That horse bucks!

The title will make more sense if you read or scroll down to the previous posting.  Anyway, I ended last weekend on a strong note...got in a hard effort on Saturday and a solid longer run on Sunday.  I ran easy on Monday and was hoping to do a workout on Tuesday, because although not ideal recovery-wise, it was best schedule-wise and I was hoping I could get away with it and then take the next few days really easy, as they were jam packed anyway.  Well, the workout on Tuesday got cut short--real short and I felt like dog running the rest of the week.  Not sure if I just didn't respect the work I did the previous weekend enough or I wasn't getting enough rest or maybe I was fighting something off.  It didn't matter because by Friday 5th block I was looking through magic-mirror glasses and trying not to toss my cookies. 

I rallied--or sort of rallied--for practice (asst. coach at the high school I teach at) and faked my way through standing upright (mostly) and not being a total slug.  I left quickly because I felt horrible and had a meeting to go to.  By the time I wrapped my day up, I almost had to pull my car over on the side of the road because driving just seemed soooooooo labor intensive.  No joke. 

For someone who not too recently trudged through 31 miles, it was all I could do to walk inside, take off my shoes, and pull the blankets around my shaking body--mind you I had on two pairs of pants, two long-sleeve shirts, a sweater, my winter jacket and a winter hat.  Here I stayed for a solid 12 hours.  I woke up, went to the bathroom, took off my jacket, and slept the rest of the day and following night away.  In a 36 hour period, I easily slept for 30 of the hours.  And that's not in any way typical of me--healthy or sick.  I took the sick animal approach and quarantined myself and didn't move (couldn't move), didn't eat and probably drank a total of 8 oz. of fluid.  But, by mid-Sunday, I was feeling quite a bit better.  Good enough to write about a lack of running and ponder how I can feel tired after sleeping that much.  Guess my body was busy fumigating and healing.

Well, I didn't have the running week I was hoping for and I'm finding my schedule tough.  Before I got sick, I was pondering if perhaps I have too much going on right now and I can only hope the sickness was a freak incident (food poisoning, perhaps?...it came on pretty suddenly after lunch) and not a sign of anything else.  I can only take each day as it comes and plan as best as possible.  I'm hoping we get some warmer weather too, this week of highs in the low 30's was a bummer.  But, once again, I'll get back on the horse--hopefully tomorrow.

Back on the Horse

After feeling sorry for myself for a few days, I'm back on the horse. 

At the 50k, I didn't have the race I envisioned.  Not even close.  I never felt good and it got ugly--quickly.  I knew pretty early on that I would have to back way off my race plan to complete the distance.  I initiated the back off and then it took on a life of it's own.  Growing, growing, growing.

I'm not sure what went wrong...if my training was the culprit then I think it would have hit me much later in the race, not so dang super early.  My fueling was good and I felt ready for it.  I may have had a touch of a bug--Pepto and I had a few visits the week leading up to the race, but I'm not convinced this was a factor.  I got really cold fairly early in the race, due to the rain and wind.  I was literally shaking from the cold while running, although I would occassionally warm up if the rain let up.  I probably should have stopped to get some more clothes, but I didn't.  These don't amount to much, but excuses.  It simply boils down to: It just wasn't my day. 

I spent a lot of time contemplating dropping out, wondering if I was doing more harm than good.  But, in retrospect I'm glad I finished.  If for nothing else, to hold onto a bit of self-discipline. 

With the writing of this posting (finally!!), I'm tucking it away and moving on.  May 29th is the next big thing.

I don't know why I can't rotate this...

Oh, blissful ignorance where are you?

Tomorrow morning I'll be running the USATF 50k at this time.  The weather looks to be relatively warm (40's) with a good chance of rain and wind...the course is a loop that nears the water so the wind factor will probably be on & off throughout the race.  Last year going into this race, I was blissfully ignorant of what to expect and what expectations to place upon myself.  I think the experience of doing it (once!) will pay off, but part of me wishes for that naivety to return.  The biggest difference is probably that I'm placing more concrete expectations upon myself, but in reality I can control that so it shouldn't be a point of stress.  I'm excited for the race and as it gets closer I'm sure that I'll be more and more happy to have the experience from last year in my back pocket as I do my final race preparations.  Thanks to the many people who have sent me well wishes...much appreciated!  Happy weekend!