Off

I have not taken a weekend off from running in a while. I did not go into the weekend with that intention but that's how it worked out.

I'm still struggling with knowing the difference between illness and allergies. There are times when I wake up in the morning and feel like I'm coming down with something (like this weekend). Erring on the side of keeping myself healthy, I opted to skip my long run(s) and sneak them in at a later date (if that's possible). Even this morning I bailed on my run because (a) I was excessively tired and (b) I just felt off.

On the bright side, it's great to get up on the weekend and have a full day to hang with the kids and contribute to the housework, shopping and cleaning (something I know my wife would say I don't do on a regular basis).

Also, I'm travelling to Las Vegas this week for work - yes, yes...someone has to do it :)

Not the greatest place to be a couple weeks out from Zane Grey but I plan to behave, eat well and shy away from the booze (mostly).

I don't want to gamble (ba-dat-da..get it?) with my health so close to this race. It's already going to be tough enough without any sort of ailments.

When motivation fails you

For some reason, I've had a motivation FAIL this week. Last Saturday, I had an awesome long run (pretty sure I PR'ed that 16 miles) and then followed that up with a great trail run with my buddy Andy (who was on his mountain bike).

Thank goodness Monday was a rest day - I needed it. (Although, I did ride my bike)

I'm feeling very healthy and strong but Tuesday seemed to hit me like a lead pipe. Tired and groggy...which is just like I felt when I was neck deep in my allergy treatments. I think that tiny exposure I've had resulted in being much more sensitive to the seasonal Arizona allergens. It's left me slightly unmotivated and a little more likely to sleeping in .

Something is blooming this week and my body doesn't like it.

I'll muscle through it. It's a relatively light week in terms of mileage. I'm still debating whether to go nutso on the mileage this weekend or take the chance that I'll get it done next weekend (I'll be travelling *all* next week and get back Friday evening). It's somewhat unlikely that after a week of being on the east coast, working with customers 14-hours a day, that I'm going to want to come home, get up at the crack of dawn to go run 21 miles on Saturday.

I already feel the odds stacking against me :)

It's hard to believe that the Black Hills 100(K) is just about a month away. Starting this weekend, my long runs are transitioning over to trail rather than road. It will take more time but I'm looking forward to being on the trails as well as this race - I feel much more prepared than I was last year. The only difference is the distance (it's just 12 more miles right!?)

Warming back up

In more ways than one, things are starting to warm back up. Aside from the normal temperature gains this time of the year, I feel pretty good about some recent decisions and changes (improvements) in my health.

First and foremost, I've decided to stop taking my sublingual allergen treatments. It has been pretty clear that they are at the root of my ailments - from the watery eyes to that lethargic feeling of death-warmed-over in the morning - I can't go on feeling that way and still be a productive human being, let alone train for any races.

I mean honestly, what do you expect when you're actually introducing the specific allergens to your body that you know you're allergic to? I've been off these allergens for 2 days and am feeling 1000% times better. So much so that I actually made it up at 5 am on Saturday for my 'long' run of 8 miles.

I'm also heeding advice from others as well.

Sinus rinses twice a day. Probiotics. Active recovery. MultiV supplements.

The other big change I've noticed is from taking OptygenHP by First Endurance. There used to be a time I'd head out for 8-10 mile runs and need a day of rest before covering the same distance 2 days later. Not the case any longer. Not only can I do these distances back-to-back, I feel like I can take on longer runs without needing a lengthy recovery time. I'm pretty much sold on this product but damn, it's expensive.

So while I'm looking forward to getting my runs on this week, I'm also cautiously awaiting my travel next week. I really don't want to be sick again. I'm already several weeks behind in training and another blow could be devastating. We'll see...

Thanks for checking in.

Something in the air

Since last Wednesday, I've been feeling like I'm sick - "sore" throat, heavy eyes and a general fatigue that is just bringing me down in every way.

Maybe that's not the case. It's spring in the desert and I'm beginning to question whether my allergies are hyper-sensitive this year after starting my allergy treatments. I started taking a Zyrtec again to see if it helps. I'm curious whether a week in Seattle will curb some of these symptoms and perhaps justify my desert allergy theory.

I brought my running/rain gear for this week. We'll see if gets used or not.