So yeah. This week was kind of a wash. I was prepared for July to be busy. I planned this week of workouts out accordingly. It was a good plan, like I said I was prepared. Until reality showed me otherwise. Life just laughed at me.
Work was busier than I expected. I wasn’t sleeping well, 5 hours a night if I was lucky. Then I got sick or exhausted, something like that. Summer has fully arrived after a late start and temps have been above 100 in home town most of the week. That brought power outages and way too many damn fires with it.
Monday- Rest I knew work was going to be crazy busy so I didn’t even bring my running clothes. I was not wrong. By the time I made it home, my brain was fried. For it only being Monday, that should have been a sign.
Tuesday- Rest/Sick The start of the downhill slide. I was supposed to go hiking with my dad at a new trail but my stomach was a giant ass hat all day. Nothing active happened. I did enjoy some lovely 4th of July hot dogs with my family though.
Wednesday- Rest This was partially planned. I knew work was going to be insane after the 4th so the original plan was to rest. I took running gear though since I had failed to run or hike on the 4th. However my stomach was still being an asshat so running did not happen. It was also 100+ at home when I got off work.
Thursday- 3.1 miles I woke up with a sore throat and major headache. Oh hell, no, I don’t have time to be sick. It was a calmer day at work and I was hoping that a few easy miles would help run out the oncoming head cold. I ran in work town as it was like 103 in home town. I kept the miles easy- well they felt easy-ish but they were too fast. I didn’t feel worse after the run but I didn’t feel better either.
Friday- Rest With my boss on vacation- I’m open to close on Friday’s so no working out. Plus home town was 107. And the air conditioner died.
Saturday- Rest I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. Combine that with the 105 temps and the heavy smoke from the 3 huge fires burning in the county and I was not even attempting a run. Instead I lazed around. Did spend some time looking at refrigerators as a power surge on Thursday half killed the refrigerator. Yay. By evening’s end 3 more fires had started.
Sunday- 12 miles Rest I set everything out for a long run but when my alarm went off after the first decent nights sleep I have had in weeks, I just couldn’t do it. I still didn’t feel great and I know the next 2 weeks are going to be crazy at work. Being in sick is not an option. Plus the sky was so thick with smoke, I had a hard time telling that it was actually blue.
3.1 miles for the week. Ouch but it is what it is. Moving on I need to be a little more flexible during the next 2 weeks as we move through this system conversion at work. I am now a little hesitant about my 10K next weekend. I knew July was going to be interesting so now to see what this week throws at me.😀
With so much going on this week with the merger going through, having run Livermore and still not feeling 100% I decided to give myself a free pass this week. If I wanted to run, yay, if all I wanted to was sleep then I would sleep. The only thing I had to do was get through each work day- long as they were. And damn they were long. Plus my cough was in full force so customers occasionally looked at me like I had the plague. 😛 I needed running to be a stress reliever not to add to the stress that the week might bring.
Monday- Rest– I sort of had a vacation day. I say sort of because this was the week of all the conference calls and meetings so while I had the morning off, I had a meeting in the afternoon. I luckily could go to a closer location than normal but it was rough going from comfy clothes to slacks, heels and a blazer.
Tuesday- Rest- Work started an hour and a half early. Combine that with my commute and ouch that was an early morning. I had to use my Knuckle Lights just to open my gate! I also had a doctor’s appointment and something in the waiting room really aggravated my cough. I would cough uncontrollably, excuse myself to go outside, feel fine, go back in and it would all start over again. Finally after the fourth time, a nurse came and opened the door and something about that made the air in the room level out and I stopped coughing. I was so tired after that though so I just went home.
Wednesday- 4 miles This day was equally as long. Work also started an hour and a half early again. I was tired after work but I wanted to try and run. Good lord that first mile was hard. I was so sluggish and just tired. I sat on a bench and regrouped and changed my run/ walk intervals from 3/1’s to 2/:30’s. It helped. I actually ended up pulling off 3 progressively faster paced miles after that.
Thursday- 3.5 miles Thankfully, this day had a much more normal start time. I was still tired and the first mile was still ugly. The next 2 weren’t speedy but ended up being very consistent- like they were the exact same pace. Don’t think I could do that again. maybe I should try sometime?
Friday- Merger day! Over an 11 hour day and I was toast. And with that it’s official, after 9 years, 11 months and 20 days, I work for another company.
Saturday- Rest- I thought about my long run but that’s as far as it got. I was so damn tired. So instead I ran some errands and ended the evening by going to see Power Rangers. I actually did a journalism project on Power Rangers way back in the day (8th grade!) so it was pretty much a given that I was seeing this in the theater. 😛
Sunday- 5 miles I had planned on a 10 mile long run where I met my mom in the middle but when my alarm went off I just couldn’t. I kept telling myself to get up but I was still so tired. It finally got to the point that there was no way I could get up, get ready and run to the meeting point in time so I texted my mom and bailed. Instead I headed out in the afternoon knowing it was likely going to be a rough ride. It was over 80 so I wasn’t even going to attempt 10 but I was thinking about 8. That thought last 1.5 miles. I was hot, I was wearing shorts for the first time in 5 months and they kept trying to turn into underwear. My stomach started to cramp and my knee was hurting. I sat outside the elementary school just to take a breather. I decided 5 was a good number.
12.5 milesfor the week. Not great but for merger week and still being sick at the beginning, I’ll take it! I made it through the week so woo hoo!
Now, things should calm down a bit. Work may be crazy but the hours should normalize… I hope. I am hoping to bring the miles back up this week though. The only thing I think I have planned is a dentist appointment and I need my tires rotated. Those are easy, right?
Disclaimer: I received an entry into Livermore Half as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
All right, if you’ve been reading me whine for the past week you know I went into this race sick. I was questioning my sanity for running it and my ability to finish it. As was my mother. 😛
Race morning dawned after a less then stellar night of sleep but isn’t that to be expected before races? The forecast had changed to just overcast and low 40’s and while I was thankful for the lack of rain I knew that was going to feel cold to me. So I layered up. Seriously. Capri’s over compression socks, a tank with a long sleeve shirt over it, then my rain jacket. A Buff around my neck and another Buff around my head to cover my ears with my hat over that. My mom drove me to the start and dropped me off.
I made my way to the start line and suddenly panicked. I forgot my bib! Somehow I had forgotten to pin my bib on. It was still in the car. Thankfully my mother had decided that parking was a nightmare (we were in a dirt lot without specific spots which was very tricky in the dark) so she was just going to nap while I ran. I hauled butt back to the car to get my bib. Once that crisis was averted I headed back to the start line where I ended up meeting up with Laura from running4thereason.com, another Bibrave Pro. We chatted while waiting for the race to start. 10 minutes after 7 and we were off!
My plan was to run until I got tired, walk, then repeat until the finish line. I figured I would walk every hill and just do whatever my lungs wanted to do and just go from there.
Miles 1-3 10:24, 10:40, 10:22
The first 3 miles were through city streets and I was moving a hell of a lot faster than I thought I would be. Hmmm. I like low key city streets so I was enjoying the vibe and just letting my feet do what they wanted. I skipped the first aid station at mile 2 because it was just too crowded. The 5K was also running along side us for a bit so that was interesting. A couple other runners and I were cracking jokes that we were going to “get lost” and turn around with the 5K’ers. 😛 A little before mile 3 I came up behind the 2:30 pacers… um, what? I knew I was moving way faster then that so I couldn’t figure out how they had gotten that far ahead of me. Then I turned my headphones on and told myself to get over it.
The bridges moved when you ran over them! Miles 4-6 11:11, 11:29, 11:41
I loved these miles and hated them at the same time. Just past mile 4 we went from running the streets into a paved path in a park. Heaven. I want this path in my town now. Paved blacktop with nature on both sides, a little stream running thanks to all the rain? It was awesome. A downside was that the path narrowed so it was easy to get roadblocked so there was lots of bobbing and weaving going on in these miles. I ran in the dirt along the path a lot. But again, that’s one of my favorite things so this should have been my favorite part. What made it so rough was that just past mile 4 my stomach cramped, bad. Like, I need a bathroom now, bad. And of course, the next bathroom wasn’t until the aid station at mile 6ish. 😂😂 So instead of walking because I was tired, I walked when I cramped and ran when it eased, and repeat. That kind of messed with my head. Note to self- never eat Five Guys before a race ever again.
Miles- 7-9 11:31, 11:47, 13:02
Just past mile 6 and we were out of the park and back on the street. The bathroom line was like 20+ people long and the cramping had eased so I figured as long as I went slow I would probably be ok. My lungs were starting to protest and I was super congested. I admit I did something I have never done in view of others before- I spit. I did it more than once this race. I felt so bad but I had to! I also ripped off a few choice words when a police car leading a trail of cars on the other side of the road let off a single screeching chirp. I about jumped out of my skin. 2 people next to me also had some colorful words to share. Mile 9 saw the only 2 real hills of the race. I walked them. At the top of the first was a water station that also had a paramedic and a fire truck- it was a small hill! I got jammed up the water station. I went to throw my water cup in the trash and a woman put herself in front of me to eat her Gu and a woman came up right behind me to drink water. It was like a hug with random strangers and I couldn’t move. Let me out! It took me another 30’ish seconds to get myself out of the stranger sandwich and on my way. Grrr. We were leaving the road and entering another park with a paved path. Seriously, I wanted this one in my town too. My lungs were protesting as we hit the second hill, they were so not happy.
Miles 10-12 11:00, 11:51, 11:14
We were still in the park so I was running in the dirt every chance I got. I love dirt. Plus my legs appreciated the change in terrain. They were actually feeling pretty good considering how little elevation this course had. The 2:30 pacers had caught up to me and passed me, left me in the dust really. I started to feel discouraged but told myself to get over it, I was already doing better than I thought I would, there was no sense making myself sicker just to meet some arbitrary “sick” finish time. I just told myself to enjoy the scenery and try to calm my lungs down. Mile 11 brought us back into town through a smaller park before we were back on city streets for the last mile.
Mile 13 12:16
Holy asthma city. My lungs were done. Between my cold and my asthma, I was fighting an asthma attack. I walked so much of the last mile. I was wheezing and coughing and gasping and probably looked like a hot mess. Crowd support really picked up for the last mile and so many people were cheering. I heard “come on girl in orange run! You’re so close!” Don’t you see I’m trying!?!?!?! I rounded a corner and there it was- the finish line!
Finish 2:30:15
Haha, this pic makes me laugh now😂
I crossed the line and was handed my medal. I saw my mom fairly quickly outside the fence and went to say hi. She took one look at my face and said “you chose to do this”. Haha, thanks mom.😛 I then wandered down the finishers chute and collected my wine glass, chocolate milk and banana. I was also able to refill my water bottle. Once I stopped moving and was able to chill for a moment, my lungs calmed down a bit.
All in all this a great course. I liked all the scenery and the varied paths. I wish it had a few more hills. I think another hill or 2 may have helped me a bit, this course was fairly flat. So if flat is your jam, you could totally set a PR on this course. And hey I ended up hitting my arbitrary sick time anyways- who knew?!
This will likely not be very long. 😛 Not a lot happened last week unless you count coughing and sniffling. Unfortunately I have yet to see any ab gains from all the coughing. 😛 A girl can dream right?
Monday- Sick- I called in sick. Who am I??? I got up and attempted to get ready for work but when it took me 20+ minutes to attempt to brush my teeth I conceded defeat. I spent most of the day in bed. The only movement was to move to the comfy chair when the bed got old.
Tuesday/ Wednesday- Rest/sick- I made it to work both days but I was barely hanging on. I was still coughing all the damn time and I had the worst sinus pressure building. Grrrr. I slept poorly all week as I spent most nights coughing.
Thursday- 2 miles- With Livermore 3 days away, I figured I needed to do a test run. I still felt miserable but I also needed to be realistic. I bundled up like it was 30* outside ( it was 60) and headed out for short run. Yeah, I walked the first mile and ran/ walked the second. It wasn’t miserable but it wasn’t exactly pleasant either.
Friday- Rest- My ears went funny on the way to work. I was starting to seriously consider dropping from the half marathon to the 5K. Work tired me out, how was I supposed run 13 miles? Oh and the forecast still called for rain on race day.
Saturday- Road trip! I packed and headed on up to Livermore. Mom was along for the ride like usual and she let me know exactly what she thought of me running while sick. 😛 I was still debating about a 5k drop down. After an uneventful drive up and a stop to eat for lunch at Pieology we arrived at the expo to pick up my bib. After checking into the hotel we tried to do a little shopping at a nearby outlet mall but but we literally drove around the parking lot for 20 minutes with 100 other cars looking for a parking spot. No thanks. After dinner it was back to the hotel and an attempt to get an a decent night’s sleep. Fail.
Sunday- Livermore Half?– more to come on that.
Weekly miles- 15.1. Guess that tells you what I ran. 😛
It was a long week of not doing a lot but I feel exhausted. I am really hoping to be on the upward swing of this thing. I miss sleep, I miss running, I miss what little breathing capacity I had before. Ha!
This week coming is going to be interesting. It’s merger week, so there is lots of overtime happening and some things are up in the air. It’s going to be a very play it by ear week but I am hoping to get my mileage back up. There was a trail race I was thinking about on Saturday but I can’t commit due to the up in air work schedule so I’m taking as a sign that I should probably not run up a mountain a week after a race.
Which is great as I have been looking forward to it since November. Something about it just piqued my interest post Golden Gate Half and held on to it. So when I got the chance to run it through Bibrave, I was stoked.
Now, the downside. I’m still sick.😷 I haven’t run since last Thursday. I called in sick on Monday. From all the coughing I’ve been doing, I should have abs by now. Abs, where are you? 😛
Also the weather is predicting rain. Where is California weather? Actually, it changes every time I check my weather app, maybe I should just stop looking?
So all plans I had have changed. I am looking forward to a hopefully fun run. I want to enjoy the scenery of a new place and take it all in. My mother is going with me like usual and I’ve already told her this will not be a speedy one by any means. This is going to be a taking time to enjoy the view kind of race. Sometimes those are the best kind right?😀
Ever run with a cold?
Any anti coughing tips for an asthmatic with a deviated septum?
