Training Log -- August 25, 2014

Alright, I admit it; I jumped the gun this morning.

After struggling with 5K on Saturday due to my sinus infection, I decided today was the perfect day for a long run.

Nope.

It was an awful idea.

Still recovering from my sinus infection I got up this morning, drank a protein smoothie, and organized my gear. 

I headed out around 9 and was excited to knock out at least 21K. Instead I made it about 11.5K before I ran out of water, couldn't find a fountain, and kept struggling with breathing and fighting through mucus (gross, I know).

Luckily my boyfriend, equipped with water, saved me and drove me home.

I'm clearly frusterated. More than anything I want to be active and run for 3+ hours, and for the first time in my life I'm having trouble grasping the idea of taking it easy. Is it because I'm trying to hold myself to a "no excuses" mentality? Who knows.

I have some walking, cycling, yoga, and speed training mapped out for the rest of my week. The rest of this is lower key so hopefully I can push through without making things worse.

Resting Continues

My rest week has spilled over to a second week. I think my body is reacting to the current stress I've been under. Between working, finding a new job for once this current contract ends, and the large amounts of exercising, my body was feeling off. It first started with a horrible blistering all over my lips that stabbed and crusted, then moved to three days of premature spotting (something that has never happened to me), and now I'm suffering from an awful sinus infection. 

Before the sinus infection kicked in, I spent Wednesday feeling off. I went for a walk and grabbed a green juice on my lunch, hoping to fight off whatever was going to happen next. 

By Friday the infection kicked in, and while my mom and my boyfriend ordered pizza for dinner, I just wanted juice. I made myself a citrus juice with oranges, grapefruit, lemon, peaches, and ginger.

Saturday night and I'm feeling awful. My sinus infection is in full force. I'm curled up in bed with the second season of Friends, lots of liquids, a bowl of berries, and a warm bean bag on my neck. 

I'm hoping this is the last thing that bothers me. Taking a break from running and cross training has been killing me, but I know it'll be better for me in the end. 

Resentfully Resting

I’m potentially taking the week off of exercising. My body is stressed and acting out, sending me signals that I need to take it easy… signals I’ve been ignoring.

With weird, light injuries I’ve never experienced before, a constant feeling of fatigue, and swollen, crusted lips that make me look like a clown, I’ve decided that I need to rest before something else happens.

I thought about running over the weekend because I knew the scenery would be so beautiful but I focused on starting this resting period instead by spending most of my time in a beach chair, devouring a book and a half. Yesterday I (purposely) missed my scheduled cycling and stair-climbing, today and tomorrow I deleted speed training and more cycling from my calendar, and I’m tempted to take a week off from my long run on Thursday. Maybe some walking or yoga will be allowed but I’m trying to remember that the point of resting is to rest.

How does your body tell you it’s time to rest? What does resting look like for you?

Stair-Climbing Begins!

Today I'm hobbling around on two sore calves. This is something I almost never experience because, when I'm running, it's usually my thighs that feel it. However, training for my second CN Tower stair-climb shocked my legs, especially since I skipped the (in my opinion, lame) StairMaster and went for a parking garage stairwell.

Anyways, today I'm skipping the gym and have been foam rolling my calves. Likely I'll do some yoga later. As usual, my goal is to never negatively affect my (half) marathon training so taking a rest day for this is something I can live with.

PS: I'm obsessed with homemade hummus. Easiest thing to make, hardest thing to refrain from eating.