Exercising: Roadblocks

If you have followed this blog for a long time, you would think that a post about roadblocks would focus on my palindromic rheumatism.  You are partially correct.  I haven’t had any flares.  However, this is an autoimmune disease which means I have a comprised immune system. I really haven’t had a bad time with this until lately.

First, all of February, I had an upper respiratory infection. It just wouldn’t go away.  It got to the point where I was starting to run fevers and have aches everywhere.  I knew I didn’t have the flu, but I went to the doctor anyway.  He thought I had the flu, but I tested negative. He gave me a steroid shot and told me to rest.  Thankfully, that did wonders.

Then, I decide to clean up my back patio.  Our patio, which is our entire back yard since we live in a townhouse, is not one continuous slab of concrete.  Weeds can grow. After cutting them, I felt fine.  Then I broke out in allergic reaction.  Basically, it looks like poison ivy, but there there was non of that in my backyard.  Not sure what my body was rejecting but it rejected.

This made February really hard to exercise.  We did do some running, but when I couldn’t breathe anymore we took a break.  Yoga was extremely difficult to do because the main part of yoga is the breath.  My weight didn’t skyrocket, but it’s hard to lose when you can’t exercise and when steroids make you want to eat everything in sight.

Even though I’m still feeling some of the itching from allergic reaction, we do plan on picking up running again.  I’ve been checking Strava every day to see my friends progress, and to be inspired by them.

Unlike times past, these roadblocks feel temporary.