98: Vitamin D

About a year ago I got very interested in vitamins. My cousin Ed has referred for years to some study he read in which a group of nurses were followed over their entire lifetimes; one group took a multi-vitamin daily, and the other did not. At the end, the vitamin enhanced group were significantly more healthy and disease free than those who skipped the step. Conclusion? Just do it.

I read a little bit about minimums I should target and concluded I needed a multi-vitamin, and E, calcium and D supplements. Subsequently I added biotin, a flax-derived omega blend, and iron. I forget to take them a lot. When I'm really run down, I try to remember more; and when I'm traveling I go with a Zip-loc full. Every few months I'll take a batch of Bio K+ probiotic drinks for a week. I'm doing that right now and it's mind-blowing how "digestion" is everything. Seriously.

About a month ago, I was alarmed to learn I should be taking B-12 supplements to make up for all the meat goodness I was missing. So, now I also take 2000 mcgs of B-12 daily, in a delightful raspberry flavored chewable format.

I have positive associations with vitamins. As a kid, I'd get very excited every morning when my mom would dole out my daily Tri-Vi-Flor vitamin - pink, orange or purple. Some kids got Flintstones but I didn't care that mine were generic, or prescription, not sure which, because they were delicious! My grown up vitamins aren't so delicious and sometimes they make me nauseous, frankly, if I haven't had enough to eat with them. But the B-12 brings me back... candy in the morning!

So I've got a cabinet full of bottles that I deplete gradually and inconsistently. I ran out of the D vitamins a few months ago and never replaced them. Vitamin D is a hot topic at the moment. It wards off cancer and prevents all kinds of disease. The NYT just did a piece on it. The net is, as human beings, we evolved with a dependence on sun exposure and the D we get from food is OK, but not really enough. It's only possible to get what we really need with 20 minutes of exposure to the skin. What about people who live in places with a long, dark winter? Well here's a weird thing... It's apparently possible to bank the time during a long summer of over-exposure, and it'll last for months. I can't even begin to understand how a body can bank vitamins in July that last through a rainy March. I can't get my nail polish to last 5 days. We are pretty neat machines.

So, in addition to running's having given me my first escape from eternal pastiness, and mood enhancement from endorphins and sunshine; it's also brought me exposure to life-saving vitamin D. I think I was probably deficient for years! Oh, to think of the dark decade when I just sat inside working, traveling, not taking vitamins, and doing whatever I was doing being dead to the world - and to myself. Anyway, I'm glad I've woken up.

I tried very hard to stay still today. I did go out briefly with a friend but didn't exert myself (or get much sun!). I tried so hard to sleep late today too, but was up at 4am, 7am, and finally at 9am. So much for my big day of sleeping in! I just really need to recover from last week. I over-did it. I'm still really sore and achy in all my parts today and I'm about to go to sleep. 9PM on a Saturday night. I'm telling you, this is not how I imagined this story was going to end when I started it all back in November of 2009. Not at all!

My foot feels ouchy still. I will ice, heat and stretch it again before bed tonight. Hope it holds up on my run tomorrow. Ten miles minimum... and maybe 12, if I can take it! My day off is coming to a close. It's been sweet! I'd be lying if I said I was psyched to go for a big run tomorrow; but let me sleep on in.