I spoke too soon

 On Monday I got up early and took Kara to the dentist.  Then I went right to Group Power.  I kept my weight low because I haven't been since April.  It was tough especially all the ab workouts.  I went and picked strawberries.  Squats and lunges + picking strawberries afterwards = pain.  

Around 3 PM my gut started to hurt and it felt like I had spasms.  I felt feverish and lost my appetite.  I took an Immodium and two Tylenol and felt significantly better.  Almost back to normal.  Went to the pool and enjoyed being in the water.  I went home and ate pizza for dinner.  Then I felt awful.  I could not get my body off the couch and I felt nauseous and in pain.  I managed to sleep very well but I woke up feeling not great. It was like that most of the day.

I went to bed at 11 PM.  The batteries need to be changed in the smoke alarm and it was keeping me awake.  I didn't want to take the batteries out because of that episode of This Is Us where the whole house burns down because they didn't change the batteries.  Ugh why did I watch that episode.  I have a somewhat overexaggerated fear of house fires after our small house fire back in 1986. I tried sleeping in the family room with the door shut to muffle the beeping.  The cat really liked that idea and she wanted in...thus I couldn't really shut the door.  The beeping was still annoying.  Tried running a fan and that didn't muffle the sound much at all.

 I did take the batteries out.  We have smoke alarms in our room and Derek's room, the family room, and the upstairs.  We had to get that many to become a registered day care home back in 2016.  So if the house would have caught fire we would have been woken to beeping.  By the time I turned on lights, took out the battery, tried to find a new battery and was unsuccessful...all at 12:30 am.  My brain was pretty much awake and I was up for probably two extra hours.

I realized my body has been through havoc since we came home from Mexico.  That time of the month with bad cramping, bacterial infection or parasite of some sort, itchy shoulders from sunburn and peeling everywhere (super gross), and bug bites all over my legs. And the intense ab workout on Monday did not do me any favors.  It was all worth it though.  Such a great vacation.  The gym is not going anywhere.  I'll be back there soon.

Recap

 I have not recorded any of my workouts since January.  But I did run the Eugene Marathon in May!  Training went very well in the winter and having my class shut down for a month helped.  I love daytime running and going to the gym.  I feel like ever since COVID shut everything down in the spring of 2020, I have had a difficult time with the early morning workouts.  I will be consistent for about a week, maybe two and then I will not be motivated.  It is hard for my body to make it out of bed that early...or maybe the problem is my mind.  I can talk myself out of a workout quite well.

Leading up to Eugene I was getting pretty burned out with training.  I skipped a few workouts, but overall not very many.  I did three 20 milers and all three went quite well.  I especially enjoyed the ten milers.  I found that is my preferred distance.  Not too short but not too long.  Work was starting to get crazy as it often does in the spring and Kara was super busy with her musical.  The advantage was I did some running during her practices in Keizer or went to the gym on Lancaster.  I really squeezed out that available time when I could.  It sometimes meant exercises at weird times and different places if I skipped the early morning (which I often did).

Post Eugene I had hoped to take two weeks off, but it became much more than that.  I felt totally burned out.  I did not want to run or do any form of exercise.  It honestly felt to me like an enormous task like writing a twenty page research paper or cooking a meal for fifteen people.  It seemed so easy to go outside and run three miles, but I could not make myself go from Point A to Point B.  Since Eugene on May 1st I have done maybe three or four runs, two swims, zero bike rides, and zero workout classes.  But I am starting to miss it and yearn for routine again.

Eugene was a ton of fun because Derek and I did the 5K the day before.  My sister came for both the 5k and marathon.  She was my cheering section.  I will say I had tons of performance anxiety.  I could not keep up with the 4:20 group around Mile #22 and finished a few minutes after them.  It was like I could not make my body even faster.  I did better with the nutrition this time...even so I could only move so fast. 

 Kara's musical had also been cancelled that weekend due to COVID classes.  I was so excited for my sister to see it and she was not able to because they called the whole show off.  I was pretty upset by their decision and angry my sister would not be see it.  I don't think I recovered from those feelings.  I think the sadness was still on my heart as I ran and worked against me.

We will see what this summer brings.  My goal is simply consistency.  I am not training for anything specific but I want to do Power twice a week and then a mix of running, swimming, and biking.  I don't know how much I will get to bike with Salem Bicycle Club, but I think I would like to try a few rides with them.

Week #4 of Marathon 7

Monday = I skipped Group Power because I was SO tired but a little bummed I skipped out.  Then we had a COVID case in my classroom and we were shut down.  So I was home from work by noon.  So I went to Riverfront Park and ran three miles and then did 7.34 miles on the stationary bike at West.

Tuesday = Swam 1400 yards 

Wednesday = Daytime Group Power in Renee's class and early morning 6 mile run with a friend

Thursday - Rest

Friday = 6.26 mile run at Minto Brown in the areas that aren't flooded.

Saturday = 3 mile tempo run at Bush Park.  I got my second mile to 8:43  I could not go to Power because I had to bring Derek to work.

Sunday = 13 miles!! In the neighborhood before church.

Week #3 of Marathon 7

Monday = Power and Ran 3.1 miles on the treadmill

 So this morning I was pretty motivated to go to Group Power at the South  River Road Courthouse.I got in the van and it would not start.  Dead battery!  I switched to Rob's car but left my water bottle in the van. There was a huge tree branch in the road on Madrona from all the wind during the night. I missed the turn to the Courthouse and had to turn around in Minto Brown. I had to buy a water from the vending machine and I could not figure out how to get it out of the machine...took a minute. I was late to Power and only missed the warm up but how frustrating. I ran on the treadmill afterwards for 3.1 miles. Even with all the hiccups it was not a bad way to start the week.

Tuesday = Swam about 1300 yards

Wednesday = Ran 6 miles with a pace of around 10 minutes per mile.  I felt so tired and slow.

Thursday = Rest

Friday = Ran 6 miles at 9:47.  Ran at Riverfront Park and Minto Brown.  It was so flooded.  But I ran faster!

Saturday = Group Power at Battle Creek and did intervals (3 miles) at Pringle Elementary.

Sunday = Ran eight miles at Turner Lake.

Week #2 of Marathon 7

 We got blessed with snow which has made the winter days a little cozy...but with my personality a little anxious and trapped.  Thankfully Rob & I got out yesterday morning and went for a walk in Riverfront Park.  

Monday = Swam 1,100 yards at the gym.  The pool was VERY busy but mostly with families swimming in the main pool.  I didn't have any issues getting a lane.

Tuesday = Ran 5 mile with a pace of 9:38.  Not sure if it was the cold but I was really fast!

Wednesday = 3 miles of Intervals at Wendy Kroger Park.  Also went to Group Power in the evening.

Thursday = First time working at West Salem gym.  Stationary bike 35 minutes.  Ran 35 minutes on the treadmill (can't remember the last time I ran on a treadmill...probably at a hotel).  Did about ten minutes of weights and stretching.

Friday = Long Run!  11 miles.  I felt strong the whole run.  Really good run.

Saturday = Was technically a rest day but Rob & I went on a hike a little less than 4 miles just outside of Albany.  Was really nice to be outside.

Sunday = Ran 5 miles.  I felt sluggish.  The wind was so strong and I struggled on the hills.  Also felt too thirsty.  

Week #1 of Marathon 7

Running was one of the things that got me through last winter.  I was dealing with mild depression last November and much of December mostly due to everything shutting down around me...and I had a lot of emotional stress from my job.  I didn't realize how much the emotional stress was feeding into other areas of my life until this fall...when I was in a more positive work environment.  I don't have the same kind of work stress anymore at all.  Although COVID is still very much present and the Omnicron variant sounds like a doomsday is about to hit--we are in a better place.  We have been able to resume mostly normal lives with some regulations or restrictions.  I reached a point where I don't care anymore and I am ready to move on with life.  

I feel more motivated to run again.  I did exercise throughout the summer but didn't really train for anything.  I did a 5K with the kids in September.  My exercise was not as consistent.  I would take a week or two off and then try to hit it hard again.  I had a pretty nasty cold in November.  Rob traveled a lot and that always makes scheduling more difficult.

I want to train for another marathon.  I was very spoiled last winter with being able to do long runs during the day.  I don't want to go back to the remote working at all...I didn't like not having a job description and dealing with certain coworkers.  But I did the like the time freedom.  This time around I will need to do early morning workouts.  Honestly I have not done early morning workouts consistently since 2019...maybe early 2020 but I can't remember.  It is going to be hard to restart that habit.  But I have to try.

My first week was a good start though.

Monday = Ran 5 miles with a pace of 10:06 in pouring rain!!  No break from the rain.

Tuesday = Hiked 5 miles with Matt in the Columbia River Gorge by Multnomah Falls.  Such a great hike!

Wednesday = Ran 4.03 miles with Emily from Riverfront to Minto with a pace of 9:50.  Again a lot of rain.

Thursday = 20 minutes of weights at the gym, stationary bike for 35 minutes at the gym

Friday (Christmas Eve) = Intervals...3 miles at Pringle School 6 laps with recovery in between

Saturday (Christmas Day) = Ran 10 miles at 10:18 pace!  Trying to outrun the snow storm.  Glad I got the run in before all the snow hit.

Sunday = Rest but enjoying the snow!

Pre Week

 I think I am going to train for the Tacoma Marathon.  And if it gets to be too much I will switch to the half.  It is relatively easy to switch distances without much hassle.

Training would officially start next week.  I'm a little worried about my knee and the extra mileage upsetting my ankle...and the general burn out.  I have to eat a lot better than I have been too.  I need to do a food diary and try to stay off sugar, soda, and other stuff I love...and should not eat.

Here's what I did this week:

Monday - Ran 4.50 miles with a pace of 9:58 in the morning

Tuesday - It was very very icy and the sidewalks and streets were slick.  I had to go slow.  I did five miles with an average pace of 11:05

Wednesday = Rest

Thursday = Ran 3.27 miles with an average pace of 10:24

Friday = Weights for 20 minutes and stationary bike for 35 minutes at the gym

Saturday = Long run.  Ran 8 miles (5 miles with a friend) with a pace of 10:32 in the morning.

Sunday = Intervals at Pringle School...about three miles.  Average pace about 9:59.  Pouring, pouring rain.  Not a break from the rain at all.