Shitty Week

The longest I've had between relapses is 13 days since April. Decided to see if I felt "better" without running for a few weeks, because I'm terrified of relapsing during a period of life where I can't relapse (i.e. single parenting and kid starting school). 

This week was a lot of anxiety and depression, with naps on the days where I wasn't working. Not sure if it was a net positive... 

Down Again

  

Week-Beginning Thoughts:
So stressed over COVID relapses, new variant dangers, and how the bulk of my social media contacts seem to not be interested in even trying to mitigate COVID in the least bit...

Monday
Did: Intentional rest

Trying not to do more than one day in a row here, but still feeling good

Tuesday

Did: 6.23mi @ 9:59/mi avg

Took a few short walk breaks on hills, but felt generally good throughout this run. Had an appt with my PCP to talk about this long COVID stuff. Bloodwork came back all 100% great, so I got a referral to a long COVID clinic. 

Felt tired during the day, so I napped for an hour in the afternoon before chorus, which I left at 9pm instead of until the full 9:30/10pm 

Wednesday

Did: intentional rest

Attempted to call the long COVID clinic today. The top three require a referral in addition to a positive PCR test. Since my PCR was only "inconclusive" in April, I'm not eligible for those... and the two that would accept new patients without a positive PCR wont' call me back. Maybe I'm over it though, so I figure I'll wait until the next time I get hit with something.

Thursday

Did: 4.73mi @ 11:30/mi avg

Got woken up overnight by my kid for an accident, but made it back to sleep before my alarm went off. I wasn't feeling 100% when I started my run, but figured I would be fine for an easy run. 

That was wrong. By mile 2, I saw my HR had spiked up to 180-190, so I took a walk break until it returned to the 130s... and then started running again. It spiked back to 190 almost instantly. This repeated itself three times before I said, forget it, and just walked the rest of hte way home. My HR didn't really get down below 140 for another mile, which tells me something's wrong. 

I crashed around 9am until 4pm, and then slept solidly overnight from 7:30 until 6am. Clearly, it's time to call the long COVID clinic.

Friday

Did: Nada

Worked from home, felt mostly recovered.

Finally got through to one long COVID clinic, which doesn't sound promising, but maybe can be gatekeeper to another set of different specialists. Sigh. 

Saturday

Did: Stone Mountain family day

Didn't feel like I had it in me to run or workout this morning, but did make it through a whole day of activity with family. 

Sunday

Did: 2.9mi stroller walk

Weekly Mileage: 11

Week-Ending Thoughts:

So sick of this shit. 

Return to the New Normal... Maybe

 

Week-Beginning Thoughts:
So stressed over COVID relapses, new variant dangers, and how the bulk of my social media contacts seem to not be interested in even trying to mitigate COVID in the least bit...

Monday
Did: 20min stroller walk
Definitely still feeling sleepy after fatigue weekend, but got myself up and dressed. Fake it 'til you make it, right? 

Tuesday

Did: 40min walk, 20min workout

Wednesday

Did: 20min workout

These 20min workouts are my jam. Enough meat to feel like I'm doing something, but short enough to feel like I can fit them in with low commitment. 

Thursday

Did: 4.01mi @ 10:00/mi avg

Kept my HR lower than 170 with walk breaks, then spent the day with my oldest hiking and walking around all day. Grateful to have energy again after the recent relapse. 

Friday

Did: 3.18mi @ 9:32/mi avg with 4min/30s intervals, ~1mi neighborhood walk

Today was another stressful day for me, so I took the afternoon off and just laid poolside.

Saturday

Did: 4.33mi stroller walk

Wasn't feeling like running a THIRD day in a row, so I walked this one. I feel like I have SO much time when I have multiple days in a row where I have energy to get through the whole day without a nap and don't crash after 7pm when the kids are in bed. 

Sunday

Did: 4.01mi stroller run alongside kid biking at 9:52/mi avg

This was a great day. I was able to take BOTH kids out for a run on the greenway. Pushing a stroller and tailing my cyclist is the best. So grateful. 

Weekly Mileage: 11.2

Week-Ending Thoughts:

Grateful for the moments I get

Peachtree Week

Monday
Did: Peachtree Road Race

Tuesday

Did: 4mi walk

With sore legs from yesterday and not wanting to push myself into more post-exertional malaise/fatigue, I opted for an hour walk today instead of running.

Wednesday

Did: 4mi walk

Thursday

Did: 3mi walk

Friday

Did: 20min workout

After three days as SuperMom while my husband was holed up in the basement with some baaaaad GI bug, my body gave out this evening. Headache, fatigue, and some body aches... looks like I'm back relapse mode. 

Saturday

Did: laid on the couch, bed, etc. with sore throat, sniffles, and heavy fatigue

Sunday

Did: more fatigue, incredible headaches, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes

Weekly Mileage: 6.3

Week-Ending Thoughts:

So over this long COVID BS. :( 

Race Report: Peachtree 2022

Previous Distance PR: 0:47:53 (Flying Pig 2017)

Goals:

When I registered for Peachtree, I was hoping to use it as a way to get back in shape after spending July 2021 - January 2022 dealing with one health thing after another (a terrible few months of skin rash, RSV, sudden unilateral deafness, and a bunch of other random viruses from daycare, etc). I'd hoped for a sub-50, which would put me solidly in shape for a speedier fall training cycle. 

Getting COVID in April crippled any chance of that happening. Not only was I not able to run, but it took about two months before I could even function through my normal work/family day without extreme fatigue. Even a week before Peachtree, I was still modifying my workout routine and struggling to figure out what my body could (and couldn't) handle. 

I showed up at the start line with zero goals and zero plans. About ten minutes before the gun went off, I decided to do intervals, and hastily programmed my watch. I opted for 4min run/30s walk. While I'd wanted to "run the whole thing", the past few weeks of training showed me I had less of a chance of post-exertional malaise symptoms with walk breaks. 

My training partner asked me about what I was planning to run, and I shrugged off her question, but she eventually did get me to say I'd guess we'd average 9:15. 

Result: 57:34 (9:16/mi/avg) though that does include getting stopped for an ambulance on-course... 

Training: HA. The past twelve weeks have been about just existing. I've had just under half of the days this year affected by sickness/injury/illness. I've had exactly 3 runs close to a 10K distance, and averaged about 15-20mi a week (compared to a typical long run of 10-12 each week and ~35-40mi/week in a normal year). 

Race: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/9138291211

I felt surprisingly good for the first 5K of the race, and enjoyed it. I kept a solid pace for 14-15min/mi for the walk breaks, and was in a mid-8 for the runs. I finished the first 5K in 27:32 (8:51/mi avg) and loved it. After that, I knew my body probably couldn't/shouldn't continue that push, and opted to relax a bit on the runs (but kept the pace on the walks). Despite it being overcast, it was still HOT and HUMID. 

The second half of the course was more of a 9:40/mi pace, and the last mile was tough, but I was just so grateful to be able to be out here DOING IT. Back in May, I honestly didn't think I would be able to walk 6.2 mi today.... at ANY pace. 

Peachtree #10 in the books.

Reflections:

1 Week 'til Peachtree

 Week-Beginning Thoughts:

Based on last week, focusing on improving speed is NOT what I should be doing. This week will be focused on fitness, cross-training, and mild cardio. 

Monday
Planned: 30min core workout, one-arm lifting, 30min walk

Did: 20min lifting, 20min HIIT, 50 sit-ups

Tuesday

Planned: easyish 10K Tuesday

Did: as scheduled, 6.22mi @ 9:45/mi avg

Wednesday

Planned: 30-40min core/lifting or 3-4mi easy

Did: 20min lifting, 1hr walk

Thursday

Planned: 800m WU, 8x1min hard/1min easy, 800m CD

Did: 1mi WU, 10x1min hard/1min easy, 1mi CD = 4.85mi @ 9:09/mi avg

Not tapering for the race, I opted for a slightly longer workout today. No pace plans, just "go by feel". Evidently, my "feel" is a bit miscalibrated, because I wound up with "hard" paces around 7:00 and easy around 8:45-9:30/mi. 

Fortunately, no ill effects from this one. Perhaps this is the way for me to get a better time at Ptree, if I want to... 

Friday

Planned: 3mi easy

Did: 5.01mi @ 9:57/mi avg

Opted to run today and really enjoy the holiday weekend with family, including sleeping in and partaking in delicious coffee and breakfast moments. 

Saturday

Planned: 3-4mi easy

Did: rest

Sunday

Planned: walking and lifting

Did: bit of walking forPeachtree Junior and some light lifting

Weekly Mileage: 16.1

Week-Ending Thoughts:

Hoping for a good Peachtree tomorrow...