Monthly Archives: June 2009
Mid-year update
I was all ready to beat myself up for a bad June, but then I realized that today is the half-way point of 2009. It’s kind of hard to believe really. With all that’s going on with a name change at the organization I work for and having a new baby in the house, I think I should consider myself lucky that I’ve been able to do what I’ve done already.
Sure, I’m behind on my goals for the year, but I also never expected running two races in a row to feel so rewarding (including the 10k PR). That in itself is enough for me to feel satisfied with the first six months of the year. Injuries and other illnesses were pretty much beyond my control, so why should I criticize myself too much? I shouldn’t.
When it comes to miles, my year is shaping up like this: 300.1 running miles; 116 biking miles; 41.5 “other” miles; and 83.7 walking miles. I was about 20 miles off my goal for June, mainly due to missing a week after being sick … which of course made the whole second half of the month just awful. But it is what it is, so it’s time to move forward.
For July, my first goal is to get my body right nutritionally. As always, I haven’t been completely bad, but I’ve broken into the habit of a soft drink almost every day. If I can break that routine, everything else always seems to fall into place. So with tomorrow being the start of a new fiscal year at work, the soft drinks will stop with it. I’m also giving up french fries when eating out. Not that I eat out a lot, but it’s become a habit now when I do eat out to get the fries again. Each week in July, I’ll made a nutritional change and document it in on here. Four additional changes plus these two will set me up well for August and the final weeks of training.
As far as training goes, I’m not going to get too obsessed with miles. I’d rather focus on the quality of my workouts. Tonight I had a good 3-mile run - I felt good for a change. And I’d rather feel good for 3 than feel like crap for 4. I discovered yesterday that giving myself a break and hoping on the bike just made me feel better instead of going for a run. I’m not forcing my runs anymore. That’s not me, and it’s not fun to do that. I want to get back to the way I felt in February and March and I want that feeling to last for the rest of 2009.
Fighting that funk
To get over whatever my problem is, I have to just keep going. Perhaps I’m not completely over my sickness … and it seems everyone else around me has something wrong with them. Plus the mold count in Richmond is still super high. Who knows if any of those things are contributing to this.
I just have to get out there and eventually something will turn around. This weekend I ran 7 miles in two days — while that’s great in some circles, I was hoping my long run for the week would be about that. I’m not completely behind with my training. I still have a solid two months left to get ready for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half. But will I be running for the sake of running, or will I run to try to get better? I’m not shooting for a PR with the warmer September weather, but I am hoping for a better race than last year. That shouldn’t be hard to do, but I have to get moving …
Stuck in a funk
A day after turning 31, my body is telling me to get going. Go running, go biking, lose 10 pounds. I’m listening … I just have to do it. This week has been good so far, and with three days left I’m positioned for a great week. But it’s the way I feel that matters. It’s like I’m running in mud. I biked a little bit yesterday and it’s like I was constantly in the highest gear.
Maybe it’s the weather; maybe it’s the high mold count; maybe it’s because my sickness sucked the life out of me last week … things will change, I’m sure, but on this day I’m in that funk. My job is a bit busy right now too, but that’s no excuse.
The 1990s called …
… and said they wanted their music back. But dammit! You can’t have it. Instead, you have try and find it on Labor Day weekend at Virginia Beach for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a76FeV2-Dw]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qD72NCJSkk]
So yes, Black Crowes will headline the “American Music Festival” weekend. Sometime along the way, we’ll also be graced with this drastic opposite music that gives me flashbacks to middle and high school:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jTYB5zyHAg]
And, lastly, this, which pre-dates me but transcends time:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uvr3dmptvg]
Time to get back up
Three days removed from my highest fever since my second post on this blog more than two years ago, I feel all beat up. It’s like somebody punched me, tied me up to the back of a car, drove a mile and then unleashed a dozen wild dogs on me. OK … it’s not that bad (it’s still bad though), but I do feel like I’ve been in a bubble all week. Things have moved in slow motion, or not at all.
When I wrote the other day, my illness was peaking. Shortly after that post, I got the worst chills of my life. Then I was hot. Then I was cold. Then I took some medicine to knock me out and I went to bed. The next morning I felt a bit better, but my fever was still more than 100. But after another morning nap, things started turning around for me. By the afternoon I finally got my temperature under 100 and ever since then things have slowly gotten better. Not great … just better.
I finally made it back to work yesterday for a partial day, although I did work from home some on Monday and Tuesday, so I never really got backed up with anything. And today I finally had a normal day … but I sort of still feel like I’m in a bubble. It’s like the rest of the world is moving around me, but I’m not quite up to speed.
So this all leads me to this worthless week of training. So far I’ve got a whole 1.5-mile walk in with my dog. And that’s all I’ll do until tomorrow evening, and even then I probably won’t do too much. It’s a lost week - there’s no doubt about that. But I have to get back up and just do whatever my body feels comfortable with over the next few days. If it only wants to run 2 miles on Saturday, then fine. If I can go 5 miles, then great. These next few days will probably be a good chance to do some cross training instead of the pounding with running.
I won’t beat myself up too much and I won’t try to play catchup. I still have a little bit of time on my side, so I’m not worried about it too much. I just feel fortunate that I’m pretty much over this illness and that it didn’t last any longer than it did.
* * *
On a side note, I saw on Facebook yesterday that the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon is announcing the concert next week. There’s already a rumor of who it is, but I’ll keep my opinion to myself right now. After last year’s horrendous B52′s mess, I’m waiting to spend money to buy a ticket for my wife to get into the show.
Feel that temperature rising
And by that title I mean my temperature … 101.4. My son had the flu at the end of last week, but by yesterday morning he was doing great and all signs of the flu were gone. In fact, after a pretty bad day Friday, he had a decent Saturday as his temperature got back to normal. Yesterday afternoon after a visit to my sister’s house — which included visiting my niece who also had the flu — my throat started hurting. It was no big deal, until I woke up feeling like I had a bad whiskey hangover. It was the kind of headache that made me feel like I just had fillings in all my teeth.
I certainly don’t wish feeling like this on my worst enemies. (Not that I have any.) I’ve thought about going to the doctor, but they’ll tell me what I’m already doing — rest, lots of fluid, Tylenol, no licking car door handles in the neighborhood.
So as far as training goes, at least it’s happening now three weeks into things. Everything will resume when I feel somewhat normal.
Recent Comments