Gasp! I went to the doctor

I've taken pride in not having to see a doctor because I'm sick. When I have fallen ill, I've always managed to have it go away with a day or two. But this week has been different. I just wasn't getting better, despite never having a fever. So yesterday after I work, I dragged myself to the doctor's office. With my head clogged worse than a stopped up drain and my chest actually being fairly clear, it seemed I had the doctor perplexed as to what to give me.

So he gave me an antibiotic and a decongestant that he described as three times as strong as Sudafed. And sure enough, a few hours later my nose was clearing itself out like Niagara Falls. So instead of getting a medicated sleep like the previous few nights, I was up every hour blowing my nose. But today I have felt better despite being tired. I sure don't feel like getting out there and running for at least another day, but the end of this mess is in sight. I think this is my first time since my freshman year in college 11 years ago that I've been on a prescription.

It's been an interesting way of ending November. This was the month that my ultimate running goal came true with the marathon. My post-marathon mileage hasn't been as much as I was hoping and this week's big ZERO certainly doesn't help my pursuit of 1,000 miles. At the same time, I know this week has made sure I'm fully recovered from my 26.2 mile journey. My monthly mileage was 56.3, my lowest since April when I had just over 50 miles. April, oddly enough, was the last time being sick really impacted my running. April was when I started this blog and a few days later woke up with a fever of 101 and missed a 5k I had signed up for. I was sick in September too, but I think life got in the way more than a sickness for a few days.
My yearly total is stuck at 935.1. I'm probably about 15 miles or so short of where I'd like to be to make hitting 1,000 miles easier. Running 65 miles in December is achievable, but staying healthy is goal No. 1. I also have a voyage to Ohio planned shortly before Christmas. If I can avoid staying/getting sick and avoid a major snowstorm, 65 miles shouldn't be an issue. It's only an average of a little more than 16 miles a week, and I was hoping in December I'd be at close to 25 miles a week anyway.

At this point, common sense will be the best thing to see me through the end of the year.

Not the way I wanted to hit 0 miles

So, what I thought would be one day off from worked turned into two and now on Wednesday afternoon I've nearly lost my voice, but actually feel much better. Better now than a few weeks ago, right? All plans of running the 5k on Saturday have been put on hold unless I somehow get rid of this chest congestion by then. I'm not giving up hope, yet, but I'm not going to worry about it either. If it happens that's great, if it doesn't, then oh well. My No. 1 running goal this year has been met.

This sickness has brought an unexpected running void into my life this week, but I certainly realize that my overall health is much more important than any other goals I have at this time. While 1,000 miles is certainly in reach, having a successful half marathon in March is more important than running myself into a hospital.

I want to run, but my body has other plans

The body has a unique way of telling you to stop. On Saturday morning, I woke up with a sore throat, but didn't feel bad. I quickly took some medicine, including a powerful throat drop, and felt fine. So in the nice cold morning, I went out for a nice, steady 4 miles. Later that afternoon, I started feeling bad.

So Saturday night, I didn't feel that great, yet I didn't have a fever. Yesterday I did nothing. I slept for a couple of hours in the early afternoon and watched a lot of football. I didn't feel all that bad, but some minor sore throat lingered. Then today, it's the same. There's very little fever, but I don't feel like doing anything but sleeping. I was already planning to take a half day off work for something else, but I've turned it into a full day off. My brain wants to go, but the rest of my body is saying no.

It seems my quest for 1,000 miles has slowed, but the end really is in sight. I'm just not going to run while not feeling well and then ruin my chances. I'm also eager to set some goals for 2008, but like I've said before I'm waiting until I hit 1,000 miles. Also, this weekend I'm hoping to run in the Bedford Christmas Classic 5k. There's also a 10k that day, but it feels too soon after the marathon to run hard for 6-plus miles. Meanwhile, it's time to get some more rest...

If you ran on Thanksgiving, then ate twice as much as usual, this blog's for you.

Am I the only one who is tired of hearing/saying/reading about running so you can eat whatever you want during the holidays? With yesterday being Thanksgiving, and the Festival of All-You-Can-Eat Turkey continuing through the weekend, all I can think about is getting up tomorrow morning and going for my longest run since the marathon. While it'll probably only be four miles or so, it'll help my mind, and it'll help my body get into calorie-burning mode. But I'm getting tired of eating whatever I want to during the holidays and then thinking running makes it OK. I feel fat and bloated and sick just thinking about it.

For those who ran a turkey trot yesterday, that 5k or 10k or whatever distance doesn't give you free reign on a 500-plus calorie piece of pecan pie (please, click on the link) or six slices of ham. But we do it anyway, don't we? Sure, running helps and we're certainly entitled to dive in a little more than some people should, but why do we go so crazy? (If anyone can figure out how to make pecan pie still taste the same at half the calories, please post a link to the recipe.)

I've heard that a local YMCA is doing a campaign of "Maintain, Don't Gain" this holiday season. What a great idea -- instead of packing on a few winter pounds, maybe we should focus on being happy with what we have and focus on not over-indulging. A few extra cookies along the way won't hurt, but an extra piece of pie probably will. Make tomorrow your weigh-in day and challenge yourself to not gain weight between now and Jan. 2. It's likely from all this eating since yesterday that you'll have a few pounds that haven't worked their way out of your body, so that'll make the challenge even easier.

I feel like maybe I should apologize for this mini-rant, but after losing 40 pounds a few years ago, I am tired of gaining a few pounds during the holiday season. Each year it gets harder and harder to shed it off. It's time for me to stop it, and it's time for many others out there to stop it too.

Thankful I can run

Fellow blogger, Jason, posted a list today of running-related things he's thankful for. I'd suggest checking it out. I pretty much agree with everything on there, as most runners probably do. (Only difference is I'm thankful for Advil.)

Each Thanksgiving seems more and more like an early Christmas. The decorations are out, people are already checking their lists twice ... and we still have more than a month to go. But before I get to Christmas, I wanted to express how thankful I am that I can run. While every runner talks about getting faster, losing weight, setting PRs or discussing gear, we need to set a day aside - like Thanksgiving - where we give thanks for being able to have those discussions in the first place.

So Happy Thanksgiving everybody. Don't eat too much turkey.

By the numbers

Since finishing the marathon became such a high priority, I never did look at the actual statistics with where I finished. According to the marathon's Web site there were 3,783 starters. You have to do a little digging to find that there were 3,684 finishers.

I placed 1,852nd overall, so I was barely in the second half. A mid-packer. Out of 230 in my age group (25-29), I was 131st. And out of 2,215 male finishers, I was 1,272nd. Crazy, crazy numbers since I'm so used to runners with 200 or fewer people. These are all numbers that generally I don't care too much about, but they're out there for me to possibly challenge one day.

I'm tired

I'm tired. After months of what felt like non-stop thinking about running and spending 4-5 days a week getting up and running, I'm just flat-out tired.

I know this feeling will subside, I'll get re-energized and will enjoy running. Besides, I have a 1,000 mile goal to hit. I have a half marathon in less than four months to run. I have 2008 to plan. But I'm tired. I know there's no rush or no pressure to run hard for a little while, and I don't feel bad about it. On the days I have run, I can feel my body still getting over the abuse of 26.2 miles.

Some people can just get right back out there and keep racing. But did I mention that I'm tired!?!? I'm not one of those people. Not yet.

Hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving. For those turkey trotting that day, have a great run. I'll be running my own, very slow trot that day, but I'll be out there no matter how tired I feel. There's no reason to stop now.

Not running ... because I can

So this is how the 99.9 percent of you live. (Did you know that just one-tenth of one percent of Americans actually finish a marathon in a year?) For the first time in months, I didn't feel pressured on a Saturday morning to get up and run. So, I didn't. I went on a nice 2-mile walk with my wife and dog. We came back and cleaned the house. I finally got the blower out and cleaned off my driveway. Damn acorns.

Tomorrow I'll mow my yard for the last time in 2007. It's been so dry since I moved into this house in September that I've only had to mow twice. Mowing this late in November seems weird, but the grass has gotten taller and it's easier to pick up leaves this way. Maybe I'll go for a run, maybe I won't.

While I am focused on hitting 1,000 miles this year, I have also missed out on the joys of being a homeowner. My house is actually clean for at least a day and I don't have leaves on my deck for at least a few hours -- right now, that is more important than going out for a run.

1.1 of 925.4

Since it was raining this morning, I promised by best running buddy, Duke, that I'd take him on a walk when I got home from work, and maybe a short run if the rain had let up.

Well, it's about 20 degrees colder this evening than it was earlier today, but the rain had cleared up. We headed out for the walk and quickly we were jogging. It wasn't much, but I had my first post-marathon run today of 1.1 miles. It probably came a day or two earlier than I expected, but it felt great. Aside from still being winded, my legs, my knees, my ankles and my arms all felt great. Apparently, it just takes my lungs a while to feel good again -- I was like this back in March after the Shamrock Half. I was doing some group track runs on Saturdays, and a week later when I tried to run hard I had to take it easy about half way through the workout. I rarely read about this problem, but I know I'm not alone in this feeling.

So that run puts me at 925.4 miles for the year with 46 days to go this year. That's an average of just over 1.6 miles a day to hit quadruple digits -- sounds easy, right?

Decisions ... but not before 1,000 miles

I have a lot to think about while on my journey to 1,000 miles. I don't want to rush into decisions about 2008, and that's why I am committed to hitting 1,000 miles this year before I fully plan out next year. That doesn't mean I can't start asking myself questions on what I want to do.

Four days after becoming a marathoner, my legs are only sore when going up or down stairs, and nothing else hurts. I've gone on a few short walks this week and have felt great. I'm obviously still winded from running 26.2 miles, but I never expected to feel this great in such a short time. I'm not jumping back into anything though. I'll have a couple of short runs this week and three short runs next week. I seriously contemplated a turkey trot on Thanksgiving, but I don't want to risk injury by running hard within two weeks of the marathon. I am about 95 percent sure of doing the Bedford Christmas Classic on Dec. 1 -- whether it's the 5k or 10k is something I'll decide later.

My plan between now and Dec. 31 is to have a reverse taper to get back to 8-10 miles as my standard long run. I'll smartly do what I have to do to get to 1,000 miles. I should have no problem hitting that mark as long as I stay healthy. As far as training goes for the Shamrock Half, I'll lay out those plans later. But beyond that?

You should've heard me after the 30k in October. I said I'm never training for a marathon again! My wife properly ignored the crazy talk. In my head I was preparing a blog entry on how much I hated anything past a half marathon. Those long training runs were boring; it was hot; I was running alone after moving; it was eating too much into my weekend. But after Nov. 10, I have that itch. I've seriously thought about the Charlottesville Marathon in April. That would make Shamrock a perfect warmup, and instead of laying off the mileage too much before summer, I could increase the long runs, then get some rest in late April/early May ... which would then be perfect to train again for Richmond. Basically it would be: good rest between now and late December, train January-April, rest in May and early June, then build back in July. I think I could get in the 40-50 miles a week range rather than 30-40. Or I could focus on getting better and stronger in shorter races. I haven't done a 5k in a while and I've missed that distance. 10ks continue to be a big challenge for me. And half marathons seem just the right distance. I feel I have it in me to make my current 5k pace be my half marathon pace. I'm in competition with myself, and these shorter races are so much fun to go out and try to beat my previous times. There are plenty of half marathons out there -- including Richmond next November. They're less time consuming and not so hard on the body. But then there's the endurance challenge of the marathon, and I have that one 4:13 time sitting there.

The good thing is, I don't have to make any decisions right now on any of that. I'm still enjoying my marathon experience for at least a few more days. I'll enjoy some french fries a couple of more times before signing up for something else in 2008. Tonight, I think I'll have some Oreo cookies for the first time since ... well, I don't really know when. You can bet, though, that as soon as I hit mile 1,000.1, I'll have something figured out.