Category Archives: sick

More Treadmilling

04mi, 06mi, sick, treadmill

Start time: 1/28/2014
Location: WSC Silver Spring
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 9:38min/mile
Total Miles For January: 52 miles
Total Miles For 2014: 52 miles
Current Shoes: 118 miles

Start time: 1/30/2014, 6:00am
Location: WSC Clarendon
Distance: 6.24 miles
Average pace: 9:37min/mile
Total Miles For January: 58 miles
Total Miles For 2014: 58 miles
Current Shoes: 124 miles

Had some awful stomach issues this week, so Tuesday ran just 4 miles to make sure everything was ok. (It was, phew.) Thursday went back up to the normal distance, also with no issues. Am now on Prilosec that should hopefully let everything heal back up.

Veteran’s Day 10K

06mi, 10k, race, sick

Start time: 11/10/2013, 8:00am
Location: Hains Point
Distance: 6.2 miles
Finishing Time: 55:24
Average pace: 8:55min/mile
Total Miles For November: 26 miles
Total Miles For 2013: 668 miles
Current Shoes: 262 miles

I ran the Veteran’s Day 10K this morning… with a bit of a chest cold. Hindsight being 20/20, not the smartest thing I’ve done. The weather was great, though, and the course is flat flat flat. I didn’t feel too bad during the race, but considering I was only about 4 seconds faster than my last 10K that was all-hills earlier this year, I think it was safe to say that I was feeling the results of the chest cold even before I finished.

(Since then, I’ve been coughing a bunch. Yuck.)

Still, all things considered, not too bad. A little crowded at times, but nothing to complain about. Considerate runners, cool temperatures (I didn’t need the insulating layer after all, ah well), and I maintained a very steady pace until the last 1.2 miles where I was even able to pick up a tiny bit of speed. So I’m taking it as a victory. Yay! And hey, unlike the other time that I tried to run a race while sick, I actually finished this one. So there we go.

Cold + humidity = lightheaded

0, 12mi, sick

Start time: 10/3/09, 6:15am
Location: East Potomac Park, Hains Point, Mt. Vernon Trail, M Street, Independence Ave
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 9:53min/mile
Total Miles For October: 12 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 629 miles

Oof! Originally I had a 20-miler scheduled for this weekend, but I knew that just wasn’t going to be an option after several weeks off. The plan is to hit two 12-milers instead, but a new wrinkle showed up in the form of a cold. Most of my running group is hitting the Army 10-miler tomorrow, so just Dave and I headed out for an early 12-miler (he’s got training the rest of the day). I’m glad Dave was there, he gave me the push I needed or I might’ve just wimped out. That said, between having a cold and the thick humidity, I was glad for the walk breaks because I felt a little light-headed at times. (Don’t worry, if that happened I gave myself extra recovery time.) From the neck down I felt great and ready for more, but my head just said otherwise. Still, I’m pleased. (I am also wondering if mile 8 was really that much more than the rest or if something glitched. Ah well!)

We’ll see if I hit another 12 tomorrow; it’ll depend on how I’m feeling. If not, I’ll turn next week’s 16-miler into a 20-miler. Since my race is a week later than the schedule I’m using is for, I’m ok with that too.

(9:52, 9:49, 9:44, 9:57, 9:43, 9:32, 9:41, 10:45, 10:05, 10:13, 9:34, 9:37)

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3235744

Cherry Blossom 5-miler

0, 05mi, dnf, race, sick

Start Time: 4/6/08, 7:50am
Location: East Potomac Park, mostly
Distance: 5 miles
Average Pace: 8:58min/mile
Total Miles For April: 5 miles

Bleah. This was an important lesson—when to not run a race. I was still feeling a little cruddy from the National Half Marathon eight days earlier, and when I woke up it was cold and raining on and off. With 20/20 hindsight, I should have just stayed home and scratched the race. But my pride got the better of me, and suddenly I was on the last possible train downtown to get to the start on time. Now, at that point what I should have done was just run the 5K instead, I think I might’ve enjoyed that a lot more. But instead I hopped into my corral right as the one in front of it was starting, and headed off into the crappy weather.

Well, how I felt matched the weather quite nicely. Within a mile I was regretting running. Within two miles I began to seriously wonder why I was there. And at mile three I was trying to remember when the course swung near the start again, so that I could quit. This was the first time I’d ever quit a race and gotten the dreaded DNF (did not finish). And I won’t lie, at the time I was utterly destroyed by it. I felt horrible, and down, and just… yeah, really really bad. Looking back on it now, the fact that I was in fact in the middle of a full-blown cold (and not just allergies like I’d thought) certainly wasn’t helping matters. But it was absolutely the right thing to do. The fact that about five minutes after I quit, it started raining again? A bit of vindication.

So, my first and hopefully last DNF. Next time? If it comes down to that I hope I was smart enough to not even start. (8:49, 8:44, 8:42, 9:02, 9:34)