[Thank you for all the great ideas I have received – not to speak of the well wishes – after my last post]

Not that I was trying to scale dizzying heights with my running prowess… simply wanted to understand the pattern of my onset of dizziness. If you have read the last related post, you will grasp the context.

Next morning, when the temperatures were in mid 60s, I went for another run. The idea was to complete 3 miles if I could. And carefully notice the pattern of events if and when the dizziness set in.

The run felt beautiful. Had my wicking hat but no sunglasses on. Cooler temperatures and the wind was fairly nice. Carefully chose a path where I could stay in the shade for most of the time.

Almost on the mark of one mile, I got dizzy. Much milder in intensity but I could feel the clear instability. Went thru the check list quickly. Heart rate at the time, one minute reduction in bpm and all that. Everything was within good limits.

Next thing was to do some quick sit ups and turns of the neck. Did not get any dizziness. Stand up on leg for half a minute. No issues.

Started the run again. This time, the goal was to see if could power myself thru or would the dizziness get worse if I did not stop.

Got a major clue during the next bout – which came after another three fourths of a mile. Felt mild dizziness. But powered thru. Separated the legs a little more to give more stability but kept running. The dizziness went away after about what seemed like a minute or less.

Now, I admit I was running with a little bit of fear – fully focussed on how I was feeling. I kind of felt that at a very very low level, I was still a little unstable – but that might just have been the fear.

There was another pattern I discovered – I would feel more unstable going downhill than uphill. The one logical reason would be my brain was not processing fast enough to realize that when stopping downhill, my foot would find the ground a bit later. In that gap of expecting landing and actual landing, brain was getting scared. Uphill was not a problem. Because I was landing a bit earlier than expected. Now, this is only a theory.

So, it is either true my brain is having hiccups – could be hypoglycemia as some have suggested or lack of electrolytes. This would mean the heat simply got to me. Which reminds me, I have been walking the dog in the heat every day too (the evening walks are cooler) since Sharmila is attending a wedding in Dallas.

Or that BPPV thing. It fits the pattern of gentle sense of instability – but only when I am standing. Never feel it when I am sitting down or lying down. Got Brandt-Daroff exercises literature from my doctor friend in India.

I am going to start getting more electrolytes in my drinks as suggested by a few more of you and insisted upon by my wife.

And observe what is my body trying to tell me the whole day.

Question for all of you: What do you do to listen to your body – which is almost always sending you enough feedback?

Also, on a side note, feel free to communicate to me directly about your concerns about my health. My poor wife, who is already very worried about my health gets really worried when you ask her about my health. I guess she feels guilty she is not taking care of me. In reality, she is doing everything she can. It is I who have decided that I would rather die sooner but fully understand what I died of than die later but never understand what was this body that I had was all about. That is a personal choice (messed up as it might be)

Again, none of this takes away my gratitude to you all. I take your reach out and comments as markers that I have made some real friends in life who care enough. I even get dizzy realizing therefore how blessed I am 🙂

Hopefully, you will continue with me in this curious journey.