So...hi!
I was talking to someone the other day about my plans, and she encouraged me to start this.
So, here I am...a little scared to be putting all my thoughts out into the universe this way, but you all will stay with me and not criticize me too much, right?
So, to start: I'm Tisha. I recently decided to 'run' a 5K for the first time in my life. For most people this would be a nice accomplishment, but for me...this was huge. You see, the whole time I was training for this (walking and running on treadmills, walking to the grocery store, etc) I kept thinking about that point in my life a little over five years ago when I had a hard time walking across a room.
You see...I have Meniere's Disease. First off, I hate that it's called a disease. Diseases are automatically associated with cures in my mind, and there is no cure. There are all kinds of websites with helpful information in them, but one of the strangest things about Meniere's is that no one has the same exact experience with it. There are typical symptoms that everyone has, and then a laundry list of other symptoms that you MAY have. For me, it meant that both of my balance organs would be severely damaged to the point where I have almost no natural balance.
Happy thought, right? :)
Well, the nice thing is, your brain learns to compensate. I've had two wonderful women who have helped me to learn how to train my eyes and brain to work in harmony again.** Right now, I'm going to the amazing 360 Balance (http://www.360balance.com/site/). If you ever have trouble with balance (and happen to live in the Central Texas area), I highly recommend this place. They really know what they're doing and know how to talk to people who are just trying to figure out why this happened and how to get better.
**Have you ever used a video camera? You have to pan slowly from side to side or things will blur. If you walk while holding it, everything bounces up and down. Well, that's what things look like to me all the time. *
In any case, even before this balance mess, I was never much of a runner. I played soccer, but always fullback/defense. I'd stand around, enjoying watching the game until the other team would start making their way to the goal. Then I'd run full speed towards them, kick the ball up-field and go back to watching the game. I think I really started hating running in middle school. During P.E. if I slowed down to walk they'd yell at me to hurry up (shin splints be damned). So, I gave up on the idea of running.
No one was more surprised than I when the thought crossed my mind to run a 5K. I picked out a fun one (Color Me Rad) that was about 6 weeks away and figured that I had enough time to train. I started going to my vestibular rehabilitation center at around the same time, and they were amazed to hear that I was walking and running on a treadmill. (I guess most people they see don't enjoy the constant bouncing vision that jogging/running causes -- I can't say I enjoy it either, but it never bothered me overmuch while running)
And you know what? I finished the 5K. My three goals for myself were:
1. Finish the race
2. Don't hurt myself
3. Don't finish last
I honestly don't know why I was so worried about finishing last. There were quite a few young children that participated. Needless to say, I wasn't last. :)
So...here is my plan. I've completed a 5K (mostly walking). I'll complete other 5Ks (running a larger percentage of them each time) until I've worked up to running a full 5K. Then...I'm going to complete a half-marathon.
So, that's it.
That's my plan.
Let's see how well I do. :)
