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You have successfully registered for The Big Canada Run. 

Seriously! You've got to be kidding me! We are not long finished virtually running/walking across Newfoundland (thank you Paradise Running Club), now Katrina (yes that is her real name) thinks it will be fun to virtually run across the freakin' country! I thought my friends didn't want to exercise and we would just hang out at the dance studio waiting for our kids to finish dance and eat Stuff it for lunch. Man, I miss Stuff it. Wally if you end up reading this, I will be back I promise! This Pandemic has certainly changed my friends because we keep registering for virtual races. Don't they know I am still broken!? 

As you may notice, my last blog was written in January 2019? Not much exercise has taken place since then. January was cold. February was cold. March was cold. April was still cold. In May, I got rear ended by a truck and ended up off work for a few months. To this day, I am still suffering from Post Concussion symptoms. They suck! They really do! Each time I try and exercise, I get a huge set back because of symptoms and pain from my 2017 car accident. Yes. let's not forget that I got rear ended in 2017 as well. I am not gonna lie, this pandemic has been a secret blessing for me because I don't have to go outside much. Anxiety to the max. But that will be another blog post. Disclaimer: I have clearance to exercise from allllll the people I am seeing about my pain/symptoms.

But anyway, back to my friends that I hate now. So today I was working from home and my phone was beeping like crazy (not that unusual). I would randomly read a few texts on my breaks and lunch, agree to something, ended up buying a desk from staples, not knowing much about what I was agreeing with and then BAM! I am now registered for a 8000KM virtual race. Fun hey!? Not so much. Sure I am still not ready for the flippin' 5 KM (running) race that I signed up for in August! I got the medal already so technically I don't have to run it. That's the rule right?

During my conversation with Jane (yes her real name) as I was registering for this race, I repeatedly stated how much I hate her. To her response, don't hate me, hate Katrina. To which I agreed.

So far Cheryl (yes her real name) has yet to respond. Seems suspicious to me or maybe she responded and I didn't see them yet.

Well that's all for now folks, I am hoping this blog will keep me motivated. However, clearly it didn't in 2019. Weird things are happening in 2020 so who knows.

Wish me luck. I now don't have to try and sell my Garmin watch and I will head out for a walk now.
(most of these KM's will be walking)

On to the Next one

I thought I was getting better. I thought I was on the mend to not being in as much pain anymore. I thought this is the year that I will get back to running. I thought I was going to get out to more group runs.

Well that all took a change in events. Something happened but I am not sure what. I can hardly move and the intense pain is back to full force. I mentioned to my doctor again about my fingers still going numb and he said he will send a referral to get nerve testing done. I will keep you posted in about 1.5 years when I get in to get the testing done. Hopefully I will get in earlier but I have been told that is the waiting time. 

I had plans to go to the Tuesday group run. Like seriously I was going. I was even texting with Shelley and confirmed I was going. This was serious. I was committed. Until I got home from work and Marc was on the phone. "Yes. OK. Yeah. Ok. Ok. I will come in and take a look." SHIT. I knew what that meant. Marc was on the phone with his work and there was an issue and he had to go in to check it out.  Yup. So Marc had to go to work which meant I was unable to go running. I was actually disappointed. I sent a text to Shelley and told her I could not make it. We exchanged sad faces and I carried on making the kids supper.

With me, being in so much pain all the time and being tired all the time, once plans change sometimes I take that as a sign and not reschedule or try to get out later. I know I shouldn't think like that because I still have 25 pounds on since the Tely10 but ya know, oh well. 

Last night happened. Text messages were exchanged between Shelley and I, all of a sudden I had my alarm set for 7:00 AM. I made sure it was AM because a couple weeks ago I planned on getting up for a run but I had my alarm set for PM. Again, it was a sign not to run. I am noticing more and more signs pointing at "RENEE SHOULD NOT RUN."

So this morning, I get up and get ready to go. Reassured a few people that if I do fall I will not be at the AGM on Wednesday and I WILL NOT renew my membership. 

We chatted with Heather and Wilma, they were doing 6 k this morning. Go mad. You guys are nuts.  We started off running. I looked at Shelley and asked what she was training for because she was running too fast. We adjusted our speed in good time because the roads were VERY icy.  We only did a short run but that was perfect this morning. HOWEVER! On the way back guess what happened? I ALMOST FELL! You should have seen Shelley's face! I didn't fall but it was that slippery that I slipped on ice but caught myself. Even worse. We were only walking. Shelley did grab me and would not let go. We took our time and made our way back. Just to be clear Shelley did let go of me when we started running again. That would have been awkward if she didn't.

We get back to the Coffee Shop and started discussing about how we can get back into running again but not be so serious and just have fun and improve our running at the same time. We think we have a brilliant idea and we will keep you posted in the next few days.

I'm Freestylin'

Anyone that knows me, knows that I HATE being a diabetic. It sucks. Just plain and simple sucks. It sucks even more when your four favorite food groups are pizza, nachos, wings and salt and vinegar chips. Ohhhh the looks I get sometimes when people see me eating these foods.

I was officially diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes when I started Learn to Run with Paradise Running Club in 2013. I didn't join because I was a diabetic, I joined because...well because of my husband Marc. He encouraged me to join and I was like, ok, but it is not going to be pretty. I struggled with the running and I struggled with having diabetes. Well. I actually STILL struggle with both.

Something that comes along with Diabetes is the dreaded finger pricks! I have confessed many times to my doctors that I am a "bad" diabetic because I don't check my sugars as much as I should. Part of me is probably still in denial. Another part of me knows that if I check my sugars after I eat those nachos, my sugars are gonna be on bust and I will fell like crap so I would rather not know the dreaded number.

So as Google and Facebook tracks our searches, I noticed more and more that I was seeing a sponsored ad for Freestyle Libre. They claimed that there was no more finger pricks and I could scan a sensor which would tell me my sugars. I thought, "my god, to good to be true." Can you imagine not having to stop during a run to take out your diabetic supplies to see if your sugars have dropped?  I have done this in the past but it was just to much so I stopped carrying my supplies during my runs.  Months have passed and I was still seeing this ad. I checked out the comments and reviews and more and more people were claiming that it was life changing. Seriously, can't be. Something has to be wrong with it! I will grow a third arm or my arm will fall off or that it was be to expensive and wouldn't be covered under my health insurance. Surely it was not going to make a diabetic a little more comfortable.

I finally decided to check it out. I emailed my health insurance company to see if it was covered. They needed a specific number but described the device and said it would probably be covered. I got excited but not to excited until I found out for sure. So I sent a message to a running friend of mine, Andrea, who owns PharmaSave on Commonwealth Ave in Mount Pearl to see if she could put in an estimate to see if it would be covered. Tada! It was! Awesome! Now I was excited! I couldn't wait. I had a doctors appointment in a few days and I would get a prescription.

When I got my prescription I asked Marc to go get my new sensor for me because I was working and he got off earlier than me. When I put the sensor on first I must have done something wrong because it didn't work. I almost cried. I was so disappointed. I sent a message to Andrea and she said not to worry she would get me another sensor. Awesome!

I got the sensor the next day and I was on my way to checking my sugars a 100 times a day. Why? Because I can! Seriously! There is no limit! It doesn't hurt! You just have to change the sensor every 14 days. I can handle that. Each time you start a new sensor you have to wait 60 minutes before it will register with the meter or phone. Yup. I said my PHONE! Technology can be so great sometimes. Like many people, I don't leave home without my phone. When I go for a run, I take my phone. Now, if I need to check my sugars, all I have to do is haul out my phone, select the app, scan the sensor and there ya go, my sugar reading. I shit you not. It is amazing!

Another thing that is amazing is the customer service support. I sent an email to the company about my first sensor not working and they told me to give them a call. I had a busy couple of days, so I finally got around to calling them. The only issue was that the number I was provided in the email, caused me to be transferred a couple times before I finally got to the correct person. The gentleman that I was speaking to was awesome and so helpful. And just like that. A replacement sensor was put in the mail for me. How awesome is that?

I am loving my Freestyle Libre sensor!

Happy Day One. New day. New Year. New Playlist.

January 1, 2019

Here it is. Another year. I am hoping this is the year I get skinny again!  Since my minor car accident in August 2017 I have found it hard to get back to running. I still eat like I am running but not so much running which has caused me to gain about 25 pounds since the Tely10. Back in November I joined a Joe Ryan clinic to help me get back into the running scene. I found it has helped me, but it is still discouraging when I am the slowest runner in the group and I am still not back to where I was before the car accident.

Today I woke up in pain, like I usually do, and hung out under my new heated blanket for most of the day. Every once in a while, I would get the urge to go for a run, but I would talk myself out of it. I sent a text to Lori and Shelley at 1:10 pm “I need motivation to for a run. I am stuck in my chair.” Lori replied stating she was on her way to the duck pond and Shelley said that she was already out and about doing things. So, I sunk back into my chair to get comfy…for all about a minute.

I asked Marc if he wanted me to see if my parents can watch the girls for a bit, so we could go for a run starting at the duck pond, he said he was to tired.

I got up and got dressed in my clothes I have started to grow out of. Got ready to head out the door. Forgot my water bottle. Had to go back and get it. Had to pee again. Pee’d. Forgot my keys upstairs. Had to go get them. I thought if I had to do one more thing before I opened that door I would go back over to my trusted heated blanket.

I got out in the car knowing that when I get to the duck pond the other crowd who are much faster than me will be long gone but I started the car and drove to the duck pond. I arrived at the duck pond, got my earbuds and new playlist ready, took a selfie and started running. A couple that was walking toward me were looking at me, instead of saying Happy New Year, I said, “It’s day one.” They smiled and said, “Absolutely, day one.” Maybe I looked like I was going to struggle, or maybe it was their day one as well. Who knows.

I started running, I wanted to get at least 5 km in. I started with the hill first, to my surprise that didn’t kill me. I got to the top of the hill and kept running to the Peter Barry Duff parking lot second entrance, turned around and toward Buckingham. There was a man running towards me who, by his running pose, thought was Andrew G but wasn't. So, it is not only Todd R. with a running doppelgänger. There were no “real” sightings of the other PRC crowd yet. I kept going.

I got to the four way stop and started running towards the guard rails. I heard someone running behind me, I turned my head to see who it was and to my surprise it was Colin Fewer, he said good job and then pretty much disappeared. As soon as he passed me my watched buzzed and when I looked at it there was a trophy symbol on it. I am not sure why I got the trophy, maybe our watches got confused, but I thought it was pretty cool that I got it around the time Colin Fewer said good job. That was my little push to get this run completed.

I kept going, I was almost at the guard rail when I noticed someone standing there waiting. She was a runner, I just couldn’t pick out who it was yet. To my surprise, it was Suzanne B who was waiting for the other crowd. Soon after there was a crowd of runners hanging out at the guard rail. I was pretty cool to see so many familiar running faces! Lori Dalton greeted me with a huge hug! They told me not to go anywhere after my run. I laughed and said that they were a lot faster than me, so they would be finished before me.

We all started running again. I thought for sure I was going to be left in their dust but I was able to run with Suzanne for the remainder of my run. Some parts of the run I couldn’t talk, the cold air was not good on the throat but it was still nice company. The last of the run we ran from light pole to light pole and then walked light pole to light pole until we got to the bridge back at the duck pond. When I first did LTR in 2013, Darlene M told me to do this to get through the run. I have never forgotten it.

By the time I finished the run I had 5.63 km. I am happy with that. For now.

Happy Day One.