Pathetically late weekly roundup

Is it a good thing when exercise takes up so much of my free time that I can't keep up with my exercise blog? I don't know -- but that's definitely the case right now. As soon as the marathon is over and I'm exercising less, I'll ironically have plenty of time to update my blog. Hmmm.

Monday, 11/2:

10-mile run

Man, this run felt great.

SuperAthlete J threw down a bit of a gauntlet for me during our 14-miler the preceding Friday: in my quest to keep my heart rate in the fat-burning zone, I've been taking walk breaks on the hilly sections of our route. SAJ, on the other hand, has been powering up at a steady jog. When I congratulated her at the top of a hill last week, she said that she's been reminding herself of the stamina she's building during our interval runs. If she can sustain those high heart rates during intervals, she said, she can do the same on a long run. Then she slyly encouraged me to try getting up the hills without a walk break at least once before the marathon -- so I'd know I could get through the big hill toward the end of the course.

That's exactly the kind of challenge I can't resist. So, when we came to the base of the first big hill, I tucked my chin down, stopped talking and committed to jogging up the entire thing. It was actually easier than I thought it would be -- and the same thing could be said for the run overall. I stopped looking at my heart rate and just enjoyed the motion, confident that I wouldn't run out of steam during a 10-miler. I felt light and strong right through to the end, which was totally heavenly. Ahh.

Tuesday, 11/3:

Full-body weights

45 minutes on the elliptical trainer in zone 1 (125 bpm or so)

Nothing to report here -- just a regular old workout.

Wednesday, 11/4:

Rest

I felt a bit guilty about taking this as a rest day but with the big 20 miles looming on Thursday, I wanted to be as prepared as possible. (Unlike SAJ, who ran intervals 12 hours before we started our 20 -- isn't she badass?) Besides, one of my books -- the terribly disorganized, not exceptionally well written and sometimes contradictory "Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer" -- recommends sandwiching the long runs between two rest days. Is it self-serving that I'm taking that advice from a book that I don't necessarily embrace on other levels? Probably. And I haven't followed their formula across the board -- only during weeks where the training schedule calls for an increase in distance, and only for the last couple of those (18 and 20 miles).

Wow, look at how I'm rationalizing taking a rest day before the longest run of my life! Clearly I've got some issues to work out ...

(But I will say the rest was quite lovely and came at the perfect time, when I had a lot of other things to do and wasn't feeling my best, with a weird gurgling stomach, abdominal cramps and fatigue most of the day.)

Thursday, 11/5:

20-mile run

I already posted about this so no need to repeat myself. But I will say that, in hindsight, I feel even better about completing the distance because what I thought was run-related nausea and dizziness I now suspect was the first stage of a bug that eventually flowered into the cold I have now. Could this be the same illness I felt like I was fighting during the entire preceding week? If so, I think I'd rather just catch the damn bug and get over it, instead of feeling it hover for 10 days before finally taking shape. Good gravy.

Anyway. What gives me the suspicion is that sweet A, my oldest daughter, had a bug that followed the same pattern just a couple days after my stomach distress. We've also been hearing many stories at school about illnesses that sounded quite similar.

Was I actually sick, or was I dizzy and queasy because of the run? I don't know -- and probably won't until marathon day, when the same symptoms may or may not present themselves. I can say that I've never experienced anything similar to the way I felt during the last 5 miles of the 20-miler ... even while running the 16 and the 18. So that does make me think that I had something else going on.

Since I'm hugely terrified of feeling nauseous at the marathon finish while surrounded by billions of people with no quick-and-easy escape route, I am banking on the hope that my symptoms were related to illness and not overexertion. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Friday, 11/6:

Rest

The other side of the "rest sandwich" -- and again, perfect timing, since I spent most of the day en route to my annual "girlie weekend" on Lopez Island. I woke up feeling positive that I had some kind of big respiratory illness on the way: sore throat, heavy chest, body aches, etc. In my mind, I made lots of backup plans involving an early departure from girlie weekend because I couldn't help but worry I'd caught swine flu from Sister M. I felt progressively worse as the day went on, but not so terrible that I needed to go home, so I decided to play it by ear.

Saturday, 11/7:

7-mile run

Woke up feeling much improved and antsy for some exercise. The weather didn't look like it would cooperate (although I planned to run regardless) -- it was full-out raining and gusty outside. Then, just when it was time to suit up and head out, the clouds blew away and the sun appeared. How heavenly!

I think I'll remember this run for a long time. I was scheduled for a 5-miler but honestly felt so great and light on my feet that I didn't want to stop. Even the hills -- of which there were many, but none too steep -- felt easy. I got to the top of them without even really registering that I was running uphill. The day was beautiful, the scenery was gorgeous, I got to say hello to my friends (who were out walking) several times as I ran back and forth ... it really couldn't have been better. It was a potent and wonderful reminder of the joy of running -- and a feeling I haven't gotten to experience lately, while I've been pushing myself so hard to run ever-increasing distances.

The best moment? Getting to the top of a hill and having the following thought suddenly appear in my head: "I am in the best shape of my life." It made me almost giddy with happiness. (And it's true.) No matter what happens on marathon day, I do believe that was a pinnacle life moment for me.

Sunday, 11/8:

Rest

Uh oh. I was supposed to do full-body weights and intervals when I got back home from girlie weekend ... instead, I lounged around, enjoyed my family, took care of Sweet A (who had gotten sick the night before and spent the day on the couch) and nursed my own "I'm coming down with something" feelings. After Saturday's wonderful recovery and dream-come-true run, I woke up again on Sunday morning feeling like I was fighting something off.

I don't know if this is good or bad, but I felt a lot less guilty than I usually do about missing a workout. That's huge, considering I took a total of three rest days during the week. Then again, I also felt sick for a good chunk of it and ran the longest distance I'd ever managed. I've got to find that line between not beating myself when I miss a workout or two, and letting myself get away with skipping out on more workouts than I should. So far, it's proving elusive. I want to be patient with myself without getting lazy. Is that possible?

I also want to stop whining about feeling sick, being sick, or teetering on the verge of sickness. I am going to be well and healthy and feel good! As soon as I'm over this cold, that is.

20 miles

I never in my life thought I'd be able to say or type that words, "I ran 20 miles today." But I did, along with SuperAthlete J. Even better, I didn't take a single walk break on the many hills along our route. That meant I had to disregard what my heart rate was doing -- and it may have led to the dizziness and nausea I felt for the last several miles of the run -- but I really wanted to see if it was possible for me to get through the entire distance without slowing to a walk. (We did, however, take several breaks to eat, drink water and go to the bathroom. Our longest break came at mile 17, when we made a pit stop at SAJ's house to change our sodden clothes, then headed directly back out into the rain -- which had started up around mile 8 and accompanied us fairly consistently for the remainder of the run.)

I just got the best email from SAJ, so wonderful that I'm just going to copy and paste it right here:

Take that big gulp and say yes we did! Congratulations on a steadfast run that in all opinion was my best 20 I have ever run. It was brilliant and now it seems harder we stopped than to have kept going....I am walking very slowly around the house! Remember lots of fluids to recover and some arnica here and there won't go a miss. Good job Anna, Love J.

Seattle Marathon, here I come!

Another overdue weekly roundup

Life is catching up to me lately. I'm actually a little bit busy with some paid writing work, yeehaw, while simultaneously fighting off an unhappy mystery bug (successfully so far, fingers crossed). For these reasons, I again didn't quite complete all the workouts on my schedule. But I'm trying to cut myself a little slack right now, since I'm in the last critical weeks of marathon training. I'm working on telling myself that I'm fine as long as I stay on top of my running. This week, it actually worked ...

Monday, 10/26:

Full-body weights

45 minutes on the elliptical in zone 1 (approx. 125 bpm)

This was the first indicator that I was a bit under the weather. The weight routine I did is the easiest one in my rotation -- and I felt like I had cement running through my veins with every rep. What is usually a quick and exhilarating couple of circuits in what I privately refer to as the "old and fat people's room" turned into a long, hard push. Apt punishment for my snide feelings about this room, although it's true that most of the folks working out in there are either senior citizens or clearly fighting the battle of the bulge. Which makes me wonder how effective the circuit training machinery is ...

I hoped an interlude on the elliptical trainer would feel like a welcome respite after my troublesome weightlifting session, but no dice. All in all, it was a hard workout that left me wondering what was going on with my body.

Tuesday, 10/27:

9-mile run

Wow, why couldn't I remember a single thing about this run? I actually had to leave this day blank and move on to the rest of the week before any details came to mind. I think all the runs are starting to blend together. Now that I can remember it, I can say this one wasn't bad but I did feel tired. SuperAthlete J and I started out together; she stopped after 5 miles because she needed to get to a cycling class across town (yet another example of her utter bad-ass-osity). I did the remaining 4 on my own and man, they felt long. My energy was pretty good but I couldn't wait to get the distance done with. It's funny, I keep thinking that these shorter runs are going to feel like a piece of cake after running distances that are twice as long ... but I'm almost always wrong. Maybe it's a problem with my mindset or something? That no matter how short the run is, I psyche myself out so the last chunk feels hard? If that's the case, perhaps I should start pretending that I'm running much farther than I actually plan to go; then I'll be done before I start in with my self-induced suffering. Something to think about ...

Wednesday, 10/28:

Intervals on the track, 4 miles total

Because I was still not feeling entirely myself, I began this workout assuming that I'd have to take it easy. Wonderful husband M came along with me and as we pulled up to the track, I told him that I was going to stick with him that night (he's not a runner and has a slower pace on the sprints). Somehow, I found some energy and managed to get around moderately quickly -- but not nearly as fast as I usually go. Again, I walked away wondering if and when I was going to come down with the bug I was so clearly fighting. I also did a lot of thinking about the article I read recently regarding exercise and immunity ... I figured that, as long as I stayed in my fat-burning zones, I was probably giving myself an immunity boost during my workouts. But really pushing it during the sprints around the track probably didn't do much for my ability to ward off sickness. I went to bed feeling achy and hoping I'd manage to sleep off whatever bug I had lurking around.

Thursday, 10/29:

Upper-body weights

45 minutes on the treadmill in super-low zone 1 (105 bpm)

The weights felt a bit easier today but I got another red flag during the cardio portion of my workout: I had to bring the treadmill speed all the way down to 1.2 mph to keep my heart rate anywhere near 105. It was really all I could do to stay under 110. I reminded myself that I was probably helping my immune system with a low-key workout but was still a little discouraged by how slowly I needed to move to stay at my desired heart rate.

Friday, 10/30:

14-mile run

Again, I thought this run would feel relatively easy -- especially after completing 18 the week before -- but again, I was wrong. It was definitely a push. Fortunately, I had SAJ with me and she, as always, was nothing but charming and inspiring. We did our usual hilly loops, chatting for the first one and plugging into our iPods for the second. It was a really blustery day and I took a page from SAJ's book by telling myself that all the extra resistance was great for my training; that if the wind was blowing like crazy on marathon day, I'd be prepared. Fortunately, wind was the only weather issue -- we got through the whole run without any rain. Although I was happy to get to the end of the run, it also reminded me that next week brings the longest run on the training calendar: 20 miles (gulp).

Saturday, 10/31:

Rest

What a wonderful, wonderful day -- and perfect timing for a rest day. Little C and I woke up early, went to coffee (well, steamed milk for her), then tramped through the Arboretum admiring the leaves and wildlife. Then it was soccer, a visit with Sisters A and M (and exposure to the swine flu; more on that later), Halloween prep, dinner with friends, trick-or-treating and candy eating. Heaven. And I was finally starting to feel a bit more like myself.

Sunday, 11/1:

4.5-mile run

Planning to run first and do weights at the gym later, I cajoled Husband M into joining me for a short run by telling him that the first section of the route was downhill and the rest was flat. Good sport that he is, he came along but I think he regretted his decision after the first mile. Nevertheless, he stuck it out -- taking a rest break when he needed to, but starting right back up after a minute or so. It was a gorgeous day and I felt so happy to be out in it, exercising with my own wonderful good-natured husband. But after all that goodness, the sense of sickly lethargy that had been dogging me all week came rumbling back and I decided to skip the weights so I could stay home, relax and enjoy the remainder of the day with our girls. Which was good because shortly after I made the decision, Sister A called to say that knocked-up Sister M was spending the night in the hospital with a probable case of swine flu, and could we take their dog Ruby for the night? Of course we could ... and so began our wait to see if one of us would catch her bug. What a sickness-filled fall this is!

18 aftermath

I went on so long about the run itself that I thought I'd talk about the aftermath in a separate post.

After SAJ and I got back to her house, I climbed in my car and headed home. I was feeling pretty dazed -- couldn't believe that I had actually just run 18 miles. I came in and went right to the kitchen to make myself a glass of chocolate milk to eat with a rice cake and a banana.

Funny about chocolate milk. I've read many times that it's a great recovery drink and I used to pooh-pooh it. But when I finally tried it, I was an instant convert. It does a great job of saving me from the awful post-run queasy feeling I am subject to after a long slog. And it also primes me to be able to eat something more substantial in another hour or so. I love it!

I only got to rest for half an hour or so -- then head to get in the shower and go to the girls' school to pick up Sweet A for an orthodontist appointment. In the shower, I started to get that yucky "I need to eat so badly that I am nauseous" feeling and realized I'd probably waited too long to eat some more food. Or perhaps the milk, rice cake and banana weren't enough. Regardless, I downed a container of yogurt and went to get the girls.

The yogurt helped and I felt OK for the first half an hour or so. Then, at the orthodontist's office, I started to completely fade away. I really should have been eating a big meal right around the time I went to get the girls, but there just wasn't a way I could make it happen. By the time Big A was done and we were heading home, I was pretty desperate. We stopped at a Taco Time drive-through (an indicator of how desperate I was feeling) and I nearly cried when I saw that there were three cars ahead of us in line. I actually said to Sweet A that I was feeling so tired and hungry that I felt like crying. True to her nature, she said, "It's OK Mommy, you can cry if you want. And we'll be home soon, then you can rest." What an angel.

After what felt like an hour but was probably actually five minutes, we got our food. I drove us home, grabbed my meal and took it straight upstairs, where I laid in bed eating and then immediately fell asleep for an hour before getting up to get ready for the arrival of my best friend SHG.

Another first: 18 miles

Yes, 18 miles! Holy crap, I can hardly believe it's true even as I type it. Even better, it was manageable. Not easy, but do-able -- and I'm getting even more hopeful about my chance of completing the Seattle Marathon next month. I haven't signed up yet, mind you ... I want to get the 20-mile run (the longest one on the training calendar) behind me first. If I complete that, I'm going to register.

It was a successful run in every way. It had been raining up the wazoo that morning and things looked pretty grim when Little C and I got in the car to go to school. But by the time I met SuperAthlete J (SAJ) at her house, it had slowed to a drizzle. We organized ourselves and started the first of our 8-mile loops. Our plan was to do two big loops, then finish with a short two miles near her house.

Hilly route notwithstanding, the first loop felt great. I think taking a rest day before made a big difference for me. I felt strong, refreshed and ready to go -- even though, as usual, I had psyched myself out the night before and hadn't slept well. Why do I always do that?

We made a pit stop at SAJ's house at the end of the first loop to use the bathroom and grab more supplies. I had decided to experiment with a mix of foods during this run: vanilla gel (not bad, tasted like cake frosting), cut-up Lara Bars in peanut butter cookie flavor (fantastic) and frosted Cheerios (super-high glycemic index and yummy too). I can't do all gels, gus, sport beans or anything that's basically straight sugar without getting an unhappily sour stomach toward the end. But I do love the quick energy they give me. So I thought I'd mix things up and overall, I was happy with the results. Nothing gave me a stomach ache, although I did think I was going to have some fun diarrhea at one point. And I didn't feel sick -- during the run or immediately after, so I must have been doing something right.

For the second loop, SAJ asked if we could use our headsets. She used an analogy she picked up from her cycling class and said the second section of the workout is about commitment (I wish I could remember what the first section was supposed to be about, but I do know the last section is supposed to be about "going for it," which made me laugh because in my mind, those last miles are more about "getting through it"). Anyway, she really wanted to focus on her running -- so we plugged in and headed back out. We did stay together and exchange a few words now and then: a few times when we got slammed with the big winds that were blowing through that day -- why did they always come when we were running uphill? -- and again when we got a glorious sunbreak and felt a little heat on our shoulders. Heaven!

That second loop went well overall, but I could definitely tell I was getting tired. Plus, I had stupidly forgotten to restart my timer at our last bathroom stop, which meant that my deluxe watch wasn't tracking distance for me. I had to rely on SAJ to tell me how far we'd gone. By the time we made it back to SAJ's house, I was pretty wiped out. As soon as we stopped, I felt my calves and hamstrings stiffen right up. But we only had a mile and a half to go. I stripped off my jacket, which I'd been keeping on in case the skies opened up again, and we kept going. SAJ took us uphill initially, which felt brutal -- but also meant that we got to do our final 3/4-mile going downhill. As soon as we turned the corner and started heading back to SAJ's house and our end point, I got a complete feeling of delight and success. I kept thinking, "I've got this, I'm going to finish!"

Knowing that I was actually going to complete the distance gave me a happy burst of energy. In perfect timing, Michael Jackson came up on my iPod (I keep it in shuffle mode on long runs to keep things interesting) and I managed a few creaky gyrations as we ran along. Without talking about it, SAJ and I both increased our pace until we were going at a full clip. We rounded a corner and ... she gave me the high sign to let me know we'd finished our 18. Amazing!

Weekly roundup

A mixed bag of a week. On the up side, I completed my longest run ever (more on that to come). On the less up side, I took an extra rest day for a total of three non-exercising days in a single week -- something I really try to avoid unless I'm sick or purposefully taking it easy on vacation.

Monday, 10/19:

Full-body workout -- except abs, which I ran out of time for AGAIN!

45 minutes on the elliptical trainer in mid-zone 1 (125 bpm)

I have got to learn to stop procrastinating and get to the gym in time to complete my entire workout! As it is, many times I wait 'til the very last minute, bust down there, hurry through my workout and run out of time for abs -- which I always tell myself I will do at home and rarely follow through with. Speaking of which, I should be leaving for the gym right now so I will finish this later.

[More than 24 hours later ... and no, I didn't have time for abs at the gym but I did do them as soon as I got home with Little C. Small steps ...]

Tuesday, 10/20:

9-mile run

SuperAthlete J and I enjoyed a sunshiny, almost entirely flat run on a new route with lots of great scenery. Yay!

Wednesday, 10/21:

Upper body weights (chest/back)

Intervals on the track

Like last week, another split workout day: I did weights at the gym in the early afternoon, then met SAJ and several others at the track for intervals in the evening. Husband M came along for the second week in a row, too. I'm really starting to like this workout ... I had no idea how much I enjoy sprinting! It's definitely hard work but doesn't feel like it's on the verge of being too much to handle, like it did the first time. I also think it will really have a positive impact on my running overall. And it's fun to do track work with a group in the dark!

Thursday, 10/22:

Rest

I knew in advance that I was going to take two rest days this week. After reading up on marathon training and consulting the two books I've got on the subject, I thought it would help me to sandwich my long run for the week between two rest days -- on weeks when I'm increasing distance, that is. I was especially apprehensive about the week's scheduled 18 mile run, and wanted to prepare for it as much as I could. Although I felt guilty about missing a day of exercise, I rationalized it by saying that I was going to spend twice as much time exercising during the long run than I would have during a trip to the gym. So cumulatively, it was going to be the same amount of exercise over the course of the week. Until I took that extra rest day on Sunday, that is ...

Friday, 10/23:

18-mile run

So awesome and such a happy achievement that I must write about it in a separate post.

Saturday, 10/24:

Rest

Another on-purpose rest day and boy, did it feel needed. My legs were definitely tired after Friday's long run. Because I spent the day with my best friend SHG, shopping and preparing for a baby shower we were co-hosting for my sisters that evening, I was probably more active than I should have been. Plus, we stayed up late to talk and drink wine, then got up pretty early in the morning. Which probably explains what happened on Sunday ...

Sunday, 10/25:

Rest

I just couldn't make myself do it today. I was supposed to do full-body weights and an easy zone 1 workout (heart rate about 125 bpm) but I felt a fatigue and tiredness in my bones that couldn't be denied. And I just kind of had the blues, you know? My wonderful best friend had headed home to Spokanistan in the late morning, the rain was coming down, I was wiped out after skimping on sleep for two nights in a row, and overall I just felt troubled and lonely. I kept putting off the trip to the gym I was hoping I'd find the energy to take until it was simply too late and I had to skip it. Part of me wishes I'd just decided in the morning that I was going to take an extra rest day, instead of torturing myself with indecision all day. I'm sure it's clear that Sunday was kind of a crappy day overall. Fortunately it was the last day of the exercise week, so I could literally turn the page of the training calendar I use to record my workouts and look forward to starting fresh.

Does exercise make us sick?

An interesting article in the NY Times last week about whether exercise boosts immunity:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/phys-ed-does-exercise-boost-immunity/

In a nutshell, the author tells us that working out really hard can reduce our immunity, while moderate exercise can help increase it, and being sedentary may keep us healthier than totally knocking ourselves out at the gym.

Duh.

Isn't it kind of intuitive that you might get sick, or worsen a mild sickness you've already got, by pushing yourself really hard with exercise? I know it is for me. But at the same time, I also know that the best remedy for that "I think I'm coming down with something" feeling is to head to the gym for a somewhat-relaxed workout. It's a fine line, of course, and I'm not always perfect at walking it. If there's an opportunity to push myself too hard versus not hard enough, I'll always opt for the former. But I do think I have a good sense of when I should skip the workout and stay in bed (or take full advantage of the literal meaning of "rest day," as I did on Sunday).

One thing I did find especially interesting in the article was that, apparently, the longer and harder the workout is, the longer your immune system will be suppressed afterward. Which makes sense, but it was nice to see it quantified (take a look at the article for a couple paragraphs relating to exercising mice and their immune responses for details). And overall, it's always good to get a reminder that washing hands and keeping your distance from sick people is the first line of defense in keeping bugs at bay.