Good and Bad News
The good – actually GREAT – news is that I know I can run a half-marathon. I know this because I successfully ran 18.4km yesterday afternoon! (That’s nearly 11.5 miles.) And at the end, I honestly felt like I could’ve easily gone all the way to 21km, were it not for my sore back. I ran the distance pretty slowly (you’ll see why in a minute), taking frequent walk breaks and not pushing too hard. Still, I wasn’t far off the pace I need to finish in 2:30. I was well-hydrated and carried a water bottle with me, which I sipped on frequently. I also had my first trial of using an energy supplement. At the 6km mark, I had half a chocolate PowerBar gel and then finished it off at the 12km mark. It tasted like medicated chocolate toothpaste. The biggest effect it seemed to have was mental. At the end of the run, I just felt a lot more clear-headed than I had at the same point last week. I never realized how fuzzy and muddled my brain gets after 90 minutes of running. This time I just felt way more energetic and aware. With regards to my body, I didn’t notice any immediate jolt or anything, but I definitely had more energy in the tank at the end of this run. Like I said, I was honestly toying with going the whole distance. I was still tired and sore, but I didn’t feel like I was falling apart. (I’m also happy to report that the gel didn’t give me any stomach problems, as some people seem to have. I did get a bad stitch at the 7km mark, which I attributed to gulping down too much water to help digest the gel.) So all in all, this was a massive confidence boost before the race in two weeks.
And now the bad news. I’ve caught a cold. I’d been coughing a bit at night last week, but I assumed it was just irritation from the endoscopy. Sunday morning I woke up with the trifecta of headache, sore throat, and stuffy nose. Great. I spent the whole day sucking down water and trying to decide whether I should go for the run or not. I knew that the timing wasn’t that bad, because I’ve got two weeks to shake this thing before the actual race. But this was pretty much my last chance for a really long run, and I felt like I really needed that to mentally prepare. So would running make it worse? Since all my symptoms were “above the neck” (classic runner’s justification), I decided to go for it. So I dosed up on paracetamol and headed out. I took it easy on the run but I was happy to find that I still felt pretty good. My stomach got a little acidic but it was manageable. I even braved a few minutes in an ice bath when I got home to help out my legs. I feel pretty awful today, but I’m still glad I did it. Now I just have to concentrate on getting well as soon as possible. Anybody got any good home remedies for a cold?
Michelle
May 5, 2008 — 8:57 am
Garlic! And lots of it. Drinking hot honey and lemon (put a dollop of honey and a squeeze of lemon juice into your favourite mug, pour on boiling water, stir, enjoy) seems to help as well.
TiNK
May 5, 2008 — 9:12 am
That’s awesome news about your lastest run!
Eva
May 5, 2008 — 12:03 pm
Ginger. As the chinese say, having a cold is an imbalance of your hot and cold – ying yang stuff. so you need to heat up your body. Ginger juice is hot stuff, so either mix it with fruit juice. or mince it and put it through your cooking. If your making chicken/veggie soup take a good knob of it, whack it with the side of your cleaver and pop it in the soup.
Tricia
May 5, 2008 — 3:03 pm
I’m an echinacia fan; that and vitamin C.
Congrats on your long run. Now TAPER! Actually, this cold might help that a bit, because it’s really hard, mentally and physically, to take things easy just when you’re really feeling ready for the race.
Kris
May 5, 2008 — 4:33 pm
I want to taper! But most of the half-marathon plans I’ve seen don’t incorporate it that much. I’m going to run an 8K race next Sunday just for fun, but I plan on taking it easy on the other days.
emma
May 5, 2008 — 6:43 pm
Well done on 18km! You can make it the remainder.
I say this, as all runners will, in the spirit of “Do what I say, not what I do.” (Hi. I’m Emma. I ran my first half-marathon attempt on an overstretched hamstring. I’m not very bright.) Do the thing with the garlic, and the ginger, and the huge doses of vitamin C. But remember, this is not the last half in the entire world. A DNS (did not start) hurts like hell, but it’s not the end of the world.
I normally get a cold the week after a half, because my body is stressed. I’m currently now struggling with 10km (it cost me 5 minutes on my 10km time!)
Good luck, taper, load the garlic. I’m cheering you on!
Kris
May 5, 2008 — 6:48 pm
Thanks everybody! I was just reading this forum post, which sounds a LOT like me right now. I’ve got a dry cough, but other than that all my symptoms are above the neck. So I think I’ll take a couple days to rest and then I should be okay to do some more light runs before the race.