(no subject)
Went hiking today, just to get my ass out of the house. I've been in a bit of a depression funk. I'm not very productive or very happy when I'm not working. So I took Ger up to North Van with the idea of tackling one of my goal hikes, the Baden-Powell Trail.
Two things happened. First, I got a bit lost. I hadn't written down proper directions, and then I was confusing "Cypress" with "Capilano" in my heat, and I panicked and got off in North Van, when the particular part of the trail I wanted to start at was in West Van. I felt pretty stupid about that when I realized later that if I had just kept going on the highway, I would have eventually gotten where I wanted to go!
Second, from where I now decided to start, I picked probably the steepest part of the trail to start at. In fact, from all the trail guides I've looked at, they generally suggest going the opposite way I went. Whoops. From the bit I started at, it was uphill, as in climbing stairs, for about 500m, and the a bit of sloping up and down for the rest of the trail. I got about 1K in, looked across the road to the next part, and realized it was all stairs as well. Something a normal person could perhaps get over, but I was already having probably the worst exercise-allergy-attack I've ever had. I was really dizzy, a bit nauseous (past my usual somewhat sick to my stomach), and itchy as hell (I was wearing long sleeves, so I don't know how hived I was). So I looked across the road, and decided not to press my luck, since I didn't have an inhalor or any kind of benedryl with me.
So it wasn't such a successful hike. Not like I wanted it to be anyways. But I was pretty happy with myself for at least finishing one leg of the trail, and for pushing my allergy to a pretty full extent. It sounds weird to be proud of pushing an allergy, but one of the things that is commonly said about Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis is that it is possible to build a tolerance to where you don't have the histamine release that the activity triggers. So I'm working on that. So other than not getting to walk pleasantly as far as I wanted, and other than having such a huge allergic reaction that I'm still feeling a bit ill, even this much later, well...at least I got out of the house and had a somewhat productive day. And I think next week, I'll try the trail again, this time at my intended starting point!
Two things happened. First, I got a bit lost. I hadn't written down proper directions, and then I was confusing "Cypress" with "Capilano" in my heat, and I panicked and got off in North Van, when the particular part of the trail I wanted to start at was in West Van. I felt pretty stupid about that when I realized later that if I had just kept going on the highway, I would have eventually gotten where I wanted to go!
Second, from where I now decided to start, I picked probably the steepest part of the trail to start at. In fact, from all the trail guides I've looked at, they generally suggest going the opposite way I went. Whoops. From the bit I started at, it was uphill, as in climbing stairs, for about 500m, and the a bit of sloping up and down for the rest of the trail. I got about 1K in, looked across the road to the next part, and realized it was all stairs as well. Something a normal person could perhaps get over, but I was already having probably the worst exercise-allergy-attack I've ever had. I was really dizzy, a bit nauseous (past my usual somewhat sick to my stomach), and itchy as hell (I was wearing long sleeves, so I don't know how hived I was). So I looked across the road, and decided not to press my luck, since I didn't have an inhalor or any kind of benedryl with me.
So it wasn't such a successful hike. Not like I wanted it to be anyways. But I was pretty happy with myself for at least finishing one leg of the trail, and for pushing my allergy to a pretty full extent. It sounds weird to be proud of pushing an allergy, but one of the things that is commonly said about Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis is that it is possible to build a tolerance to where you don't have the histamine release that the activity triggers. So I'm working on that. So other than not getting to walk pleasantly as far as I wanted, and other than having such a huge allergic reaction that I'm still feeling a bit ill, even this much later, well...at least I got out of the house and had a somewhat productive day. And I think next week, I'll try the trail again, this time at my intended starting point!