Tuesday, July 31, 2012

A midsummer night's flu.

It started with a niggle.  What is a niggle you say?  According to Kara Goucher, its little aches and pains that aren't necessarily an injury, but more of a troublesome annoyance.  My whole body started to ache.  Maybe i managed to pull ever single muscle at once?  Maybe i woke up in my sleep and finally did the strength training i have been missing?  Maybe my whole body was filled with lactic acid?  I don't know, i'm not a doctor, dammit.


But then came my long run on Saturday.  I have good runs, and bad runs, but rarely do i have a run that is so horrible that i am convinced i am dying and can't finish.  It was so ugly it was beyond words.  And for a 15-miler and a comfortable pace, it shouldn't have been like that.  Needless to say, i stopped at 13 and actually had to lay on the ground for 30 minutes because i couldn't drive myself home.  By the time i did get home, all i could do was lay on the couch and nap.  It was official.  I was the only moron to who gets sick in the middle of summer. 


Needless to say, my training is at a complete hiatus.  I shouldn't even be at work, but they seem to frown upon taking sick days, so i will proceed to spread my germs all over the office.  I am starting to feel panicky because of the rapidly approaching Chicago Marathon.  How will i over come this huge snafu in my training??


Here's the thing:  Because i have a blog, i am able to review all my training from the last marathon!  And guess what?  The day i did 15 miles, i completely failed, it was the worst run of the entire training season, and i ended up getting sick.  Are we noticing a trend?  Obviously, i have some kind of "halfway through training" wall.  And after that first crappiest run ever, i got some advice which i will now share with you:


Take some time off.  Seriously.  When your body is sick, it means that you have managed to piss off your immune system, and that is a system you want on your side.  A lot of people get sick when they increase mileage.  It's a shock to the system.  Taking a week off isn't going to impact your training.  Running when you are sick or injured might.  That's the advice i got, but that doesn't mean it's easy though.  I felt guilty as hell sleeping for 14 hours yesterday and not running, and seeing as it will most likely be a repeat tonight, you can expect my blog to be very lame this week.  But, i feel confident that i will rebound and be back to training in a week (or whenever i feel human again)  :)

13 comments:

  1. You have harrier legs that I thought you would Sarah, also you're a bit tanner then I remember.... Matt on the other hand has weirdly girlish legs.

    Seriously, take the time off. I always make the mistake of continuing to trian/workout when I'm sick and that just prolongs my sickness. Take the time to rest and drink lots of fluid.

    Wait, you aren't a doctor? Shit, I should probably stop taking your medical advice then...

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  2. Completely agree. Time off during marathon training is actually helpful. It's better than over-training and injuring yourself (or making yourself sicker), and not making it to the starting line of the marathon. I ran the NYC Marathon last year and took the 8 days off before the race just to heal. Race day came and I did surprisingly well. It takes at least a few weeks for your body to start losing the fitness you've accumulated. That said, get lots o' rest and I hope you feel better soon.

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  3. I think it's great advice, and I hope you feel better soon! Sometimes you just need a break - mental or physical!

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  4. Feel better!!! You are doing the right thing!

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  5. no fun being sick in the summer.....but I have heard of others around here (MN) who haven't been feeling well either....and my daughter just complained yesterday of aches, chills and being tired...probably heat exhaustion...time to drink lots of water and rest!!

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  6. Feel better Sara! Time off is a good thing - take what you need :)

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  7. That IS great advice!! I agree completely! You need to heal to make sure you get to the start line, whether that be a physical outside injury or an internal injury. Get better!

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  8. nothing new to add here.....except that I hope you feel better soon. It always sucks to be sick, but particularly during a training cycle, but take the time you need to get healthy and you'll come back strong. Besides, Chicago's over 2 months away, and your training base is strong....you'll be fine!

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  9. Sometimes we wear ourselves out...but I agree, rest is an amazing thing. I don't many people that can go 18 weeks (or however long) without a hiccup or two!!! Feel better soon!!!

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  10. Definitely take sometime off to get better. You will do fine and this little bump in your training problem should be a non issue. At least that is what my coach would tell me. I missed several key workouts weeks out from my marathon in April and my coach said that it was probably for the best so that my body could rest more because it needed it. You will do fine, but I hope that you feel better soon. It is zero fun to be sick in the summer.

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  11. I just started my multivitamin back up to supplment my ever horrendous training schedule. :o) Okay, I'm not training like crazy but I wish I were, that has to count for something, right? Seriously, take a good multi (something that has real contents, not just filler that the body can't process and has to flush), eat your fruits/veggies, drink your water & SLEEP. Add in a lot of vitamin C during the taper to keep from getting sick then. I think 2000 mg per day is the magic number for taper time.

    Good luck! I hope you are better so that I see you at Kelly's! I'm going to drag my kid out of bed and bring him in his jammies so that I can come. If that isn't enough, I'll be bringing 2 bottles of champagne with me! :o)

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  12. Good for you for taking time off! It won't kill your training! :) I do hope you feel better soon! :)

    Ugh. It must have been scary to feel that awful during a long run though :(

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  13. Good call on taking time off from running...just get well soon and enjoy the time off!

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