slacking, or not

I guess maintaining the food log and this one is too much!

Anyway, Tuesday, no run, just dragonboating. And then I ended up getting really hungry around 9 pm and there was KFC in the house.
It might not have chicken, but it has other things such as spices, flour, and goodness knows what else. I stayed up most of the night feeling hot and crampy. I had an exam the next morning and barely made it on time...I wasn't nervous about the exam at all, until I started to worry about being late.

I wasn't sure how speedwork would go on Wednesday, after a morning like that, without much of a breakfast or lunch. My husband decided to run with the dog around 4:30 so I tagged along. I needed a pitstop, but surprisingly I felt ok after jogging really slowly for a bit. We ran about 7.3 miles total, and then I ran to run club to attempt the intervals. They were 1500s. The first one I had to cut short--I had to go to the bathroom again and there was one across the street around 1200ish metres. I didn't feel so great, but it was a simple matter to jog to the other end of the 1500M stretch and try again. And again, and again. I was on my own within the group, but that was fine. I was very happy with my pace, especially considering that I'd already run ten miles by the time I got to the intervals: .81 @ 7:26/mile), then @ 7:34, 7:17, 7:29. The out and back is slightly faster going out, due to a downhill, so I was a bit more consistent than my paces indicate.

The weird thing was, once I'd gotten all that KFC or whatever out of my system, I started to feel euphoric. I found more energy. The intervals were tough, but jogging around felt great.

I think I will run around for a while until tackling intervals next week too. My 1/2 marathon is 3 weeks away and while I could use some VO2 max workouts and it doesn't seem to take much to sharpen up (I think it has made me peak early in the past, lol), the intervals next week, 1 mile, are too long for VO2 max workouts anyway, and I think I need to get used to the feeling of moving faster while tired. I did faster stuff earlier this summer, but maybe Friday evenings I can do some more 1K repeats or whereabouts to get tightened up.

At any rate, my combo run on Wednesday was over 15 miles and I paid for it: another ear infection on Thursday, though this time I could swallow liquids. I jogged 2 very stiff miles with the dog, and 4 on Friday--I'd hoped to do some speedwork that evening, but I was too stiff.

I also started eating wheat again on Friday for diagnostic purposes. So far, more bloat and poop again, and I got and lost my period within a day which is weird, but I'm still feeling alright. Still, I'd rather not eat wheat for much longer--it would be great to have this added energy for the last two weeks prior to the Army Run. I don't have any other planned races this fall so anything will be cool after that. At any rate, I'll go see my nurse practitioner soon, food log in hand, and then we can discuss the next step.

Saturday was absolutely miserable...it was a dragonboat festival, which should have been fun, but it was 11C, pouring rain and windy the whole 6.5-7 hours we were out. I got soaked. I was so cold. I don't do well waiting around in wet clothes--I tend to lose heat pretty efficiently, which is great when it's 30C but not so much in colder conditions. It was sweat for a few minutes, wait for an hour, X4. I had extra clothes, and I changed a couple of times, but I should have bought more clothes for the races because, as nice as it felt to change into dry clothes between races, it really sucked to change back into cold wet clothes for the races, so after the first time, I didn't bother. I was racing in a tank top to minimize soaking and maximize flexibility, but by the time the last race rolled by, I kept my two layers and raincoat on.

Fortunately, someone brought wool blankets so I didn't shiver much. My arrythmia started to play up near the end, which was a bit uncomfortable, but once I got home and warmed up, the main symptom was appetite. I was starving. We had some goose fat pate and that stuff was perfect. I ate most of the jar, among other things. Then I slept for a few hours, then we went out for supper, then I slept again. I got a lot of sleep.

Sunday, I wasn't sure what was going to happen except that I wanted to catch up with Gaz #1. We arranged to meet up at 8:00 am and, thank goodness, our paces matched. I wasn't sure if I'd be crawling along at 11+/mile, but fortunately I had enough energy to keep up. After nine-ish miles of going by the canal and around the farm, we parted ways and I decided to go home and see if my husband was up for a run. Going home brought it to ten miles. He felt pretty rough (he had been dragonboating/soaking in miserable Hurricane Bill remnants too), maybe good for a few miles. I was hoping to make this my longest run, 16ish miles, so I figured that I might have to run a few on my own afterwards.

Well, the man loosened up and we ran back along the Canal, back to the farm, back along the farm---this is really trippy because I've never run in the farm apart from winter, and today I spent umpteen miles in there, running by cows, corn, running on grass, etc. THe only time I've run through there was during the Hypothermic 1/2s in the dead of winter--it was so bizarre to see all that green and growth in there.

Finally, I pulled the plug at 19.34 miles, or a nice round mile for my husband and dog. I thought about stretching to twenty, but 19ish seemed long enough. I'm very happy with it, and quite tired. I'm not really sure what my long run will be next week--I might try a shorter one with some faster miles at the end. Will see.

Sunday-Monday

Six days on the no-flour diet so far and it's already a big difference! I'm kind of dreading eating wheat again (for diagnostic purposes), but I guess I will use the opportunity to gorge on zatar pita and baklava and those Thai sesame doughnut or whatever things (not that I'm sure there's wheat in those, lol)...this is the sort of stuff I'm missing. It hasn't been that hard to pass up rolls, pies, battered fish, etc, but walking by my favourite ethnic snacks kind of sucks.

However, for the last two days, my guts have been behaving almost normally. It's less painful, less fatiguing, and easier to get out the house in a timely fashion.

I gave things a little whirl yesterday, Sunday evening. I had walked a fair bit earlier in the day sightseeing with guests and was a little cranky due to the heat and a pack of morons who left their dog in a locked car in full sun for "only fifteen minutes." So after giving the humane society investigations office their licence plate number, I had a bit of a rest and then set out on my run.

It was still hot when I started, around 6, humidex 30ishC, but plenty of shade. Drank a little too much Vega before setting out and sort of puke-burped a couple of times, but then everything settled down and I was able to get into a rhythm. I felt a little hot and there was a bit of arrythmia, but for the most part, I was in a zone. I ran 14 miles in 2:16. Considering that my usual cruising pace for just a few miles has been about a minute slower per mile, I'm pretty happy with that. It's my longest run since the Ottawa Marathon--not to mention that I probably ran longer without walking breaks yesterday. LOL

This morning, the dog and I jogged 3 miles. My legs were sore, but in the normal day-after-tough-workout way. They weren't freakishly heavy like they have been, plus I was still moving a touch faster than what has been usual. I wasn't trying to push myself, I just had more energy.

It's very encouraging--I'm happy about running, but I'm especially happy about having more energy in general and the possibility of resuming normal hours--hopefully!--without worrying about where the nearest toilet is. Emotionally, too, I feel less cranky already. I have been uncharacteristically angry since leaving Asia four years ago, and it's been a while that I've been puzzling over it. Yeah, I've been through a bit, umpteen moves, a couple of dumpy places, the greencard stuff, my husband's deployments, but it's like I've been a different, more negative person. My husband and I have been discussing it, putting the pieces together--ie, why was I happily eating spicy tex-mex in 37C heat for a week, and then I get to NY and it's game over? Why did I have so much energy back in Asia? Ground pepper is definitely not kind, but the more I've discussed and thought about it, the more wheat seems to be a culprit too. It's weird; I've long missed being in Asia, but I've had no idea that part of what I was missing was healthy intestinal function.

It's still too early to tell for certain, but it's encouraging. Maybe I can even stop taking iron pills. who knows?

Saturday

I didn't run yesterday after all. Too busy.
Today, I managed to get out, albeit at the hottest part of the day. I'd hoped to do 2X 2 miles tempo, but I was tired and hot, so I just did 2 miles, 7:49, 7:52. Considering how crappy yesterday was, I'm happy with that. Five miles total. I'd hoped to have more miles under my belt this week, but between this gut thing and having guests, it just didn't happen.

I have now been on a gluten-free diet for 4 days...it's amazing how hard it is to avoid flour. I haven't felt much of a difference yet, but a full recovery apparently takes time. The biggest difference is that I seem to be sleeping better and my dreams are more vivid. The real test will be how I feel when I add wheat back to my diet. At any rate, it's been surprisingly easy not to be tempted by pastries and so forth--they're tasty, but I hate the symptoms and if all it takes to avoid feeling them is to avoid eating certain things, I can't complain.

Thurs-Fri

Thursday, no run. Dragonboating instead. It was fun. Then we went out to eat at an Italian place. I was faithful to my gluten-free experiment and though garlic bread and pasta were ever so beguiling, I didn't find it too hard to abstain. Unfortunately, despite my inquiries about the house salad dressing, I might not have managed to completely avoid ground pepper. I didn't taste any, and didn't see any, but there still might have been a stray flake or two among the oregano and so forth, or maybe the oregano and so forth isn't kind either. I'm not really sure.

Except that this morning has been a somewhat violent gut day. I woke up, felt fine, then bam. Finally, things were secure enough to head out--I felt a bit nauseated, but the fresh air helped. Then it came time to run. My legs felt worse than they have all week, sore yet not quite connected with me. I jogged a half block, my breathing was heavy though I was just mildly shuffling along, and my innards started to protest. So I canned the run. We had an easy walk instead. The dog didn't seem to mind.

Hopefully I can get out this afternoon or evening, will see. We have company over for the weekend, but maybe I can duck out.

Wednesday

Day 1 of gluten/ground pepper-free experiment. lol
Fortunately, I like eating rice for breakfast (and lunch and dinner)...we cooked up a bunch of megadarra and put chickpeas in it too for added protein. Cheapest meal ever. Probably cost about $5 total to make and I think we've gotten about eight servings out of it already.

I ran with my husband last night, 4.75 miles. My legs still felt dull but, despite the heat, I felt a little fresher. My husband picked up the pace to sub 9/mile, which used to be in my easy cruising range. It felt good mechanically, but was tiring in other ways. Oh, well! The humidex was above 30.

This morning, the dog and I jogged three miles. It was slightly cooler and drier than it has been, and my limbs weren't worse than usual, but we still took a break in the middle for water and his business. I can't wait for conditions to improve, temp and healthwise, and location-wise, too. We are moving closer to one of the paths, just a short walk away. No lights separating us from it, either, just a crosswalk and stop signs for the cars. They will have to stop for us. We won't have to wait, they will. They will have to wait for us. The tables have turned. This will go to my head!


Edit/evening update: approx 8.8 miles. 3.4ish with Matt and the dog then to run club, 4X 1000K and then home. My legs are still weird so I was debating going, but then figured that I might as well see where I am.

4:19
4:16
4:17
4:27

I felt mechanically good for the first three, albeit with uncomfortable guts, surprise! lol. It was kind of an odd sensation, having heavy legs but managing to align everything in an efficient manner.

Unfortunately, I couldn't tap into the same sensation for the fourth repeat. Things just weren't together. Maybe I was getting too hot--definitely, I was getting tired. Still, I'm really happy with the workout--I was hoping for 4:30/K, and was prepared to accept up to 5:00. Maybe I'm on the mend!

In the Slough of Despond

Not quite, but I'm still in a sort of physical slough of some sort, filled with a viscous substance.

How to sum up...I'm still jogging every day, usually early in the morning with the dog. And I'm still slow and stiff. Yes, it's hot, but I feel worse than I did while jogging in Florida, where it was hotter.

Thursday: 0, dragonboating
Friday, 3, saw a skunk. !!!
Saturday, 6.32, actually the best run I had in a while, despite the heat. I was jogging approx 9:30/mile and my legs actually felt fine. Then we went to the St.Albert Curd festival where I ate all sorts of stuff and paid for it.
Sunday, 3, hot, heavy.
Monday 8. Still stiff. It was supposed to be my long run (guess it was), and I was going to return the dog midway and continue on my own. However, we were caught in a rainshower, and were cooled off sufficiently to extend the run. It was an especially bad gut day, necessitating a stop at the arboretum loo, but things were consistently stiff and didn't get stiffer, so I sort of got used to it. And then the sun came out and it was hot and miserable and I'd already been running for 1:30ish by that point (yes, slower than normal) on tired legs so I figured that was good enough.
Tues 4. Hot, heavy...

My nurse practitioner asked me keep track of what I eat, to figure out if there's an allergy. I don't seem to handle ground pepper well, or wheat sometimes, but this way we'll have a clearer picture of what's going on. It's weird eating things while knowing that I'll have to immortalize them in black and white.

Less of a sauna, less of a slog

I think I might be recovering. The dog and I jogged 6 miles this morning and it was still a slog but less so than yesterday. That was encouraging, and I enjoyed the run (until traffic picked up--we'd started late, just before 7, so it was starting to get busy by the end), BUT I'm really tired of feeling like a ton of bricks. I'm supposed to see my nurse practitioner next week for a couple of follow-ups, and I'll be discussing this with her, but I have to look at the possible causes:

1. IBS--it's still not quite under control, so I still might not be getting enough nutrients. I'm trying to eat sensibly; also, I've decided that if I run more than an hour and/or do strength exercises in the morning, I'm going to eat eggs for breakfast. Maybe that will help. I had tons of energy in Florida and I was eating eggs for breakfast after tougher workouts. I don't particularly like eggs (or usually any solid food after running, lol) but maybe that's what I need.

2. Low iron. I've been taking supplements but maybe they're not enough, or I need to eat more seaweed or vegetable sources of iron. I'm not a vegetarian but recently I've found that meat has been unappetizing, along with other things. That's another symptom of IBS: I lose my appetite.

3. Low sleep. I haven't been sleeping well but this will get better. We're going to move in a few weeks.

4. Temperature/humidity. I'd almost rather it was 30C and super dry than 20C and humid. It's been very clammy here...it's like on the verge of raining but it never breaks. This I find tiring.

5. Hormonal. Possibly. I've been on a better BC med these past few months, but this sort of thing seems to be draining no matter what.

6. Heart. Maybe. I never get episodes while running, but afterwards I feel tired. My heart is ok, I think; it's more of a case of my body resisting a heightened effort, refusing to recruit as much muscle fibre. I just have to accept this for the time being. AFter a couple of months or so, I will have the cath ablation and things will be better.

7. Stress. yes, maybe, but this will improve as things get settled. Just takes a bit of time!

Oh, it all sounds so terribly depressing! But it could be worse. I have to be patient. It's kind of sucky feeling like a sack of shit all the time, but at least I'm still getting out there. I hope I'm being sensible about it.

In the sauna

Or the steam room.

It was under 20C when I ran this morning but 99.9999% humidity. I didn't notice it at first, and then I looked at my Garmin and saw 11:XX/mile. Fine. I'd run 12.61 miles yesterday and today was a recovery day. It didn't matter how slow I went.

And then I started really sweating. I was hardly moving, hardly breathing hard, but, man, I was dripping.

At first, my forehead started getting itchy--the sweat was getting trapped under my hat. Then I could feel the sweat rolling off my face. And then I noticed that my clothes were really damp.

I'm fortunate, I didn't chafe!


Yesterday's run was much better. I ran aroudn for two hours exactly...I didn't feel good at the start, so went pretty slowly, and then gradually picked it up. It was good to get that run in. I would like to go up to 2:30 before the Army 1/2, along with concentrating on tempo runs. That will probably set me up best for it, I think, with a bit of faster speedwork too, but primarily long runs and tempo runs/intervals. Hence I ran a fair bit yesterday and today is no longer a speed/strength day. I guess I'll do speedwork and squats/etc on Wed and Fri. I have to get used to the longer runs again--even just two hours tired me out too much to do strength exercises afterwards.

Thurs-Fri-Sat

Thurs--I did run to dragonboating, 3.3ish miles, I think...I was pretty stiff. Fortunately, my ear thing started to subside in the afternoon, so I was able to eat starting around 5pm--most importantly, before dragonboating.

Fri--my husband and I had a very sluggish 3.5ish mile run. Strangely enough, we're in the same sort of condition: poor. LOL

Sat--my husband and I had a slightly better run, which we stretched out to 6.5 miles. Unfortunately, he didn't loosen up as much as I did: after about three miles, it started to feel 'normal'. My legs stopped feeling like I'd run 3 hours already. I guess that's the best way to sum up how my runs have recently been: all 100% after the wall.

I chalk it up to better sleep and a really good meal on Friday. We went to l'Atelier, which is a contemporary/molecular cuisine sort of place which offers a 12-course tasting menu of various unique dishes including stuff with beer froth and dehydrated olives and truffle chocolates with bacon on top. It was expensive but worth it--I've been looking forward to going there for nearly a year, and it lived up to my expectations, especially since they were so accomodating about my ground pepper issues. I savoured that meal knowing that I would actually digest it, unlike most of the meals I've eaten out this past month: "Oh, so there IS pepper in the salad dressing/fries seasoning/seafood salad/sauce/etc/etc...oops". My husband was blown away at well. Basically, we sat and nibbled for three and a half hours and waddled home and crashed. It was the best thing for me, I think!

So maybe the worst is over!

I'm hungry but can't eat because of an ear infection (!!!)

I'm starving! I hope my ear gets better soon.

Anyway, I jogged 2.5 miles with the dog on Tues, and then 6.5 miles with him on Wednesday morning. Wednesday evening was my return to the run club and speedwork with other people. I wasn't feeling 100% and the results showed. It was a ladder workout and I ended up cutting it short.

Strangely enough, the last time I did 800-1200-1600-1200-800, or tried to, the same thing happened! That was in January. I think my problem is starting the first 800M way too fast. It doesn't seem to be a problem with 800-1000-1200-1000-800 though. I started to do resistance exercises but things were already too sore so I quit. Total 14.28 or whatever miles. I didn't expect it to be that much; it's a bit of a jump compared to my paltry mileage of July.

At any rate, I feel pretty worn out. Guts still aren't under control, and I am not sleeping as well or as much as I would like. Plus, I'm presently getting used to a new schedule which will fortunately not shift much for a while--once I'm used to it, it'll be a lot better, but right now I'm tired! lol

And I have this ear infection...I think swallowing is getting a little bit easier, but I've been working on the same glass of cranberry juice and the same banana for 2+ hours and have only managed halfway so far, tiny little bits at a time.

I'm not sure I'll run today--I elected to sleep in a bit because I was feeling sniffly too, but that's gone away. I have dragonboating this evening and might jog to or from there or both, or neither. Will see.

I'm really back!

The wedding was fun, and it would take way too much space to fully describe it. Thank goodness my cousin had rented a bus to take us around.

I still got a run in up north, though, about 4.5 miles. We were staying near Moonbeam, where there is a fun network of trails, some paved, some nearly indistinguishable from the equally as impressive skidoo trail network. Those trails are really close to my heart. I was there when they were still working on the trails, umpteen years ago--I can't remember if I was into running then, if it was before that, or after that and I was too injured to run. At any rate, I biked all over the trails as they were being carved out, sometimes in soft rutted dirt with stacks of conifers laying to the side. It was pretty neat. I usually met the foreman somewhere or other each day, and he'd make recommendations and ask for input.

Unfortunately, I'd also met a bear on one of these trails once and I've been sort of jumpy ever since.

I've never met the alien mascot on the trails, though....

I was looking forward to running with my husband on the trails this weekend, but his shorts got mislaid. I was on my own.

I could have run for longer but after about a 1/2 hour alone in the forest, singing on the exhale to give those bears a heads up, I was tired of concentrating (and fretting). It was tempting to go further but I turned onto a road and stuck closer to civilization. A pity in a way, because that forest smells far better than any other I know of, a combo of pine and sumac and flowers, I guess. The smell alone is worth staying out for a while, plus the views are quite lovely. Some bits are kind of boring, but others are really pretty.

At any rate, we came back on Sunday and I ran 6ish miles. Just a jog. It was late in the evening, nice and cool and perfect for smashing bugs against my face.

Early this morning, I ran 7ish miles, an aborted tempo run. My legs were too stiff from short sleep a few nights in a row. I don't remember the last time I got more than six hours, what with all this travelling! I hope to sleep lots tonight. Still,I got through resistance exercises, and then this evening, I jogged 3.4 miles with my husband and the dog. That was fun and relaxing, and I think it did me good.

I have tons of real life things to sort out, like finding a new place for us, moving, unpacking, getting caught up with school and getting through exams, getting a new job (I might be postponing that until after the operation, but I might go the temp route, but I have to get through a chunk of school first because I'm so far behind....) I'm dreading all of it, to be honest, but it's sure nice to get back into a routine.