Cal-EZ Blog

On October 11th, I will be heading to Chicago to participate in the Chicago Marathon. This will be my first Chicago marathon, and I am extremely excited. Chicago is flat and, therefore, a fast course. Plus, the marathon runs through the heart of the city. It will be an unforgettable experience.

Hello readers! So much has happened in my life since my last blog post, I can hardly figure out where to begin. Life it seems has a funny way of giving you the highest of highs followed by the lowest of lows. In one moment you can go from celebration to mourning. Without going into too many personal details here, let me just say that the past few weeks have been exactly that! I am sure some of you can relate to what I mean.

As an athlete, I push my body to its limits. In any one week, I am swimming, biking, running, and doing strength training. I usually put in 10+ hours of exercise a week on top of the demands of working and raising children. It can be exhausting, but I love it nonetheless.

A few months ago, I had a bone density test. Something my doctor recommended since I have Hypoparathyroidism. I found out that my bones have had some changes due to the hypopara, but one thing I found to be quite shocking was that I actually have some small osteoporosis signs in my wrists! How on earth do I have those changes in my forearms? My doctor reminded me that, despite my athleticism, these changes can and do happen. She said that it is possible that my wrists are showing the changes because they don’t get the same level of exercise as the rest of me. So she suggested that I ensure I’m getting adequate calcium and vitamin D (something that I have to do for hypopara, but a reminder anyway) and to increase the strength exercise that puts resistance on my wrists (like pushups, oh joy!)

Wow, life has been crazy since my last blog post. It seems like the saying, “when it rains it pours” is very applicable. Every time things started to settle down, something else reared its ugly head and demanded my attention. Needless to say my fitness goals continued to be less of a priority. Sometimes it just has to be that way.

That being said, I did run a 5k race, and although it was not a personal record (PR), it still was a great opportunity to dust off my racing shoes and get back out there.

While I was toeing the start line I kept thinking about where I am today and where I used to be and I felt grateful that I was running the race, even though I knew I wasn’t really trained for it.

Over the past few weeks my life took an unexpected turn. I can’t go into details here due to the sensitive nature of the situation, but let’s just say that I’ve been dealing with a family crisis that has required me to rearrange much of my existing structures and schedule. It’s been tough, and for the foreseeable future, it will likely continue being tough!

I’m sharing this now because I know many people rely on me for inspirational and motivational posts, words that get you moving or stop you from eating that donut. I don’t intend to stop posting these things, but for now, I don’t have a lot of inspiration to share. I’m working on hanging on….keeping myself from crashing into old habits and working on keeping the stress in my life as low as possible.

When I’m out running I have a lot of time to think. Most often it’s just me and the road. The miles keep ticking and my mind starts racing. I think about everything from current life to future goals. I think about how far I’ve come and where I want to go. I think about crossing finish lines and beating personal records. Most of the time, my thoughts are positive, but ever-so-often I get sucked into a negative whirlwind that could have a significant negative impact if I allowed it.

It usually starts with something like, “Why on earth am I doing this right now?” And then it may morph to something like, “Uggh my leg hurts a little.” Or maybe it’s “I’m so tired” and that may follow up with, “Uggh this is just BOOOORRRRING!,” and then if I haven’t corrected the thinking the worst thought crosses my mind:                                                                     

“I SHOULD JUST QUIT!”

While Ryan suffers with hypoparathyroidism, the exercise tips listed below are good for anyone! Whether you're working on a New Year's resolution or just trying to be more conscious of moving more, let us know what you think about Ryan's tips, and if you'd like to see more of these in the future.

Exercising when you struggle with hypoparathyroidism can be very challenging; I should know. I have hypopara myself. I have good days and bad days but I do my best to keep physically active because I know it helps me manage symptoms and ultimately feel better in the long run. The following is a list of tips that I incorporate into my own life in an effort to keep (or sometimes even start) moving.

Hello readers!  My name is Ryan Polly, I am excited to be a blogger for Cal-EZ. When I was asked to contribute to this blog, I was thrilled. It is my hope that my journey will serve as inspiration for anyone who is interested in living a healthier life.

In 2011, I was diagnosed with Graves' disease, an autoimmune condition of the thyroid gland.