I took it easy yesterday. Over the weekend, when I had the bad runs, I noticed that my weight had dropped down to around 169 and stayed there for a few days. I was mostly pleased with this, thinking it was mostly diet related. I now think it may have been dehydration or similar. After getting extra sleep Sunday night, hydrating well Monday and also getting to bed at a good hour, I awoke this morning to a scale that read 175! I also felt loads better.

Now the scale can play tricks on you if you check too frequently; your weight fluctuates a bit day to day anyway. Tonight I weigh closer to 171 and that’s probably closer to what my average should be. Anyway, today I felt better and I honestly wanted to go for a run after work. It was a beautiful night and I had that itch to be moving down the road.

Distance: 6.09 miles

Time: 46:55 mins

Pace: 7:43 min/mile

Splits:

1. 7:54
2. 7:55
3. 7:50
4. 7:46
5. 7:44
6. 7:12

It turned out to be a really great run and I am pleased with it. I don’t think I have an over-training issue right now, as I’ve already removed the gym for the most part since the half at the beginning of the month, and I’ve cut miles back from 35/week down to 25 or so. I should be good, really. I believe my issue over the weekend was probably just me not taking good enough care, or maybe I was fighting a bug.

Tonight’s run brought back some confidence I lost (it’s funny how fast it can go) and I am going to proceed cautiously forward as the summer heat rolls in. More sleep, more water, slower training miles when it’s hot. My adventure race is coming up very soon here, and then I’ll be planning out more races. There are a couple must-runs I can think of.

This is completely unhealthy and the ONLY reason I’m eating it is because it’s post run and I figure I have the best chance now of converting this to glycogen stores… yeah, that’s my totally legit justification:

It’s half of a peanut butter stuffed brownie, heated, with a couple small scoops of cookies & cream ice cream. It’s the last of it all too, so I’m glad it’s gone.

Lunch today. I didn’t really “cook” any of this. I just heated it up. I put the chicken in the oven. Steamed the broccoli. Boiled the noodles and poured some sauce from a jar on it. Very low-ingredient, simple fare.

I had not considered over-training syndrome, since I’ve cut back my miles a bit but you may have something here. I’ll take it under advisement and see how I feel. Thanks!

Is it possible to have the flu with no symptoms whatsoever?

Yesterday was a gorgeous hot, sunny day and I set out to get a nice 10 miler in. I filled up a water bottle and set off around 11:00 AM. It was already around 85 °F and I set off slow, figuring I’d take a leisurely pace. It became much more than that.

Around 3 miles in I started to feel bad. There really isn’t another word for it. Junky, tired, weak, low energy — you know, BAD.

There isn’t a fitness reason I should be feeling that way at that pace so soon into a run. Perhaps I wasn’t hydrated enough, or my blood sugar wasn’t right or it was simply the heat but it was NOT fun. To top things off i had chosen a route with a few significant hills. At first I thought I could take a run at them and sort of “kick-start” my body into running again. I’ve done that once or twice where you just grit your teeth and push through the low spots and things get better.

It wasn’t happening though. I ground down into a walk a few times in shady parts on the road and I worked through my water quickly. I was feeling so hot. Around mile 5 my ankle started bothering me again and although I was taking the shortest route home it seemed like it was getting farther away. I ate a Gu I had brought along as damage control for my electrolytes and it kept me going a bit although my stomach complained.

The last couple miles felt like a dead shuffle but I kept at it until I was home. Walking felt good but running just hurt, like my body didn’t want to elevate it’s heart rate at all.

I worked last night and my ankle ached a bit as I did my running around the kitchen. It felt fine this morning so I set off for a shorter run around 10 AM. Just like yesterday, it was 85 °F without a single cloud to be found. I took my water bottle again and started off slow once more. At the half mile mark my watch said I was doing a 9 min mile and I was feeling like I was working too hard. That wasn’t a good sign but I tried to pick it up and focus on smooth mechanics. Maybe I’d work through it.

While I did ease into the second mile OK, I quickly returned to that same old bad feeling from yesterday. I completed the run without stopping, fighting the whole way but it was not pleasant.

I am hoping it’s the heat, which I am not used to running in yet. It could also be that I haven’t been hydrating well enough lately, but I’ve never had this bad of a reaction to that. Maybe it’s that you just have bad runs sometimes. Hopefully I’ll turn things around but I won’t know until tomorrow.

This afternoon I reconnected with a friend and we got in about a 7 mile, 1 hour ride.

Last year as I was starting to really getting into running I met a guy that lives nearby who offered to go out on some runs with me. We got along well enough but it soon became apparent that I was more serious about running than him. His passion was mountain biking. When I bought my first mountain bike last year he was more than happy to hit the trails with me, offer tips and enthusiasm. All in all it was a pleasant introduction to the sport.

We lost touch over the winter. I was running more miles than he could (or wanted to) handle in weather conditions no sane person would venture out in for an hour (and doing it in shorts). He and I don’t really share any common interests in books or movies or TV or video games… but we do enjoy outdoor activity. Well, mountain biking season is back on in Michigan and I’ll happily make room for it.

He texted me a few times the last couple weeks asking me to go out riding and I kept having work conflicts. I was afraid he thought I was blowing him off, but we finally made today work and it was worth it.

Sunday was my first time out on the trails this year, but I did it alone. We went back to the same place today, and it was so much different. We often swap who takes the lead on the trail because we’re at different skill levels. He’s much faster and smoother than I and will take the more technical stuff at speeds I would consider reckless for myself. But he’ll let me set the pace as well and we stick together pretty well.

I think the biggest difference for me riding with someone else is that it makes me push harder, and ultimately makes me better. When I am following, I’ve got a mark to keep up with if I can and the sounds of his bike can give me a preview of whats on the trail; I can hear when he brakes or the rattle of the bike on a big drop or the skid of a tire — all good cues to pay close attention. When I’m leading I’ve got some gentle pressure not to get complacent and I ride a bit harder, trying to be smooth through obstacles as they arise. I’ll attack a flat section or hill harder because I know he’s behind and that ends up being a good workout. Riding with a partner definitely changes your ride, I think for the better.

I feel more confident than last year. There are several parts on the trail that I was able to tackle today that I had to walk or stop on last year. Climbing sand-and-gravel hills scored with tree roots is never easy, and this place has tons of them. I’m getting better at keeping the front tire down on the ground and my weight on the back tire for traction. I did have one spectacular fall when I decided to attack with speed what was essentially a steep upgraded, banked sandy turn with a 3 inch tree root 75% through the turn on the outside. My front tire came right of the ground when it made contact and I lost it, coming down on my hands. It’s a good thing I don’t have clips for pedals yet.

While the place has some tough climbs and turns, it also has some pretty exhilarating downhill sections where you’re barely able to control your speed and sometimes letting yourself go faster is the better choice, as long as you can control your line. If you mess up on these portions the consequences can look pretty painful. I’m knocking on wood right now…. Let’s all watch an exciting downhill race by Danny Hart and hope we reach the bottom of our own hill safely as well.

Today was all about staying off the saddle and finding balance and climbing sandy hills and cutting turns and picking lines and just getting better, and it was a good day.

Fascinating article involving the history and attitudes surrounding previous London Olympics.

Another ridiculous lunch. I’ve been doing more of the frozen steam-able veggie packs because they’re so darn convenient, and often on sale. Plus, the portion is about right for a half now, half later scenario. Better than nothing, right?

OK, no more playing around. Recently I relaxed my attention on my diet and it looks like I may have gotten back into some bad habits. Initially the relaxation was done for positive reasons. I had gotten down to an all-time low of 165, and then hovered between there and 168 regularly. When I started adding in weight lifting with my running I decided to lay off the scale and to increase my calorie intake, increasing fat and protein (and a few more carbs). Growing muscles need fuel after all.

This was looking good for a while, but recently I’ve gotten too loose with the diet. A couple weeks ago I found myself up around 178, 10 pounds heavier with not much to show for it. I’ve curtailed some of my eating and brought it back down to 173-4 but I’ve been fighting the changes.

Yesterday I think my “force of will” finally clicked though. I think I’m back for a good stint. I could feel a difference between wishing I’d stop snacking out of boredom to actually wanting to enough that I had no desire for it. It feels a lot like having patience with a difficult person. When you have patience, you can sit and listen to someone yelling at you and then respond calmly when they’ve finally stopped. Similarly, I find myself again able to face my nagging cravings with quiet patience, letting it get all red-faced and loud and finally sputtering out. And then it’s gone and I have won by not rising to the bait.

I’m not talking about starving myself. I am still going to be eating some pretty good, filling meals and giving myself plenty of fuel for the running, lifting, working and biking I have planned. But I’ve been terrible with the in-between stuff. And for a bit I am done with that. I’m on a cut, getting lean and mean again.

Also, I need to focus more on sleep. I’ve been “jealous” with my awake time and staying up when I really shouldn’t. Even now I am doing it. I got out of work 3 hours ago and I am looking at another 14 hour day which starts in 7 hours. Something in me finds it hard to let go of these evening hours awake. They’re mine, not part of work or anything else and it feels like a shame to waste them on sleep. I need to change this attitude because not only will it help to improve my working days but my body needs it to handle the exercise. I need to be smarter about this.

It’s been a long day. 8:00-4:00 for job #1, a shower and a quick meal then 5:00-9:45 for job #2. I was home and walking out the door for my run by 10:00 PM.

I wanted to go for a decent run of at least 6 miles but that didn’t quite happen. I took Sunday and Monday off from running to see how my ankle, which has been bugging me, felt after a bit of rest. Two days off doesn’t seem like long when you say it out loud, but it feels like a long time.

My ankle felt good all day today but it slipped right back into it’s non-specific pain after a mile or so. It feels almost like a bruise on the top inside of the joint. I don’t have any problem with strength or mobility, I just have that ache. Well, I’ve decided I am just going to keep running on it. I have no idea what it is and I’m not overly concerned right now. I hope I don’t come to regret it.

The run started out well enough out in the overcast night. When I left it was about 77 °F with hardly any wind. At around mile 2 the wind began to pick up and I felt a drop or two of rain. By the time I had gone another 1/2 mile the wind really started to howl and rain was coming in sideways in fits and starts. I decided to do the prudent thing and turn around at the 2.5 mile mark. I also picked up the pace a bit as I was afraid I was about to get caught out in something really nasty.

Distance 5.11 miles

Time: 40:08 mins

Pace: 7:51 min/mile

Splits:

1. 8:16
2. 8:11
3. 7:56
4. 7:36
5. 7:23

I only got mildly soaked and by the time I made it home the wind had calmed down considerably. Even as I write this, no storm materialized. It all lasted just long enough to make me turn back on my run. perhaps I’ll get in a longer one tomorrow. I have the same work schedule tomorrow, so it’ll be another long night.