November 19-25: Staying Healthy is Not Optional

A funny thing happened when I woke up the morning of the Bethesda Turkey Chase 10k.

I had a headache, a stuffy nose, and a sore throat.

Score.

I contemplated bagging the race, but I remembered that 1. I had a PR to chase and 2. I was responsible for driving some other people to the race.

In the end, I did manage the PR on a hilly course, and even better, had a great morning with some fabulous friends. But this little sniffle-fest, which persisted throughout the weekend, reminded me of the importance of staying illness free during the upcoming marathon training cycle. In general, I have an immune system of steel and rarely get sick enough to stay home from work, but even that falls through when stress and sleep deprivation accumulate.

In this case, I had a particularly bad bout of insomnia for a couple of weeks, rarely sleeping more than 2-3 hours at a time. A little over a month ago, I absorbed several extra projects at work, and while I can handle the workload, the anxiety associated with managing a new group of people, working with a new group of regulators, and running five meetings over the course of a week kept me wide awake most nights. That’s all settled down now, but it was a good reminder that in order to stay healthy for the marathon training cycle, I absolutely MUST stay on top of my work and avoid stress of last minute deadlines. This means little or no extra racing – specifically, a “just for fun” half marathon I’d been considering this Saturday is a no-go – and keeping extra demands on my time minimized.

It will be difficult, but doable, and very necessary to keep Project Sub 4 Hour Marathon on track. Commence hyperorganization and nonstop delegation to keep training on the rails!

Monday: Rest day, including lots of extra hours at the office.

Tuesday: A 2.5 mile easy run before a morning meeting to deal with jitters after an insomnia-filled night. 4000 yards of swimming with DCRP masters in the evening.

Wednesday: 45 minutes of easy spinning on the bike trainer in the morning before working a full day (yes, the day before a holiday) and coaching in the evening.

Thursday: A 10 minute warm up jog, followed by a hilly 10k race in 51:25. Three miles of easy walking in the evening to loosen my legs.

Friday: 18.5 miles of biking, partially around Hains Point with Sarah, who was visiting from Jersey.

Saturday: 3800 meters of swimming with DCRP in the morning.

Sunday: 8.92 miles of running at a 9:21 pace with Sarah, Rachel, and Karen to close out the week.