I can’t believe it’s already 2026. Time flies. In a way, I’m a little happy to turn the page from 2025. My father passed away just after Thanksgiving, which was not unexpected, and (in a way) almost a blessing after a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s. However, I don’t think the loss has really hit me yet. It seems like I had a much harder time around the end of 2024 when I lost my cousin and one of our cats. I suspect that this time around, it’s going to be more of a delayed thing than 2024, which seemed like a gut punch. Time will tell, I guess.

I have started 2026 with runs on two consecutive mornings. I’m currently on pace to run 3403.6 miles this year, but I suspect I’ll fall somewhat short of that. 😀 I often have issues with keeping hydrated in the winter, which might seem ironic. The problem is that this time of year, I tend to forget to drink after (and during) exercise, because I’m not all hot and thirsty. However, running generates a considerable amount of body heat, and I do sweat when I run in the winter, even when it’s below freezing. Lately, I’ve taken to weighing myself right before and right after my runs. Yesterday’s run was 7.3 miles, and today’s was 11.3, and both days, I lost almost exactly 2 pounds of water weight during the run, which is more than I would have expected. When I searched online for post-exercise rehydration recommendations, most sources said to drink between 16 and 24 ounces of fluids (water + electrolytes) for each pound lost. That means I should be drinking 32 to 48 ounces after a typical wintertime run. Obviously, I can’t chug that amount down in 15 minutes, so I’ll need to start disciplining myself to drink it slowly over a couple of hours, which could be a challenge. I think that is going to be my new year’s resolution. It will be really interesting to do the pre- and post-run weigh-ins during the summer, when I sweat a lot more.

I have been dealing with dizziness for the past week or so. It is not full-on, room-spinning vertigo, but more just a kind of foggy, swimmy-head, slightly queasy feeling that comes and goes. This is something that seems to affect me once a year or so, and I’ve never been able to figure out what causes it. Eventually, it always seems to go away, just as mysteriously as it started. I’m going to try to take notes here when it occurs, to see if I can figure out a common thread to it. This time around:

• It started last Saturday after an 11-mile run. It did not start right away, but rather after I had been lying down for an hour or so post-run. When I got up, I felt dizzy.
• Anecdotally, it seems to happen a lot in the winter and spring.
• It seems to bother me more when I am home than when I am out.
• I have been taking Amlodipine for years for blood pressure, with little to no side effects. Just before this latest episode started, I switched from 2×2.5mg Amlodipine per day to 1x5mg/day. Same dosage, but a single pill instead of 2 pills. Thus far, there has been no significant change in my daily morning BP readings, but I’ll check again next week.
• Similarly, I have not noticed any reduction in tolerance for exercise or anything like that. It’s a huge annoyance, but doesn’t significantly affect my ability to go about my day-to-day routine.

More later…