Tag: sick

Recovery Week 2

I hadn’t really planned on another recovery week but well life right?

I was feeling very out of it all week. I had troubles speaking and couldn’t seem to remember anything. With working last Saturday and then the company picnic on Sunday, it just felt like the longest week ever. I was just so tired and so ready for the weekend. That said, this will not be a very long recap. 😛

Monday- Rest I got a phone call Sunday evening from an employee calling sick. With another one on vacation I knew the day was going to be straight chaos so I left all my running gear at home assuming work would run late. And I was right. I wasn’t completely lazy though, I managed to clean my car after getting home that evening. I am embarrassed at the state that it was in.

Tuesday- Rest Same situation as Monday. However I also had a meeting in another town in the AM and I had the brilliant idea to wear heels for the first time in a month. Oh my word, blisters suck. Ouch! I did make it home in time for #bibchat though. I took advantage of a discount being offered and finally ordered myself the fancy transition towel I had been eyeing on the Orange Mud site for a year. Monday’s car cleaning also aided in me finally clicking buy.

Wednesday-Rest I can’t remember why though. I know I took my gear to work but didn’t run. Hmmm. I ate pizza though. 🍕🍕🍕

Thursday- 4.5 miles Fully staffed for the win! I taped up my blister and ran in home town. It was a little warmer than I would have liked and I started out super cautious thanks to the blister but it turned out to be a pretty good run. I have my watch set on 5 min run/ 2 min walk intervals, I am trying that these first few weeks post marathon. The first mile was super slow due to more walking and mile 4 somehow came in at 9:40. Ummm, oops? I think my new playlist may have been a little too inspiring. I felt pretty good at the end of this run though.

Friday- Rest So damn tired, is it the weekend yet? We also started a Biggest Loser type bet at work and the scale really pissed me off this morning.

Saturday- Rest. I planned on running, I was aiming for an 8 mile mid to long run and had been looking forward to it all week. I could not get out of bed. I stayed in bed past 3 alarms and could not get moving. When I finally did get moving, I was moving like a snail. Ok, running probably wasn’t the best idea. So instead I headed down to SLO for some errands. That included a stop at the Running Warehouse for some new kicks-

Sunday-8 miles. I was still tired when my alarm went off but not like Saturday. That said, I didn’t get started on this run until 9. That was stupid. I only took my handheld with 23 ounces of water- rookie move #2. Miles 1-4 weren’t bad. I was feeling tired but overall ok. Miles 5-8 were a hot mess. I was overheating, slowing down and having troubles with my asthma. I couldn’t smell smoke in the air but a huge wild fire broke out nearby Saturday night and I figured that could be affecting me. My mother met me at the halfway point, well that was the plan, I was so slow I didn’t catch up to her until mile 7. Oops. I just kept telling myself get to my car, get to my car. It felt like forever but finally I was done.

I was glad to have completed the run but things went south in the afternoon. I started to feeling very not right. I couldn’t regulate my body temp and I was burning up. I took the coldest shower possible and was chugging water. I was coughing a little more than normal and couldn’t focus on anything- which is why this post is also a day late. I texted my boss to let her know that I wasn’t doing so great. For me to text my boss, things are bad. At last check, I had 220+ hours of sick time available. Which is now 8 less because I did not make it to work on Monday.

I am feeling a tiny bit better and hoping that it was just too much sun/heat on top of being overly tired that kicked my ass. It was in the 90’s when I finished on Sunday which shouldn’t feel like a lot considering I live in Central CA but it’s better than the alternative. That coworker that had been out at the beginning of the week? Pneumonia. So yeah, I am hoping for too much heat.

12.5 miles for the week. More than the week before, that’s a plus right?

How was your week?

Do you keep your car clean?

Training Week 11 Recap

Upcoming Races– SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus– Breathing😛

Yeah so this was a lackluster week. Lot’s of sleeping and eating and watching whatever was on my DVR. Why does that always sound awesome until it’s actually happening? Boo. But here we go.

Monday- Rest Called in sick

Tuesday- Rest Made it to work, man that was exhausting. I did participate in another Twitter chat though.

Wednesday- Rest The day the room spun. Work was tiring again. But yay for cheat pizza night!!

Thursday- Rest Sensing a pattern here? This cold thing was really starting to piss me off. Did it not know I had new shoes to test out?!

Friday- Rest At least Friday’s are typical rest days. And it poured all day! I hydroplaned 3x on the way to work. Now I know where random flooding spots are on the highway.

Saturday-Rest You could have guessed, right? I slept some more and then went to dinner with the family. I tried cauliflower for the first time, it’s kind of tasteless? The tri-tip was amazing though.

Sunday- 4.5 miles I ran!!!!! Skipping my race meant that I could sleep a little more and not have to stress about waking up on time with the time change. I won’t lie, that was nice. I headed out late morning during a break in the rain to get in a few miles. Even though it was wet and I knew I was going to be finishing on dirt path, I wore my new shoes. What’s a little dirt? I started out slow and then just tried to keep it steady. I didn’t care about my pace, I just wanted to run. It was pretty good! I had to walk a few times but I expected that. I was bundled up pretty well so I was overheating for a few miles but when the wind picked up and it started raining I was glad I had picked a thicker jacket. 4.5 miles put me back at my car and only 1/4 mile had been in the rain. It was so good to just get out there.

So yeah, a 4 mile week. Woo hoo!!! But if I had to get sick, I guess I am thankful it was now. Not right before SLO or summer long runs. Granted there’s no guarantee I won’t get sick again just hoping based on previous years. With Daylight Savings going into effect, I am looking forward to getting in longer runs after work now. I love Daylight Savings. I am hopeful to get in some solid miles this week.

Low carb– Yeah, why can’t I be one of those people who doesn’t want to eat when they get sick? I only seem to want the horrible things. Seriously, on Monday I dragged my scary self to McDonald’s because all I could think about was fries and a Diet Coke. My lunches were all on point but I indulged with a few too many cookies this week. And jellybeans. Grrr. This is a new week right?

Oh and this officially happened this week-

I may have lost my damn mind. More on that insanity next post.

How was your weekend?

Anyone race?

Do you like Daylight Savings?

Smart Sucks Sometimes

And the streak comes to an end. Waah. 😭😭

I called in sick on Monday. I don’t really remember doing it. When I woke at 1- 1 PM!- I panicked. I was late! Oh, wait, my phone shows that I both texted and called my boss. Oh ok, then. But really?! I called in sick?! To emphasize how rare that is- my boss told me she was proud of me for calling in sick. Proud. And I’m sad I’m no longer in the 200’s for accrued sick time.

Wednesday, I woke to find the room spinning. Boo. I still sound like an angry Minnie Mouse. I’ve made it to work since Tuesday but it’s been rough. Talking tires me out. And when I momentarily forget and try to sing along with my iPod while driving, it comes out more of a wheezy screech.

Combine all of that with a projected storm on race morning and even I can see the writing on the wall. I will not be running Wine Country this weekend. My streak stops at 5 years. My wine glass collection stalls at 4. This year’s medal will probably be awesome. I briefly considered trying to run the 5K instead but I’m not up for that kind of pain right now.😁

I have run this race post flu before. In the rain. It was my second half marathon. It was miserable, it made me want to quit running. I burst into tears around mile 10 and scared the crap out of a volunteer. But watching them pick up the mile markers while you are still on the course is pretty demoralizing. It still stands as my slowest half ever. It was also my first experience with an out and back. So not a fan. Thankfully, they changed the course the following year. Granted the new course included a beast of a hill at mile 12 but that’s ok. I mean beast- it climbs around 130 feet in less than 2/10 of a mile. The race itself has around 1000ft gain in elevation throughout. Ok, I’m making myself sad now.

So, here I am being smart. Smart sucks. This cold sucks. Boo.

Do you run the same race every year? Longest streak?

Should I be stupid?

How has your week gone?

Week 10 Training Recap

Upcoming Races- Wine Country 13.1??
SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus– Keep it slow and steady but solid.

The lament of runners all over- Easy is hard! Grr. I’ve been thinking a lot about pace. It’s part of that insecurities post I’ve been sitting on for a while. But in short, I’ve been thinking about how I ran better when I didn’t care about my pace as much. 98% of my runs were also “easy” runs. So, I’ve been revisiting 80/20. I bought it about a year ago but really just skimmed it. With my lungs being what they are lately, I figured this would be a good time to read it again. Plus, running slower is fun when it’s the plan. 😀 But still hard.

Monday- Rest I really love Monday rest days. I really do.

Tuesday- Rest I usually run on Tuesdays and that was the plan. Work was insane that afternoon and ran late. By the time I would have changed and gotten out the door I would have only had time for about a mile before the sunset. I took it as a sign that I should just head home and get to the pharmacy for my new medications before it closed. Since I’m still only running 3x a week right now, I figured I had plenty of time to make up my run. Plus I was able to take part in my first Twitter chat. Damn that moves fast!

Wednesday- Rest Spanish tutoring. Or I tried. My mother volunteered me to help one of her tennis players. Except that the days of me being fluent have long since lapsed. Conjugating my verbs is not something I do anymore. But I tried…and since we met at the pizza place, I still had my Wednesday pizza night.

Thursday- 3.91 miles I headed out after work for a few miles. El Nino has been threatening to drop some heavy storms in the area so I knew the humidity level was up. A heavy marine layer was rolling in and I knew this run was going to be a struggle breathing-wise. It was but I just slowed down and tried to keep my breathing under control. It was rough but there was an amazing sunset so it all evens out right? I hit 3.9 miles at my car. I was going to run around the block to hit 4 miles but there was a crowd of cops outside the police station so I just called it. Running around the block a few times looks crazy to most people- what would the police think?

Friday – Rest day Something about this week kicked my ass. I was so tired by Friday and the scale pissed me off in the morning. I was waiting for closing time a little more eagerly than usual.

Saturday- Rest This was not the plan. My mom had been wanting to go shopping in SLO so we were going to head down in the AM and I was hoping to get in a few miles later in the day. It was also supposed to pour all day. SLO did happen but running did not. I felt super tired when I woke up but other than that ok. I didn’t realize anything was wrong until my first few words to my mom. I had no voice! I sounded like a squeaky frog! What the?! It continued to get worse throughout the day and I felt off. Like I couldn’t keep my body temp regulated. So I skipped my run. Boo. But I did indulge with some pretty kicks.

Sunday- 8 miles My training plan called for 10-12 miles but I wasn’t even going to try for that. I still had no voice but I felt ok, just tired. I decided to head to the lake path and attempt my long run. Lapping the lake meant I was never even a mile from my car so if I had to bail, I could. I also had my mom and S along for the ride; they were going to walk while I ran. This way I had backup if things went south. The weather was sunny and high 50’s but I wore pants and long sleeves just in case. I tried to keep things easy. I went back to my old method of running at the lake- ran all of the lap except the park. I walked through the park. That way every lap had a built in walk break and it was easier to avoid all the children playing. I felt tired and sore but not bad. I just kept moving. I told myself I would be happy with 6 miles. That put me on the backside of the lake so I figured why not finish out the lap? Then back at the parking lot I could see my mom and S on the backside but they seemed closer so I figured I would keep running until I caught op to them. Yeah, my eyesight must have been off. I didn’t catch up to them until 7.6 miles. Then I figured I may as well just run until I hit 8 miles. So I did. But there was nothing else left in me. Surprisingly though, the run was one of the steadiest paced runs in a long time. Go figure!

I don’t feel any worse right now but I don’t feel better either. Wine Country is 7 days away and I am on the fence about it. It’s one of my favorite races and this would be my 6th year running it. I will just have to see how I feel this week. Hopefully my voice comes back soon, I am tired of sounding like an angry Mickey Mouse. At least according to my mom and S.

Low-carb-– I did damn good last week, I really did. I was so proud of the myself. Then the scale pissed me off on Friday and I let it derail me this weekend. Time to start over on Monday- again.

So it wasn’t the best week but it could have been worse. Right?

How was your weekend?

Ever lose your voice?

Do I have a shoe problem?

Week 2 Training Recap

Upcoming races– Castle to Coast 8.2 miles
Surf City 13.1

This week’s focus– Working on base building

Yeah, this will be quick.

Monday- Rest
Tuesday-Sick
Wednesday-Sick
Thursday-Sick
Friday-Sick
Saturday-Sick
Sunday- 3.65 miles

Well, that didn’t go according to plan. The sore throat I’d been fighting/ignoring for a week or so turned into so much more. By Tuesday, I felt horrible and ended up leaving work early. I treated myself to In-n-Out on the way home and spent the afternoon sleeping. Somehow In-n-Out has become my go-to sick food. Which considering I drive past one 2x a day, only getting it when I feel completely crappy is a win in my book. 😏

Wednesday, I felt slightly better and I headed to work. I finished out the day, came home, posted a blog post and was hopeful for at least getting on the bike on Thursday. The denial was strong at this point, my right eye was starting to swell. I went to bed with an ice pack and hoped for the best. Thursday morning arrived and my eye was damn near swollen shut. I hate calling sick on a regular day but we are also running short staffed right now and I was supposed to have lunch with my uncle. We have been trying to plan lunch for years but it never works out so the last thing I wanted to do was cancel. So I dragged myself to work. Bad idea. I made it half the day before being booted out the door. And I had to cancel on my uncle. Boo. Once again, I was on my way home early. No In-n-Out this time just more sleep. I learned my Up band is smart enough to know when I am napping though.

I made it through work on Friday only to go home and crash. Seriously when did walking to the copy machine become so exhausting? No lie, I slept for 11 hours on Friday night. 11! How is that even possible? I did feel a little better on Saturday though. That didn’t stop me from sleeping for a freaky amount of time on Saturday night though.

Today, I got out for a slow 3.65 mile walk. It was in the low 50’s and perfect running weather but I was bundled up like it was in the 30’s. 😝 But I had zero coughing fits! Which was great since I somehow forgot my water bottle on top of my car. Oops. And I could have checked the weather better as it started to rain on me on the way back. 😢

So, yeah not the way I had hoped to greet the first week of 2016. I seem to get super sick every January. 2 partial work days is better than I fared last year so calling that a win? Now the test is to ease back into things this week… oh with a race in 5 days. Sure no problem, right?

Tell me all about your running adventures this last week!

Or non running ones too, I watched way too much tv. 😆