As I Live and Learn
 

Thursday, April 20, 2006

The Up North Effect

Every time I go Up North to the family's cottage, I'm hit with fatigue. It's usually most intense during the first 24 hours. It's not just me this happens to either, a lot of us who vacation up there get hit by it. My Uncle Keith and I have talked about, and for a while we thought perhaps the problem is the elevation up there. If it's lots higher than where we live (Chicago and Detroit areas), then the air is thinner and we're simply not used to it, so we tire out easily.

Well, yesterday blew that theory away.

I woke up to a back ache and my muscles stiffer for the night's sleep (see Run Over by a Truck, Beat Up by a Train). After hours of working and whatnot, which involves me mostly sitting and not moving, I decided to go out for a walk. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and I needed to get my exercise in at some point, and I figured a walk might help loosen my muscles. I only went out for 21 minutes, eventhough I know I need to exercise more than that in a day, I didn't want to push my poor aching body. I noted while it was wonderful weather in the shade, or when at a window or sitting outside, it actually got too hot for me while I was walking. After I got home I only made it about half an hour before I crashed. I passed out for an hour and a half, waking only briefly about twice: once to put my couch blanket over myself; once due to the noise of the TV.

It was the Up North Effect, felt just like it. The best I can determine, the problem is exercising in dry heat. It wasn't heat stroke (I've been too close to that before). And it didn't feel like dehydration as I didn't get thirsty, and usually don't under the Up North Effect. It seems it is simply that my body doing more work that usual in too warm and dry weather causes my body to rapidly run out of steam once I stop moving about.

Odd.


 

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Run Over by a Truck
Beat Up by a Train

So, my weekend was really nice! Taking the train to and from MA was relaxing and made the pace of life seem slower, easier. It was great spending Easter with Mom and Michael. I enjoyed most of it.

For the way home I had bought a ticket for a sleeper car, because the deal was I got Monday off if I work 10 hours a day for the rest of the week and I wanted to get enough sleep so I could work well on Tuesday. They call it a Viewliner Roomette. My first thought when I stepped in to it was "closet". But eventually I decided it was cute. Roomy enough for one person, though it claims to fit two, but it didn't look to me like that would be comfortably. There were lots of gagets to play with, and a bed that descended from the ceiling! I didn't use that one though, the two wide chairs folded down into a bed.

Anyway, that night I got beat up by the train. We think they were trying to make up time because the train was running late. So throughout the night when the train was moving so fast, occasionally the cars would rock hard. Which is when I'd roll into a wall. I think every time I woke up, but there were 3 or maybe 4 hours where I didn't wake up at all. Either the train was moving normally during that time, or I was just too tired. Whatever the reason, the next day I was in pain in weird places, places that climbing that huge hill to my mother's house wouldn't have caused (my calves hurt too, which would be from all the climbing). I finally realized my problem was that I had been beat up by the train!

As for being run over by a truck.... That's a story dealing with climbing that hill, losing my Easter hat into the street due to the wind, my brother jumping down a stone wall to grab it before a car came, and then us joking about me being lucky a truck hadn't run over it - it being flattened, me attempting to save it and wear it anyway, the truck having left tire marks across it which would cause me to tell people that I'd been run over by a truck!


 

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