Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Power of Vitamins



I've been feeling rather ... puny the last couple of days. Not sick, really, but just kind of off. Really exhausted for no good reason, sort of heavy in the limbs, vague headache, very slight amount of nausea (just kind of a "blech" stomach feeling) all around I just don't feel 100%. Also, I have this small pain in my left leg. Not really an injury, hardly even really pain, but just this slightly weird feeling starting at the hip and running most of the way down (and not in the ITB) with the leg feeling slightly weak, like it could give out beneath me maybe, it's sort of hard to describe. I tend to be a little paranoid about running injuries though, so it's very possible that I'm just being a little sensitive. It's just so easy to go over-board with running and not back off soon enough when you need to (I've been there, trust me) that I tend to over-analyze any little twinge -- better a couple of days off from running than living with something that turns into a chronic issue for months or even years.

Anyway, I had a training appointment scheduled for today and I'm glad that I did because I probably would have talked myself out of working out, due to malaise. I arrived to the gym early so that I could run and quickly felt the issue with my leg (I had been feeling it while walking too, but it was more pronounced while running). I switched from my usual 3-5 minute running intervals to alternating 1 minute running with 1 minute walking, after one initial 2-minute running interval. The leg thing felt much better with the shorter intervals, so I decided to stick with that for this session. I kept the pace at a 10 min-mile to a 9:13 min-mile pace and did 2.25 miles. The leg didn't feel any worse after that and might even have felt a little bit better, so I think it probably is nothing.

I then started my training session. Today is the harder day at the moment (until he switches up what we're doing again) and includes these step-up repeats (with weights, of course) onto this very high stool. I really didn't know how that was going to go with the leg issue and the general feeling of ickiness. But I did okay and managed the entire training session without any real problem. So, maybe it's just me, maybe I'm just a little tired and/or fighting off something. The leg thing is probably just a little twinge that I was being really paranoid about. To shake it all off, I ran another mile on the treadmill at home for an even 3.25 for the day and I feel pretty good now.

On the way home from work, I decided to stop in at GNC and buy some vitamins -- Women's Ultra Mega Active. And I decided to also buy some fish oil capsules. (Can someone tell me what the Hell is the difference between fish oil and fish body??? So damn confusing!) I figure that since I'm watching the calories and am living a pretty active life that some vitamins could only help somewhat. Especially this time of year when I'm probably eating less fresh produce. I don't know if my feeling crappy at the moment could be helped by vitamins, but it probably couldn't hurt at least.

2 comments:

J said...

thanks for the reminder. I have them but I forgot about taking them lately.

deborah said...

I know, I think that's why I haven't bought them in a while. I just forget to take them anyway.