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November 18, 2010

Back to Life (Back to Reality)

I have a half marathon in 3 days, and it's time to face facts. The reality is, I am not yet over my cold. I am no longer taking cold medicine that makes my heart go pitty pat, but I am still using nasal drano at least once a day, and I still have a several-tissues-a-day habit. I have been stretching, but I am still stiff.

Yesterday's run (a measely 1.5 miles) was just as dismal as last Saturday's run, and my run the weekend before. I did not even make it a single mile without walking! Looking back, I haven't had a good run since the end of October. I was hoping to PR this race, but the reality is that's highly unlikely. I'll be lucky if I can finish in 3 hours, before they close the course down.

I've truly lost my mojo, or whatever it was that made me feel like I could run. In truth, I can't blame my cold for this. This is 3 weeks of progressively worse results, as my body progressively broke down. My S1 is inflamed, which affects my hips and ITB, which makes my knee hurt. Rolling and ibuprofen help some, but it hasn't gone away.

My thyroid is acting up again, too. I had a whole other post written in my head about my stupid thyroid. I'm not sure it's the cold medicine making my heart race so far ahead of me. I know the swollen ankles make my legs heavier than they should be. The thyroid is a tightrope I walk, because running helps keep it in check, but if it gets out of line it makes running difficult.

I've ruled out the Sauconys as a race shoe. The heel is too low and I've not enough time to adjust. I am now considering my old Asics over the pair I've been training in to date. I'll give them a test run tomorrow, to see if they really are too worn out. I've been using them as walking shoes. They may have one more race in them.

The good news is, I can walk down stairs normally, which I could not do earlier in the week. I was able to climb some hard walls with my sister yesterday. I'm not looking forward to this race, but I will run it, and I will do the best I can. I am stretching and rolling every day. I am getting enough sleep, so will hopefully be over this cold by Sunday. My goals at this point are (progressively):

to finish without crying
to finish within the 3 hour time limit
to finish within the same timeframe as my last race
    (if I'm over the cold, this should be doable at 2:47)
to finish in 2:37
    (if everything miraculously comes back together within the next 3 days)

I'm not even going to post an "if angels sing and I sprout wings" goal, because I truly feel the 2:37 fits in that category. I'm going with the same race plan I had when 2:37 was almost a certainty. Drink from my camelback so I don't have to walk through water stops. Find my stride and stay there.

Not every race is a PR, but every race is about overcoming challenges. Sometimes those challenges are just dealing with my life, and my reality.

2 comments:

Teamarcia said...

Ugh colds suck. SO sorry you're dealing with it so close to your race. Just let go of any expectations, keep an open mind and do what you can on race day. Hugs.

One Crazy Penguin said...

Boo being sick. Hopefully something big happens between now and then and the cold magically disappears. If not, just enjoy the race and the scenery. They can't all be PRs :)