How To Enjoy A 50K — Step 17: Run A 6.2764416K Every Day for 30 Days
The results of my neck X-Rays and upright MRIs confirm that I do in fact have a misaligned Atlas bone at the base of my neck and tip top of my spine, which causes a kink in the plumbing regarding my spinal fluid. It’s known as Cranio Cervical Instability and it essentially means that either not enough spinal fluid is flowing up into my brain in order to wash and clean it each time my heart beats or the fluid is going up into my brain but it’s not draining out, thus creating a pool of standing wastewater, as my doctor calls it. Somehow, per the radiologist, I have both issues occurring. Can you say overachiever?
This malfunction is known to cause “a constellation of symptoms” from constant headaches and neck pain, to emotional stress, depression, anxiety, cognitive and memory decline, brain fog, digestive/gastrointestinal problems, clumsiness, blurred vision, and more. ALL OF WHICH I have been experiencing, and doing my damndest to struggle through and hide from the world (Thanks mental health stigma!), for years now.
Oh, but it doesn’t stop there. The radiologist also found a sprained alar ligament in my neck, two herniated discs – C3-4 and T2-3, one bulging disc – C2-3, one constricted disc – C4-5 (Didn’t even know that was a thing), excessive fluid on the front of my brain (Hello never ending forehead headaches!), and (Bonus!) a 2.6 cm node on my thyroid.
The doctor said the fluid build up alone causes intense headaches, anxiety, and brain fog. Basically, our rock hard skulls are the size they are and our gelatinous brains fit neatly inside of them. There’s no room for excess anything so, when you have fluid build up, the pressure squashes your soft buttery brain and causes extensive issues.
It’s a lot to comprehend. Like . . . a lot.
Lucky for me, Drs. Denna Dashti and Scott Bender at Connecticut Spine & Health Center are on the case and they are confident that the Atlas Orthogonal technique will help with everything (minus the thyroid node, which will be saved for later). Their knowledge, preparation, communication, and bedside manner are unparalleled by any other doctor I’ve ever seen in my life. Standard protocol is ten sessions to get your neck to the point where it holds the adjustment, which comes from a specifically positioned metal stylus that sends a painless shock into your neck and knocks the Atlas bone back into place, followed by massage and other manual adjustment techniques.
Three treatments in, I’m already feeling hopeful. I feel lighter both emotionally and physically. I’m standing a little bit taller and having entire days without a headache. I know I’ve got a ways to go still, but I’m also finding myself more interested in running, perhaps because it doesn’t hurt as much as it has before.
So let’s move on to that 6.2764416K.
A few days ago I found myself in a YouTube hole looking up videos from every day folks who had decided to run 5K every day for a month. 5K is a natural choice because, at approximately 3.1 miles, it’s both manageable on a daily basis and the most common fun run / charity walk distance. Feeling inspired and always loving myself a specific length challenge, I decided that’s exactly what I need to kickstart my running habit.
Today I ran—and I hope by now you understand that Ran = Ever so slightly jogged and often walked)—one of my favorite hiking loops in my favorite hometown woods. I took my phone with me so I could measure the distance to see if it would suffice for a “5K Every Day” route. It turned out to be 3.9 miles, just a skosh longer than 3.1 miles. When I plugged 3.9 miles into a metric converter app, it came out to a nice even 6.2764416 kilometers.
Tee hee 😅
So here I go. Six point two seven six four four one six kilometers a day for thirty days. Will I be making YouTube videos? Heck no. I’m a GenXer to the core, desperately clinging to the written word until it breathes it’s very last belabored breath. Honestly though, I just loathe the video editing process. But I’ll keep you posted here on the blog and I would LOVE to hear from anyone who has completed a similar challenge. Hit me up!
Fingers crossed for continued progress on the neck/spine/brain front and sending love 💛 and light 💡 from the woods of my youth! See ya!
How to Enjoy a 50K 