Chin up soldier! And bonus public transport rant.

Ran a little over six miles on Tuesday. I was a bit worried because I still felt fatigue in my legs at the start, but once I got out and loosened up I found another great groove. My legs were tired but happily truckin' along on autopilot. I wonder if that's what the high mileage (y'know, comparatively) gives you – the ability to get through runs in good shape, even when you're fatigued. Yesterday it was drizzly so I ran five on the treadmill and got back up to 7.2 mph for three miles. The last half mile I went up to 7.5 - yay! I'm finally getting back to where I was six weeks ago.

Today is another five miles and another rainy day, so I'm going to try to do three miles at 7.4 - we'll see. I'm going to give it all I have. I read a quote somewhere in the wilds of the internet that the marathon is your reward for training so hard. It made me realize that with all that's been going on I really haven't been pushing. I don't blame myself, and it was probably a good idea to ease off while I was recovering from the flu. But now that I'm feeling good again I have to re-light the fire under my ass and stop tossing off runs at 6.6 mph. Even if my time goal has changed, that's not an excuse to stop trying to go faster.
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Boat practice has really kicked into high gear this month. I ran into a little overlap last year between running and paddling, but it was only a few weeks in the very beginning of the season, so it didn't matter if I skipped a lot of practices. This year the marathon is almost two months later, which obviously makes a big difference when trying to balance the two. I've told our team manager that Saturdays are out for me until June, but that means making it to both mid-week practices. Which in turn means pulling a lot of doubles, running and paddling in the same day. It's actually not that physically challenging, because they use completely opposite muscle groups. Instead it's a mental/motivational stress thing, trying to remember to pack everything I need for both activities, fit runs in around work and practice, find time to eat, get over tiredness. Usually I end up cranky and not wanting to do one or other. Since I'm a lead this year, and one of the more experienced paddlers, I've really been trying to be positive and upbeat, which is hard when you feel pissy. Ugh. But considering I just signed up for a fall marathon I'd better figure out how to manage it more gracefully, since I'll be training all summer now.

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Okay, one more thing. Part of the stress of managing both activities stems from the fact that I commute by bus into work. I keep my paddle and PFD at the office, so I don't have to carry them in twice a week, thank GOD. I have to bring everything else for the day with me, though, which means trying to be focused and competent at 6:30 in the morning, pre-coffee. Some days are better than others. Anyway, I've been riding various Portland-area buses into downtown for four years. About 90% of the time, everything runs smoothly and I'm a happy camper. The bus is on-time, it's not unbearably crowded, no one is shouting into their cell phone about their genital warts (oh yes, that has happened). But that other 10%...damn. Those times make me wish I had "00" status and the attendant license to kill. I would be tough but fair in meting out justice. Last night was one of those days. Rather than re-hash it all and get my blood pressure back up, let's just say that thanks to Trimet I got an extra two-mile "cool-down" walk in a frigid wind, I learned all about why a profoundly unattractive woman is fighting with her boyfriend (FYI, he hasn’t paid his share of the rent), and got home 36 minutes late. Sigh. It's probably a good thing I wasn't armed.

Plans Derailed

So, I'm alive. And I made it through the half-marathon, more on that below. But I spent the entirety of last week prostrate with an awful flu. AN AWFUL, TERRIBLE, NO-GOOD FLU, just to make sure we're clear. I haven't been that sick in years. I had lots of time to think about it while holding very still in bed, and the last time I felt so totally shitty was 2002. And that was just a 36-hour stomach bug – I can't remember the last time I was laid up for a full week. It was back when my mommy would bring me OJ and cold washcloths. I'm still nowhere near one-hundred percent, but at least I'm bathed and out of my PJs.

I didn't run at all last week. Not once. In fact if you add up the steps I took around the house (and occasionally to the mailbox) you probably don't even get a tenth of a mile. Now luckily last week was my mid-training recovery week, where I was scheduled to drop down in mileage. The longest run I missed was eight miles. But. A week of forced immobility is not the same as a recovery week. Today I tried to get back on schedule and ran five miles on the treadmill. Correction: ran most of five miles. I stopped at 2.75 and 4 miles to take cough breaks (sorry everyone near me – I'm not contagious anymore, promise) and get my HR down. At this point the last thing I want to do is drag out my recovery by pushing too hard. (I'm sure it doesn't help that I ate approximately nothing last week.) But I don't feel like I can take another week off and catch back up. So I'm going to take as many walk breaks as I need, but hit the mileage. I still have six weeks to convalesce fully. Unless I get to feeling really good really fast, I'm throwing my time goals for the marathon out the window. New goal will just be to beat the current PR.

Speaking of PRs, I did manage to wrest one from Race for the Roses, despite feeling distinctly wilted. 1:50:05, and if you think that :05 haunts me, you are correct. I did decide to race without my watch and paid the terrible price. Damn five seconds. I stuck with the 8:30 pace group for the first eight miles or so, until we turned on to the out-and-back section on Naito. The pace leader (who otherwise did a fantastic job) had a tendency to hurry through water stops. I think that's fine when you’re spread out like most of the mass of runners, but there were quite a few people sticking with him, and when we came to an aid station we overwhelmed them. Since I wasn't carrying anything I was careful to get enough liquids which meant having to hustle and catch up with the group afterward. I wanted to build up a little lead on him so that I could take my sweet time at the stops. Plus I was feeling okay, like I could go faster. So I pulled away and spent the final five miles (once again) trying to outrun annoying talkers behind me. They have every right to talk on the course, good for them, whatever. It's still annoying.

I didn't finish much ahead of the pace group, maybe 90 seconds. But it was enough for a PR, so I'm happy-ish. Still bummed that I was sick, because I know I have more in me. But what are ya gonna do? After finishing I met up with Tina and Dan, who'd run the 5k (and placed in their age groups – woohoo! spinny medals!). I was feeling progressively worse and developing a fever so I headed home. Or would've headed home if the Max was running. Instead I waited on the platform for an hour until an accident was cleared. Then I headed home. After a shower I parked myself on the couch, and pretty much didn't move for six days. All-in-all, not my best race.

PS - I did race in the new Mizunos. No problemos.