All posts by Little M.S. Runner

Forty-something, married with two kids and two dogs. Trying hard to live every day to the fullest with multiple sclerosis, impaired vision, and deafness. Couldn't make it without my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Books, Coffee, Disability, Domestic Engineer, Exercise, Faith, Family, Food, Friends, God speaks, Health, Kids, Marriage, Stories

My very brief “75 Hard” journey and what I learned

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I don’t know if any of you have heard of “75 Hard” but it’s this bazonkers challenge that some guy made up a few years ago, and it seems to have quite the following.

The challenge is this: For 75 consecutive days you must complete the following tasks:
1) Drink one gallon of water
2) Follow a diet of your choosing, no cheat days!
3) Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book
4) Complete two non-consecutive 45-minute workouts, 1 of which must be outdoors
5) Take a progress picture

If you miss any of the tasks even once, you have to start all over again on Day One. Oof.

A good friend of mine completed this challenge a couple years ago, and she is now working the challenge once again. When she did it the first time, I seriously gave it some thought but never did anything with it. This second time I felt compelled to hop on and give it a shot.

Now a couple of these things were easy for me. I have been intermittent fasting since March of 2023 so following a diet wasn’t a big deal. I would just be more intentional about sticking with my chosen eating and fasting “windows”. No problem.

Reading 10 pages of nonfiction? I’m a huge reader, and 90% of what I enjoy reading is nonfiction. Again, no problem.

Taking a progress picture is a simple enough task, and thankfully no one would have to see it but me, so the trick was just to remember to do it. Easy peasy.

It’s the gallon of water and 2 daily exercises that were the real challenge for me. I don’t mind drinking water, but I prefer coffee, and that doesn’t count. So I just had to be intentional about sipping from and refilling my water bottle throughout the day. I even bought myself a larger bottle (half gallon) so I would only need to refill once during the day. However, since I had just been coming off training for the Sleeping Bear half marathon, I was already in the habit of daily hydrating so this wasn’t a huge deal.

For the exercising I was doing an outdoor walk and indoor Fitbod workout each day. That was going very well, and with all the water I was drinking, my muscles were recovering well every day. I would feel a bit of soreness but it never stuck around for long. I was feeling really good!

Y’all, I lasted 8 days. That 9th day I had a super busy day morning to night. Doctor appointment for me, orthodontist for both kids, and having to use paratransit to get everywhere means every trip takes awhile and has zero flexibility. But that wasn’t what killed the challenge for me. I had been out of town the weekend prior and the day before I came back, my husband left for a 3 day work trip. So on that bonkers day with all the appointments, that evening I just wanted to spend time with my husband. I had to make a decision – stay home and complete my workouts (because all the appointments prevented me from getting them done earlier) or ride with my husband to take our daughter to her horse riding lesson. I chose the latter, ending my 75 Hard challenge streak, and I have no regrets.

I may try again some other time, but I don’t know. I strongly felt like God had been leading me to that challenge, so I had to really ponder why. I think He was trying to show me how much my daily life had been lacking in discipline. And while 75 Hard was very much an all or nothing thing, installing discipline into your life doesn’t have to be that way. The key is to be intentional. So now I’ve been thinking a lot more about how I can maintain that intentionality but in a way that fits with my impairments and my daily life. I’m being humbled here. I need to cut out a lot of things in my life for awhile that were distracting me. I would spend hours on Facebook or Netflix or the stupid coloring app on my phone, and before I knew it, I had lost most of the day. Since I’m not working, I don’t have anyone telling me what or when things need to be done. I am the boss of my life, and I had been doing a shoddy job of it.

So I decided to make my own list:
1) Read 10 pages of a book
2) Exercise for 30 minutes
3) Drink a half gallon of water
4) Pray/study the Bible for 30 minutes
5) Write for 30 minutes

The times listed are just minimums of course. I just list them that way so I have measurable goals. I found a habit tracking app so I can keep the list in front of me and check things off as I go. It will be satisfying to see streaks of habits, but I’m allowing myself the ability to skip days if necessary. Some days my body and mind need rest, and I’m going to honor that. But I’m working really hard to not slip back into bad habits. While binging on Netflix seems like it would be restful, it’s really not. And it’s discouraging when you come off of a session of 6 episodes of Reba and realize you’ve lost your whole day, and you still need to put away that laundry you washed last Tuesday, and you have no idea what you are going to feed your people for dinner.

So yeah. I’m working on some healthy habits. I was gonna say “new” healthy habits, but then caught myself. These are not new. I’m working on some healthy habits – again. And I should say, it feels pretty damn good.

Moving forward!

Daily Snippets, Funny story, Low vision, Photos, Running

Where are my glasses?

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The other day I went for a run. Just before I left the house I was looking for my reading glasses in order to choose the music to stream from my phone. When I wear contacts it makes me far-sighted, so reading glasses are a necessity. When I run I often can’t read my Garmin watch well because I don’t have magic telescoping arms. I couldn’t find the glasses but I was able to manage without, so I left the house knowing I would surely find them later. I ran an easy 2.2 miles around the neighborhood. When I came back I grabbed my giant water bottle and went out on the deck with the dogs – our usual post-run routine. When I set my phone and water bottle down on the ledge of the deck I happened to glance down just enough to notice… my glasses were hanging from my collar. They had been there all along! I was surprised they hadn’t fallen off while I ran and chuckled to myself. Then obviously went back inside and snapped this selfie so I could show you how obvious and ridiculous it was that they were hiding in plain sight the whole time.

Running is going well. I’m taking it easy and focusing more on consistency and speed rather than piling on the miles. Only one race officially on the books, and that isn’t until March. It’s a 5k so my aim is to see if I can break my personal record (PR) from the 2019 Turkey Trot. That time was 34:03, which is ridiculous fast for me. I ran the whole thing terrified of tripping or getting knocked over, so I’m sure adrenaline played a huge role in my speed. That was before I had purchased the deaf/blind vest and to be honest, that was probably the reason I got the vest in the first place. I knew I would feel a lot safer with that information displayed for other runners. I’m currently in the process of getting trained to use a white cane for very similar reasons, but that’s a whole other post. I’m sure you’ll hear about that from me later.

I’ve got some other stuff rolling around in my head to write about so until then, shalom y’all…

Books, Daily Snippets, Food

Scary Book

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I’m reading a really scary book right now. No, it’s not a gory thriller or suspense novel. It’s a book about type 2 diabetes – The Diabetes Code by Jason Fung, and it’s freaking me out. For one, it’s very science-y so it’s slow reading. For two, I’m worried about every human I know and love because, well, sugar. Refined sugar is terrible for our systems, and at least here in the U.S., it’s in *everything*. So it’s nearly impossible to avoid. I’m trying to just get through this book and when my brain slips into panic mode I set it down for a while and move on to more pleasant things.

Like watching Reba reruns on Netflix!

Kids, Multiple Sclerosis, Running, Stories, Writing

What now?

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Runners like to ask each other questions like, “What’s next on your calendar?” or “Do you have a goal in mind?”. The answer to that first question is nothing. I have nothing on my calendar. But to answer the latter, I do have a goal, and that is to focus on running faster 5ks. I told my husband when I came home from Sleeping Bear that I was done with longer races for awhile. 10k would be my max. He didn’t believe me. He says I say that every time. Which is probably true, but whatever. I think this time I’m serious. We have a high school senior now, and our youngest will soon be learning to drive, so I just want to have more time and mental focus available to be there for my kids. Training for half marathons takes up a lot of time and focus. But speedwork for 5ks? I can do that. And it’s a goal that keeps me active, which for my M.S. is a really important thing.

So for the blog going forward I’ll still be talking about running and fitness related stuff, but I’ll likely start throwing in other random crap I’m obsessing about. Because I’m always finding random crap to obsess about. If you had to guess, it’s most likely food related. Probably.

P.S. I’ve really been struggling with my writing lately, and I know that’s really normal so I’m riding it out, but I’ve been thinking about short stories. I have lots of short stories in my head, and I want to work at getting them out on paper to share. And when I say paper, I mean the computer screen obviously. So you might see some of that here too. As always, no promises.

Peace out, folks. Shalom.

Food, Low vision, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos, Running, Stories

Sleeping Bear Half Marathon Complete!

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Finally, my post race recap. It gets a little messy in my head, so bear with me (you are welcome for that accidental pun!)…

We call this Flat Mel. It’s a runner tradition to lay out your gear the night before. One last check to be sure you have everything you need!
Allison and Mel, getting some pre-race fuel at Slabtown Burgers in Traverse City.

The Sleeping Bear race was four hours away, so I booked a motel in a nearby town for myself and Allison, my guide runner (all the lodging in the area was filling up fast!). We had to drive to Traverse City (also nearby) to pick up our race packets so while we were there I introduced Allison to one of our favorite T.C. restaurants, Slabtown Burgers. After dinner, we made a valiant effort to find ice cream for dessert, but were unsuccessful. All the ice cream shops were closed for the season!

The sun setting over Lake Michigan at Empire Beach

We drove to the beach where the finish line would be the following morning, and got some pictures of the sun setting over the water. Incredible to see. There was a local retired man with two goldendoodles there watching the sunset, and we chatted with him for a minute. I asked him about the hills on this course, after he told us he rides his bike on the trails all the time. He said there were a couple of decent hills, but assured us they were short (Spoiler alert: he lied.).

The morning of the race was cold. I think maybe around 40 degrees Fahrenheit? A little more than a few degrees above freezing. But the forecast showed it would be warming up to the 60s, so I dressed for that. You warm up quick when you are running, so it’s always wise to dress for the later weather, not the earlier. We parked at the lot near the finish line, and walked over to hop on a charter bus that would take us to the starting line. The charter bus was a welcome reprieve from the cold. Soft cushy seats, heat. I was making a conscious choice to enjoy this ride. I was excited to be surrounded by all the other runners, and excited to finally be running this race I had been training for.

Once we were delivered to our starting location, we got in line for the bathrooms for one last go. I was thankful to have a real bathroom available because I have a semi-logical fear of porta potties. And since we had gotten a pretty early start, the lines weren’t terribly long, and I was also thankful for that.

Runners waiting in line for porta-potties with the sun rising in the distance.

From the bathrooms we walked over to the starting line and waited some more. The sand dunes were to our left, and the starting line to our right. The sun had just started to peak out when we got off the charter bus, so by the time we were waiting at the starting line, it was in full sunrise glory. I got a great shot of the sun rising over the portapotties (the ones we didn’t have to use).

The starting line

While we waited we were able to cheer on the full marathon runners as they made their start, 30 minutes before us. And before long it was our turn. We counted down, and then we were off! The start of most races is always pretty crowded, and this one was no exception. I just tried to stay focused on not going out too fast, and let all the faster runners get around me (let’s be honest, they were all faster runners).

It was in that first quarter mile that I realized my Garmin watch was on my “walk” setting from the day before! So I didn’t have my pace showing in the big bold numbers, and I didn’t have my run/walk interval notifications. No worries, I was feeling pretty strong and told Allison I would just keep running at this pace (whatever that was) and see how it went. Throughout the race she was able to tell me how fast we were going, so that helped a lot. I wasn’t worried about missing walk breaks because I knew there would be hills coming that I would likely need to walk up (and down), so that was a fine compromise for me.

I can’t remember how far in I started feeling gassed, but it was a lot farther in than I had expected. I was feeling great. Super surprised at how well my legs were holding up. However, in the last half of the race there were lots of moments where I was running out of gas and needed the Gatorade that the race organizers provided at the aid stations. I knew that would be provided, so I intentionally did not bring any hydration with me. And as it turns out, that Gatorade saved me. Without those periodic pick-me-ups, I would have been slow walking the last half of the race, for sure. I would walk through the aid station, gulp my Gatorade, and minutes later that second wind would come and I felt like I could run again. It was quite fascinating to me, that such a simple thing could rejuvenate me so quickly and I was able to go from barely able to move my legs, to being able to run again.

I can’t give a play by play, because I don’t remember details of any race that way. I’m sure some people can, but I’m not one of them. I remember snippets. Like the time I tripped on a small crack and went flying forward. Allison thankfully had quick reflexes and caught me before I fell. Falls like that are so scary. They happen so fast yet they seem to happen in slow motion. During this race it happened around the 10 mile mark and I only remember that because that’s when I was starting to feel the major fatigue in my legs. Hence the trip and near-fall.

The last mile was an exercise in insanity. I was trying my best to stay in a running motion, but it was getting so difficult. I did have to walk some to rest my legs because I wanted to finish strong. So during the last mile I told Allison to stay close to me, because falling was definitely a greater possibility. I was starting to get mildly frustrated because there were so many turns in order to get to the finish line. I kept asking her, can you see it? And she never answered in the affirmative but assured me we were getting closer.

Allison and Mel crossing the finish line

The closer you get to the finish, the more spectators you see on the sidelines. At one point, a woman shouted to us, “You’re almost there!”. And I shouted back, “I don’t believe you! She’s (Allison) been telling me the same thing!” But alas, we did finally turn the last corner that revealed the finish. I couldn’t see it as much as I could hear it. The cheers and shouting were endearing. So many people there to support all the runners. And on our right, hordes of faster runners walking back to their cars with their arms full of snacks. That’s when I knew we were close – all the snacks. I forgot all the pain and weakness I was feeling and ran forward. Allison and I both raised our arms in the air and smiled big as we crossed that finish line.

I tried to walk out of the way of the runners coming behind me but my legs wouldn’t withstand walking, so I collapsed onto Allison instead. A photographer rushed over to help walk me over to the fence and someone offered us bottled waters. I kind of hate this drama at the end of longer races, because it really looks worse than it feels, but it’s unavoidable. When I’m pushing my legs that hard, I have to expect they are going to rebel. I think my prayer is always just that they wait until I cross the finish line for that rebellion. One of these days it could result in a DNF (did not finish) and that would be soul crushing.

After my legs resumed normal function (mostly), we sauntered (hobbled) over to the snack area and retrieved our hard-earned spoils. Banana, granola bar, beer, and orange slices!! I remember getting orange slices at one of the aid stations during the Grand Rapids Marathon and how it felt like a gift from heaven, it was so refreshing. On this day? Equally miraculous. The gentleman handed me two and I could have kissed him I was so happy. Orange slices never taste as good as they do after running all those miles.

To end the race experience we walked over to the beach area and took our socks and shoes off. The water was blocked off by a slight stone wall, so we didn’t put our feet in the water, but putting our feet in the sand was cooling enough. It felt amazing to sit and rest there. Allison didn’t know this about me, but I used to have a strong aversion to sand. I couldn’t stand touching it. Up until a trip with my family to the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 2020. We walked onto the beach so we could all dip our toes into Lake Superior and I found myself saying, “oh, this feels nice”. Which was such an odd thing for me to say, I surprised myself! Something about that trip I guess flipped a switch and now it doesn’t bother me. Sand, sugar, flour, it’s all okay for me to touch. It doesn’t make me cringe anymore, and I’m loving that change. But I digress…

We sat for awhile and then decided we were hungry, and ready for that post-race meal to replenish all that we had burned off. We had decided ahead of time to get pizza, because it happened to be something we both love. After some quick Google searching, Allison found us a highly rated pizza place, Papano’s, that had a location nearby. They had personal size pizzas, so we each ordered our own and got what we liked. It was a fantastic end to a full and memorable race experience.

Daily Snippets, Multiple Sclerosis, Running

Race Completion Post Pending

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I’m hopping on here briefly to let y’all know I finished my race, and it went well. I not only survived, I surpassed my own expectations. However, I am understandably quite exhausted, and that reaches mentally as well. So while I have photos loaded into a draft post, I lack the mental clarity to put the words together cohesively. I’ve jotted down notes so as not to forget fun details, and hope to be able to piece it all together later this week.

Believe it or not, I am smack in the middle of my fatigue week. My infusion is on Tuesday, so until then I’m going to listen to my body and continue to rest. I’ll work on completing that post as I feel ready, and then you will all get to read it. I just want it to make sense, is all. This was a memorable race and I want to give it the credit it deserves. Until then you may get snarky snippets as I try to wake my brain back up, but as usual I make no promises.

Thank you for following my updates. Shalom, my friends. Take care.

Food, Kids, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos, Piper, Punky, Running

Sleeping Bear Training Week 13 of 14

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Woah, what?! We are almost there folks. And while I got a little off track with my long runs, I have been diligent this week about getting some miles on these legs. A 4 mile run here, a quick 2 mile run there, and ending the week with a 6 mile “long run”. That’s the taper. We don’t want to wear ourselves out before race day. These last two weeks are for maintaining fitness but giving ourselves the rest we need so we save some gas in the tank for race day. Do you like my metaphors and third person language? Who is this “we” you speak of, Mel? I don’t know, it’s just how we talk sometimes.

For the record, I started this post a few days ago, and did not end up running a 6 mile long run. Instead, I ran 4 miles with my son, which was a pleasant change! He is obviously much faster than I am, but he was gracious enough to stay with me. However, when we got to the third mile he challenged me to continue running until we arrived home – no more walk breaks! I tried, I really tried, but y’all it was so hard. I was ready to give up and walk but he kept smiling at me and telling me I could do it (he would make a great personal trainer), and with that extra encouragement I did complete the entirety of the 3rd mile without walking. I knew I was gassed because my shoulders were cramping. I’m not sure why that happens, but I suspect it has something to do with oxygen and electrolytes (I’ll have to look that up later). I walked the first chunk of that 4th mile until the cramping subsided and then finished strong. And then collapsed on the front lawn, knowing he was right there to help me up. Sorry, there are no photos of that. So it wasn’t the 6 miles that I had planned, but because I still had to push myself a little extra, I think it was a fine compromise.

While there are no photos of me passed out on the front lawn, I do have pictures from one of the earlier runs. The one on the left here is of me and the dogs on the deck, and the other one is of me cooling off with an ice cream bar (below).

I’m feeling ready for this race. I still don’t have any time goals, my hope is just that I can run steady for the entire 13.1 miles, and finish with my legs still operating. There will be pain, there will be soreness, but if I can keep a steady but not too fast speed, I should be able to keep my legs functioning to the end.

The weather is finally cooling down here in Michigan and my body is very happy about that. I have become an extreme sweat-er (thank you perimenopause), so that makes running pretty uncomfortable sometimes. And up north where the race is being held, I expect the leaves are changing colors so it should be beautiful to see. This particular race is definitely all about the scenery. And – knock on wood – the weather forecast looks perfect for race day! Wish me luck folks! I’ll see you on the other side…

Family, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos, Running, Visually Impaired

Sleeping Bear Training Week 12 of 14

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These weekly posts are getting to be less about the training and more about how life attempts to interfere. Ah, well. Life happens. You adjust and move on!

So this week I completed one task on my training plan, and that was a 12 mile run. I had originally scheduled this long run for the previous Saturday, but I opted instead to watch my son play tennis. So I had looked at the weather for the week and Tuesday looked like a good enough alternate. And then Allison, my guide runner, texted wanting to see if she could join me for a run. We had talked about doing another long run together, but with her schedule thus far we weren’t able to make a weekend work. Luckily she was free on Tuesday, so we made it happen!

I love showing off these trails. Allison hadn’t run them before (at least I don’t think so), so it was fun to show them off to her. I’m very proud of “my” trails 😉 We had great weather. I could have done with a few degrees cooler, but I’m not complaining because it beats running in the rain. Most of the miles were uneventful, but I could tell during the last couple that my left leg was dragging. I made sure to let her know so she would stay close enough for me to grab her arm if needed. I did trip once or twice but I did not fall (just call me Weeble).

Since the Tuesday long run got me off schedule (and I spent a second Saturday watching my son play tennis) I don’t know when I’ll do my final long run. The race is only 12 days away, so maybe it’s too late to be doing long runs, and I should just lean into the taper? When you are trying to fit training into your schedule *and* work around Michigan’s unpredictable weather, it gets tricky. So I think this week I’ll do some shorter runs to keep up the mileage and extra step-ups and stair climbs to keep those hill climbing muscles ready.

I have to say I’m a little concerned about my readiness for this race. I keep hearing about the gnarly hills/dunes, and I’ve been increasingly slacking on both my short runs and my strength training. Hopefully my early commitment to the training left me with some strength I can draw from during the race. I don’t have a time goal, so I really am just hoping to enjoy myself and the incredible views. I heard that Good Morning America voted Sleeping Bear Dunes the Most Beautiful Place in America. That’s high praise. I mean, what about the Grand Canyon? The entire state of Alaska? Hawaii? But no, our little ole Sleeping Bear Dunes ranked #1. And I’m gonna have the privilege of running through it. I can’t wait!

Daily Snippets, Nonsense

Ways I’ve Changed

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I used to be an obsessive planner. Internally, more than externally. I mean, if you ask me to plan a party, I’ll cringe, and if I agree, it’s with great reluctance. No, it’s the planning of my days that I used to be obsessive about. What I need to do in the coming days, weeks, months. I have a calendar and I can’t live without it. Or at least that’s how it used to be. Now, it seems, I am finding myself forgetting to even look at it. Which is weird, and sometimes problematic. This past week I forgot to schedule my Spec-tran ride to Bible study. Completely flaked. Didn’t even realize it until the night before, which was too late to schedule. Thankfully a friend was able to drive me, but geesh! Who am I anymore? I’m beginning to wonder. I don’t know if this is a result of all the trauma therapy I’ve done or if it’s perimenopause mucking up my thinking. Could be both, I suppose. I can live with that, I think.

That is all for now. Carry on!

Exercise, Family, Food, Health, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos, Running

Sleeping Bear Training Week 11 of 14

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So. This week was all sorts of upside down as far as training goes. I only had two runs planned. A “short” run of 4 miles and a long run of 12. I also had hoped to do strength training, but it did not happen the way I expected.

Instead of doing boring Fitbod exercises, I helped my husband sand and restain our deck! He had done a bunch of prep work over the weekend while I was out galivanting over sand dunes with my girlfriends, so what was left was sanding and spraying the new stain on. The first day we sanded and I got a really good arm workout. The second day was staining, which he did with a sprayer (pictured left) while I followed as much as I could with a paintbrush and smoothed it out. This second day was more fun for me than it was for him. It turned out great, but we are still waiting for it to dry completely so I don’t have any after pictures to share.

Working on the deck took up Tuesday and Wednesday, and I was ridiculously worn out from all that manual labor, so Thursday I rested. By Friday I was ready to shake out my arms and legs with a 4 mile run, so that’s what I did! All my muscles were feeling sore and stiff, so it actually felt really good to move. Check me out here in my neighborhood, sporting my nerdy clip-on shades. I left a little late in the morning and the sun was in full force, so I was glad to have worn them.

I made the executive decision to postpone my Saturday 12 mile run so that I could attend my son’s tennis tournament. I don’t get a lot of chances to see him play, so I had to take this opportunity. I can always run another day. At this point I stil don’t know when I’ll do that 12 mile run, but it’s looking good for Tuesday. Fingers crossed!

I’ve been taking my stairs at home two at a time, trying to work those hill climbing muscles, and I imagine it is helping. We’ll see when I actually get out there. I feel good. Strong even. I’ve also been trying to eat better, increasing my healthy carbs, decreasing my processed foods as much as possible. Lots of fruits and veggies. That seems to be helping me too. Not just with physical health, but emotional and hormonal health as well. Just a theory, so it may not be true but it helps me sleep at night. Ha!

I hope you are doing well out there where you are. I wish you all health and peace. Shalom, friends!