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Running Outfits

Just a note: I am in a rush to post this so any spelling mistakes you find will be corrected later....actually, no, they will not. You know what I mean. I don't have time for SPELLING!

So, now that I am an official runner, I have my official running clothes. This outfit consists of a lot of black nylon beneath a grey windbreaker. I also always make sure my hair is pinned out of my face so that no stray blonde strands get plastered to my sweaty brow. This amazing outfit of champions looks like this:

Now, while I think it is tres stylish, it is also functional. It keeps me warm, whisks away the sweat, and most importantly, keeps everything in place (see my comments about my need for an appropriate sports' bra in my "What Causes MS" post). I, being an average runner at best, need all the help I can get. So, it baffles me what some other people choose to wear while running. My top three "What-Are-You-Wearing-And-Why-Are-You-Wearing-That-For-Heavens'-Sake!" outfit are as follows:

(Side-note: I have reprised my cartooning skills and created some fanTASTIC drawings to accompany my descriptions. Notice how each drawing get's sequentially better as with each cartoon I spend more time and get more efficient at using Paint.)

1) The Home-made Snow Suit

Now, I call this look the Home-Made Snow Suit because that what it looks like to me. Often I see women, and it's always a woman wearing this, who is so overly bundled-up it is amazing she can move. Think Ralphie's little brother in a Christmas story. This outfit cannot be functional unless the runner needs to accomplish one of the following:

- The runner is a nomad and must transport all their belonging with them in their clothes at all times.
- The runner is even more afraid of the sun than I am and layers on clothing to shield themselves from the sun.
- The runner wants to sweat as much as possible.

Now, my money is on the last criteria. Some women have this idea that the more they sweat the more weight they loose. While this may be TECHNICALLY true, since water does have mass and removing liquid from your body would result in you weighing less, I think it would be difficult to appreciate the weight loss while passed out from dehydration and heat stroke.

2) The Nearly-Naked Man

I really don't think this runner is specific to Italy but I see them in droves here. The Nearly-Naked Man is a man at least 40 year old who wears as little as possible while running. In the way that I am amazed the Snow Suit lady does not succumb to heat stroke, I am amazed the Nearly-Naked Man doesn't feel the frigid January air (does he not have nerve endings in his skin?) or the major side-eyes everyone is throwing his way as he bounces by. And when I say bounce, I mean bounce.

There is no need that you need to wear what is pretty much a loose speedo and a mesh tank top to run. The wind resistance you avoid by wearing only your two inches of clothing is not so great that it would grind you to a halt if you put on a real pair of shorts. Stop showing off what you are showing off. How you THINK you look while you are running, is not what you think you look like, plus I cannot imagine the CHAFFING you endure.

3) The Fancy-Diva

I have nothing against Divas, I even hope to be one in the future, in the operatic sense of the word. However, there are some young female individuals who feel it necessary to accessorize their running attire with jewelry, spray tan, straightened glossy hair, make-up, and music playing so loud that I am convince they must all suffer from either extreme hearing loss or have a major inner-ear wax build-up.

Now, these ladies do run, they are not walkers. And since they run, they sweat. Sweat and any kind of make-up, I don't care how water-proof you think it is, is not a good combination. I just want to run up to them with a wet-wipe and start scrubbing in a general circular motion all over. What really drives me nuts is their hair, flowing freely behind them. How does that not bother them!? Doesn't it get in their eyes and get soaked with sweat? For me, whisps of hair hitting me in the face while running have the same result as when a fly buzzes around my ear when I'm trying to sleep: I end up smacking myself in the face trying to get it away from me.

But, what I have learned from watching these ladies running with their ear buds blasting music into their cranium is that today's songs are intentionally repetitive. Now I know why I get the same lyric stuck in my head, playing on repeat over and over again, driving me slowly insane. When I run by these women I always hear some annoying pop song chorus which is usually just a combination of two or three words chanted over and over again. How many Lady Gaga songs have lyrics that are just repetitions of nonsensical noises (the opening of Bad Romance anyone)? For this crime alone Justin Bieber, Nicky Minaj and Rebecca Black should all be seriously fined if not chased by an angry mob with pitchforks alla Frankenstein.

Also.......did you know that I have set-up a donations page where you can donate money to the Multiple Sclerosis International Fund? It's super easy to donate to and your contribution will help me meet my goal of raising $1000 dollars for MS research. So if you enjoy my blog posts, then please equally enjoy contributing to a great cause. Go do it right now! https://www.justgiving.com/CarlaWiegers

Next week we discuss DIABETES! Brace yourselves.... 

What can YOU do in the fight against MS?

So today's post is not going to be nearly as entertaining as last weeks. I just finished running 15 miles, as part of my super-duper awesome marathon training schedule, and my creative juices are at a low ebb. HOWEVER, I am very excited to announce that I have finally set-up my donations page so now you too can join me in my efforts to find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. GO HERE RIGHT NOW AND DONATE: https://www.justgiving.com/CarlaWiegers

Why should you donate?
I have several people in my life who have various auto-immune diseases but there are a few special people very close to my heart who are struggling with MS (you know who you are you wonderful people you). In their honor, I am dedicating my fundraising to MS and have established a donations page at JustGiving.com. All proceeds will go to the Multiple Sclerosis International Fund (look them up here: http://www.msif.org/en/).

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!
My goal is to raise the equivalent of $1000 American dollars (which is just under £700 or around €780). The site is based in the UK so the money donation part is in British Pounds, but I trust you all have access to a calculator and can convert the difference.

Anyways..... we have until March 18, 2012 to reach my goal of donating $1000. I mean, you can donate any time you want to whoever you want, but I would be much obliged if you would help me reach my goal. Think of all the entertaining cartoons I provide you, the hilarious personal commentary, the self-deprecating stories. Like Loreal says, I'M WORTH IT, or rather, MS research is definitely worth your time, money and attention.

Where do you go to donate?
So, please go to my fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/CarlaWiegers. Donate right now! And I promise I will continue my parade of informative nonsense on this blog and in life, all in the goal of helping find a cure for MS and all autoimmune diseases.


Okay, just to encourage you to donate, I will post my most "please-donate-because-you-love-me" face:

I never said it was a pretty face....but can you really say no to those crazy eyes?

What I Think About When I Run

Now that I run for 1 to 2 hours at a time, I have a lot of spare moments to think. And by think I mean let my mind wander aimlessly while my legs pound the pavement. These thoughts are ridiculous, abusive, encouraging, and, overall, very dramatic. I will share with you now a typical mental thought journey experienced while I run.

Being that I am an acting major, a lot of my day dreaming centers around movies. I often envision myself as a movie character or compare my current life experience to that of a pivotal cinematic scene. What I am about to show you is an accurate representation of what goes on inside my brain.

Usually, when I start, I feel unstoppable, and my brain bursts with energy and excitement. That usually looks something like this:

The first few minutes, maybe even just seconds of running, are almost rejuvenating. I feel like a world-class athlete, like I should go audition for the Olympics, my physical prowess is that good.

Very soon, however, this enthusiasm turns into dogmatic mauntra, which looks something like this:

To distract myself from the physical exhaustion I am putting myself through, I try to entertain myself by looking at the scenery. I don't listen to music while I run. I don't like little ear buds yanking on my ears and I always get too concerned about the song I am listening to. All my mental energy must go towards making my legs keep moving. But, whenever I look around me, inevitably there is something I see that makes me more wary than pleasantly amused. Usually, it's one of two things I see, which look something like this:

 

Or, more often than not, this is what really happens inside my head:

Then, my brain usually goes onto auto-pilot. This mean that the random songs start playing. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a tendency to sing the same song lyric, from the most annoying songs mind you, over and over and over again. My college roommate can tell you about my "Umbrella" period. Those were dark days. It's a terrible, totally unconscious reflex. It's really a tic that results in the people around me wanting to throw things at me. Well, guess what, I suffer too. Since I am running and breathless and therefore cannot actually sing out loud, my inner voice starts crooning and torments me with the same refrain stuck on repeat. Today's most recent song selections include:

and this

and this

Ugh. That last one was the worst. I think there literally was a 20 minute stretch where the song was reduced to just "Don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my, don't go breaking my" and so on and so on.

Sometimes, something will happen to shock me out of my song psychosis. By this point my brain has been so overwhelmed by cheesy song lyrics that my reaction to whatever is happening in the real world is not a normal, well-adjusted reaction. It usually looks something like this:

or this

Confessions of a Crazy Person.

Now, at some point, my body starts to send signals to my brain that this running thing is no fun. I'm sweating, my knees are hurting, my feet are aching, and no amount of perpetually repeating music can stifle this message of bodily suffering. Then it becomes a matter of mind over body. I become very abusive with myself, berating my body to keep going. That usually looks something like this:

  

So sad, I know. Now, perhaps a normal person would think "I am so glad I am pushing myself to be better" or "I am so proud of myself that I am running for a good cause", but I can't muster that kind of rationalism. Instead, if I do ever try to cheer myself on, it looks something disturbingly like this:

 

Again, these are not the reactions of a sane person. All the running temporarily disables my common sense and I become SUPER melodramatic. Well, more melodramatic than normal.

Finally, the end of my running episode is in sight. I sense the finish line is close and every fiber of my being anticipates that moment when I get to STOP. RUNNING. After what has probably been about 2 hours of continuous running, in my brain I look and feel something like this:

And then, at last, it's OVER! I DID IT! I HAVE WON! (what did I win? I don't know. I'm just training, this isn't the actual race. Not that I could actually win a race unless I was competing against blind miniature pigs) I AM FREE!

Now that I have finished, I limp home to first take a large dose of anti-inflammatory pain medication and second eat a truck load of pasta. Then, and only then, can my mind revert back to what it thinks about the other 99% percent of the time:

What Causes MS?

Welcome back faithful blog reader! Now that you know a little bit (and I mean little. Go to http://www.nationalmssociety.org to get more detailed information) about what MS is and what MS symptoms look like, today we will be discussing what causes MS.

To keep you interested, today’s blog will include custom cartoons made at pixton.com. Because, let’s face it, my homemade drawings leave a lot to be desired. Plus, with pixton, it lets me take the easy route to creating comics.

Anyways, let’s get down to business about this MS stuff….

So, what causes MS?

 

Well, scientists still aren’t sure but they believe that the cause of MS is a combination of several factors including genetics and environment. Scientists are also looking into the Immunologic (science of the body’s immune system) and Epidemiologic (study of disease patterns in the world) factors to understand what triggers MS.

Genetics

So, MS is not 100% hereditary HOWEVER, having a first-degree relative, like a brother or sister with MS, increases your risk of developing MS significantly. The average person has a 1 in 750 chance of developing MS where as a person with a first-degree relative has a 1 in 40 chance of developing MS themselves. But genetics are tricky. 80% of those who have MS do not have a family history of the disease. A person with an identical twin (and remember identical twins are supposed to be just that: IDENTICAL) who has MS has a 1 in 4 chance of developing the disease.  

Some scientists theorize that some people are genetically predisposed to react to some environmental stimulus which then triggers an autoimmune response.  The task of researching the genetic origins of MS requires scientists to organize and catalogue 3.2 billion DNA bases that form the code of the 30,000 to 40,000 genes that make up the human genome. Couple that with the fact that DNA is small, super-tiny-need-a-fancy-state-of-the-art-microscope-to-see-it small, and the reality is that understanding the exact genetic causes of MS are complicated. But if they can figure out how to put a man on the moon, or, in an example more pertinent to my life, develop a sports bra that doesn’t suffocate me while at the same time does the job of restraining my boobs from hurting me (and other people and small animals) while running, they can decode the human genome.

Environmental 

Research has concluded that MS occurs more frequently in areas that are farther from the equator. The reason behind this geographical factor has been linked to vitamin D, which the human body produces naturally when skin is exposed to SUNLIGHT! People who live closer to the equator get more year-round sunlight, and thus higher levels of vitamin D, than those who live in colder climates. Now, if this factor was 100% fool-proof than I don’t think the Eskimos would have lived very long and Canada, Russia and any place rainy (sorry Seattle and London) would have a serious epidemic on their hands. Plus True Blood would have to update their story lines to include both Bill and Eric of suffering some serious myelin damage in addition to their distaste for silver and lust for Sookie (HBO fans? Anyone???). So the vitamin D thing is not 100% proven.  Anyone who knows me knows my severe distaste for the sun, so I’m taking this news with a grain of salt.

It is also of interest that many 3^rd world countries, though rife with diseases now eradicated in the 1^st world like polio and dysentery, have very low occurrences of autoimmune disease.  Two theories exist to try and explain this phenomenon:

1)      First-world countries use high levels of industrial cleaners and chemically treat their food. This influx of chemical stimuli could be triggering autoimmune defenses.

2)   Third world countries are rife with parasites, some of which form a symbiotic relationship with their human host and could have positive effects on regulating the immune system and preventing dangerous auto-immune attacks on the body. Scientists are currently performing studies that show how parasitic worms have anti-inflammatory properties and have been shown to reduce the size of brain lesions in MS patients. See the full article in The Wall Street Journal for more interesting and equally disgusting information: Parasitc World May Offer Hope On MS.

Immunologic 

In my last post I discussed what MS was and how immune cells would mistakenly target healthy nerves and destroy the myelin sheath protecting the never cells. One possible reason for why this happens could be a viral reaction. Some scientists believe that a virus could trigger an autoimmune response as many viruses are known to attack both human and animal myelin. Many of those currently suffering from MS have higher levels of virus antibodies in their cerebrospinal fluid. 

The Epstein-Barr virus has been suspected of possibly triggering MS. In a control study, those who were exposed to high levels the Epstein-Barr virus, which includes Mononucleosis, were 2 times more likely to develop MS 20 years down the line. 

Again, this research is still inconclusive and no direct cause and effect relationship has been proven between viruses and MS. If this were 100% true, every person who went to college would be developing MS. What sophomore hasn’t had a Mono episode? I was bed-ridden for 6 weeks with the “Kissing Disease” during the summer after my junior year. And, full disclaimer, I was not a slut in college but I may have made-out with a random Italian one night while studying abroad in Florence my junior year spring semester. It was the first month and I was all excited to be in Italy and I got carried away and………look, it just happened. Stop judging me. I will have you know my roommate kept her eyes on me while we were out at the club where this make-out session took place. She made sure I got home in one piece and did NOT engage in any activities I would later need to mentally suppress or medicate with intensive therapy sessions or mood altering drugs. I just had to lie lifeless on my bed and survive on jello for the entire month of August. So, mom if you are reading this, I have learned my lesson and have suffered more than enough for my crime. Wait…I think I’m getting off track here….

Multiple Sclerosis! That’s what we’re here to talk about. Moving on….

Epidemiologic 

Fun facts about the epidemiology of MS: 

1) 400,000 people in the US suffer from MS (okay maybe “Fun Facts” was not an appropriate title. From now on, let’s refer to this list as just “Facts about MS”) 

2) Most people are diagnosed with MS between the ages of 20 and 50, though small children and elderly adults have also developed symptoms

3) MS is more common among Caucasians, especially those with Northern European origins, than other ethnic groups, though small populations of Africans, Asians and Hispanics have developed the disease. However, MS is almost non-existent among the following populations: Inuit, Yakutes, Hutterites, Hungarina Romani, Norwegian Lapps, Australian Aborigines and New Zealand Maoris (please see below photos to accurately identify your race and if you are going to get MS).

4) Migration from one geographic area to another seems to alter a person’s risk of developing MS. Studies indicate that immigrants and their descendents tend to take on the risk level — either higher or lower — of the area to which they move. So, even though I am an American Northern-European-origin Caucasian (bad) I have moved to Italy (better). To further improve my odds I will now move to India. SHAHRUKH KHAN I’M COMING FOR YOU!

5) MS is at least two to three times more common in women than in men. Women everywhere report that this “sucks big time”.

Have to made it to the end of this blog post? Congratulations reader! You are now slightly more educated about MS than when you started (to further, and I would say more effectively, educate yourself go to http://www.nationalmssociety.org

Next time in my MS series I discuss treatments and ways to help in the battle against Multiple Sclerosis.

Stay tuned....

What's the Deal with Multiple Sclerosis?

For my first autoimmune specific disease post I wanted to talk about Multiple Sclerosis. I know several people who live with this condition, some of them my age, so it's a disease I have a little bit of familiarity with. To enhance your reading experience this post will be brought to you by some creative drawings. For those of you who read hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com, this is my tribute to blogger Allie Brosh and her cartooning skill.

Anyways, for the next few posts I will be taking all about MS: what it is, who has it, how you can help, and personal stories from those who live with it.

So, what is Multiple Sclerosis? MS is when the body attacks the the central nervous system which includes the brain, the spine and the optic nerves. Normally the immune system is triggered to attack damaged cells or foreign bodies but with any autoimmune disease the immune system attacks healthy cells. With MS the body attacks the Myelin, or fatty tissue lining, that insulates and protects nerve fibers. As a result the nerve itself is damaged.

The damaged Myelin forms a scar called a sclerosis, and thus the moniker for the disease. These scars affect the nerves ability to pass information from the brain to other parts of the body. Some of these scars are temporary, as is the corresponding symptom. But some scars are permanent and result in permanent neurological damage.

Various symptoms of MS are fatigue, numbness, coordination and balance problems, vision problems, bladder and bowl dysfunction, seizures, hearing loss, vision loss, depression and cognitive dysfunction. Over the course of the disease, some symptoms are temporary and some are longer lasting depending on the extent of damage done to the nerve.

There are 4 different kinds of MS:

1) Relapsing-Remitting MS - when someone experiences flare-ups, also known as exacerbations, of MS symptoms followed by limited periods of partial or complete recovery and no progression of worsening neurological damage over time. Basically, these people go into remission and experience no MS symptoms for periods of time, followed by a period of MS related problems. 85% of all people are diagnosed first with this kind of MS.

2) Primary-Progressive MS - when MS symptoms and worsening neurologic function slowly worsen overtime at a steady and consistent pace with no evident relapses or remissions. The rate of progression varies, but a full recovery is never made. 10% of people are diagnosed with primary progressive MS

3) Secondary-Progressive MS - when those who originally are diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS then change course to a more steady decline and worsening of MS symptoms. Today there is disease-modifying medication that can help stem the progression of MS from relapsing-remitting to secondary-progressive, though there is no guaranteed cure.

4) Progressive-Relapsing MS - when MS progresses at a steady and rapid rate with consistent and worsening neurological function. Some recovery can be expected by the disease progresses without remission. About 5% of MS patients are diagnosed with this kind of MS.

MS is a chronic condition and, despite what my cartoons might make you think, it is a very serious and ultimately fatal disease. What's worse is doctors are only beginning to understand what causes MS. No cures are currently available but treatments are improving.

So,  what DO we know about what causes MS? Who gets it? What treatments are there? And what can you do to help? Find out next time when I continue my story (and artwork) about Multiple Sclerosis.