Health, health, health

This past week had a theme: health — from our dog, to my mom, to my own well being.

It started with an emergency visit to the vet Tuesday night with Skylar, our Alaskan malamute. While on an evening walk she stepped in paint thinner before licking her paws. Anyone who has experienced something similar with their dog will know it’s not pretty. Many anxious moments and tests ensued.

After an overnight stay at the vet, she returned home, but two days later she was still struggling to eat and breath normally. So the next day she was off to the vet again for further tests. It was a relief to hear she had recovered from the paint thinner incident but more testing showed she may have urinary track infection, or the beginnings renal failure. We’re still waiting on still more test results.

At nearly 10 years old she’s going to start to have some health issues, but for the most part she has tons of energy. My partner, Candace, has experienced some scary moments with Skylar in the past, but for me it was an entirely new experience. To see such a vibrant being fall ill is a hard and fast reminder of how fleeting her health, and anyone’s health, can be.

I was reminded of this again on Friday when my dad called from Vancouver to let me know my mom was in the hospital with a bladder and kidney infection. The doctors also found gallstones but that was deemed fine to leave for now. They kept her overnight to run some more tests and continue intravenous. On Saturday we found out the infection had entered her blood, so she had to stay in hospital until Sunday evening. Now she’s home with strict orders to rest. Unfortunately her trip to Saskatoon, which was supposed to be this upcoming Sunday, had to be put off. But I’m just glad she’s on the mend. I was able to talk to her Sunday night. It was great to hear, despite her being very tired, that her fun and energizing spirit was in tact.

These two very real health concerns came as I started to battle some sort of flu or virus — fever, light headiness, nausea and all-round soreness. Certainly not an emergency situation, but it’s the second bug I’ve had in under four weeks.

Frustrated with this I decided it’s time to take a hard look at what I’m doing nutritionally. I think there’s a good chance I’m not getting everything my body needs for training. It’s a bit complicated with dairy and egg allergies dating back to my teens. I was tested about six months ago and it showed I had grown out of the allergies, however there still seems to be intolerance.

Runners running themselves down is nothing new, but that doesn’t make it OK. I know I won’t be able to perform optimally if I am not giving my body what it needs. And mentally it’s tough to let up on training, even momentarily, due to an illness, especially when you think there’s something you can do to prevent it.

The emergencies that popped up this past week served as a reminder of how fortunate I am to have my health (most of the time) and to not take it for granted, but rather catch myself at this stage in training and make the necessary adjustments. It starts with a chat with my coach Jason and we’ll go from there.

In the meantime I give my head a shake and remind myself one or two days out isn’t going to impact my greater goals. Then I give it another shake and my thoughts go to Skylar and my mom and their recovery back to health.