There seems to be a fine line between resting and running when you are sick. The general rule of thumb around is that if the sickness is above the shoulders, running should be okay, but if the sickness is below, then you should rest. Well, mine is mostly above. So in the spirit of maintaining my fitness, I did a 6 mile snotty run today. What shocked me most is that it felt great. Not just in contrast to being cooped up in my apartment all week, but my legs felt great, my knees (yes) felt great. I was a little er.. congested in the nose and breathing areas but I didn't even notice that much. I think my body is starting to feel the benefits of cutting back on my mileage.
I bought a humidifier for my bedroom... twice. The first one didn't work so I had to bring it back which is exactly what i felt like doing sick and exhausted on a Thursday night. I think it helped. My room is huge so the humidifier is a bit heavy duty and loud but neither bothered me. I think it is helping alot.
9 days...
That's how I feel right now. I'm home sick still. I managed to make it into work yesterday but felt worse this morning. The cold is starting to move more into my throat and chest which is really just killing me. I slept in, am drinking lots of fluids, resting, eating, taking vitamins, and medicine when needed. I'm doing everything I am supposed to. That's all I can do really at this point, and just hope it makes it way the hell out of me. There doesn't seem to be any reason for me to go to the doctor, which people keep suggesting to me. I'm sick, I have a cold. The doctor is going to tell me the same thing. Rgh.
The better news is my knee is feeling lots better. I'm really glad I didn't try to run the 15 miles this weekend. But now I feel like I should be rewarded with being able to do some quality shorter focused runs leading up to the race. I ran Tuesday and Wednesday (because I felt good and healthy enough to do it), but today I don't feel it. I wish all of this could have been delayed by 2 or 3 weeks. But... they weren't. So I shall take it one day at a time. and for now... rest and fluids.
Yesterday I received a donation that put me over the $2500 goal. Unbelievable. While I'm not going to raise the goal level again, I am going to hope that perhaps we can make it to $3000 before race day.
Tuesday I got a call from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. They got their first check from the donations (in the range of $100) and were wondering where it was coming from. I explained my quest to Mark Gorman, the representative who was impressed at the effort. He was a little speechless and kept asking, "how can we thank you?" I had a nice chat with him and then he put me on hold and Ellen Stoval, the president of the organization picked up. It was nice to talk to them and tell them firsthand why I was doing this. Turns out, Ellen Stoval knows a couple of the people who inspired me in this direction which made it even more personal. The whole 5 minute conversation made me feel even better about choosing the NCCS. They truly are as personal an organization as they bill themselves to be.
Okay. More rest.
I spoke with a few people about my knee including a doctor on Friday and they all said the same thing. I had already done a significant amount of long runs, this was not the time to be pushing myself over 15 miles. Then when i mentioned I'd be up in the mountains, everyone jumped in and said "forget it!". So I took the weekend off as well. I felt good about it and even better because my allergies were severe too. But it was beautiful and I *wanted* to run. Then when I arrived back home Sunday, my allergies had gone away for a couple of hours but something else was setting in. By Sunday night, the sickness I have been talking about for weeks here, hit me hard. I slept from Sunday night until this morning (Tuesday). It's been brutal. I'm definitely feeling better than I was yesterday. I couldn't even bear being awake. I will probably try to go out for a walk or easy run today to get outside and reintroduce myself to the real world.
So despite the fact that I feel like I'm falling apart a little bit, I'm focussing on getting all of this out of the way for a strong and healthy race day. [sniff] [cough]...
I'm trying to post more now that things are getting close. Today a light 3 miles, no speed, no hills, just coasting. I'm a little concerned as my left knee is a little sore. It doesn't hurt when I'm running, but afterwards it aches a bit (my foot is almost all better). I've been icing it, and took it easy today. I'm going to take it easy tomorrow as well and then Friday off and we'll see how it feels. I may have to bail on my planned 15 mile run this weekend in favor of making sure everything is okay. I bitch and whine alot about my aches and pains... :) True... but I'm preoccupied with them and just want to take care of myself as best I can for the next few weeks.
More and more people are saying stuff to me, sending me emails, sending me cards, text messages (some about cake) what wonderful support. 18 days, 12 runs, and a long fun race to go...
I have extremely supportive friends. I have received an overwhelming response from people on my quest to raise money for the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS). Thank you to everyone who has given so far. It means alot! Really. If you haven't sponsored me, if you can part with even $5 it will really make a large impact.
Training continues. It's nice doing 4 miles instead of 6 during the week. Tomorrow is 3! It's a nice and welcome change. My left knee is still a little sore but getting better. My foot, is still bugging me. Again, not so much when I run, but it's a little swollen on the top of my foot (follow the bone on the top of your foot up to your leg and you'll run along a tendon or something, that's the spot). The first comment someone will write is "take it easy! rest it!". It's really not that type of injury. (sounds like denial, but it's not I do so swear). It too is getting better, it just needs some rest which I am giving it and the resuced mileage is helping alot.
I went to buy a fresh pair of sneaks today but they were out of my model. They will be in this weekend so I will have some time to break them in before the race.
I sent out an email to folks here at work and I've had a lot of people asking me about the race, training, and giving me some encouragement, not to mention some very generous donations. Thanks Blue Sky people my people.
I have put up a donation tracker in the "sponsor me" box, because I am a dork and like that type of thing.
Against the recommendations of some... I ran 25 miles today. My training schedule says to run 20 (my 3rd 20 miler in the training). But as I mentioned previously, I agree with a few dissenters who believe it is important physically and psychologically to feel the length of the race. When I set out on my run this morning (after sleeping in a little bit), I went out with no assumptions. I took it slow, and told myself, I would decide at 20 miles what I was going to do based on how I felt. The run was slower throughout. I purposefully did this to try it out, and to see how my body reacted over the length of the run. My legs have been a little tired out as well. I mentioned my left foot pain earlier, and I also did something dumb last week and bonked my knee on the metal base of my desk pretty hard. dumbass. So for all those reasons I wanted to take it easy and just enjoy the run.
It was a beautiful fall day again, not as sunny as my last long run but Old Greenwich was having their Pumpkin Patch Festival which was fun to run by. I did two laps around the beach and back plus a little extra at the end. I turned my iPod off each loop around the beach to enjoy the day fully there. Elizabeth actually saw me running and chased after me in her car to say hello around mile 17. That was nice.
My legs felt a little tight and I stopped briefly to stretch them a couple of times. My knee didn't really bug me at all. My foot was a little bothered but I was more worried how it was going to handle the long run. All in all, when I hit mile 20, I was feeling pretty good. I made it back to my starting point (mile 23) and decided to go for 25 on the condition I do it really easy. So I kept going and dialed it back a notch, and it started to pour. I thought, "great... an omen". But I finished well with no incident.
My pacing wasn't very good on this run, but that's not what i was going for. I feel really good about doing the full 25. Psychologically I think it has already given me a boost and come race day it will even more. Besides thinking about cake for the last 8 miles (thanks Bridget ;) I was thinking, "I will only run this distance once more in my life". Kind of strange.
I stretched for a long time and refueled with a couple of Ensure bottles and a turkey sandwich.... and a ton of water (and a beer later to reward myself). tomorrow, I am off. And I feel really good psychologically. I also just noticed I am over 500 miles now. Holy shit. 3 weeks... it's almost here. I need a fresh pair of sneaks!
Wow, two entries in the same day. I just wanted to call your attention to the "Sponsor Me..." box on the right. I am running to raise money for the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS). I chose the organization for my friends and family that have all been challenged by cancer. I am thankful that we live in a time where we can beat cancer, recover stronger, and live longer. That allows us all to spend more time together. Elizabeth, Grandaddy, Michael, Ian, Emily, Mo, and everyone else who shares the experience, I am running for you all.
Go ahead.. sponsor me...
thanks e-beth (and Mrs. Adams) for helping me find the perfect organization to support
My left foot is bugging me a little. Nothing major, and actually it doesn't hurt when I'm running. But it's like I tied my left sneaker too tight during a run and now the top of my foot is sore. That may be exactly what I did. I'm not too worried about it, as it is feeling better.
I did get sick damnit. I'm not yet completely down for the count. I'm still trying to fend it off. We'll see. Better to get this all over with now rather than later. But again, rather not have to deal with it at all. Yesterday I did a 4+ mile run on the treadmill which usually would be a nice short break but it was horrible. I felt absolutely dreadful during it. Today was another 4+ but it felt pretty good. I just have waves of "bluh" as I like to call it. I refuse to let it overtake me.
I've started to mentally prepare for Saturday's final 20+ mile run. I still woudl like to do 25 miles, but I don't think my body will let me. I'm not going to push it but we'll see how I feel. I've been consulting Giancarlo on much of my training (thanks G). It's been very helpful to bounce things off of him and he's been very encouraging. Without a training partner, that has helped me a whole lot. He doesn't think the 25 mile is a good idea and says the risks outweigh the rewards. But there are people who think that running a distance closer to the actual distance of the race is important. I am Switzerland. Somewhere in the middle I find the balance. So I will start my run Saturday with the idea that I will do 25. But at 20 I will re-evaluate it and if my body is feeling any hesitation, I will call it a day, but if I am feeling good, I will slowly take it forward. I'm not going to risk it if I have any hesitation.
So as I was walking to the gym today, I was just noticing my legs feel like they have really been through alot. The timing of this taper is perfect I think. Pushing my body up to more and more mileage has started to feel like it's pushing the limit. And now I take it back down.
I sort of feel like every post I write here is exactly the same. Hopefully some of you are finding it interesting. I don't even know if anyone visits. I haven't checked the stats on the site. It has been nice to hear from Richard though. Thanks man.
This past week I was kind of on automatic. I'm logging the miles, nothing is seeming like too big of a deal these days. However, my legs were definitely still tired all week from last Sundays 23.5 mile run. This is really the first time that I noticed my body taking longer to recover. With good reason. And I tried to assist it in every way possible, though sleep still doesn't happen enough. I am getting better now. By Saturday my legs and body felt back to normal, jsut in time for a day off, and then Sunday I reversed one of my two long run routes and ran from the beach. It was a nice change and by starting at the beach I got to do two loops in the beautiful surroundings during my 14+ mile jaunt. My legs are holding out, more importantly, so are my knees (knock on wood). I am feeling overall relatively pulled together. I have a little muscle soreness from the long runs but normal stuff I feel.
What gave me a big boost last night and a bit of a rush last night was looking at my training schedule. Not only am now less than 4 weeks from race day, I have also technically started my taper. My mileage will now drop weekly allowing my body to recover stronger and retain more energy with the goal in mind that by race day, my body will be full of energy to run off 26.2 miles with no problems. Right. But it's nice to think that my runs this week will only be 4 miles each or so, with the exception of my long run. This coming weekend will be my last 20 miler. I will prep for this one much the same way I did the last one. Rest and lots of water prior to run day.
I'm definitely feeling the tax of training on the rest of my life now. With the peak of my training just starting to let up, I have had time for nothing but running the past could of weeks. And now with race day fast approaching, I won't be distracting myself with too much in the weeks to come either. I will be passing up Halloween events (I hate halloween anyway). I will be very cautious watching the Red Sox / Yankees playoffs with friends. I will be cautious even getting out of bed in the morning.
One thing that is scaring me is this nasty cold and sickness that is going around work. It is knocking people out for a week at a time. I don't have time for that. Our office is a known bacteria recirulation chamber though. They claim they've had the air tested and it is "fine". Off the record, this is not what I was told. But at last count, somewhere in the vicinity of 30% of the studio had been affected by this cold. I don't care if I get sick November 9th. I just want to make it through the 7th healthy.
Sunday morning it was gorgeous outside. I hadn't felt very good the day before. There's a sickness going around work and I was afraid I was catching it. But Sunday morning I felt much better. I had rested and hydrated and eaten well. I ventured out on my longest run #2.
The run was pretty painless until about mile 19 or so I started to noticably tire but it was nothing like last time. My iPod died after 3 hours and 15 minutes. The last bit was just me and the road. It was amazing. A really good run. I didn't like the fact that everyone was cooking brunch while I was running by... eggs and bacon and pancakes... thanks people.
No aches, once weird pain in my shoulder right near the end (whats with the shoulder issues?) but i stretched it out and it went away. I did two laps to the beach, around and back. I switched to gatorade for my hydration and am much happier with it than the powder mix or water. It sat well with me. I stashed an extra bottle across the street from my apt for my second lap. I could have used a third by mile 19 or 20 but it wasn't too bad.
The best part came when I finished. Tired, but not painfully dying. My legs were tight but usable. My last run of 21 miles in sorry condition clocked in at a little more than 4:20 (har har). I later read training runs over 4 hours are not a good iidea for first timers like me. No shit. So when I looked at my watch and saw I had done almost 23.5 miles in 3:43, I stared at my wrist a little longer to make sure that wasn't the time of day. I then looked at another clock and counted back and sure enough, that was my time. And there was smiling.
I'm not pushing the long runs. I am simply runniing them at a comfortable slow pace and then falling into a rhythm. Every once in a while at the start I will check my pace to make sure I'm not going to fast. But other than that, I'm not pushing myself. Take into account the day was perfect for running minus the sun maybe but that helped my mood. sunny, low-mid 60s light breeze and dry. Regardless, I was happy to have a good run and enjoy it as much as I did. Less than 5 weeks to go.