Half way.

I'm slowly pulling myself out of maintenance mode and back into running. It looks increasingly like I'll be running the Chicago Marathon this fall, followed by the NYC Marathon three weeks later.

Along the way, I'll take on more of the CARA Circuit. This isn't going to be easy.

Year to date through June 30th, I'm at 1,440 miles. That's more than I've ever run in the first half of the year. I don't think I want to get 3,000... (that's a huge number!)... but this will be my biggest year ever.

Spring break is over. Summer running is here.

Roselle + Spring Mile = Done.

It wasn't pretty, but I did gut out another age group win at the Roselle Run for Roses 5K a little over a week ago. I followed that with a fast mile mid-week, and now I'm in a mini-recovery mode.

Roselle 5K:

I actually had the intentions of running a fast 5K here, but for some reason it just didn't work out. I'll blame it on a lack of mileage over the prior weeks, and a last minute audible that had me running for placement instead of time. Training wise, I've been gradually winding down in this post-marathon mode (more like delaying the inevitable), yet still racing nearly every weekend for the last several weeks. I simply have sacrificed quality long runs for races. Regardless, I went to Roselle thinking that I'd be able to run a 16:20ish.

A little head wind in the first half of the race forced me to change my strategy. I didn't want to be the work horse for the chase pack going into the wind. If I did, then I would've risked either dying or getting dropped by guys that I should've beaten. And if I would've sat in the middle of the chase, then I would've gone out too slow and been victim to who knows what (heaven forbid a negative split 5K).

So with the gun, I sprang quickly onto the back of the lead pack. It was fast. I knew it. These guys were going sub 16 pace, but I felt nice and loose so I just went with it. I simply decided to get far enough ahead of the chase and then gut out what I could. I didn't have a watch and I don't recall my exact splits - but they wound up something like 5:08, 5:28, 5:23, 0:32 = 16:33.

That first mile was really hot. I saw the clock and immediately had a big "whoops!" Trouble with that, was I had already started to slow up before reaching the marker (as did most of the pack). Only they clung to their pace from there, while I pulled back again in the second mile as I tried to get under control. Hence 5:28. After the first mile, I dropped a kid that went out with me, and saw nobody else the rest of the way. Little did I know, that a couple guys from the chase were closing on me, but nobody ever passed me. And for that, it was a success as I won my age group. 16:33 was a far cry from 16:20 and even more from a PR... but another good enough.

Spring Mile:

A mile isn't something I normally do. Since some of my recent racing was behind me and I was about to hit the reset button, I thought I'd give it a shot just to see what I could do. So last Wednesday night, a number of us went to the track for the first time this year. It was a treat, since we've been doing our speed on the lakefront path or in the zoo parking lot.

I simply had the target of running sub-5 minutes. I know I can go faster, but given that I suck at the mile... I figured I'd play it safe. I split 75, 76, 74, 73... for a total of 4:58. It felt great and was actually pretty fun. I couldn't have run it any better too - a very conservative and clean negative split. To boot, I capped off the 2x 400, 1x 1600, 2x 400 workout with a blazing 65 second 400. I think I'll try to give the mile another shot after building my training back up, as opposed to winding down. I'd absolutely love to go sub 4:50, which I should be able to do with a little more fitness and speed work.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm taking a few weeks of reduced mileage before I roll back up. Some much needed recovery. I'll keep it simple for now and reassess in a couple weeks. Ultimately I'll build to burn a fast marathon in the fall (location still TBD), followed by a lay-up with the NYC Marathon. Along the way, I'll give my 5K and half marathon both an honest shake for PRs.

Postpartum Marathon Syndrome

On the heels of a marathon, I almost always get some sort of postpartum syndrome. I'm often not quite sure what to do with myself. I go from loads of big mile training, then run a race, then it all shuts down and I'm left guessing what to do with myself.   

So that's where I've been for the past month... Stuck between wanting a break, but forging ahead with a few races... I mean, it can't all go for naught.  With no real goal in mind, I've decided to snag some quick CARA Circuit points.

I've kept up about 40-60 miles a week since Boston... probably least amount possible to allow me to strike while the iron is still somewhat warm. I've raced in the following:

4/28 - Oak Park Race That's Good for Life 5K - 16:20

If ever there was a recent chance for my 5K PR, this might've been it. The weather was absolutely perfect for racing in Chicago (actually, very rare!!). No wind, nicely in the mid-50's. Oak Park is a very competitive race that I've run several times. It's a fast course, and I had plenty teammates and other runners to help pace with. Unfortunately, I wound up missing my PR by 4 seconds. This was 2 weeks after Boston, and though I was fit, I still felt somewhat flat and sore. So true, you can burn a fast 5K after a marathon... without doing any additional work whatsoever... but it didn't feel good and it was still shy of a PR. Maybe I should've put in a little more work following the marathon? Whatever. I was 4th in my AG, which is amazing considering this was a 16:20!

5/19 - Woodridge Seven Bridges 5K - 16:43

This race served a simple purpose: moar CARA AG points. And I did just that, as I won my AG. It was a hot day... probably our first of the year for a race. I wasn't feeling overly fast, and I basically recognized that I had no competition in the age group. I hung in there, and just ran as short/fast tempo. That's what I call good enough.

5/25 - Soldier Field 10 Miler - 56:22

I had the goal of a sub-57 race. I haven't actually raced too many 10 mile road races, so this was entertaining. Like a giant fast tempo. I believe my 10mi PR was previously inside of a half marathon or a tempo run. Either way, SF10 is a competitive race so I went out with Scott Laumann again, and we blazed the first 5miles. Unfortunately, we turned and realized that the wind was previously at our backs. Per forecasts, wind wasn't supposed to be a factor, but it certainly was on the lakefront. After the turn, I gave up nearly 10-15 seconds a mile and ran a 56:22. Not the best execution, but another good enough for 2nd in my AG.

After Shamrock and each of these races, I believe I'm now seeded 1st place for the CARA 35-39 AG. Ugh. I'm afraid of what this might bring. Since I have no major goals for the rest of the season, I fear this might rope me into gunning for the circuit. I know that I'm not the fastest guy in the 35-39 AG, but if the more elite guys miss enough races, I might be able to hang in there with a few more decent runs.

At the very least, I'm going to run another Circuit 5K this coming weekend and then reassess. Beyond that, I'm a man without a plan and I'm getting by on a diet of lite mileage and former marathon fitness.

2013 Boston Marathon

After a month of thinking about what that happened at the Boston Marathon, and after being lazy about posting... I'm finally updating Coursing.

Unfortunately, the actual race itself became of little importance due to the events that directly followed the marathon... or interrupted the marathon for many people.

Regarding what followed the race, I still struggle with what to say. Unless you live in a cave or you're reading this years from now, you are fully aware that the 2013 Boston Marathon was bombed. Literally. Two bombs went off, both right near the finish line. Seconds apart. Three people died on the scene, and something like almost 200 people wound up in the hospital, including a huge number of amputees.

It was a disgusting act that left America and the sport dumbfounded. What should've been a day of joy, celebration, competition, and holiday in Boston turned into a nightmare scene straight out of Hollywood. Fortunately, it could've been a lot worse all around. And for myself, I had long finished the race and was a few miles away from the finish line when it occurred.

The days that followed where a complete circus act, very similar to watching OJ Simpson drive down the highway. The city went on lockdown and law enforcement went on a manhunt for two suspects. A few more people died. Emotions were high. Every media outlet in the country thrived on it, and was fixated with each and every waking moment.

Finally, with the killing of one suspect and capture of another, things have calmed down. There are still dribbles of news every now and then, but for the most part, this cowardly act is fading away. Who knows, maybe they'll come out with a made-for-TV movie on it someday? For many of us though, this won't be something that we are going to forget for a long time.

I'll never forget hearing the huge "BA-BOOOOM!" that the two blasts made. I heard them from Cambridge.

I'll never forget watching the chaos unfold on TV, only a few minutes later, knowing that I was only a few miles away and that I was just at the scene. This sort of thing happens every day in random places all over the world. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that it could happened in our own country? Either way, to actually be that close to a bombing leaves you emotional and jumpy, to say the least... even after 26.2 miles.

I'll never forget a casual conversation with another marathon finisher while walking through the Boston Commons. Both of us jokingly said, "I survived the race". About 10 minutes later, the bombs went off.

I'll never forget that 2 days before the race, on Saturday, a handful of teammates and I climbed through the scaffolding, directly in front of Marathon Sports on Boylston St, right at the finish line. This was exactly the scaffolding that was blown to smithereens and killed and mangled people 48 hours later. We climbed on it like monkey bars. We laughed and had fun the whole way. We then took a photo in front of the finish line, and moved on.

And lastly, I'll never forget my conversation with a women at the airport, while I waited to board the plane back to Chicago. She was in the final steps of her race when the blasts went off. She was 26.1 miles deep, and physically stuck on the course between both blasts. Exhausted, tired, dehydrated, delirious... and now nearly killed. Not knowing how else to respond, she crossed the finish line and found safety. She was physically unharmed, but I can only imagine the horror that she experienced.

It is absolutely horrible that such an innocent and pure event like that was soiled. The most famous race in the world was victimized, much like the Olympics and some other sports in the past. For runners, this was especially disheartening. Our Mecca, our Vatican, our place of homage was tarnished. Again, we can only be fortunate that more people weren't injured or killed.

Everyone has their own stories of the 2013 Boston Marathon. Alas, all the things I mentioned above took center stage away from what was a great race for many of us. Unfortunately, time has passed and I never really had the chance to fully reflect upon my own race. I haven't really embraced or celebrated the accomplishment. I wound up running my second fastest marathon to date, a mere 9 seconds away from a PR and 23 seconds away from cracking below 2:38. It might have actually been one of my best marathons yet, given how strategic Boston can be.

Here are some very brief memories and thoughts from the race itself aside from the bombing:

I spent the night before the race in Hopkinton area with Jason Kedzuch. What was supposed to be logistically easy, nearly turned into a pre-race nightmare as our shuttle driver got lost. Luckily, we made it to the start with a little time to spare and found our teammates.

Weather on Patriot's Day was nearly perfect. It was sunny and in the 50's. We had a touch of headwind, which increased as we got closer to the coast.

I ran most of the race literally stride for stride, with teammate Scott Laumann.

Scott and I tackled the course by going easy on the early down hills, averaging 6:13's for the first 3 miles. We blazed the 4 through 16 miles at an average of 5:55.8... (I recall constantly thinking "Wow this is really fast", and minutes later thinking "Wow, this is going so smooth and easy"). We battled the uphills in 17 through 21 with 6:13 avg's. At that point, Scott and I separated.

I stayed conservative on the sharp downhills of 22 and 23, then threw everything I had at the last 3 miles. My final 5.2 miles, which were in an increasing headwind at that point, averaged 6:02.9.

In a perfectly executed race, the goal was to go through the half at about 1:18:40 (we were 1 whopping second fast!), and then come back in whatever possible to get sub 2:38:00. I recognized that a negative split would've been very difficult or impossible for me with that strategy... and hence stuck to an even-effort plan.

I ran 2:38:23.

Looking back, everything felt very smooth and very fast. At no point, did I feel like I was out of control or bonking. I was truly all-in from mile 4 though 26.2... even those late miles. I don't think it would've been wise for me to have gone any faster at any point in those 22 miles. The uphills took a lot out of me, and the late downhills were taxing and begged to break me (hence, I didn't roll 5:45's on them)... The late headwinds probably took a little away from me in the final miles that I didn't expect. Mile 25 had a nasty uphill/over pass that hurt but I still pushed on it. I was sub-6 pace in the last 2.2K.

The only place I could have possibly squeaked out any time would've been in the first 5K. Scott and I started the race incredibly conservative... Hell, that first mile was 6:23! Coming out of Hopkinton is basically a fall-down-hill mile. That 5K was so slow that when we finally picked it up, we easily had a thousand runners in front of us at the 3 mi split. We did this to save our legs, and maybe that helped in the end? In hind sight though, it would've been worth the risk to go out slightly faster so that I had a chance at a sub-2:38.

Otherwise, I ran the highly strategic course as perfectly as I think I could've. And for that, I'm extremely proud of my Boston Marathon. On any other course, I would've had a huge PR race

It was a great experience and help to tackle all those miles along with Scott, and I couldn't have done it without him. Likewise, I couldn't have made it through all of my winter training without my TTAU teammates. A big thanks to my host for the weekend, Jason Kedzuch (he and Dawn made me feel at home, and kept me safe in Somerville). I only wish Sarah could've been there with me (she was sick at the time, back in Chicago).

I put a ton of split info below, but I think it's worthy of looking at to see how special this race was. Given the volatile course and an even effort, it was a near perfect performance in a Boston Marathon that will never be forgotten.

K's - Splits - Laps - Avg Per Mile

5- 0:19:18 - 0:19:18 - 0:06:12.6

10- 0:37:45 - 0:18:27 - 0:05:56.2

15- 0:56:14 - 0:18:29 - 0:05:56.9

20- 1:14:38 - 0:18:24 - 0:05:55.3

25- 1:33:02 - 0:18:24 - 0:05:55.3

30- 1:52:01 - 0:18:59 - 0:06:06.5

35- 2:11:19 - 0:19:18 - 0:06:12.6

40- 2:30:07 - 0:18:48 - 0:06:03.0

42.195- 2:38:23 - 0:08:16 - 0:05:59.5

1st Half- 1:18:39 -- 0:05:59.9

2nd Half- 1:19:44 -- 0:06:04.9

TOTAL 26.22- 2:38:23 -- 0:06:02.4

Mile- Split

1- 6:23.1

2- 6:11.7

3- 6:05.1

4- 5:59.0

5- 5:59.0 (30:37.9)

6- 5:51.0

7- 5:57.0

8- 5:59.0

9- 5:57.2

10- 5:52.5 (1:00.10)

11- 5:55.3

12- 5:52.9

13- 5:56.7 (split- 1:18:39)

14- 5:53.9

15- 5:58.6 (1:29:52)

16- 5:53.1

17- 6:10.1

18- 6:11.7

19- 6:01.8

20- 6:16.5 (2:00:25)

21- 6:24.9

22- 5:59.6

23- 6:06.3

24- 5:59.3

25- 6:07.4 (2:31.0)

26- 6:02.0

.219- 1:17.9

26.219- 2:38:23

2nd Chicagoan

3rd Illinois

216 Male

235 Overall

The road to Boston goes through Chicago

I gotta say, I've been nervous about my training recently. I suppose this isn't much different than any other marathon journey, but the fact that was I sick early on, then crammed my miles, I haven't had stellar tempos, and my 400s workout was even a touch slower than pre-Philly... all in, a lack of solid confidence boosters have left me a little amiss on what to expect in Boston.

Then came along the Shamrock Shuffle. One of my all time favorite races, and conveniently a prefect tune of for Boston this year. I'm still not gonna stick my neck out and say I now KNOW I can run something specific in the marathon... However, after crushing the 8K and PR'ing a key race, I can now say with confidence that I'm ready to give it a go. If all things line up properly, I can have a great marathon and potentially target a PR.

That being said, the Shamrock Shuffle was my rehearsal for things to come on Monday. Here's how it played out:

The weather was fairly typical for this time of year, in Chicago. Temps were around 50ish, which was comfortable. Winds were annoying, but at least they only effected the first few miles of the race.

Prior to the start, organizers decided to mess with the competition and do a staged elite start. This sucked, in my opinion. The elite field had slightly over 2 minutes lead on the masses. It was especially odd because a good number of us were faster than numerous "elite" runners, especially when you consider the women that started early too. (Sorry ladies, nothing against you, it just wasn't right to have staggered start and force some blood thirsty wolves to chase you down and turn you into road kill). Ultimately this just changed the whole competitive dynamic of the race. It placed a bunch of people with targets on their backs in front of us, and also limited the true competition of the race since we weren't allowed to run with people of our own caliber. Due to this timing lag, it made a mess of things a few miles in, as we smashed into the back of others.

Anyhoo, so elites went off, then the masses started 2 minutes later. Mile 1 was jockeying as usual. Clowns all around going out too fast, I tried not to get caught up in the mix. I mostly ran next to or off the shoulder of teammate, Scott Laumann. Nearby was another teammate, Verdo Gregory and running pal, Kevin Granato. Fortunately, the buildings shielded us from some headwinds for about half of that first mile. The other half, we were at the whim of some nasty gusts. Scott and I went through the marker at about 5:28. A very nice start to what I was hoping be a sub-27 race. (I actually wasn't even thinking about PR'ing at mile 1).

After the first mile, the field began to shake up a bit. We started to pick it up a touch once we got a little wind at the back. It was actually kind of cool... the four of us and a handful of others wound up leading the race of the 30,000+ masses. After another half mile, Scott took the lead and pulled a touch in front, Verdo followed. I was left with Kevin and the few other randoms scattered farther up from all of us. Everyone else fell off. We also started slamming into the back of the elite women. We blazed that second mile at 5:12.9. I just remember thinking, "Holy shit!" But it didn't actually feel that bad since we went out easier. Sick.

Mile 3 was a bitch. We turned from State Street onto Jackson and directly into a nasty head wind. Scott and Verdo did their thing, though not necessarily working together. Kevin and I stayed about 5 meters off, and we traded the lead a few times. I'd like to say that he and I were working together, but quite honestly, Kevin did most of the work into the wind. We continued to fly by the women's elite field. V fell slightly behind us. Scott gapped us... maybe 10-15 meters up now.

Looking back at it, this was very wise of me. I stayed patient, and calm... unlike other times where I try to gun it into the wind. Here, Kevin took a brunt of the blow for me. (Apparently, this is a common racing strategy?) We went nearly the fully mile into that shit. Once we turned the next corner and out of the wind, the hard part was done. Passed mile 3 at 5:27.5... though the effort was much higher than that.

Losing the wind was like a sling shot for me. I immediately dropped Kevin and Verdo. Likewise, I kept waiting for Scott to throw down and gap me even more. We kept passing women. I just hung on for dear life. My strategy became to not let Scott gap me. Then I realized I was actually gaining on him. When I saw that, I rolled whatever I could to catch him. It took that whole mile, but I finally closed it. Another blaze: 5:17.5.

I had huge momentum at this point. But the problem with the Shamrock is hanging onto that momentum. Mile 5 can be cruel and suck it out of you. Tail winds can become headwinds. You got a hill. It's a mess. I still hung on for dear life. I now had a few meters on Scott, but I felt him pushing me.

Roosevelt would be the test: If I could successfully make it up that hill without dying, then I might have a chance to PR. Once again, I played it smart. I conserved instead of hammered all in up the hill. Nobody passed me. In fact, I kept waiting for Scott and Verdo to play me for the fool. Then turned onto Columbus and I pulled the trigger. 400 meters to the finish. I passed a scattered handful of guys, guessing from the elite field. Still waiting for a challenge from behind, but it never happened. A blistering 5:09.4.

All in: 26:35.7

Scott followed a few seconds later, then Verdo and Kevin about 10 seconds back. I didn't realize it until just now... but the results show that I placed 4th out of the masses. Let's say that again so it sets in, remove the elite field that had over a 2 minute advantage on of us, and I placed 4th in a field of 33,000 runners. The winner was a mere 6 seconds in front of me.... and there lies a nasty rub... I had no clue that only 3 guys, which were very very close in front of me, started with the masses. Had I known, I might've been able to do something about it in the last half mile. Regardless, absolutely incredible.

It's days later and I'm still jacked about this. My best race in a year (potentially one of my best ever), 11 second a PR, I negative split by about 10 seconds, 4th age group, 4th in the race of the masses.

Fuckin bring it, Boston!

Split recap

1- 5:28:4

2- 5:12.9

3- 5:27.5

4- 5:17.5

5- 5:09.4

= 26:35.7 / 5:21.2 avg

20x 400s... DONE.

At this point, my Boston Marathon training is as complete as it's gonna get. I don't feel totally comfortable with everything that I've done, and the training was significantly short changed in the belly, but I at least have this to show for it...

Last night's pinnacle 20x 400 @ 72.88 avg, w/ ~75-80 rest:

1-5: 74.86 avg

5-10: 73.44 avg

10-15: 72.46 avg

16-20: 70.76 avg

That compares to this one from pre-Philly:

20x 400 @ 72.5 avg, 80sec rest

1-4 avg 73.7

5-8 avg 72.7

8-12 avg 73.4

13-16 avg 72.3

17-20 avg 70.6

20x 400 is my monster pre-marathon workout. Much similar to the Yasso-800s, it's become a hugely important workout for me in order to toe the line for any goal race. Basically, if I can hammer 400's for 5 miles under somewhat limited rest, then I should be able to gain confidence in my training. I may or may not be as fast as I was back in the fall, but at least now I know that my speed is back in check.

Last night, we purposely started a little slower and eased into the workout. Overall averages were still pretty close compared to Philly. However, last night had much more of a progression to it, and still finished the same: final several around 70-71, and last hit down to 68.5ish. Out conservative and hammer at the end. What's more is that I finished rather comfortably... very much like racing a big negative split, and I wasn't destroyed by the end of the workout.

That's what separates the men from the boys in Boston. NOBODY runs a negative split on the course. And you all know that I LOVE my negative splits.

Next up: Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday.

Happy Anniversary!

On March 23, 2003, I did something that I thought was a complete one-off... something I could've cared less to do ever again... something that pissed me off, because it meant that I couldn't go out drinking the night before. Something that I merely did only because some of my other friends were doing it too. 
~ I ran the Shamrock Shuffle.

I wasn't competing against anyone. I didn't care about time or placement. I was just participating in something that a shit ton of other people my age were doing. Oddly enough, it turned out that I did OK at it too, in spite of having to run half of the thing on the sidewalks because the masses on the course were so overwhelming. I finished the 8K in about 33:30.

I quickly added it up in my head, and realized that I had hardly trained at all for this stupid thing... probably a couple weeks, at best. It was one of the longest distances I had ever run too. I realized that if I had actually put in a little effort ahead of time, then I could run it a lot faster. Not knowing that the city of Chicago had countless other races throughout the year, I decided that I'd come back to the next year's shuffle and compete against my 33:30... and beat it.

That was 10 years ago, to the day over the weekend. 
Happy Anniversary, self.

Since then, I've become an obsessive addict. Competing against myself and others has propelled me though thousands upon thousands of miles, and countless races. I've met some incredible people along the way, seen the world, and done thing's that were incomprehensible to my 25 year old self back then.

My 10 year anniversary present over the weekend was a 23 hilly miles in Barrington on Saturday, which capped off a 100 mile week and 49 miles in about 40 hours.

In three weeks from today, I'll be toeing the line for my 3rd Boston and 16th marathon. 10 years ago, I didn't even know how many miles were in a marathon.  (I was definitely one of those guys.)

Like I said, I hit 100 in the last week. I'm cramming, and it certainly feels like it. I'm tired and want a day off, but it's not gonna happen. I'll shoot for another hundred this week, then pull back. It's been a far cry from the training that I had intended following Philly. I just couldn't do it once I got sick. I think I'm still able to pull together a respectable marathon though. I'll have one chance to truly test myself in a couple weeks with this year's Shamrock Shuffle. From there, I'll be able to better gauge what happens in Boston.

In the mean time, it's nice to reflect upon how my life has drastically changed over the last 10 years. I'd give anything to have it back and do it again, but it has certainly been an incredible run.

Trying to Salvage

To begin with, I'm still not back to 100% yet. After "clearing up" my ailments a few weeks ago, I dealt with another sore throat last week and today I'm coughing up a storm with a bit of a nasty head ache. Add to it, digestive track issues that just won't chill out. This "cold" of mine has been going on for about 6 weeks now. WTF!?!

That being said, I'm trying all I can to salvage my training for Boston. I've cut too many weeks short of miles, and now I'm forcing it where I can. I hit 78 last week... a far cry from what should've been my third week in a row of around 90 miles.

On the bright side though, 78 was an improvement from the prior weeks and didn't feel all that awful. I had a reasonable (though not easy) 8 mile tempo run last Monday at about 5:55's. Wednesday night had 8x800 @ 2:37's, followed by 2x 400 @ 1:12's. And I've had 2 long Saturday's in a row with some very strong progressions.

I bombed last night's tempo as a result of digestive issues. As a penalty, I re-ran the tempo today. I did 9 with 7 averaging 5:47. That's the fastest I've gone since pre-Philly. If the rest adds up, then I'll have 90 miles on the week and 100 over the 7 days between last Saturday and this Friday night's long runs. Cary is this coming Sunday.

All of this is night and day compared to a few weeks ago, when I couldn't run 4 miles without bonking. It may not be perfect, but I do have a silver lining: a monster base from the end of last year and that's giving me some cushion. It's possible that I can still run a respectable Shamrock and Boston next month. I have one month and 3 days until I toe the next marathon.

Struggling

A follow up from last week's Sick Boy Training...

So after seeing the latest doctor last week, it turns out that I just had some sort of viral monster cold that had strangle hold on me. The good news is that it's pretty much cleared up at this point, aside from some on going nasty coughing.

The bad news is that I went on some pretty intense meds for a handful of days, and I believe they really wreaked havoc on my body. I was on a Z-pack, Sudafed, a suppressant, a nasal steroid, and lots of Ibuprofen. I feel better on the surface, but when it came to my running, everything has turned to garbage. I'm sluggish, I'm out of breathe, I'm bonking, and I've had to cut 3 out of 4 of my runs in half and even wound up skipping yesterday to to hit the reset. My mileage is a fraction of where it needs to be. Oddly, prior to any of those meds, I may have had sick boy training but it wasn't all that terrible.

That being said, I really need this to clear up soon. I'm nervous about Boston.

Sick Boy Training

This winter has been an absolute disaster for me. I haven't updated Coursing in a while, only because I haven't had anything fantastic to report from my running.

It's mid-February and I should be the throwing down 80-90 mile weeks right now training for Boston.

Instead, the flu that sidelined me back in December has been lingering havoc in my immune system. Since then, I feel like I've been dealing with random colds every other week, with the latest bout crushing me for over two weeks straight. 

I was able to get in some decent basing through January.  Then I went skiing for a weekend in VT.  Instead of coming back and picking up my training, I came back with the mother of all colds/ sore throats/ whateverthefuckitis. That was over 2 weeks ago. 

I've already seen a doctor and see another one tonight.  The one told me that I just had a really bad cold, on the heels of a nasty flu and it'll take a while to clear up.  I won't be shocked if the guy tonight tells me that I have Walking Pneumonia, Strep Throat, some sort of viral toxic infection, or who knows what else... fuck it could be cancer...? I donno!! 

Either way, I can hardly swallow, I can't stop coughing up neon colored sludge, my nose is raw from blowing it so damn much, my head feels like it's being punched on the hour every hour... I can't sleep because apparently my time is better spent coughing, hacking, and wheezing... I had a fever.  Hell, I even puked my guts out one night!  Two weeks of this shit.  WTF!?  The only time I feel better is when I'm either getting oxygen overdose from running (oddly), or when I'm doped up on a prescription cough suppressant and ibuprofen...

 

I'm stuck forcing minimal running right now (ok, and aside from another ski trip to Vail).  I haven't completely fallen apart yet, as I'm getting about 50 miles a week in when "I don't feel that bad."  But unless something changes quickly and I can pick up my training, Boston might be a bust.