Tire pulling and POTS

As I prepare to run across America next Spring (targeting March 14th as a start date), I realize I'm probably an outlier case study. TI mean less than 1% of the entire population has run a marathon and less than 1% of people who run a marathon have run an ultra marathon. How many of the 1% of the 1% struggle with POTS? I don't even know, but I wanted to talk about how tire pulling has helped relieve many of my symptoms. 

One of the theories in finding ways to midigate POTS symptoms is to help reduce blood pooling in the lower extremities by strengthening the calf muscles. 

A couple of months ago I started running with a tire. I'm now averaging 20-25 miles or about 1/4-1/3 of my total weekly training miles pulling a tire up and down a hill. I have noticed in the past month a significant decrease in my POTS symptoms overall, and a great increase in my energy level since I started pulling a tire. 

I don't know if tire pulling will work for all people with POTS, but it seems that there might be something to this idea of strengthening the calf muscles, and even individuals who find running difficult may benefit from resistance or weight bearing exercises that strengthen calf muscles.

Marshall Ulrich has a good post about how to make a tire. I didn't make mine as fancy as his. I took an old camel back shell, stole a long piece of webbing from my husbands climbing bag (yeah it was his good one), and then he drilled a hole in my tire and basically just a bolt with a washer. Run the webbing through the bolt, tie to back-pack, and run. 

If you don't want to pull with your back,Marshall's  article tells you how to fashion a system for a waist pull:

http://marshallulrich.com/blog/tire-drag/

Cleared to run Wasatch 100 with POTS!

This year, I once again made the lottery into the Wasatch 100. Wasatch 100 finish and belt buckle is my dream, and a difficult course for a Potsie, because of the intense hill climbs. But I've poured my heart and soul into training hills this year, and have started tire pulling to improve my ability to be speedy on hill climbs. I want a Wasatch 100 finish more than about any other race. I want to not be chasing cut-offs. 

This year, due to my activism and public openness about POTS, Wasatch 100 race committee requested a medical clearance letter for me to be able to run the race. I respect their concern for the health and safety of runners, and it gave me an opportunity to see Dr. Elizabeth Joy again, the wonderful doctor who was able to properly diagnose me in 2010, and put me on the right path to symptom management with POTS. 

I had a full physical with her today, and she also told me that she is putting some of her POTS patients on high intensity exercise programs because she sees a lot of symptom improvement with more intense exercise with dysautonomia. It was very validating to hear support for my high intense training and that running 100 milers is good for me. She gave me the letter of clearance and clean bill of health that Wasatch 100 needed. And it was also good to check in with her and be validated in my running plans and supported in running with POTS. I've clocked 570 miles so far for 2015, and my next big run will be Squaw Peak 50 in June, I'm hoping for a sub 15 hour finish for Squaw Peak this year! 

Thank you once again Dr. joy for your knowledge of Dysautonomia and support in achieving my running dreams! 

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