Bummed

For the first time ever, I have cancelled a race. I came down with a head cold and sore throat on Tuesday and it has lingered into the week to the point where I know that I am in no condition to run on Saturday.

While I'm bummed, I know it's the right thing to do.

Avoiding illness at all costs

Over the past couple days I've been feeling...well...pretty ok. I felt a little off on Wednesday evening and decided to skip the Thursday run just to be on the safe side. So here we are on Friday and this morning I felt even weirder. Sluggish, sniffley and hazy in the eyes. Screw it. I need to get the mileage in.

About 2 miles into the run this morning I was labored and exhausted. Breathing was hard and I wasn't sure I could keep going. Glancing at my watch I noted my pace was painfully slow (close to 10 min/mi). I just wasn't feeling it.

I got to mile 2 (a major intersection) which is a really easy point to decide to turn around an just go home but things were starting to feel a little better. I pushed through and mentally pushed aside my doubt and trepidation about perhaps being sick.

I kept my pace slower and after a while, I started to feel better and more controlled with the run. Until mile 8 anyway. Things started to fall apart and I knew this just wasn't my day. I had planned on going 13 but I know when to say when. I labored on through another mile and a half and just threw in the towel at mile 9.5. That's how discouraged I was...I didn't even want to go another half mile to make an even 10 miles.

I consider this a blip and will continue putting in the mileage this weekend.

I'm leaving Sunday afternoon to go to Seattle for the week - business awaits. If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that travel and I don't mix well. It usually goes something like this:

me: Looking forward to spending time with colleagues, networking and having some fun.

Travel: That's what you think. I know how sensitive your sinuses are to air travel and the damp dank moist Seattle air.

me: Leave me alone. I just want to stay healthy.

Travel: But you know you're going to stay up too late, have some drinks while socializing and ultimately get sick. And I know you have a race coming up next weekend. No amount of vitamins or Airborne can save you!!! Sickness will find you.

me: You're the devil. Please just let me get through this week without getting sick.

OK, so that little dialogue sucked. There's a reason I'm a tech nerd and not a writer.

My only goal next week is to stay healthy, get plenty of sleep and not over-indulge in food or drink. Wish me luck.

Look for my Cave Creek Thriller 50k race report in a couple weeks.

Up, up and away

There is always something mentally liberating when I get to a place in my training where things are firing just right. Any runner will tell you that there are not just physical barriers to overcome as the distances get longer but more importantly are the mental barriers. All the fear and doubt of going 'just a little farther' subsides and is replaced with almost a flippant attitude of "oh, this X miles is going to be a cake-walk".

I'm in that place. And it feels good. I'm healthy, feeling strong and taking care of myself.

The mileage ramps over the next 2 weeks until culminating with the Cave Creek Thriller 50k on the 29th. My schedule calls for several intermediate runs each week (between 10 and 13 miles) and then a 17-mile run tomorrow and 20-mile run next weekend until tapering begins on the 24th (largely because I'm traveling for work). The part that will be interesting is that I return that Friday evening and the race is Saturday morning.

So to all of you out there who want to go a little bit farther...go for it. Both your body and mind will thank you!

Gettin' it together

For about the last 2 years, my world of endurance racing has taken me to new places and allowed me to accomplish amazing things that for the longest time, I only imagined were possible. Looking back on those couple years though, I may have been pushing myself through physical obstacles but I wasn't really making progress on several personal and family goals that had been lingering for some time. It's almost as if I were taking on new personal endurance challenges to avoid having to deal with these other things. I knew they needed to be done and I kick myself today for waiting so long to take care of them.

Of course hindsight being 20/20, I can honestly say that I was afraid of what I might find when I started peeling back the proverbial onion. Like facing any other problem, you have to know the extent of it first...and that can be a scary prospect.

Without going into too many details, I'll just say that we've made a lot of great progress on our personal goals. I have a much better feeling about where things are headed and what we've got a plan for our future. There is honestly nothing to be afraid of...and the longer you put it off, the harder it gets.

So holistically, both my mind and my body are in a much better place. I can rest easier knowing that I have a plan for both my personal and family's goals.

Updates on my personal 2012 goals coming soon. Thanks for checking in.

Trending down

I wish I could pinpoint what in the hell is going on with me these days...my attitude towards running is up and down like a flippin' roller coaster. This week has been trending down in a BIG way. The thing that is more frustrating is that I just don't have the energy to figure it out...between working 12-14 hours a day and going to bed around 9 each night, I'm extremely frustrated with myself that I can't seem to find the energy to stick to my training schedule.

Hopefully things start trending back up...