It’s been a while since I’ve posted! I had a nice break after IMWI, followed by easy training with a few ‘fun’ races mixed in October and December, and finally started to ramp up training at the end of December. However I came down with some kind of bug (tested negative several times for COVID) that took me out NYE and that weekend. Just when I was feeling better and was ready to put things in full swing with a big swim block in January, I started feeling sick again, this time with a cough and sore throat, and tested positive for COVID on the 5th. It’s 1/24 and I have STILL not been back to the pool. The fatigue from COVID really knocked me out and I could only manage one workout a day, so I picked running or biking since I could do them both from home (I was that tired). I plan to finally make my debut back into the pool on Wednesday though.

It was slow going coming back to training after being sick, but by mid-week last week (two and a half weeks after first symptoms of being sick), I finally felt more like myself. I have a semi-big running race planned for early March, but it’s been up in the air with how my running has felt (not good). This past weekend of training was kind of my go/no-go for that race as it was my first big build for the race. If I could get it done, then the race was still on, if I struggled, then I was ready to just call it and get back to a more balanced swim/bike/run training for my 70.3 in June. Spoiler alert, I got it done!

The original plan was to race/run the Frostbite Series Half-Marathon on Saturday, and then run an easy 12 miles on Sunday, doing loops similar to the race format. I had really wanted to be in racing shape for the half-marathon and see if I could PR, but obviously after getting sick and taking off time/recovery, my body wasn’t there. I had only run 4 times in the past 2.5 weeks since testing positive, two 5-milers, one painful treadmill 10-miler (and that was more for me to ‘prove’ I was better, but it put me on the couch the rest of the day) and a so-so 3-miler the Thursday before the planned race, and pretty much all of them felt terrible.

As I was getting ready for the race Saturday morning, I was thinking about trying to run a conservative pace in 15 degrees temps, IN A RACE (darn my overly-competitive nature), knowing those last three miles were going to hurt because 10 the week before were terrible, and then running 12 the next day… I decided I just wasn’t up for that kind of type 2 fun. I’ve been injured plenty in the past, and felt like this was walking a thin-line as I knew I would probably run the darn race too fast, running a pace I thought wasn’t fast but one my body wasn’t ready for. So, I decided to stay home and run 10 (with some marathon pace miles) on the treadmill. I think I pled my case fairly strongly for missing the half-marathon, but it still stings a little. I did end up running one extra mile (extra easy) just to be a little closer to the planned 13.

Sunday I was up and ready to go, maybe fueled a little by the guilt of skipping the half-marathon. I was on-call for work so I had to be creative and did loops near my house so I wasn’t any further than 15 minutes away (the time we had to respond after getting a call). The pace for this run was just ‘easy’ and focusing on getting in the miles, so that made it easier despite the mental challenge of doing 3 x 4 mile loops. Even though my legs were sore, it wasn’t to terrible and I got the run done just fine. I did get one call, but I was .8 miles from the house (and the end of my run) so I was able to end my run and get to work. I was pretty happy with how both runs went!

So with the race still on (as of now, as long as running continues to feel better), and swimming getting added back into the mix, things are starting to feel a little more normal to me now. I appreciated the required down-time needed to rest and recover (I read SO many books!), but now that my energy is back to normal, I’m more than ready to get back to my usual training routine.

Happy Monday!