Back at It, Almost Recovered

I'm not real happy to report that last week's mileage was only 28.5 feeble, slow miles as I battled a combination of lower back pain, hot weather and general tiredness and lazyness. My longest run was a slowpoke 5.5 miles.

Six weeks until the Santa Barbara Marathon and at this point I'm not really sure I want to run it.  My mileage and training has been hampered by illness and injuries but we shall see. 

Truth be told...the back spasm was less of an issue than my general inability to wake up and run.  I am so looking forward to the additional hour of sleep this Sunday as Daylight Saving Time goes away until the spring.

In the latest Runners World magazine the publisher had a nice discussion about his own training and how he's doing all the right thing in preparation for an upcoming marathon.  Something that hit home with me was his insistence on getting to bed early enough so that he could wake up for his early morning run.  He mentioned he was dedicated to the task, with the occasional exception of his hometown team playing late.

My commitment to this "comeback" marathon has waned of late I think in large part to my inability to train properly.  On the other hand, MY SLEEP HAS BEEN INADEQUATE for most of the last 6 months.  Probably 75% of that is my own fault...staying up late with this website that I love, writing, corresponding...and then winding down at midnight with the TV on.  Not good at all for the training...

So here I am at 10:15 pm...writing this blog post and planning on a 20 minute run afterwards.  Shower and get to bed by midnight. 

Do as I say, not as I do...

I'm Sitting Here Writhing in Back Pain Again

Darn it!  It was only a few months ago that a major back spasm sidelined my running for 3 weeks.  I visited the chiropractor and the problem finally went away.  Well at 3 a.m. Monday morning my 4 year old awoke me out of a deep sleep to help him go potty...I turned too fast as I was getting out of bed and...SNAP...there goes my back again.  First froggies, then 4 year olds.

Strangely, while my current back spasm and nerve irritation makes cause me excrutiating discomfort when I'm sitting down, I can run without major incident.  This is good. Weird though.  So in the meantime I'm back at the chiro office 3X per week. 

In the meantime, last week I had 48 miles of running under my belt, ending with my slow but steady 16.3 miler on Sunday.  I was able to get that much mileage last week only by doubling up my runs 3 days.  Not particularly enjoyable for me but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

The other good thing is that I pretty much feel 100% recuperated now from my wonderful swine flu experience.  Just when I'm over and done with one injury, illness or other stumbling block in my training, some new issue pops up.  Boy am I glad I'm not a professional runner.  I don't know how I could deal with so many setbacks!  But as a casual runner, it is easier to take these problems in stride.

That's it for tonight.  Better get to bed before midnight or I'll turn into a pumpkin.

True Grit Running This Week

Today was a day of sheer grit and determination.  Seven weeks away from the Santa Barbara Marathon and I felt that if I didn't get a long run in, I would not be able to run the marathon. 

The last 4 weeks were supposed to be 60 mile weeks for me, but between getting the flu and slowly recovering from it, my training has been way off the plan.  In fact, last week's total mileage of 16.5 was the lowest in recent memory for me. Not good.

This week and today, I STILL don't feel quite right.  I'm not sick. But my body is still recovering from being sick.  Still coughing in the morning and sluggish and tired overall.  Wasn't able to wake up earlier than 6:45 a.m. this week.  So to make up for the short morning runs I doubled up on Tues, Wed and Thurs.  Not fun!  But I felt I HAD to get my mileage where it needed to be.

It was nice, cool and rainy up through Wed. Then Thurs through Sat it was unseasonably hot out. Between the heat and my inability to drag myself out of bed early, I was worried about my critical long run today.

Good luck!  It was cool out when I started my run at 8 a.m. today! And the temp didn't rise higher than about 75 degrees.

The goal: Run for 2 1/2 hours. Pace irrelevant.  Normally I run around a 7 min pace but given the way my body has felt, I'll settle for anything!  Just need to knock this run out.

But 20 minutes into the run, physically I felt like stopping.  Just didn't have anything in the tank. But I swallowed my pride and ignored my dead legs...and resolved to KEEP RUNNING, even if it felt like I was walking!

Two hours, 26 minutes later, I was done.  I was not surprised this afternoon when, using MapMyRun.com found out I ran 16.3 miles today.  That equates to about a 9 minute per mile pace. I slogged my way through this run.  But I did it!  It didn't feel good today.  But mentally it was necessary that I was able to PUSH myself into making it happen!

So for those of you who, like me, don't feel up to a particular run...change your mental outlook, tweak your goal and MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Double Up Your Runs When You Need to Double Down Your Training

The past two mornings I've had a hard time waking up.  So here I am less than 2 months from my marathon running 15 minutes this morning. That ain't gonna cut it!  Time to double up!

I don't usually enjoy doing 2 runs a day.  One quality 40 minute run is better than a 15 minute and a 25 minute run in my opinion.  But ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I'm already feeling vulnerable in my training because I've been in a 4 week training tailspin due to illness.  So I need to do whatever it takes to make one last ditch mileage buildup before tapering off for the marathon starting in a month.

Today we welcomed the first rainstorm of the Fall here in Ventura County.  What a pleasure to see the rain out there.  Last night there was a very light rain that made my 2nd run of the day quite pleasant.  It was a solid 2nd run that made me feel good physically and emotionally. Yes, although I almost fell asleep at 8 pm reading my 4 year old to sleep, I was able to drag myself out and run again!

Second runs build mental toughness. It ain't easy lacing up those shoes at night in the dark. But doing so builds up that "I can do it" attitude that marathoners need to meet their goals.

Note:  Do be particularly careful running at night.  Always run facing traffic. Wear a reflective vest.  Run in familiar areas, preferably well lighted.  Running in the dark increases the possibility of stepping on things you don't want to step on.

Slowly Coming Back From the Flu

The last time I wrote was last Wednesday, my first run after 5 days off with the flu.  On that day I ran a slow 1.5 miles on the treadmill.  The next day I did 2 miles, then 3.5 miles on Friday, steadily increasing to 4 miles on Saturday, 5.5 miles on Sunday and another 5.5 today (Monday) slowly but surely regaining some energy. 

My weekly Monday to Sunday total was a personal low of 16.5 miles during a time frame 2 months prior to the marathon in which I had planned to be running 60 mile weeks.  The prior week was only 25 miles total.  As you can see below, I've been on a descent for the last month after a previous comeback from a back injury.

I have to admit, I'm starting to have doubts about my ability to run this marathon at the sub 3-hour level.  There have been too many problems with my training...it seems every other week I get sick or a new injury pops up.  I'm really frustrated that every time my training starts looking good, I'm forced to back off.

That said, I'll continue plugging away. What I really need to do is regain enough energy to run a 20 miler this weekend to maintain my long distance fitness.

On the injury front, a spot below my left knee has had a chronic pain for 4 months now and I'm visiting an orthopedist in Thousand Oaks to assess the problem.  The good thing is that it hasn't significantly impacted my running.  The bad thing is that it has been a chronic weak leak for me when crouching, bending and standing. 

Today I ran a solid 40 minutes after work.  For some reason with the change of the seasons in the air, my body stopped waking up early.  Oddly, this also happened to my entire family.  The good thing is, we get an extra hour of sleep on Halloween night as Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 p.m. on November 1st.  Getting that hour of sleep is always very welcome in my household!

One Flu, Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Instead of breaking into a 60 mile week with a 22 miler last week, I ran 25 miles Monday through Thursday and not a single step until today.  For the first time ever, I have refrained from running for 5 DAYS STRAIGHT, not due to injury, but to an evil, nasty FLU!! 

Yes indeed. Well what brought me to this lovely place probably started September 27th. On that day, we had a big party at our house for the mom-in-law.  But the teenage stepson wouldn't get out of bed.  Being the good stepdad I am, I attempted to cajole him into stepping out and saying hello at least. But he wouldn't budge, even just to greet Grandma. Later that night Urgent Care said he had a strain of H1N1.

So as a special birthday gift we rewarded Grandma with Grandkid quarantine duty the next 3 days. In the meantime his little brothers caught something too, though not quite as bad.  I washed my hands with soap and warm water every chance I could...hoping, praying, pondering the longshot chance that I would not be affected by this influx of yuckyness.

So I'm in the clear still on Thursday, thinking I'll run 22 miles on Saturday morning and be primed with my longest training run for the Santa Barbara Marathon. Yep, then a 5K the following Sunday to sharpen up a bit!  Calm before the storm.

At 11:45 p.m. PDT, Hurricane Dry Heave hit, and came back and hit again, once an hour, until 5 a.m. Friday morning.  I'll refrain from providing more graphic details of this wonderful experience. Truth be told, there are better ways of shedding pounds.

One flu. Am I going cuckoo? How is it possible to get sick and injured so often?  Nearly one third of my blog postings have to do with this topic!

In my younger days I was out running, feeling light and lean after a stomach bug, sometimes the next day. Not so with this one. I was on my back most of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Was OK to work on Tuesday but not yet run. Though I did run up the stairs...my feet felt real light, my chest is majorly conjested so I felt asthmatic.

So today, Wednesday, I did get out and run 1 mile in 10 minutes.  It felt pretty good all things considered and I was able to breathe a little better, but not deeply.

Am I fretting about this?  Nope. I've come back time and time again from injuries and illnesses. This flu was pretty bad but, heck, I'm already feeling better.  Still 2 months until the marathon. My biggest challenge will be mental...how to pump myself up to run 22 miles after another off week.

I'm Over the Cuckoo's Nest and ready for As Good as it Gets, Jack.