(not my) Marathon Training: Week 8/18

Week-beginning Thoughts:

I've gotten to experience life with an inescapable health condition for the past week or so with this skin rash thing. It's been absolutely awful. I can't wear clothes, much less form-fitting or supportive running clothes without incredible discomfort, and, clothed or not, suffered from uncontrollable itchiness, despite having four different providers look, diagnose, and prescribe treatments... 

It's terrible and has made me really reconsider how I view people who truly have chronic conditions that impact their quality of life... Damn. I put a lot of emphasis on gratitude for my health in general, but that's only going to be more a part of my thoughts and life once I'm through this rough patch. 

I've spent so much time worried about if I'm losing fitness and will be able to come back and re-join the marathon training this cycle, but, beyond just the basic "how do I ramp back up?" question, I'm also stressing on "how will running affect this skin rash". What if it makes it worse? :( 

Monday

Scheduled: rest

Did: nada... unless scratching counts

Tuesday

Scheduled: 2mi WU,6x1200m @ 10K pace/2:30s rest, 2mi CD

Did: nada

Wednesday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: nada

Thursday

Scheduled: 5-7mi solid

Did: 1.59mi @ 10:09/mi avg, 2.5mi walk

One of my training buddies rolled her ankle, cutting our run short this morning. We walked for the rest of the time. It just felt good to be out and about with people again.

Friday

Scheduled: 4-6mi easy

Did: 5.01mi @ 9:50/mi avg

So glad to finally be able to wear a sports bra and shorts without irritation for a run. Today felt good, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep going. 

Saturday

Scheduled: 2mi WU, 3x(3-4mi @ MP/2mi easy) = EEK

Did: 2mi WU, 4mi @ 8:50/mi, 2.26mi @ 9:52/mi, 3.63mi @ 8:44/mi, 2.29mi @ 9:55/mi = 14.19mi @ 9:20/mi avg 

Ooh, this one felt GOOD. I opted to scale the workout down since I haven't run much in the past two weeks, choosing to skip the third repeat (and limit my distance to 15) and reducing the intensity to "sub-9" instead of an 8:30ish MP. That was the right call. I felt good during all of this, and am just so stinking grateful to be out and running again. 

 

Sunday

Scheduled: 10-12mi easy

Did: nada

OMG, I just want my health back already... Woke up this morning with a sore throat and stuffy nose, and knew running was a bad idea. I've already slept an extra four hours since I woke up at 6;30... and it's only 1:30 in the afternoon.

Total Weekly Mileage: 20.8

Week-ending Thoughts:

I hate being sick. I hate having family members who are sick. I just want to be able to live my life again. Saturday was SO wonderful to be able to go places, do things, and wear CLOTHES... Sunday was just an absolute letdown on all fronts. Ugggghhhh. Did I mention that I've used 50.5 hours of PTO for sickness so far this year, and it's only the middle of JULY?