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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Bad Timing

When I was a kid, I missed countless holiday parties at school as a result of the fact that I'd get SO absurdly excited about them, I'd end up making myself ill. Ask Mama Irish. I missed more of them than I attended--Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Halloween--you name it, I was home sick. At the age of 10, I can remember being devastated about having to miss a soccer game because I was SO excited to finally face our rivals that I (again) got sick. Do we see a trend here?

I am signed up to run the Long Beach Half Marathon in New Jersey on Saturday. I have been looking forward to it for months. Unfortunately, my job tried to kill me last week, and I worked a horribly stressful and exhausting 13-hour day on Thursday followed by a 16-hour day on Friday. I also just so happened to come down with some sort of horrible sinus/chest illness right around that time. Coincidence? I think not. So maybe this time around my getting sick is not a direct result of my being so damned excited about this race, but still . . . it sucks.

I took Thursday and Friday off as rest days because--well, let's be honest--it's hard enough to fit in running when you're working 13 or 16 hours a day and feeling well. When you feel like crap? It's just not going to happen. Saturday, Wilson and I made it to the Run for the Wild 5K run/walk in the Bronx Zoo (full report to come). Then, on Sunday, I attempted a "long run", knowing full well that I might have to stop in the middle of it if I felt too crappy. Well, lo and behold, Wilson and I ended up cutting the run short at 7.5 miles (we'd originally set out to run 12). At that point, it was all I could do to hold even a 12:00/mile pace, and I knew it was just silly to push it, especially considering the record-setting heat.

So . . . yeah. I'm sick. And I haven't run much lately. And I have this half-marathon on Saturday. And I know that I have to come to terms with the fact that I might not be able to run said half-marathon if it's going to in any way harm my overall goal of training for and running a good race at Rock N Roll Seattle. Isn't that just the story of my life?

I promise I'll try to be more cheerful next post . . . but I really just needed to vent.

11 comments:

Lisa said...

I am so sorry! Try to take it easy for the rest of the week and get healthy-- don't even attempt to run at all. If you feel better on Saturday, run your race. Your fitness is already high enough that nothing you do this week will change that.

Healthy vibes coming to you!!!

Rachel said...

Ah that sucks!! I hope that you start to feel better soon!! It's no fun to end up sick before a race.

Anonymous said...

That's no good! Not being able to run will pass, but being that ill and having work-days from hell definitely don't sound like fun.

Get well soon and before you know it you'll be running halves and whole marathons and loving it.

The Laminator said...

Oh no, say it ain't so, Irish. I was looking forward to meeting up with you again after the race. I'm sad =( Is there a chance you could heal in time to still make it out? Rest up, okay...take care of yourself. If not this time, maybe we'll meet up again at Brooklyn Half?

Anonymous said...

Ugh, I hope you start feeling better!

I have a half this weekend that I'm also not so "ready" for. It might not be the best race ever....but I figure that had to happen eventually. Just to take it slow and enjoy it - thats a goal right now.

Rest might be what you need this weekend, but either way I hope your decision is the right one for *you* !

Being Robinson said...

UGH, bad timing, boo :( However I feel your pain, and I say if you feel better by Saturday, you go and do that sucker! Maybe they will be passing out bacon, and who in their right mind wants to miss THAT? FYI, after I passed up the bacon, not gonna lie, seriously considered going back... i mean really I had NOTHING to lose at that point...

Hope you get well SOON!

EmLit said...

Feel better! Take care this week, and if you're feeling up to it, then definitely go for the half. If not, then it's not the end of the world. That half is pretty uneventful, and you get tired of running on a flat surface for 13.1 miles! And it will still be there next year :) Your first priority right now should be getting the rest you need.

Lindsay said...

vent away! it is very frustrating to get sick or have an injury flare up right before a race. hopefully you will be able to recover a little (if not fully!) and still run the half. may not be your best showing, but could serve as a training run for rnr. 7.5 sounds pretty good to me for the first day back after the blah-ness! take it easy and feel better asap!

Spike said...

getting sick when work is being so demanding sucks. rest up and take care of yourself. never worry about cutting a run short when sick, its always the smart move. hopefully you can feel better and run this weekend. and, your story about being so excited about things that you have to miss them because you make yourself sick, is adorable and hilarious.

Nitmos said...

If the true goal is Seattle, then just try and relax and treat this Saturday as a training run. And breath in, breath out...and repeat.

Running and living said...

I had a severe head cold the entire week before the marathon, and it miraculosly went away when I woke up Monday to run the marathon. You have time to get better. Just take care of yourself, even take a day off from work to sleep it of if you have to, and hopefully you'll feel better for Saturday. It may not be a PR, considering you've been sick, but it may get you more used to racing prior to the marathon. I regret I did not race more before my marathon, I think one learns a lot while racing. Having said that, if you feel like crap on Saturday morning, I say sleep rather than run. Feel better:) Ana-Maria