- Weather: 21 C (69.8 F)
- Distance of the day: 42.47 km (26.39 miles)
- Distance to date: 2664.26 km (1655.49 miles)
- Song of the Day: Rest of Audio Book: The Cellist of Sarajevo, & Shoeshine by The Gorillas
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| Hello Ottawa |
Rained hard today. A very different kind of wet than Vancouver. In Vancouver if you get soaked running you're cold. Here the rain is warm. Even when soaked, you feel warm.
Today was hard to get going. My ankles are getting quite sore as I have run passed the life of my shoes.
Once the endorphins kicked in the day went very smooth. The rain was nice and the day became effortless. I ran 2.5 straight hours, took a short break, then ran the rest which was about another 2.5 straight hours.
Melissa left us after the first half of my marathon today to move the RV, work and do other stuff.
I spent the day looking forward to new shoes. The last time I got shoes was at the Foot Solutions in Halifax. Since then, I've been running on the same 3 pairs of shoes on rotation.
Picked up a new pair of shoes from Foot Solutions from Bells Corners in Ottawa. We went first to Foot Solutions in Orleans and met Amjid who is a managing partner in all three of the Foot Solutions in Ottawa. He was an amazing guy and while he didn't have the shoes I needed in stock at his location he did call the other store in Bells Corner and made sure they had my shoe in stock.
I have found all Foot Solutions to be like this. Truly concerned about the needs of the person. Not focused on just making a one time sale.
I am very much looking forward to running tomorrow's distance in some new shoes. A pair of running shoes should last between 450 km to 850 km (300-500 miles). So if a marathon is 42.something kilometers then one pair of shoes will last (850 km divided by 42 km, at most) that's 20 days of running for me. If you add up all the distance I have to run across Canada, that is a lot of shoes.
So I am looking forward to some new shoes and hoping I don't go so long without a new pair. My ankles and heals will appreciate it.
One of the interesting things about the part of my brain that was damaged is that it's not that I am unaware I am in pain, it's that I need to be asked to know that I am. If no one checks in on me I will continue to run. I will forget to mention that me ankles hurt. I will feel the pain at night though.
When I first came home from the hospital I would forget to eat. It would take someone asking me if I was hungry for me to think: Yeah I could eat. I also don't process what those feelings are. My affect is off. Affect is the response to a feeling or emotion. So if your brain doesn't understand, or properly filter incoming stimuli (i.e. That feeling in my stomach is hunger) you don't know to eat because your brain doesn't know it's hungry. So it can't start off the chain of events that make your stomach growl, or the chemicals that need to be released to your brain to trigger the "hungry" signals.
So now a days I need to be careful with what I do. I think this is one of the reasons why I am able to be so physical. What used to fire in my synapsis to say "stop" or "ow" no longer works like it used to.
Like one of the my caps or crown on my tooth fell out one night while I was eating with Melissa. It felt strange and I was curious as to what happened. I was able to remove the rest of the damaged cap and then noticed I was bleeding. Then I noticed the pain. I spent the next few days in discomfort. Now I had the nerve removed from that tooth a few years ago, what I keep forgetting is to not chew on that side of the exposed open bits. I also have to remember to keep it clean as I don't want an infection. To anyone else but a brain injury survivor this would sound weird. However this is just how life is now. I don't think or act like you do.
Today was hard to get going. My ankles are getting quite sore as I have run passed the life of my shoes.
Once the endorphins kicked in the day went very smooth. The rain was nice and the day became effortless. I ran 2.5 straight hours, took a short break, then ran the rest which was about another 2.5 straight hours.
Melissa left us after the first half of my marathon today to move the RV, work and do other stuff.
I spent the day looking forward to new shoes. The last time I got shoes was at the Foot Solutions in Halifax. Since then, I've been running on the same 3 pairs of shoes on rotation.
Picked up a new pair of shoes from Foot Solutions from Bells Corners in Ottawa. We went first to Foot Solutions in Orleans and met Amjid who is a managing partner in all three of the Foot Solutions in Ottawa. He was an amazing guy and while he didn't have the shoes I needed in stock at his location he did call the other store in Bells Corner and made sure they had my shoe in stock.
I have found all Foot Solutions to be like this. Truly concerned about the needs of the person. Not focused on just making a one time sale.
I am very much looking forward to running tomorrow's distance in some new shoes. A pair of running shoes should last between 450 km to 850 km (300-500 miles). So if a marathon is 42.something kilometers then one pair of shoes will last (850 km divided by 42 km, at most) that's 20 days of running for me. If you add up all the distance I have to run across Canada, that is a lot of shoes.
So I am looking forward to some new shoes and hoping I don't go so long without a new pair. My ankles and heals will appreciate it.
One of the interesting things about the part of my brain that was damaged is that it's not that I am unaware I am in pain, it's that I need to be asked to know that I am. If no one checks in on me I will continue to run. I will forget to mention that me ankles hurt. I will feel the pain at night though.
When I first came home from the hospital I would forget to eat. It would take someone asking me if I was hungry for me to think: Yeah I could eat. I also don't process what those feelings are. My affect is off. Affect is the response to a feeling or emotion. So if your brain doesn't understand, or properly filter incoming stimuli (i.e. That feeling in my stomach is hunger) you don't know to eat because your brain doesn't know it's hungry. So it can't start off the chain of events that make your stomach growl, or the chemicals that need to be released to your brain to trigger the "hungry" signals.
So now a days I need to be careful with what I do. I think this is one of the reasons why I am able to be so physical. What used to fire in my synapsis to say "stop" or "ow" no longer works like it used to.
Like one of the my caps or crown on my tooth fell out one night while I was eating with Melissa. It felt strange and I was curious as to what happened. I was able to remove the rest of the damaged cap and then noticed I was bleeding. Then I noticed the pain. I spent the next few days in discomfort. Now I had the nerve removed from that tooth a few years ago, what I keep forgetting is to not chew on that side of the exposed open bits. I also have to remember to keep it clean as I don't want an infection. To anyone else but a brain injury survivor this would sound weird. However this is just how life is now. I don't think or act like you do.
David,
ReplyDeleteYou are so strong! Thank you for raising awareness for those of us with brain injury. I too have experienced the same sort of smirks etc that you have. I feel pain on one side of my body and not the other. I forget something that just happened. Every day is like xmas morning for me - a surprise!
Keep strong, keep going. I hope one day to be able to run again. You should add a "Buy David a pair of running shoes" option to the donation page, and partner up with a running shoe company to get them at a wholesale rate.
xo
Thanks so much for the great words Jenny. I am no stronger than you are. Any single one of us can do what I am doing. You are just as strong and just as amazing. We can do anything.
ReplyDeleteI to don't have feeling on the right side of my right foot. So I often can't tell if I am stepping correctly.
Thanks so much for the great suggestions.
Dave