NVM WEEK 9: pppphhhhhbbbbbttttt.....

You're making me tired.

In case it wasn't obvious, that was the sound of this past week (running-wise, yes, but also kind of in general).

This will be short & sweet because, honestly, there just isn't much to say. It was one of those weeks when the universe seemed to be sending me big, giant red flags to just not bother trying to run at all, and for the most part, I listened to it because I know impending disaster when I smell it.

Monday: a.m. strength work / p.m. karate

I'd planned to get up early for some strength work at the gym, but then I didn't sleep Sunday night (again), and honestly, felt so awful that the only reason I actually went in to work was because it was the first day back after the holidays & there was a bunch of stuff going on that I just could not miss unless I was actively debilitatingly ill. I wouldn't have even gone to karate except that none of the other instructors could make it. (Don & I compared symptoms to see which of us was the least sick & I won. Or lost, I suppose.)

Tuesday: a.m. strength work / p.m. 8 easy

Thankfully I was so exhausted Monday night that I passed out early and actually slept a reasonable amount. The eight miles, though, really sucked. I'd thought I was getting better but I could barely breathe the whole time (asthma/respiratory problems) and every step felt incredibly hard. On top of that, I started having pain in my right hip/thigh/adductor (the messed up one) for the first time in a while, and also really bad shin splints in my left leg (which hasn't been a problem in over three years now). Basically everything hurt and it felt awful and I really, really had to push myself to even finish eight easy miles. (Over time I've kind of learned that when old things suddenly all start hurting at once, it usually just means I'm generally tired & running with crappy form.) On top of THAT, I then had to move a bunch of boxes from the old house to the new one, which aggravated everything even further. (Maybe I can count that as more strength work?? Eh?? EHHHH?? Okay fine.)

Wednesday: a.m. doctor / p.m. karate

Because I've been getting so fed up with my insomnia, I went to the doctor Wednesday morning to see if they could adjust something & maybe fix it. We are trying some new things & hopefully that will help. :-/ Still not feeling great, still moving boxes.

Thursday: Rest / work from home

Woke up feeling worse in the respiratory department but not completely debilitated, so decided to work from home. Between not being able to breathe and still limping a little thanks to the shin splints / right hip pain, trying to run seemed like a bad idea. Alas, there will still more boxes to move.

Friday: a.m. aborted strength workout / be sick at home

Woke up early morning feeling worse than ever, but also feeling guilty about working at home twice already and getting in one strength workout so far that week. So, in a moment of monumentally poor judgment, I dragged myself out of bed and all the way to the gym in Redwood City. Usually physical activity makes me feel better, but after 20 minutes of giving it an honest try, every little movement was making me pant and wheeze, I couldn't breathe through my nose, and had a splitting headache. So I drove back home, called into work, and went to bed.

Saturday: Rest / move

I was starting to feel better Friday night & had all kinds of grand plans for getting in 10 easy miles on Saturday before my 20 miler on Sunday. And I definitely did feel better in the asthma/respiratory department, but just a few quick strides down the hallway told me that I was still having a lot of shin splints pain and my right hip was still unhappy as well. Which, honestly, was fine, because we had a lot of house stuff we wanted to get done and I would have felt really bad sticking Don with it, especially since I was planning to stick him with it for something like 4 hours on Sunday.

Sunday: 20 long 10 easy

Didn't sleep much Saturday night, woke up feeling crappy (but at least not sick), & proceeded to go back to sleep until noon. I had dinner plans with some fellow runner friends, so I knew if I was going to actually take a crack at the 20, I pretty much had to get up, eat, & get running ASAP. I definitely felt better than I had; there was some tibia / hip pain, but it was manageable and not awful, so I did give myself some props for being so sick I couldn't run responsible and resting instead of trying to run for the past three days. About three miles in, though, I just started to feel awful. Every step felt super hard and even running 11:00 miles, my heart rate was through the roof and I could not for the life of me slow it down. I probably could have forced myself through 20 miles of that, but it didn't seem like a particularly good idea, so instead I forced myself through 10 miles which was tough enough as it was. I know it was the right decision, but I still finished super annoyed. (But hey, at least I had a little extra time before dinner, so there was that.)

The good news, though! I'm feeling a lot better this week, so hopefully that means at least all the skipping runs & sleeping a lot & calling in sick actually accomplished something besides making me feel like a lazy slob.

(Still waiting on that normal week, BTW. :-/ )