cross-training; 8K; relapsing?

I am trying to recover and feel better, and unsure of how to proceed.

Thursday: took it easy with 30 min on the elliptical. Oddly, I felt good and did about 4.35 miles in 30 minutes; on this elliptical that is a bit above average for me. Ave HR was 139, so I wasn't pushing too hard. Garmin data here. 

Friday: 1 hr spinning class, but again took it pretty easy and watched my heart rate so I wouldn't push too hard. Kept it mostly between 130 and 145, with a little between 145 and 150. Average was 139. Garmin data here. 

Today: Coach said I could try to RW today and see how it went, and he said to go as I felt I could. I had in my head to do 10K, my legs thought 6K would be good, and so we compromised with 8K. My legs had some of the weird soreness in the last km, and after I RW I took my son to his futsal (indoor soccer) game and then to breakfast. I really noticed the soreness while sitting at the game and at breakfast. It's not the worst it's been, but definitely there.

On the positive side, I was very glad to be able to racewalk, and did 8K in 51:18 for 6:25/km with ave HR 150. OK, all things considered. I guess.

Garmin data here. 

***

Random thoughts.

What to do? Apparently I need to manage my problem as a chronic illness. This is the message I'm getting from my husband and also from my coach. I really wish I could figure out what was wrong, but I just do not know. Sometimes "why?" questions are just not helpful. At this point I feel I need to focus on what I can do, be grateful for the little things and thankful that the fatigue is not as severe as it was. It's hard to maintain a good attitude, but the alternative is not helpful.

I need to narrow my focus as well. My eating has been out of control lately, and since I can't exercise as much as I want, it's been more of a problem. I also haven't been attending my Weight Watchers meetings. Hmmmm, not smart. I've had good excuses (out of town, watching a friends' kids, etc.), but obviously I'm not focused on the right things right now. I can't train like I want, and so there's not a lot of point investing a huge amount of energy, both mental and physical, in training. It makes more sense at this point to train as much as my body allows, which isn't much at the moment, and spend more energy on my eating habits and the psychological habits that will help me feel better and treat my body better. I've been reading a book on parenting that suggests that choosing two things at a time to work on with your kids is a good idea (i.e. getting them to do just two behaviors that are desirable), and I think that is a reasonable principle for adults as well. So for right now, one behavior for me to work on is weight management via eating habits/psych habits. Along with that, another useful behavior is good sleep hygiene vis a vis less Facebook and more reading. This feels right as I consider it.

Any input from my few remaining readers is welcome :). I know now that my coach, my mom (who's out of the country and therefore not reading it right now), Nyle, and Ollie still read this.

As for the future, I'd still like to do a half marathon in March. I don't know if that will be possible. I hope so, but I'm not sure, so I am not signing up for it yet. I did already sign up for a half marathon in April, so we'll see how that goes. In two weeks I have a 1-hour postal, which seems ludicrous right now, but if I feel better I think it could go OK. I was in reasonable shape before all this happened (again).

Our family is trying to budget to go to World Masters in Perth in 2016, but it's going to be very expensive, and if I'm not feeling better then it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Sad, but true. However, I don't have to make any decisions about that at this point except for budgeting and saving like it's going to happen, which isn't a bad thing to do in any case.

Thanks for listening.