Dizzy & New Armband

I was doing great until I hit 1 mile, I ran the entire downhill portion of the road and was having very little problem finishing my 30 seconds of running. Then the dizziness set in and I couldn't move without feeling like I was going to pitch forward. I paused my app and rested against the side rail of the bridge for five minutes.

Feeling a little better I took off at a walk... And fell flat on my face. To dizzy to be anything but desperate to go home I gave in and called my Mom. Then I very slowly made my way back to the railing.

I was a little over a mile from home and I couldn't even walk the rest of the way. Furious at myself doesn't even cover it. I was crying by the time my parents showed up and nearly fell getting in the van and could barely shut the door.

I'm home now and sitting down. Still dizzy. Still mad. Not crying. I have some theories about why I was fine Monday and awful today. Time will let me know if they are true.

In happy news I was able to switch myself over to night shift today. I stayed up until about 5:30am working on an armband to wear on my runs. I found the pattern at Cult of Crochet.

Mine came out a little different because I couldn't find my yarn needle, but it is actually quite comfortable and stays in place!



I would have bought one but I have rather large upper arms and didn't want to have to return something because it wasn't wide enough around.

This was the perfect solution because I was able to adapt the pockets to fit my iPhone (I have a boxy case) and make a second pocket big enough for my inhaler and id. If you're crafty and looking for an armband I highly suggest making your own!


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Sleep Cycle

I've been using Sleep Cycle to track my sleep for a few weeks now. For a while my results were awful and inconsistent. One night I'd get 45% sleep quality and the next I'd get 80%. At first it seemed like the best nights were ones when I took melatonin, but that ended up being a quirk.

The enlightening part of the app was the amount of time I spent in bed. Normally I don't even spend a full 8 hours in bed! No wonder I am always tired. Sometimes I go to bed when I get off work on Saturdays and stay in bed for 16 hours because I am so exhausted.

In an effort to change this habit I took a 3 hour nap on Saturday and got up to enjoy the rest of my first day off. I've also rearranged my small house to make a bedroom out of the sunroom.

Cats on the bed.

I made a sleep mask for the days I work, dug up some of the classical music I inherited when my Dad died, stopped taking Benadryl and melatonin, and despite their presence in the above picture, the cats are banned from the sunroom while I sleep.

Sleep Cycle App

Working out consistently, decreasing my caffeine/sugar intake, cutting out sleep meds, napping on Saturdays instead of sleeping all day, having a dedicated bedroom, the sleep mask, calming music, and focusing on being in bed for at least 8 hours has made such a difference.
If you have a smartphone I highly recommend getting an app that tracks your sleep!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone