How Ultra Runner Devon Yanko Trains for 100-Mile Races With Lupus

I missed tons of races as a consequence of illness, but because I didn’t meet all of the diagnostic criteria for lupus, I used to be diagnosed with undifferentiated connective tissue disease. In other words, that they had no idea what was fallacious with me. Although I used to be being treated for my stomach issues and thyroid imbalance, I didn’t have access to specific medications with no lupus diagnosis. So I wasn’t improving.

Then, in June 2022, I began feeling markedly worse. I developed Raynaud’s disease, which caused my toes and fingers to show white and blue and go numb. For most individuals, cold air is a trigger, but I used to be having attacks even in 70-degree weather. I also had intense fatigue, really bad joint pain and stiffness, cold sores that didn’t reply to medication, and chest pain that eventually felt like someone was driving a knife through my lungs. The discomfort got so bad on the Hennepin Hundred 100-mile race in October that I ended up dropping out at mile 50, after I was leading your entire field.

It turned out I had pleurisy, a condition by which the layers of tissue between your lungs and your chest wall grow to be inflamed. It’s a standard problem amongst individuals with lupus. Inside a couple of days of dropping out of the race, my rheumatologist diagnosed me with lupus. The very first thing I asked him was whether I could keep running. Thankfully, he encouraged me to proceed.

To administer my lupus, I take immunosuppressant medication to maintain my immune system from attacking my healthy organs. I’ve also needed to deal with reducing stress, make some dietary changes, and check out to avoid germs (I still wear a mask if I’m going on airplanes and in crowded places).

But I’m not going to let my health force me into retirement. The truth is, I’m focused on training for Further. My goal is to see how much distance I’m able to covering over a six-day period. In 2020, I accomplished a 10-day challenge to complete 10 50Ks—in the primary six days, I ran just below 199 miles. As for a way much I’ve racked up in in the future, my current record is 101.5 miles. I’d like to hit certain mileage targets every day at Further, however the event is about so way more. The entire competitors are women, so it’s really a celebration of our potential. If I could be present with my Lululemon teammates and have a good time their achievements, I’ll consider it successful.

I do know the largest hurdles will likely be determining sleep, fueling, and little things, like getting comfortable running in glasses, since I can’t wear contacts for everything of the six-day race. But I just wish to benefit from the heck out of myself while doing something that challenges me.

At this point, I’m still learning what it takes for me to optimize my training with lupus, but these are a number of the strategies which are working for me to date.

1. Track how you’re feeling, and search for patterns.

I treat my symptoms like a science experiment. I exploit an app called Bearable to trace variables like my food regimen, stress levels, mood fluctuations, sleep quality, and the 40 or so symptoms I could experience, depending on the day, including fatigue and dips in energy, joint pain and other kinds of pain, Raynaud’s, and skin issues. Keeping track of all these aspects helps me discover any possible correlation between my every day habits and my health.