Trifecta of Yuck

The common theme of the weekend was allergies. For some reason this weekend decided to hit like a shit storm of sniffles and I cannot breathe with a good side of my nose is so freaking raw from continual blowing. Despite medicine after medicine as I sit here and type right now, I still feel the ill effects of pollen overdose. It seems the initial bout of allergies is always the worst. Once I survive the first couple weeks it does get better, but it simply makes it miserable in the meantime. Alas, this weekend was not what I was hoping for in the grand scheme of things but I did survive.

Friday night probably because I was already changed into workout clothes and I really didn’t want to go home and eat, I did end up at the gym. What resulted was actually a pretty kick ass upper body strength training session. As predicted once I got into it, I was really feeling it and enjoying myself. I think it was the right decision for me to spend that time at the gym. I felt great honestly about the whole workout. My legs were still pretty thrashed up though from excessive sore.  I had hoped this would dissipate by Saturday morning for my 10k run. What ended up happening was my allergies kicked into high gear Friday night and I spent literally the entire evening tossing and turning, blowing my nose, getting up and going to the bathroom, trying to breathe. It was actually pretty awful all things considered. I got like 1.5 hours of sleep and then I woke up Saturday morning still sore on my lower body, allergies a blazing and then a complete lack of sleep.

I was grumpy and not really looking forward to running 6.2 miles. The fact that it was work to simply walk did not bode well for the run. As we stood in the starting corral I told Chris that if I had to walk, I was going to walk and that was just that. I would not risk actual injury by running on sore body parts for a measly unimportant 10k run.  But secretly I was hoping that running would actually loosen up my sore muscles, which it actually did. I started running and it kind of felt good. It was probably what my muscles needed. However, what they did NOT need was the allergies. I ran a good pace for like 4 miles and then the whole being outside for over an hour and running for almost 40 minutes, specifically thru grassy pollen ridden fields took their toll. I could not breathe, I was sneezing, the eyes. Yup, you get the picture. And of course suddenly I had to pee like the world would end if I didn’t get it out of me. Horrific factors all things combined. Not to mention tired. Exhausted really.  I pushed on.

Funny how some days running seems like the most horrific thing in the world. For the life of me the last 2 miles were like pulling teeth and I was NOT having fun. It was not enjoy, it was not worth it and I didn’t want to do it. I just wanted it over. As a general rule we know that I love running and get a high, but I think all of that was snuffed out by the allergies and exhaustion and fatigue.  Around mile 4 I actually felt my left hamstring and butt cheek hurt. I knew it was the sore pushed too far, so I started walking. I was not injuring myself. Too many factors lining up. The tri-fecta of yuck. Sore, lack of sleep and allergies. It was simply too much.  Oh, and the having to pee.  Around mile 5 or so there was a bank of porta potties and I actually stopped. Yup, I was close to being done, but I had to go so bad that I just decided I did not care any longer. Of course when I got into the porta potty and closed my eyes for just a second the salty sweat from above my brow slid down into my eyes and burned them. It was the exhaustion combined with salt in your eyes combined with allergies and they were stinging. This was new for me. I had tears practically streaming down my face.  Are we freaking done yet?

I rallied and pushed on threw at a slow pace for sure, to the finish line. So thankful just to be done. It was a nice course and I didn’t mind the scenery but all the factors were just not working my favor today.  I crossed the line at like 1 hour 12 minutes or so and was not impressed. In the end, it wasn’t God awful considering the walking and the potty break and the allergies but certainly not my best 10k, 6.2 mile time. Oh well. I was relived I had endured and I got my medal. 

The medal was nice. The post-race atmosphere was great. I had a yummy veggie burger and got to hang out at a ball park.  There was also a half running at the same time and for a split second we considered upgrading to run the half. I was THANKFUL it was only 6.2 miles and accepted that some days you just can’t give any more effort. 

It’s a weird phenomenon because I almost feel lame standing in the starting corrals with all these people running the half marathon when I have a 10k bib on. Like somehow I am lame. I feel the need to want to announce, I ran a half last weekend and I’m running a half next weekend and the weekend after so I felt like doing just a 10k today was enough. I really can run a full half. And then part of me is like, who the hell cares, geesh get a grip girl. Everyone has their own reasons for everything. Seriously.  And of course as I was walking part of the last 2 miles of that 10k, I was like, no way a half was occurring today. None.

Of course sometimes I think it’s entirely mental. When I go in knowing I am completing a half, 13.1 miles, I don’t allow myself to think about the difficulty or get tired after 4-6 miles.  When I am only running 6 miles, somehow being exhausted at 4 miles is acceptable. Interesting. You will always push to your limit, whatever you decide is the max.  Had I told myself I was running a half I am sure I would have somehow endured. But alas I am glad in the end for my 10k decision, even if the medal clearly looks like I ran a half marathon. Oh well, such is life.

Afterwards I was just exhausted and a little allergy ridden mess. We made our way home and pretty much ended up spending the afternoon hanging out on the couch. Sometimes this is the best possible thing for the day. I watched about 5 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer which were on TV. Um, hello, how much do I love me some Buffy? It’s been a long time but am never disappointed when I catch an episode. So good. Eventually we got up and went to the grocery store for some fresh vegetables for dinner. I was able to actually fall asleep Saturday night and get in a decent slumber.  Yesterday Chris went fishing and I got up, changed into my workout clothes and spent my morning cleaning up the house before I met Amanda at the gym at 11 AM for a workout.

I much prefer working out with my friend Amanda, next to her, than with my personal trainer Amanda who tells me what to do. There is actually a difference between friend Amanda and trainer Amanda which is odd. Not that trainer Amanda is bad, she is just more professional. Friend Amanda is just cool. We work out great together and it’s equal. We started with 15 minutes of the treadmill and then 30 minutes on the stair climber. She needed a cardio session before weights and I went with it. I haven’t been on the stair climber in forever and had forgotten how brutal it is. I was dripping sweat from head to toe on that thing. 30 minutes feels like FOREVER.

Then we moved onto chest and biceps. Lots of heavy reps, lots of good stuff. My chest is a little sore today as a result and this sore I love. Not the so sore I can’t freaking move, just a general sore like I worked it. There is a difference. Finally today as I woke, I feel semi normal in my legs. Like I might be able to actually walk decent again. It only took almost a week. After our workout we got lunch and just chatted for a while, it was nice to have girl time, girl talk.  Great afternoon, although the allergies were in full force yet again.

I came home and immediately showered hoping to get some of the pollen and outside mixed with the sweat off of me. It did help some. I then finished some cleaning crap and then watched some TV. Nice lazy times. Chris came home and we ended up snuggling on the couch while we watched 2 episodes of Full House and then 2 episodes of Friends. It was what was on TV. Sometimes the TV channel gets left on something and you turn it on and despite not really thinking you wanted to watch an episode of Full House, you find yourself in awe of the horrible ness of the clothes, the predictability of the events and of course the nostalgia that it brings on from your childhood.

Eventually we watched the Miss USA pageant and fell asleep on the couch. I awoke some time later and realized we were both snoozing on the couch with Molly in between us of course, so I made the official call to turn off the TV and head to bed for real.  It was overall a good weekend. Sometimes you just need some nice lazy do nothing times. Of course mixed in between running a 10k, and working out for like 2 hours with your trainer.

So now onto a fresh week.  Tonight I’ve got a ½ hour butts and guts class I might actually be able to do now that I can sit down without cringing. And then I have an hour of Iron Power strength training class tonight. Fun times.   This weekend is a 5k and then a half marathon on Sunday. But one I am looking forward to. I know I am running a half so I won’t fry out my legs to the point of not being able to walk. That should help some things out.  It’s almost lunch time so I’ve got to finish this up and head out to run some errands. Hope everyone survives their Monday’s!