Recapping a Wonderful Week

Can you detect the sarcasm there?  Okay, so it wasn't that bad...

Ended last week on a high note, a great 20 mile run, so I was hopeful that this week would build on that...well as evident in my last post, uh, not so much.

Had a great workout on Tuesday (8 miles with 5x600 m at 5k pace) but evidently that effort emptied the tank, or I need more time to recover now (probably the latter), so I ended up skipping the 11 mile midweek long run scheduled for Wednesday.  Managed to eek out 4 miles on Friday then had a great time with T on her long run (8 miles)...an aside:  she is totally going to do great on 10/19 when she runs the Grand Rapids Half Marathon and I can't wait to cheer like a madman for her when she crosses the finish line...and then set out to do 17 today.

Someone remind me not to eat only protein the night before a long run...and to drink more than 8 oz of water if I'm going to be standing outside in near-90F heat covering a soccer game.  Not my two best moves before a 17 miler.  But, I did manage 10 miles today.

So in summary for August that's 143 miles.  Third highest monthly total for 2008.

For 2008, with four months left I'm at 1064 miles for the year (at this point last year I'd logged 723 miles and I'm only 58 miles less than I ran all of 2007) and 60 miles ahead of the pace I need to meet my goal of 1500 for the year.  So I probably shouldn't complain too much.

What I am going to do over the next 6 weeks as I get ready for Chicago is scale my mileage back a bit:  I'm focusing on the quality workouts - speed workouts/intervals/tempo runs and my long runs and everything else is going to be in the 6-8 mile range and run at easy paces so that I give my body a chance to recover.  I'm also revising my goal for that Sunday in October, but I'll save that for another post.

Happy Labor Day everyone...off to drink some beers!

Frustrations...

Remember this post?  Well I left out a part.  Seems that in addition to the blood work being positive for strep it also showed a reactivation of the Epstein-Barr Virus, better known as the virus that causes mono, that could have been a result of the strep or just an appearance on its own.

But, see the thing is, I've never been diagnosed with mono.  So after long conversation with my Doc, she thinks I either had it and went undiagnosed or I've been exposed to it through work...I am around a lot of sick kids through out the year after all.

It fits with the other pieces:  feeling worn down, feeling constantly tired no matter how much I sleep, need extra days to recover from runs, etc.

Now I just gotta figure out a way to successfully train for Chicago with this, 'cause I can't get a refund!

Or maybe I'm just looking for a reason why my running has fallen off here lately...not sure which.  All I know is it feels like for every step I take forward I end up taking two backwards and it's really starting to frustrate me.

Restart

First day of classes so my schedule is back to normal: teach Mon/Thurs/Fri at 10:50, be at work Tues/Wed by 11:30-12:00 pm. Arrive home sometime between 6:30-7 pm.

August hasn't been the best month for my Chicago training, although I have managed to still run 113 miles with this week to go, with being sick and crazy work hours. I did, however, complete my 20 mile long run yesterday!

So, I'm taking the chance to reset, ctl-alt-del if you will, and get back on to solid ground with my running, 'cause I've only got 7 weeks until race day.

Also using today to start over on the 100 Push Up Challenge (the link is over on the right). We made it to week three before things sort of went sideways so we redid the initial exhaustion test on Saturday and started Week 1, Day 1 today. Initial exhaustion test I did 30. I'll keep you informed how I do at the end.

Hopefully now that things are back to normal I'll finally be able to get some of the things posted on here that have been bouncing around my head for the last two weeks.

Have a great Monday folks.

Thanks...

To CO and EC for chiming in on my last post.

Guess I've grown weary of the US media hype machine and what it is doing to Phelps - not trying to diminish or detract from his accomplishment at all.

Plus, from my own personal experience, and that includes being around some of the best swimmers in the country and others while I was at Auburn, for the majority of swimmers you taking 'em out of the water equals total disaster. They do not do well on dry land.

Thoughts, Discussion, Controversy?

I'm still a bit behind from work ramping up from zero to 100 mph in the span of 2-3 days but I wanted to finally get this posted.

For discussion:

Here is a great article/opinion piece by Amby Burfoot about the Olympics and the topic du jour: Michael Phelps and his amazing medal feat.

Here's my opinion - Phelps is a great swimmer. Swimmer. Is he the greatest Olympic athlete? Not a chance in my book. Who might be? I'm sure everyone could offer forth suggestions, but see Mr. Burfoot's blog entry above about "the real games".

One person I suggest? Emil Zatopek. 1952 in Helsinki he did something that will probably never be repeated. He won the gold medal in the 5000, 10,000, and the marathon. In one Olympics. Google him and read about how that marathon in Helsinki was his first, and how he decided to run it at the last minute.

Feel free to discuss. I gotta get back to work.

At Least I Know Why Now

After struggling through the last week to 10 days feeling tired and unrested no matter how much sleep and struggling through quite possibly the worst run I've ever had on Saturday I at least now know the reason for my malaise: streptococcal pharyngitis.

So no wonder running as been so difficult lately...at least it's better than the alternative. After the rapid strep test came back negative did a blood draw to do a more thorough strep test and a test for mono. Had it come back as mono that pretty much would have ended any chance of running Chicago.

Just need to take care of myself the next few days and take my antibiotics.

Reason #45,721

My wife may be the coolest ever. She did this to commemorate my first marathon:

Saturday Recap

Streets of Fire 8k

First time ever running an 8k race so no matter what my time, it's a PR.  Sure.  Right, Im claiming that performance as a PR.  Worst race I've ever run.  Not sure if it was the heat, time of day (race didn't start until 6:30 pm), course, or me but that was not a good race.

Mile splits:

Mile 1  7:48

Mile 2  9:21

Mile 3  9:20

Mile 4  9:00

Mile 5  9:07

Total time:  45:18  (which is over 9:00/mile)

As you can see from the pic the course was hilly.  Those hills from just after mile 1 to almost mile 3 drained me.  Then on the way back (course was an out/back) on the downhill my left hip started to let me know it wasn't very happy with me.

The schedule had a 20 mile long run on it today but after getting up and taking about three steps I realized that running 2 miles might be a challenge let alone 20.

Only bright spot of today is that since we're doing pre-season physicals at school I'll be able to have our team doc look at my hip.

The Challenge

No, not Seinfeld's The Contest or this, but I have challenged myself to see if I can do something during August.

I've challenged myself to spend no money, zero, zilch, nada, on non-necessities and things that are not already budgeted.  I mean, the bills do have to be paid after all.

See I'm quick to buy a magazine to read one article, or to grab that book that I've been meaning to read instead of seeing if the library has it (and we have a library branch about 0.25 of a mile walk from the house), or wait that shirt is on sale it's a good deal so let's get it.  So I'm trying to exercise some self-control this month.

I'm not sure I'll be able to do it.  The first few days will be easy but not sure how week #3 or #4 will go, but I will give updates as the month progresses.

Two Forward One Back

Another good run yesterday.  More leg soreness last night and today.  Different leg, different location but still same result; missed run.  The same run I skipped on Wednesday gets skipped today so I can be ready for the 8k race (instant PR since it will be the first 8k I've ever run) tomorrow night.