Thursday-Sunday

Thursday: felt a bit better. The 30 min on the elliptical didn't hurt as much.

Friday: elliptical + biked to work for total of 45 min cardio. I felt surprisingly good.

Saturday: 45 min elliptical. Still felt surprisingly good.

Sunday: Woke up more sore than I'd like, probably from Friday's bicycling. Hiked with my mom for 45 min (2.75 miles) and that felt pretty good and loosened things up. The fall weather here has been amazing and the leaves are SO lovely (see pic at left)...wish this weather could stay a bit longer. Later, I biked to book club and then up to work, then biked to a friend's home and then home. Feeling pretty decent right now. Hoping I don't pay for all this tomorrow, but I suspect I will. Off to bed soon so that I can get up early for some elliptical tomorrow.

Been eating much better yesterday & today. Right now my #1 priority is to eat right and get in as much exercise as possible. No racewalking for now - I just need to keep my weight under control and feel better if possible. Racewalking was making things worse and so I just have to take a bit of a break from it. I should probably swim, but I'm just not feeling the love right now. I'm reserving the swim card for later, if it needs to be played.

more of the same

Elliptical Monday-Wednesday, 30 min/day.

Legs very sore :(. Took some naprosyn today and it didn't seem to make a dent in the soreness.

Thinking about what course of action to pursue next to try and get some help.

sore

I'm pretty sore today. Just 5K yesterday was enough to do it. ARRRGH! SO FRUSTRATED!

Did 30 min elliptical this morning. Spent the rest of the day annoyed at my sore muscles. Mostly ate pretty well, at least. That's something anyway.

I haven't been feeling depressed again, thankfully. Just frustrated, angry, irritated, pent-up, wanting-to-racewalk-but-dreading-the-aftermath. Annoyed that my boss and his wife did a half marathon last weekend and both did really well...happy for them, yes, but just so annoyed that I couldn't do it too. Irritated that my Facebook friends are all having lots of fun at the races. Stressed that I am still not feeling better. Angry at myself for being such a schmuck when others I see walking through the hospital on my way to work every day have much worse problems.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Just getting it out there.

cross-training; hiking; 5K

Thursday, despite fighting off a cold, I did 30 min elliptical and then 15 min stationary bike before going on vacation with my family to Southern Utah. We enjoyed an awesome hike in Dead Horse Point State Park on Friday, and then a hike in the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park on Saturday before returning home to celebrate my mom's 70th birthday. Whew!

My legs actually hurt a lot from the car ride on Thursday, but they felt fine hiking - no problems whatsoever. We hiked about 6K (3.7 miles) on Friday, and then a bit more (2-3K?) Friday night on a night hike with the park ranger. Then Saturday we hiked 2 miles (3.2K) in the Fiery Furnace, with lots of scrambling and some beginning rock-climbing moves. I wasn't sore at all from that either.

Today I decided to do 5K, because I could, and my legs felt recovered. I was pretty slow, doing 5K at 6:20/km with ave HR 146. I felt OK - legs weren't sore much during the walk. However, now after a few hours, my legs are starting to hurt, mostly in the glutes. It feels like I've done a hard weight training workout - too many lunges or something. It feels much worse when sitting, so standing is better, though not terribly convenient when you want to edit photos, watch football, etc.

My diet hasn't been the best as you might guess, between camping and birthday cake. My weight is a bit out-of-control at the moment. Time to re-strategize and figure this out.

I just wish I knew what was wrong. I wish I knew what to do to make my legs feel better. My fatigue level has improved a significant amount over the last week, so maybe my legs will follow? But I have to assume that might not happen and plan accordingly. I am not exercising like an athlete now, so it's time to stop eating like I am. That will be more difficult than it sounds, but I have a few ideas to tackle the problem. I need to start acting on my alternate plans for when I feel like eating - other things I can do instead. I have been saying this for a while...now time to DO something, before it gets worse.

On the bright side, some photos from our trip:

cross-training, 6K

Yesterday: 30 min elliptical

Today: 6K. My legs didn't feel as recovered as they did on Monday, but they didn't feel horrible either. It was a crisp fall morning, clear and 40F (4C), and it felt good to be out. My legs were OK until the 5K mark, when they started to really hurt. At least I only had 1K left at that point. I was pretty fast through 5K, too - yeah, it's a net downhill, but not really steep or anything, but I still got to 5K at 6:03/km pace (about 30:15 --- gee that's only 20 sec slower than my race a couple wk ago...sigh.........). Then I slowed a lot on the last uphill, finishing in 37:00 for 6:10/km with ave HR 152.

Now (at lunch time), my legs feel quite sore and very tired. Grrrrrr. I WANT TO FEEL BETTER! I want to walk 10K without muscle pain. That apparently is too much to ask right now. I will have to adjust expectations and be patient, two things I'm obviously not very good at. At least there's no pressure of an impending race.

Garmin data here.

rest day, 6K

Yesterday I took a rest day. My legs felt pretty good, so I thought about swimming or other x-training, but was busy working for 90 min or so and also helping a friend paint, so I opted to skip it.

This morning I woke up and my legs didn't feel too sore! They were a bit sore, but it wasn't painful to bend over and tie my shoes like it has been. My glutes weren't screaming at me from the stretch needed to tie shoes (with bent knee). I figured that was good. So I went for a walk with Adriana; we planned on 5-8km depending on how we felt. I thought I'd make 5km but doubted I'd go farther than that. I was pleasantly surprised that my legs felt OK at 2.5km, so I suggested we turn around at 3km and if we felt like more then we could do more when we got back to our cars. By 5km my legs were tired and somewhat sore, but nothing like how sore they have been on some other days. I was ready to stop at 6km, but I could have done more if I'd had to. My legs have felt decent so far today (it's lunch time), though I will cop to taking a couple naprosyn prophylactically.

We did the 6km slow and easy, finishing in 38:25 for 6:24/km (though my watch was off badly for the first 500m (3:46???!??? - know it was not more than 3:10 or so), so it was probably more like 37:45 for the 6K?). Anyway, regardless, my ave HR was 145, so it was a nice easy day and felt OK. I need more days like this. I'm going to allow myself to have a little hope that maybe things are done getting worse? OK, it's only been a couple days of feeling better.

I'm still eating the higher-protein diet, averaging probably 80g protein per day. I wonder if that is helping? It will be 2 weeks of that tomorrow.

Garmin data here.

Can't leave the blog alone...

I guess I need the therapy of writing this, of getting my thoughts on "paper".

Not surprisingly, it's been a tough week. I rested Sunday after the race, and was extremely sore. Glutes, hamstrings, right shin, obliques. Monday I was even more sore, but felt I needed to work the kinks out of my muscles, so I opted for 30 min elliptical. Tuesday, I did 30 min elliptical and I biked to work. That was rough on me - I hurt badly on Wednesday-Friday, but still managed elliptical at least 25 min each day.

Last night I was feeling better. I got a text from Stevie's dad, suggesting I join Stevie for 10K. Well, I thought 10K rather unlikely, but figured a little company for 5K would be lovely, and so I went. Stevie took off like a shot, and I stayed with him, though we did slow a good amount on the way back. There was a lot of frost on the section of the parkway that has the wooden walkway over the swampy area, and we had zero toe push there, so that was slow too. Yes...I said frost. It was 43F (6C) this morning, but near the river it was a bit cooler and there was some frost.

Enjoyed the walk a lot, though the last 2km hurt a good amount. Did the 5K in 31:14 with a high ave HR of 150. Afterward, I took an ice bath. Yes, an ice bath for 5km. Sad but true. Coach thinks it might help, and hey, can't hurt. OK, yes it can hurt! It was freeeeezing cold and I have Reynaud's phenomenon, which was acting up for a couple hours afterward. A mug of hot tea and cranking the heat in the car on the way to Calvin's soccer game eased things up a bit. Despite all that, I think the ice bath helped. My legs are sore but not as bad as it has been sometimes.

I miss racewalking SO much. It felt so good for the first 2.5K, and I wanted so much to keep walking. My boss is doing a half marathon in southern Utah next weekend, and I expressed jealousy. He said, "You can still sign up!" and I had to explain that I could not do it - no way. I know I'd never get through the race. He said, "You could walk". Hahahahaha. I doubt I could even walk casually for 13.1 miles right now. I would love nothing more than to do that race. It made me want to cry. Finally he said, "Oh. I'll shut up now." Thanks...

I admit that last night I felt depressed. I allowed myself to wallow in it a bit. I haven't done that much at all (yet) and have been impressed that though moody, I've managed to keep my head up. But I'm worried that I can't take much more of this. The muscle pain, the sadness from missing my sport, the weight gain due to comfort eating (duh) are getting to be too much. I have avoided the nasty pit of depression, but with winter coming on and being prone to seasonal affective disorder, I will admit to being afraid.

I have a few strategies left to combat this. I have to work harder to get more sleep and to eat right. That makes everything feel better. Eating right has proven to be quite a challenge, though eating more protein the last couple weeks has helped somewhat. I need to have a bit more time to myself, so maybe I will ask Loren to do a bit more around the house, if he can. At the moment he's furloughed from work because of the gov't shutdown, so theoretically he can help; however, he's had a nasty cold which has messed with everything.

Well, seeing this on "paper" has helped me realize I need to do a little more planning and strategizing. I have a bit of time this weekend and hopefully can get an hour to myself to think.

National Masters 5K

The weekend was lovely, except for the race. It was great to see everyone (photo with my friend Lis below), Tennessee was beautiful, and I enjoyed myself. The redeye flight out there wasn't so great, and I didn't sleep enough, so I'm tired now, but that didn't diminish my pleasure in the weekend in general.

The race? Yeah, worse than expected. I hoped for low 29s. Barely squeezed under 30 min, and my heart rate was ridiculously high, averaging 167. My legs hurt from end of the first km on, and now (2 days later) they are very painful --- like I'm recovering from a hard half marathon, not a 5K race.

I did come in 2nd place, but that's not saying so much when I was the youngest in the race except for two teenagers (age 14). I was first in my age group...but then again, I was the ONLY one in my age group. Hey, I didn't get DQ'd!

The course was slightly hilly - slight downhill for 1st 500, slight uphill for 2nd 500 in each lap (1k/lap). It also had a complex turn at one end, so I'd say most people were slowed 30 sec-1 min by the course (vs. a fast, flat course). So maybe I would have done low 29s? No matter. The weather was perfect - 13C (55F) and very humid, which was no biggie since it wasn't hot that early. It was warmer for the men's race.

Garmin data here.

I'm frustrated but I'm doing OK. Mostly.

I'm going to take a break from racewalking, and therefore probably from my blog as well, for a little while. I will walk some for exercise, as I'm able, but will not train. I'll try to update if there is any good news or even bad news or something about my condition changes. I know I could blog about trying to lose the weight I've gained or something potentially useful, but honestly, I'm too tired and too afraid I'd be too negative. It takes a lot of energy right now to just try and stay positive in real life, and adding in the blog makes it harder.

Hopefully I'll be back soon.

mixed feelings

I head to Tennessee this weekend with mixed feelings. On one hand, I love racewalking and love my racewalking friends, and I look forward to being part of all things racewalking at the National Masters 5K. On the other hand, I know I won't race as well as I'd like to. Of course, I also feel lucky that I get to race. It's confusing and perplexing, this mess of feelings.

***

This week in review...

Monday - 3K fartlek in 17:13, and my legs felt stronger than they have in a while, probably because last Thursday & Friday I only did 30 min elliptical each day, and I rested Saturday & Sunday. Way to taper! Hahaha...

Tuesday - rest day.

Wednesday - elliptical plus biking to work = 45 min cardio.

Today - 20 min racewalking. 3.2 km in 19:35 for 6:07/km w/ave HR 139. I felt pretty good while I was out walking, and felt smooth and in control. My muscles felt stronger than they have overall. I'm a bit sore now, but not too bad. 20 min shouldn't make me sore, though...sigh. At least I feel optimistic that I can do 5K and finish at the race on Saturday. Goals? To race as well as I can and be happy with that, whatever it is.

***

New thoughts on what might be wrong with me.

1) Protein deficiency. I eat a fairly carb-heavy diet, when I've tracked it in the past. I read that for a sedentary woman my size, 46g/day is the minimum. Some recommend as much as 125g/day for an active female athlete my size! I would guess I've been eating around 40g normally...that's not much. A small deficiency like that over time could lead to fatigue and muscle soreness and poor recovery. This seems likely, and hey, it won't hurt to eat a bit more protein and fewer carbs. It's something I know hasn't been quite right about my diet anyhow.

2) My friend Sarah (an M.D.) suggested possibly a food allergy/sensitivity causing inflammation. She suggested dairy and gluten as two possibilities, but didn't limit it to that. I think this is definitely possible, though I'd expect I would have more GI symptoms if this were the case. Still, it's not hard to try dairy free or gluten free for a few weeks to see if it helps.

I'm going to try 1) first and eat more protein for a few weeks and see if I feel better. I started on Tuesday and this week has been better than last for sure; however, I've done less exercise and also have ditched the cold that was dogging me, so it's not a perfect comparison. I have to give it a good try - several weeks - and then evaluate again.

Since last Monday

Wow it's been a week since I've blogged. Easy to let time pass when there's not so much to report.

I cross-trained a good bit last week, except for Thursday when I warmed up with Adriana on the track for 1600m before deciding a 3km fartlek was not happening for me. Adriana did a very nice fast one, though - she did 16:47!!! She is improving a lot, and would improve more if she had time to work out more frequently.

Saturday I intended to do some racewalking, while we were camping at Yellowstone National Park (we were there Friday-Sunday). However, when I woke I felt awful and knew it would be a waste of time. I contented myself with a bit of light hiking around the geyser basins.

Sunday I woke feeling a bit better and decided to do an easy 5K. Yellowstone is at altitude (7700ft, about 2360-2408m on my walk, according to my Garmin). The campground had gently rolling hills - enough to notice and affect my walk, for sure. I still managed 31:55 for 6:23/km with ave HR 148. Not great, but not awful. My legs hurt A LOT though. Seriously painful. Add in an 8-hr leisurely drive home through the Tetons, and it was not a pleasant leg experience. Garmin data here.

Yesterday I cross-trained on the elliptical and rode my bike to work. My legs felt a little better, but not great. I did an experiment though. I lifted some weights with my upper body only to see how my upper body muscles respond to training. Will they get as painful as my legs? It's mostly my glutes that hurt, so I wonder. It's just so odd. Anyway, I did dumbbell bench presses (only 25 lb each arm...weak!), rows on the machine (60 lb), upright rows (20 lb each arm), military press (17.5 lb each arm), bicep curls (15 lb each arm), and tricep extensions (12 lb each arm). 3 sets of 8-12 reps each exercise.

Today, not surprisingly, my arms are sore. Not ridiculously so, but definitely sore. We'll see how I recover. Normally I'm sore for up to 48-60 hrs post-workout for lifting, so we'll see.

My legs felt decent this morning - almost pain-free! - so I decided to go for a little walk. I did a nice 6K around Liberty Park, and the first 5K felt not-too-bad, and I got to 5K in 30:11. That was decent! But then my legs crapped out and the last km was a tough slog up the slight incline home. I finished in 36:52 for 6:09/km with ave HR 156 (yeah, I was pushing). Garmin data here. My legs feel OK right now - sore, but not too terrible. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I'd like to do a 3K fartlek Thursday if possible.

Oh, and I rode my bike to work today, after doing the 6K. That might not have been smart, but I had some GI distress after my walk and hung around the house too long trying to calm my insides, so I missed the bus and had to get to work somehow!

8K

Yesterday was a rest day.

I'm getting very discouraged. It hurts so much to racewalk that I just don't want to do it any more. But I DO want to do it because I love it. I miss being able to walk without muscle pain. It's so frustrating...I know it's a first-world problem, but it's a real problem nonetheless, and it affects me in a lot of ways.

Today I planned to cross-train, but then Adriana texted me last night wanting to walk. I decided I would go with her, and we'd try to do 8K. I was so glad she was with me - it made the pain more bearable, having someone chatting about other things. It did still hurt just as much, especially from about 5.5km onward. My legs just burn in the glutes - it's hard to explain. They just hurt deeply, like I've walked about three times as far as I actually have. Just pain and aching. And then after I walk, for hours or even the rest of the day, it hurts when I sit, walk, go up stairs, whatever. It's like I'm being punished for exercising. Then there's the fatigue - that all-over tiredness/sleepiness/exhaustion that envelops me especially later in the afternoon. I'm writing this to remember how it feels and make notes of it, not to complain.

We were averaging about 6:15/km until 6K or so, when we slowed down because of me. It's embarrassing... but Adriana was OK with it since she's not in great shape right now either. I think she could have gone faster, though, and I felt bad. We finished in 51:03 for 6:23/km.

Garmin data here.

I should hear my test results in a day or two. Meanwhile...waiting...and trying not to give up.

really tough week

Backing up a few days... got behind on my blog - too tired to maintain it well. To my few readers, sorry. Actually, I write this mostly for myself, so should I apologize to myself?

Wednesday: Was supposed to walk 5-6km but woke up really sore and figured it was better to do the elliptical. Still having cold/sinus symptoms. Did the elliptical, took Grace to school, took Calvin to get his cast off then back to school, then I took the bus to work. In the afternoon I took the kids to the state fair. They had been begging me to go...really begging, all week. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the bus on the way to their school, but I still took them to the fair. They absolutely loved it, which made it worth it to me even though it pretty much wiped me out.

Thursday: Too tired to move, and I felt sick. Took a rest day. Debated taking a sick day from work, but managed to drag myself in, and made it through the day.

Friday: Still very tired, but did 25 min elliptical and rode my bike to work. I was just sick of being sick, and figured if I rode my bike to work it might make me feel better mentally. It did, sort of. I thought I'd try and finish up my work a bit early and go home and get a nap before the symphony last night, but that didn't happen - work was busy as usual. Had a bit of trouble staying awake in the first half of the performance, but still really enjoyed it.

Saturday: Slept in until 8:30. Seriously, unheard of for me to sleep that late, ever. Felt rotten when I woke up and debated what to do. Decided that a nice racewalk might make me feel better, so I dressed and went out to do 6K or so, figuring that would be all right. My legs were a bit sore (they never recovered at all this week - just felt sore all the time at a basal level). The first 2K went OK, but after that my legs just HURT. Hamstrings and glutes were fatigued and dragging. I just felt awful. I love racewalking, but right not it's just not fun. At 5K I was in more pain, and stopped for a second to regroup. I actually stood there in tears for a minute, trying to muster up the strength to continue, and also just feeling sorry for myself and how lousy this all is. I really miss being able to do my sport pain-free.

Here's the Garmin data from today's walk. 38:17 for 6:23/km with ave HR 145.

***

Doctor update: the wheels of medicine turn slowly. On Friday, I finally got blood drawn for some additional labs my sports medicine doc wants (vitamin D, creatine kinase, and liver panel). Now I wait for the results and analysis before we decide what to do next.

I'm still not over my cold. I'm tired. I'm whining, so time to stop writing.

rest day

I woke up with pretty sore legs and a cold. Last weekend in Idaho I had a bit of a sore throat and attributed it to dry air. Since I got back, I've noticed a runny nose, which has increased in intensity to become rather annoying. Normally I work out when I have a head cold, as long as it's not in my chest. But with how my legs are feeling, I decided to forego the workout and do some reading for work instead. I had a few papers to read to try and figure out some things related to some projects, and it seems there is never quite enough time at work. I'm 30 hr/wk, which means I have to cram a lot in to get everything done. But I digress...

Bottom line: rest day. Cold + sore legs + tired.

one foot in front of the other

Just keep going. Put one foot in front of the other.

Saturday: Was in Salmon, Idaho (photo from our hotel grounds, at left) for the weekend with my friend Sarah. She got up at 4:50 am and therefore, so did I. Not being one to waste an early morning. I put on my reflective vest and headlamp and went out for a walk. Just past the downtown area, I met a couple of elderly ladies out for a walk and chatted with them for a few minutes. Then I walked on, going up a small country road. It was pitch black outside and the stars were vividly bright; I even saw a meteor! I was sure glad I had my headlamp - couldn't see a thing except the occasional light from a farmhouse.

I walked up the road to the 6K mark, slightly uphill. My legs were tiring, but I figured I had another 6K in me. By 7.5 or 8K, my legs were really tired and I was worried my right hamstring/glutes were going to do what they did last week and give out. Fortunately, they didn't. I wasn't able to go any faster on the downhill and was about the same speed as last week: SLOW. 1:19:50 for 6:39/km with ave HR only 137. Yup, tired legs.

On the way back it was lighter out and I saw horses, cattle, and bucolic country scenery. Lovely! Oh, and the temperature was lovely too - so nice and cool at 50F (10C) and refreshing after a whole summer of 70F in the mornings in Salt Lake.

Garmin data here.

After that, I volunteered for the marathon, directing traffic at mile 25. That was actually pretty entertaining, and I cheered Sarah on to the finish when I saw her.

***

Sunday: rest day.

***

Monday: warm-up 1600m in 9:43 with strides. Then 3K fartlek in which my legs tired at 1.8km, but I still made it to the finish. It was a bit faster than last Thursday, probably because I went in with a day off instead of 6K on my legs. I did 17:21, with ave HR 161. Splits were better to start as I felt good, and it was nice and cool (60F). At 2km I fatigued and they were slower. Oh well.

2:44, 2:47, 3:01, 2:48, 3:06, 2:56. Ave HR on last split was 169, with max 171. Definitely working hard, for all the good it did me :(. 

Garmin data here.

I rode my bike to work after walking the kids to school. Legs are quite sore now, and will x-train tomorrow.

3K fartlek; doctor visit

This morning I met Adriana at the track at the U for a 3K fartlek. She's a student there, and I work there, so it was perfect. I took the bus to campus, and after our workout I walked up to work, and she walked to her class. We'll probably do this again, because it was pretty convenient.

She'd never done a 3K fartlek before, so as we warmed up (1600m in 9:43, with strides), I explained the workout to her. 1K hard, 500m medium effort, 500m hard effort, 500m medium effort, 500m hard effort. She got it.

We got started - I let her have about a 5-10 second head start, figuring she'd probably be faster anyway, since my legs were still hurting from yesterday a bit. I took an Aleve last night which really helped, but they were still sore this morning and the warm-up didn't feel too good. At left, a self-portrait at the track after my warm-up.

She was fast for the first 500m - way too fast - at 2:34! After that the workout wasn't too nice to her - 2:49 (OK), but then 3:23 for recovery, 2:5x fast, 3:30 (!) recovery, 2:5x and her total was just over 18 min (18:0x) - not bad for her first 3K fartlek! I passed her during her last recovery...and finished about 25-30 sec in front of her at 17:36 for my own workout. Slow, for me :(. I did 2:47, 2:53, 3:05, 2:56, 3:04, 2:53. Something close to that, anyway. My average HR was 162 and max 174, with ave HR on the last interval 171. I was working very hard, but I guess yesterday's 6K was too much for my pathetic legs. Arrrrgh.

***

Doctor visit yesterday: I saw my sports medicine doc, and she had a resident working with her. He took a very thorough and good history, and did a brief exam, checking heart, lungs, and muscle strength. My doc then did an exam as well, noting only that my left hamstring was a bit weaker than my right (it was more sore from my workout) but that overall my muscle strength was very good. 

They are waiting now on my labs from my family doc - they need a copy of them in order to figure out what tests have been done (I told them, but they still need the labs) and what they want to do. They want to check liver and kidney function as well as creatine kinase (measure of muscle breakdown), and possibly a couple other things. If they can't turn up anything, they will refer me to a neurologist and/or rheumatologist to see what more can be done.

I'm relieved that they are taking my complaint seriously, and hoping that they can find something easily treatable. I'm ready to feel better any time now.

6K

I met Adriana for 6K this morning. I wanted to do more, but my legs were not feeling great and I figured 6K would be enough. Besides, I have not gotten a new parking permit for campus (on purpose), and I either have to bike or take the bus to work. 6K plus biking to work is a good hour of cardio, which makes me happy these days.

Surprisingly, despite some residual soreness in my glutes, I did well this morning. I felt good and smooth and was able to go pretty fast. I pushed Adriana a bit, going 30:23 for 5K. She was working it VERY hard at the end, as that is just 1 min slower than her race pace that she did at the 5K on July 4 in Murray. Muahahaha! It was fun to push her, and I don't think she minded. I felt fine, with HR in the mid-upper 150s at the end, and averaging 144 for the whole 6K. We did the last km slowly to recover.

Total time: 37:08 for 6:11/km.

Garmin data here.

Legs definitely feeling it now, between the racewalking and then biking to work. Taking it easy the rest of the day and hoping (maybe against all hope?) that I'll be up for a 3K fartlek tomorrow. Maybe. Meeting Adriana at the track at the U at 8:30am, so I'll have to racewalk at least a little bit!

I had to bike to work today, though, as I have a doctor appt at 3:15pm and it's on campus, but far enough from my work that it makes sense to bike there. I could have taken the bus and walked but that would have been more of a nuisance. Hopefully the doctor will have some ideas that my family doc didn't think of. Hopefully.

this week so far

Sunday - rest day

***

Monday - intended to do 8K; ended up doing 5K and then a bit later 1.5K. I was going to do 3K and then 5K with Adriana, but when I started the 3K my legs just felt icky, and I knew it was going to be bad. I decided shorter was better and just quit and waited for Adriana to come, and we did 5K together, in 33:12 (she is just learning so that was plenty fast for her...and honestly, I liked going a bit slower and didn't have enough legs to go much faster anyway). At the start of the 5K my right hamstring (or whatever it was that bothered me on Saturday) felt pretty sensitive, and I was worried, but turns out it loosened up and felt fine. Whew. When we stopped I thought I could have gone farther as long as I went slowly.

After that, Julia, a new racewalker, met us at the park to learn. I taught her the basics and did some video technique work with her and with Adriana. We had a great time, and I walked 1.5km with Julia, bringing my total to 6.5km.

***

Tuesday - went to the track, planning on a 3K fartlek. I did 1km of warm-up in 6:36 and my legs were not feeling it at all. Just sore and tired, and I knew I'd be wasting my time to try the fartlek, so I gave up and went to the gym, where I did 34 min on the elliptical. Then I drove home and got ready for work, and rode my bike to work. Not sure the latter was smart, but I am feeling OK now. 

***

I called my sports medicine doctor and made an appointment this morning. The receptionist asked what I wanted to see the doctor for. I told her fatigue and muscle soreness/weakness from racewalking. She asked which body part, and I told her that I was generally tired and it involved all my muscles. She said I was not allowed to see the doctor for more than one body part at a time. I was floored and irritated. I said that I was a competitive racewalker and that it was the exertion from my sport that was giving me the problem, and that since the doctor is a sports medicine doctor, she should be willing to see me for this! Finally she put me on hold to ask someone about it. No one could tell her anything, so she made the appt for me anyway and told me she'd call back to cancel if it wasn't OK. It's 3:30 pm and I haven't heard anything so I figure it's OK. The good news, after all that aggravation, is that the doctor has a 3:15 pm appt tomorrow! I'm not sure that there will be anything she can do that my family doc has not, but a second opinion can't hurt.

12K

Most days now I'm not excited at all about racewalking. In fact, the opposite. I kind of dread it, because I know I will just feel sore and be slow. Today was no exception. Despite just light x-training yesterday (elliptical 45 min) and elliptical and biking to work the day before, my legs felt a bit tired and sore even before starting. Never a good sign. I did OK through about 7.5km, when my legs just got more and more tired. By 10K I was hurting more - my right hamstring at the top started to bother me a lot and I'm sure my gait was wonky as a result. Geez. I just can't catch a break.

I know, I can either live with it and have a good attitude or be a whiner. I can't change it, and I am trying oh so very hard to suck it up and have a positive outlook, with mixed results.

I kind of wish now that I wasn't signed up for the 5K in Tennessee on Oct 5th, except that maybe I can help Stevie to do better by encouraging him in his training and walking with him once a week. He beat me back to the finish line today by a minute or so, because I couldn't even manage 7 min/km the last couple km and I told him to go on ahead. I really thought I'd be feeling better by now.

Yes, I know...it could be something else. People keep telling me that. But in all likelihood, it is the low B12, which just takes time. Yes, there's a small possibility it's something else, but it's just not as likely. And yes, if I still feel lousy after the 5K in October, I'll go to the doc again to see what he can do if anything.

Total time: 6:38/km with ave HR 143, 1:19:38.

Garmin data here.

Oh, yeah - edited to add that it was extremely humid (for Utah). I was very hot, and dripping with sweat... I'd go more into detail but it's not pretty. It was 73F (23C) and 54% humidity when I started, and about 81 (27C) and 54% humidity at the finish. Ugh.

lots of cross-training

After Wednesday's not-so-great 5K, I decided to take it easier. I cross-trained yesterday, doing 35 min elliptical plus riding my bike to work. Today I just did 45 min elliptical and then took the bus to work. I want my legs well-rested for tomorrow's planned 12K. I hope I can still complete it, despite hardly walking at all this week.

I'm sick of this.

rough week so far

Sunday I took a rest day. My legs were very tired from just the 12K on Saturday. I was pretty busy with family stuff on Sunday, and didn't get much physical rest. I'm sure that contributed to what was to come.

Monday I was exhausted when I woke up. I decided I'd ride my bike to work and skip racewalking, since I felt so lousy. I figured I could get a bit of extra cross-training in later. I worked, herded the kids home from school, and prepared dinner and set it to warm in the oven while attending Calvin's soccer game from 6-7 pm. After we ate dinner, Calvin begged me to go play soccer with him for half an hour before he had to go to bed. I didn't think twice about it, because it sounded fun. And it was! However, the consequence of doing an unfamiliar sport aggressively for 30 min were pretty severe.

Tuesday morning my legs were completely trashed. I intended to do a 3K fartlek, and knew it would be tough, but went to the track anyway. I tried to warm up, but my legs wouldn't respond. I did one lap in just under 3 min (normally this is 2:30 for warm-up!) and knew I couldn't racewalk. So I drove to the gym and rode the stationary bike for 20 min and did the elliptical for 20 min. Somehow I still found it in my legs to ride my bike to work. But again, I paid for all that activity. After work I was terribly exhausted, and went to bed at 9 pm.

I thought maybe after 9 1/2 hours of sleep last night that I'd be better today, and I am somewhat better. I went for a walk, planning 5 or 6km. After 1km I knew it would be just 5km today. I really didn't feel good. I still managed to do the 5km in 31:11 for 6:14/km with ave HR 140. My legs were very tired when I finished, but after a bit of rest I managed to bike to work.

Garmin data here.

I'm feeling OK now. Definitely not as exhausted as yesterday. I wonder if I'll feel better yet tomorrow if I get a lot of sleep again tonight? This ailment has to be one of the most frustrating I've dealt with yet. It's lasted a long time and impacts every area of my life - home (tired, hard to keep house clean, keep up w/kids, prepare good meals, etc.), work (forgotten items, lack of energy), racewalking (for obvious reasons), weight maintenance (tired all the time - leads to lowered willpower and increased eating, in addition to less ability to exercise). But at this time, I have two choices. I can whine and feel sorry for myself and give up, or I can persevere and be patient. Each day I must choose the latter; and yes, it's a first world problem, but difficult nonetheless.