Tired…

When you train for a big race, unless you are a professional runner, you know life will get in the way, so you go into it just hoping for the best. A couple weeks ago I was on a roll, getting faster and faster. I seem to have stalled a little. Now nothing terrible is going on…..it’s just all the usual, plus the Owl. Let’s see….Owl was still sick all weekend. His lab results finally came in, confirming he has a urinary tract infection. I almost cried to think he went all weekend long in pain, before the results came in. Now he is on antibiotics, and he is starting to return to being the baby who never stops smiling. But, he was glued to me all weekend. I was so worn out by Sunday night, when I finally got him to bed, I had one of my periodic Owl breakdowns. To top it off, both Mike and I seem to be fighting off the virus everyone seems to have right now. Mike has it more than I do, but I’ve been hit with intermittent bouts of aches and chills. Chomping lots of tylenol is keeping things at bay, but on the last 2 morning’s tempo runs, I was pushing as hard as I could, and coming up waaaaay short. I knew I had been knocked down a notch. Then there is just the regular old rat race….early meetings at work, errands to run after work, trying not to fall asleep while at work. Everything seems to have added up to just making me tired. Coffee and adrenaline have kept me going a long time, and now I wonder if the buzz is wearing off. But these things happen. I am hopeful the little slow down is temporary and in another few days I’ll have my energy back. Today was already better than yesterday, but still not normal. Hopefully this weekend’s 20 miler will go off without a hitch.

Still, I am thankful I am up to this point. Sometimes it seems like a long time ago I was meeting Meredith to power walk around Mueller since I wasn’t running yet. Sometimes it seems like it was just a short time ago I was home with a new baby taking my daily walk. There was a time 20 miles didn’t seem possible. Now I don’t know how I ever ran a 50 miler or a 100K. That seems so far.

I forgot to mention on my last post I tried a high protein recovery smoothie. As soon as possible after the run, I made myself a smoothie with plain greek yogurt, a banana, a little juice and a handful of berries. Maybe it is the placebo effect, but I swear I felt much better the rest of the day than I did for the previous weekend’s 18 miler. I’ve read a lot in different places about how much a recovery protein drink or meal can help, and just getting calories ASAP. I felt good enough throughout the day that I am going to do it again. Any little burst of energy, placebo or not is welcome when you have a little Owl to entertain all day.