Analyze This

I came down with something -- assuming it's viral -- this past weekend. I started to notice it on Saturday, though at the time I thought it was due to my hard run. I realized on Sunday that it was a flu-like congestion in my lungs and welcomed the rest day. On Monday, I stayed home from work because it was lingering; plus, I had done myself no favor by not getting enough sleep Saturday and Sunday night.

But overall, it wasn't that bad and I figured it would lift by Tuesday.

I did feel better come Tuesday, but it was still clogging up my lungs. Nevertheless, I felt the need to run so when I took Quin to Mr. Benjamin's cotillion class last night, I decided to spend the hour while he was there doing a refresher jog through the Alliant U. campus next door and around Marshall Middle School. I didn't go fast at all. I just wanted to stretch my legs. I gotta say, it felt good. I felt like I could run for hours. I felt no distress, either in my lungs or in my legs. I convinced myself that I could get back on my running schedule.

But today, I had a terrible outing. I chose the Lusardi Creek 9.5 mile route that I'd done before. It was mid-morning, cool weather and I felt good. I felt good, that is, until I got to around 2.5 or 3 miles. It was around the 20-25 minute mark, and a wave of exhaustion just came over me. I was wearing my heart rate monitor and even though I was keeping the pace slow and not attacking any hills, my HR was well above 90%. I couldn't figure it out. I kept trying to slow more, but the only way I could finally get my HR to settle was to walk. So I did.

It was very disappointing. I had felt like Superman just last night, and now here I was struggling. I ran/walked the long hill to around 4 miles. I was able to grab a drink from a water fountain at a park, I gave myself a 5-minute break and let my heart rate recovery to under 90. I set off again and felt good. Downhill for 2 miles and then pretty flat.

Yet again, right around 3 miles and 25 minutes, it started all over: heavy ventilation and HR increase. I felt thirsty again, but was still about 3-4 miles from my car with no known watering spots until then. I'd gone about 6.5 miles and it had taken me an hour. I imagined myself to be like an overheating engine, so I didn't press. I took walking breaks every 5 minutes or so just to get myself through it. I wound up finishing with a 10-minute per mile pace. I can't run that slow, but I can average that pace if I incorporate walking.

I made it, but it wasn't pretty. Now, later in the day, I'm sleepy and I have a headache. It doesn't feel like I'm congested, though my sinuses will drain at random times.

What I think happened is this, though I could be wrong:

1. My aerobic capacity is reduced due to the flu. I probably still have a little bit of bronchial infection happening, which probably makes it seem to my body like I was running at altitude. Maybe not 5000' or higher, but a couple of thousand feet higher than the sea level I'm used to. That could be an explanation for why my heart rate was elevated.

2. I'm also pretty sure I made the same mistake I have in the past by not hydrating properly. Looking back, I think I started out with a water deficit and I only put myself further behind once I'd gotten 20-30 minutes into it. The water break helped but was only temporary. I needed to have more water before and during the run. Even though I've been drinking regularly since, I'm pretty sure the dehydration is where the headache is coming from. That's been a reoccurring symptom of when I know I've fallen short of my water intake.

3. I had a 3rd factor in mind too, but as I type this, I've forgotten what it was. I'll leave this here and come back and edit it later when I remember. Oh yeah. Now I remember. Portions of the trail were muddy; especially the low lying spots before the hills. I didn't realize it for awhile, but the muck was sticking to my shoes and adding weight to my already weary legs. I thought I was just bogging down internally, but the added weight was definitely a factor. It was frustrating because there was little I could do to avoid it and the clay-like mud wouldn't just knock off my shoes. It didn't help matters at all.

So that's that. I'm not sure if should lay off for another day or two and chalk this week up to illness recovery. I could still salvage the week if I press ahead, but if I rest tomorrow too -- there's no way I'll make the mileage I had planned and will have to reevaluate my long run plans this upcoming weekend.

Mark this day down as a bad one. If I have another bad outing this week, I'll need to respond. For now, I'm just going to assume that's it the lingering affects of being sick, not enough water, and...something else heavy mud-laden feet.