39 miles and counting

I'm a little behind for January due to The Community School of Midwifery launching into our 3rd year last Friday. I plan on completing a 30 mile run on Saturday to catch up and meet a minimum of 200 miles for January towards 2400 miles in 2015. 

It appears that I may be changing the name of my campaign as I just discovered that ACNM has a Miles for Midwives Marathon that they host yearly, so to keep in good comradery I'm looking for a new name for my campaign. I'm open to suggestions.

This year is the first year our school started with 3 classes, and we wi have our first graduating class in November of this year. We hope to raise over $150,000 to support MANAs division of research for supporting the advancement of high-quality midwifery care and to move our school forward with accreditation and support to grow our local and distance education program. 

To donate to my campaign go to:

http://www.gofundme.com/j3tknc #gofundme

Facebook break and Wisdom Self

I've temporarily deactivated my Facebook account. My purpose is kind of like a vision quest of sorts. I'm disconnecting with most of my social media outlets for the next 10 days, and I'm also on a Neera Cleanse. I'm hoping to pray and meditate a lot to get direction and light for some very important decisions and to have clarity on what is most important to focus on. 

Lemons and limes squeezed, MaldeBal Syrup, Cayenne pepper, and water. I am still running Miles for Midwives, and I will still blog for the next 10 days. 

Today it's 90 minutes on the eliptical and 30 minutes stair master. 

Miles for Midwives 17.2 down

I had intended on running 18 miles yesterday, and only got 2. So I geared up and went out on the Icy roads for 10 tonight and will finish 5 more on the treadmill in a bit. 

It wasn't POTS that kept me from running last night, it was a document I started writing about how trauma effects DNA and how maternal stress effects the temperament, stress resiliency, and emotional intelligence in offspring. I refered a lot to Dr. Fredrick Wirth who authored the Prenatal Parenting book and program, and I also discussed additional research supporting his theories. I could see his contagious smile and laugh as I wrote and before I new it i had been writing for 4 hours. It was 2 am and running had slipped my mind. 

My current writing,  started as a document on finding the Wisdom Self verses Mind identification in the treatment of severe trauma. But I wrote an additional section on the how generational trauma effects gene expression transgenerationally and why caring for mothers is so important. Dr. Wirth was a huge supporter of midwives, and I'm grateful for my foundation in Prenatal Parenting that is adding to the work I do with women now. 

The article I wrote last night and literature review i conducted in the process reafirms the importance of me following through with the Miles for Midwives campaign. 

To make a donation: 

http://www.gofundme.com/j3tknc

Miles for Midwives is Underway!

I've logged my first 4.7 miles of the year! Only 2395.3 to go and I've also raised $35 so far! I'm hoping to raise $150,000 this year to support research and education in midwifery. 

I had set out to run 8 tonight, but I'm having a lot of POTS symptoms today. Namely my heart rate is jumping all over the place and indicative of needing rest and more electrolytes. I will sleep tonight and then set out for a 15-18 mile run tomorrow. 

View my campaign and donate at:

http://www.gofundme.com/j3tknc

Follow me on Strava at:

http://www.strava.com/athletes/7394044?utm_source=top-nav

I will be blogging almost daily this year and also writing more specifically about being a distance runner with POTS and what it is like day in and day out. I have periods that I barely notice I have POTS (or at least my symptoms are easier to ignore) and I have stretches when I have difficulty getting out of bed, thinking straight, and I just don't feel well. 

I've been having a difficult stretch with POTS for the past 2 months. It was triggered by flying to St. Louis to the MANA conference, and then a few weeks later flying to Wisconsin. I've been slowly getting better but days like today are difficult to move at all. I know it's going to be a struggle to run or even get out of bed day when my heart rate is doing this. The picture below shows what happens when i go from a laying position to standing up when my symptoms are more severe. Ironically forcing myself to run and move makes these symptoms lessen and more manageable and my heart rate actually regulates better when I am training for 100 mile races.