime... LET'S RIDE!

A Duck In Winter

After a couple of rough nights at work, the result of careless nutrition and sketchy sleep patterns, I slept well today.  The RV park decided to repave the road under my window while I was sleeping today.  I woke up to the noise long enough to think "Oh great!  Now I'll never get back to slee..... ZzzzZzzzzZzzz."  Isn't exhaustion a beautiful thing?

I also need to mention that while my life has been a little intense with the start of the horse show, the camper gremlins have been mercifully quiet (and yes, I just knocked on wood!).  So far, life in a vintage Airstream has proven, well, nice.  There is certainly a lot of though that needs to be given to placement and storage, as well as discipline when it comes to tidying the work/living space often.  But as with nutrition awareness, that mindfulness is a skill I need to cultivate anyhow.  I see this lifestyle as good for me.  On the upside, 200+ square feet is easy to clean if you do let it get dirty.

There is another airstream that has all kinds of plastic flamingos two spaces down from me.  They even have black skeleton flamingos.  Kinda weird, but I definitely feel like the Tri Cave is not keeping up the standards right now.  I wonder if I can get swim-bike-run flamingos?  I also wonder if they have bicycle light strands.  All the cool campers have light strands.  Ooof, seems complicated.  Maybe I'll just settle for a potted plant.

Florida: A1A at sunset taken from the bike

Anyhow, after pondering how I could rearrange my schedule so that I did not have to ride indoors on the trainer, I realized that even though it's 78 degrees outside, it IS January.  Being in the tropics doesn't change the fact that daylight hours are scarce and sometimes you just have to SUCK IT UP!!  I haven't been on the trainer (except the computrainer at the Doghouse) since I got to Florida.  I also realized that while I was feeling sorry for myself because my 3rd shift hours mean that I sleep away these beautiful days, every office worker in the world is no better off.  They spend the time indoors.

Biking in Michigan in July 

Trail running in NC in January

Broad River: taken on a trail run in January

I guess I have very little to complain about, since my job allows me the flexibility to often adapt my work schedule to accommodate the things I want to do and takes me to the most beautiful places in the country.  I get nice weather year round and a variety of training conditions to work with.  Not exactly suffering.  A little gratitude, as well as a little fortitude (get thee on thy bicycle) might be just what this duck needs.

I still miss home, though!!

Austin's skyline and Town Lake Trail

WHO Puts WHEAT in Almond Butter!?!?

Yesterday was a good day.  Had another run-in with that wall during some threshold intervals.  I am convinced that the culprit is nutrition (more on that in a moment).  Still, I recovered quickly and got to play in NYC for the day with MVF, the cycling fiend.  For a change, we wore things like denim and wool instead of spandex and well, more spandex.  We knocked around all day, walking everywhere, and finished up with an opera at the Met!  It was sublime!  Then we concluded the day with a crazy 34 block speed session to catch a train!

Today, I started the day with swim that got postponed from yesterday (with DW blessing) to facilitate the trip.  I actually felt ok.  It took forever to warm up but then I felt stronger with each set.  A big relief after so many workouts this week feeling so rough.  Then I ran some errands, including grocery shopping, and headed home for lunch.

I couldn't find my usual brand of almond butter or sunflower butter, not uncommon when you are traveling, so I grabbed another that wasn't too terribly expensive.  When I got home I made a quick sandwich with gluten free bread and some apple slices.  I was ravenous and it needed to be quick.  The almond butter had flax in it, but that is okay, and I didn't think a thing of it until I got the splitting headache and my stomach swelled to "seven months along and it might be twins" proportions.  THEN, I read the label.  WHEAT germ.  Damn.

I have been really struggling and suspect that the poor performance and digestion this week may be due to the chronic, low-grade irritation that my system is getting from preparing food in a VERY contaminated kitchen.  I just felt deficient all week.  It was like I hadn't refueled after my last workout... but I had.  Now I am hoping that I can get things quieted down in time to finish what is on the schedule for today.  Ugh!

I cannot let my guard down like that.  The price has gotten too high.  I have a choice.  I can either continue to muck around inside my own head, not doing the right things nutritionally, or I can get it together.  I will not get as fit as I hope to if I do not figure this out.

Of course, this is why I got the Airstream.

I have 38 weeks of traveling ahead of me and I can't keep getting sick.  When I leave my mother's house after Christmas and pick up the camper, I need to go through it and clean it thoroughly.  And then I need to make my well-being my number one priority, no matter who thinks it is silly, is inconvenienced (including me), thinks I'm being hysterical or high maintenance or a baby... Those judgements will not keep me healthy.   Only I can do that.

But it's really, really hard.

Feather Brained Plans!

Tonight I am sitting in a camper with a space heater and lights, recently showered and only kind of freezing.  This is a vast improvement over the earlier portions of the week.

The Plan:  *Work Saturday night, finish about 5 and head 100 miles to Austin.
*Get some sleep.  Pack the car.
*Sunday evening, leave for Plano to pick up the camper.
*Start driving.  Sleep as needed.  *Drop the camper at a friend's in NC on Tuesday.
*Arrive in NJ for Wednesday.
*Be there for Mom during her surgery on Thursday.  Stay until after Christmas.
*Head to FL whenever the customers start showing.  Pick up the camper along the way.

The reality:  *Help another braider Saturday night and not get done until 11 am.  Drive 100 miles home.  *Sleep 2 hours.  Get up, mainline coffee, throw stuff in car.
*Hit weather on the way to Plano.  Finally arrive at 1 am.
*Learn to hook up camper ad sway bars in pouring rain at 40 degrees and strong wind.
*Learn to drive camper in same conditions.
*Lock up brakes trying to stop.  Notice that brake controller was never installed!
*Stop at a gas station and sleep in car because it is raining too hard to get to camper (which has sprung a leak so the interior is soaked).
*Stop in Bossier City, La and have brake controller installed.
*Travel 50 miles.  Hear engine go BOOM! followed by BoomBoomBoomBoom.
*Call AAA.
*Sit on side of road for hours waiting for a tow truck before they call back to say no one is coming.
*Get rescued by state police.
*Spend night in dark, wet camper in wrecker yard.  Tow truck driver has pity and buys breakfast to be nice.
*Get car repaired.  Empty out bank account.
*Get back on road.  Travel 4 hours until sun starts to go down.
*Notice that the dashboard lights are not working.  Stop at rest area to investigate.  Discover that the entire rig (truck and trailer) is dark.
*Realize thanks to iPhone maps and Google that you are 50 miles from the nearest gas station.  Confirm suspicion with nearby trucker.
*Settle in for a night in the wet camper with no heat (furnace is broken and replaced with space heaters) and no power.  Note that the weather is predicting temps in the 20s.
*In morning, try to figure out where fuse box might be.  Consult owners manual.  Ask for help deciphering owners manual.  Give up.  Call RV place.
*Spend too much money to have a fuse upgraded.
*Continue driving into night.
*Stop for coffee two hours from planned stopping point.  Find out that just ahead there is a weather system.  Note truckers comment "the mountain is WHITE!"
*Do GPS search for nearest KOA.  Follow directions.
*Discover directions are wrong.  Back slowly down the country road to a parking lot big enough to allow a turn around.
*Get back on highway.  See sign for KOA at next exit.  Follow signs.
*Spend an hour trying to figure out why the camper won't get power.  Think of breaker.  Discover it tripped.  Flip breaker.  Get power.
*Blog
*Wonder how the next 800 miles of the trip will go.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Duck, duck..and AWAY!!

So I am barreling down to my very, very long trip this winter.  I will go to NJ for the holidays and then to FL for the winter shows.  I have decided to skip coming back in between as the week at home doesn't really justify the extra 3500 miles of travel.  I also spoke to DW and once I get to NJ and get settled we are going to add the running back into the program.  In other words, after Sunday my life will be totally unrecognizable.

In a weird way, my travel schedule for the next year creates it's own plan for development.  I will do roughly a month of indoor training in NJ then head south.  There I will spend three months training in flat, windy conditions.  Then I will return to Texas and train on the rolling hills (mountains, I tell you, mountains) here during the spring.  After that, I will travel to Michigan which situates me close enough to ski country to up the ante a little more, then head to the Rocky mountains (real mountains... *whimper*) for the remainder of the summer.  Then I will return home for the fall.  Presumably fit.

This schedule, by itself, should lay the ground work for athletic development.  I'll admit it feels a bit like I am getting ready to leave for boot camp, or college, or rehab, or something.  It will be the duck, living in a 35 year old airstream with the dogs, traveling like a vagabond, working and training... and little else for ten months.

Along the way, I will no doubt do a lot of hiking, maybe some camping.  I will train in a variety of beautiful places.  Perhaps I will get over my mental block regarding picture taking.  I suspect I will find out how many ways an old camper can break.  No doubt, there will be plenty of interesting things to post to this page.  If I allow it, these months should be powerful, transformative, and cool.

DW feels that in 8 months or a year, the duck will be a whole different bird.

All I can say is that if I can stay the course, I don't doubt that I will see massive change.  I just hope that the change does not include becoming a certain yellow skinned cartoon character who has lost the power of speech and resorts to throwing cats.