Does it really get better?
..and actually, for once I'm not talking about my abysmal state of fitness... I'm talking about life, and how getting up at 4 am (3 am CA time) to catch my flight actually didn't feel so different from my normal state of sleep deprivation these days.
You think well if I just survive this week, or this due date... but then, something else inevitably pops on up. Before you know, years have gone by... and you're still disgruntled about the same things. For those of us whose interests don't align with gainful employment... well, kinda makes one feel pretty bummed out sometimes.
Sunday 10/05: 1:34:04, 2 x 2 laps of Washington Park. I guess it doesn't quite serve the purpose of a long run with the bathroom break in between, but I've been suffering from gastrointestinal distress ever since the Chinese food on Friday night. For some reason today was the worst of it... ran 2 laps very slowly while accumulating a worsening stomach ache, then had to shuttle back to the house to go to the bathroom, then headed out for 2 more. The third lap felt absolutely like death, and I considered bailing on the last one, but then I realized that I felt crappy because of my stomach, and not because of my running system... so I decided to man up and power through. Glad that I did, because I finally started feeling better on the last lap. Wasn't really keeping precise track of time, but the two halves were about equal at ~47 minutes per 2 laps plus jog back to house and back... lap splits were around 23, 22, 23:30, 21:30, basically correlated to how bad my stomach ache was at the time. Felt like 10 minute miles at the time, but I felt much better about this run after mapping the route, probably ~10.9 miles including commuting back and forth from the house.
Monday 10/06: Off, traveling. Another crappy day. Had some sort of massive allergic reaction this morning, and was sneezing uncontrollably until evening. They wouldn't even give me my shots today on account of the fact that my brains seemed to be coming out of my nose. Felt better after I got home to my myriad nasal sprays. Need sleep. Dying.
Tuesday 10/07: 50:43, Monterrey recovery loop, ridiculously, insanely slowly. When I woke up I still felt horrible, despite getting 8 hours of sleep for the first time in weeks. Typically my legs are wiped out after running at altitude, and I guess they were particularly so. I guess one could say that it's an improvement that my brains are no longer coming out of my nose at quite the same rate, but unfortunately this was replaced by my nose being insanely chapped from yesterday, and it hurting like hell when it started running again on the run. Basically it was pretty miserable on all accounts.
Wednesday 10/08: Off, the first complete casualty of this godawful few weeks... After working until 1 am, I woke up and it was almost 7 am... so I got out of bed, but I felt so insanely horrible that I just fell back asleep until 8:30, effectively putting a nail in the coffin of me running today. This means that after teetering on the edge for weeks now, I've finally passed the threshold where any subsequent sleep deprivation will exponentially cause a decline in one's health and well-being. Craptastic.
Thursday 10/09: 1:11:08, California around RB and back. Down but not out. Unfortunately, that dull, achey, its horrible to be alive feeling was still present when I woke up today, but I'm renewedly determined not to fall completely off of the ball. This wasn't a strong run by any means, but it was decent. Felt okay, wasn't ridiculously slow, felt better towards the end. I just have to keep doing these base runs to prevent fitness loss while I try to ride out the rest of this horribleness. Things are slated to be mildly better next week, and calm down moderately after that.
Friday 10/10: Off, shots, stress, work, the usual. Had a good talk with el boss man though, and Peter came and we ate delicious mini burgers... so I'm starting to feel a little bit better about life.
Saturday 10/11: 1:19:48, 3 x Arroyo Tempo Loops with the Caltech guys team... man was that ugly... but nevertheless, a good workout, or at least it was maybe good to run outside the comfort zone, since I don't do that very often these days. Started out with the second group on the first lap, but then was unceremoniously left behind. Oh, well. After everyone disappeared, I just ran a pace that felt manageable. 11:09, 11:33, 11:41, for unfortunate positive splits, but I was glad that the last two laps didn't fall apart horrendously. Didn't feel wiped out or anything, but the breathing was hard. I'm getting there, would ideally like to be able to comfortably crank out three at about 11 minutes, but you know... this is a lot of progress compared to before. Ran from the gym to the Arroyo too, and the longer warm up and cool down felt really good.
Training this week: 4:55:43, eh... for 4 days, I'll take it.
Goals: Not to die, Part the second (well, I'm still kicking so...)
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