Post-Viral Fatigue Part 5

If you've been following my blog, you may remember that I decided not to run the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon last fall because of the warm forecast. I wasn't concerned about running a slow-for-me time. I was concerned about getting sick. Racing in the heat kills my immune system and I have a history of getting sick for extended periods of time following warm races.

So I played it safe and continued training for Houston. I stayed healthy and had a very strong training cycle. I even PR'ed my 5K in November.

Then came Houston. It was warm. Even though I ran a conservative pace, running 26.2 miles at any pace in the heat is a strain on my immune system. Then we went to Mexico for 8 days, where I did nothing but relax in the sun. I did not have any alcoholic beverages because I was concerned about my immune system and I made sure to eat plenty of healthy foods. I had a few sips from Greg's drinks, but that's all. 

We flew home on a Tuesday. I ran for the first time post-marathon on Wednesday (30 minutes). On Friday, I noticed a mild sore throat and fatigue. No surprise I caught something on the way back from Mexico-- the airports were very crowded. 

On Sunday I took a Covid test and it was negative. On Monday I took another Covid test and it was positive.

I've heard that Covid round two is milder than round one, and that was definitely the case for me. The first time I had Covid (January of last year) my sore throat was extremely painful. I couldn't talk for two days. I took 25 days off from running. This time would be milder, I would be back out there in a week, maybe 10 days max.

WRONG.

Even though my Covid symptoms were mild, there is a huge difference between this illness and last year's illness. Last year I recovered like a normal person. Sure, it took three weeks, but that's not abnormal for this virus. I never felt weak. Walking around always felt normal. The lingering symptoms were the sore throat, cough, and some tiredness. 

This time, with a warm marathon still impacting my immune system - I am not recovering like a normal person. I have my FIFTH case of post-viral fatigue. This means I am weak, my body aches, and it's hard to move around. 

The most accurate description I have seen comes from Medical News Today: "Post-viral syndrome, or post-viral fatigue, refers to a sense of tiredness and weakness that lingers after a person has fought off a viral infection. It can arise even after common infections, such as the flu. People may experience post-viral symptoms, such as fatigue, for weeks or months after fighting off the infection."

Some doctors say that the Epstein-Barr virus plays a role and can be re-activated during these times. I was tested for this in 2012 and I was positive. (I first had Epstein-Barr/mono in 1999). Not sure if that's the case for me now;  the "Post Viral Illness" diagnosis seems to be the most accurate.

I've had these exact symptoms 4 times in the past: 2008, 2012, 2016, 2018. Here's a description that I wrote in my blog post from 2018:

So what, exactly, am I sick with? The best way to describe it is an over-reaction of the immune system triggered by a viral infection. I had a sore throat for the first three days and now my symptoms are: 

• Dizziness when standing up from a seated position
• Weakness in the legs and an inability to walk at a normal pace
• General fatigue, and low energy levels, requiring about 1-2 hours of extra sleep per night
• Varying degrees of body aches 

Progress with this illness is not linear. Some days, I feel almost normal as long as I stay seated. Other days (like yesterday) all I can do is lay in bed and even moving the slightest bit feels like a huge effort. Because I've had this illness in the past I know not to get too discouraged when I have one of the really horrible days. I basically just see it as a message that I need to continue to take it easy.

So all of this from 2018 applies to me right now. It doesn't matter what kind of virus it is, what matters is the state of my immune system when I catch it. Last year when I had Covid I was not running in the heat because it was January. So I wasn't impacted by this post-viral fatigue. So while it was a far more severe Covid case, recovery was shorter.

I've never had post-viral fatigue that was not preceded by a hot race. This is why I avoid racing anything longer than a 5K in the heat. Although hot 5Ks can cause this same issue, as can consistently running hard workouts in the heat. Last summer I limited myself to only one hard workout a week, and I would choose the coolest day of the week.

The good news is that I now work from home full-time so I don't need to worry about taking short-term disability like I did in 2018. When I was sick in 2016, I actually quit my job because they were not understanding and the stress of the situation was making things worse. I easily found another one. 

There's nothing that I can do to speed up recovery, but there are plenty of things I can do to lengthen recovery. I've learned from past experiences and from doctors that it's best to be mostly sedentary. Even though I could manage a short walk (and I had started walking a few days after the Covid test), walks cause setbacks. Even housework can cause setbacks. 

My primary physical activities are doing the dishes, doing the laundry, taking showers, and going from room to room in my house. A lot of online shopping has occurred. Kate Spade just so happens to have a zebra line out right now, and thus my bank account took a hit! You can see the photo of the zebra bag, with the tassel being the zebra's tail. Other items were purchased as well!

New Kate Spade handbag

Mentally I am trying to distract myself and not think about the fact that I am sick. Because I work from home anyway, the only day-to-day thing that has changed about my life is that I can't be physically active. And yes, that's a big deal, but I've dealt with it before. I had been planning to run the One City Half Marathon in early March but that is clearly out. Thankfully, I don't have any other races on the calendar. You can bet a comeback race is in my future - however distant that may be!

I had my first symptoms on Friday, January 27, so I am officially 2 weeks and 1 day into this.  I have no idea how long it will last, but if I stay patient and don't push myself, it should be about 4 more weeks. Seems like an eternity, but it's the hand I've been dealt. 

Everyone has their strengths and weakness as runners. My greatest weakness is running in the heat. It slows me down more than most and then my immune system suffers. This is why I adjusted my Houston Marathon goal to be 15 minutes slower than the time I trained for. And, as I said earlier, it's why I didn't run Indianapolis last fall. It's not ideal, but that's my weakness and I've learned to manage it to the best of my ability. 

Lawyers Have Heart 5K: A Muggy Slug

I ran the Lawyer's Have Heart 5K in Georgetown, Washington DC this morning. I have a very long history with this race. It used to be a 10K, and now they have both 5K and 10K options. It was my first race ever back in 2005 (unless you count the 2-miler at my college reunion). I had a streak going every year from 2005-2012, but then a beach trip came up in 2013, which ended the streak.

I ran the 5K most recently in 2017, back when I had been solely focused on the 5K for months. That season, I was able to gradually get my PR down from 20:50 to 20:17. My Lawyer's Have Heart time was 20:24, which was just 7 seconds off of my PR at the time. I was very pleased with it because this race is almost always hot, so being close to a PR is a major achievement. 

This year, I had my sights set on a time of 20:30. Have run 20:43 at the Dulles Greenway 5K just 5 weeks ago, this seemed totally attainable. Yes, this race would be warmer and hiller, but I didn't run that Greenway 5K at full effort. Why not shoot for a course PR of 20:24? I just didn't think that I was in the same kind of 5K shape that I was back in 2017. 

Before the Race
I didn't sleep well last night or the night before. I am not sure why, but both nights I got between 6-7 hours of sleep and it wasn't restful sleep; I kept waking up. Also, I had a minor cold which lasted 3 days about a week ago. It started on Friday morning with a sore throat and my symptoms lasted for 3 days. I took Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off from running. I felt better by Monday, but I probably wasn't 100% until Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm thankful it wasn't a major illness, but it was annoying because I keep having these breaks in my training, and I just want to be consistent.

Anyway, I woke up at around 3:30 this morning and didn't fall back asleep. I had an anxiety dream about Greg being at the start line of the Chicago Marathon. I was going to run it with him, but I was somehow on the other side of a mountain. I had to climb over the mountain to reach him at the start line. Other people were climbing over it just fine, but I could not. I woke up with my heart racing and then there was no falling back asleep. Sigh.

For breakfast, I had a small banana and a Maurten SOLID. "SOLID" is a new Maurten product that can replace a pre-run meal. I felt very well hydrated and I had been doing an excellent job at staying on top of my water and electrolytes. 

Greg and I left the house at 5:30. He was not running the race, having just raced a marathon less than two weeks ago. I wore my Zensah heart socks, because they totally matched the theme of the race. Lawyers Have Heart benefits the American Heart Association. If there had been an award for best socks, I would have won it. 

We arrived at the race site, parked, and picked up my bib. It was raining lightly, and I debated if I should wear my visor or not. I decided I would wear it because it was lightweight, and if it started raining harder, I would want to keep the water out of my eyes. I warmed up for about 1.5 miles + strides and drills, which probably wasn't enough. When it's warm/humid, I usually opt for a shorter warm up so as not to get overheated. But as I age, I feel like I need more and more time to really get those legs moving. 

Weather
The weather did not match the forecast. As of last night, my Wunderground app was saying 70% humidity, 66 degrees with no rain. That's not too bad for June. In reality, it was slightly warmer (I'll call it 67) but with 90% humidity and light rain. On my race weather scale it gets a 3 out of 10. 

During the warm up, the rain started to lighten up, so I found a place to stash my visor, as Greg was already at his first photo location. I took a Maurten caffeinated gel 15 minutes before the start of the race. 

Mile 1
The race started and I decided to be relaxed at first. I had read my 2017 race report last night and based on that, I planned for my first mile to be my slowest. The first quarter mile of the race is underneath a freeway, so you can't rely on the Garmin to tell you what pace you are going. 

As I started running, I immediately felt suffocated by the humidity. I felt sluggish and I just could not get going. There was a hill up ahead, and I did what I could to get up it, but that was really, really rough.  Once I was up the hill, I finally got into a rhythm, but I felt exhausted. I could tell it wasn't my day but I immediately dismissed that negative thought and was determined to give it everything I had. 

I ended up running the first mile in 7:03. That was definitely a disappointment, and I felt like I was running much faster than that. 

Mile 2
This mile went by pretty quickly and I started to feel a little better than I had during the first mile. This is why I think I really need a longer warm up, even for hot/humid races. It's difficult for me to move fast until I've been moving fast. I need that momentum. It didn't used to be this way, but it could be a product of getting older and everything feeling stiff and rigid. 

Anyway, I passed a good amount of people during this mile, which made me happy and I averaged a 6:48, which still wasn't great, but far better than the 7:03 from mile 1. 

Mile 3
I knew from my 2017 race report that this mile would be super fast. I ran it in 6:24 back in 2017. And at the Dulles Greenway 5K, my last mile was 6:20. (And that was flat!)  With this mile being downhill, there was no reason why I couldn't run in the 6:20s. So I gunned it early on in the mile and I kept that effort level up the entire way. Could I have run at this effort level earlier in the race? Maybe. But it didn't feel like I could have at the time. 

I noticed that there were no women runners around me during this mile. I had no idea how many women were ahead of me because the 5K and the 10K start together. I guessed it was a lot because many fast women had shown up! So there was no woman for me to chase down, but I had fun racing the guys. 

I made the final turn, and clocked in at 6:31 for the final mile. 

The Finish
I was really surprised to see Greg taking photos so close to the finish line, because I thought I had already seen him a bit further back! Apparently there was someone else in a blue jacket with a nice camera. That shows how focused I was just getting to that finish line. I had a decent final kick and finished in a time of 21:09.

I retrieved my visor from its spot and then met up with Greg.  I then cooled down for about 12 minutes before we returned to the car.  

I was the 9th female finisher out of 582. And I didn't even place in my age group because many of those 8 women ahead of me were in their 40s. Tough competition! 

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. I didn't even come close to my 2017 time, and I didn't beat my 21:06 from the 5K I ran 4 weeks ago. And I ran a 7:03 mile - which is slower than my half marathon PR pace. 

My final mile at the Dulles Greenway 5K was 6:20. It was not downhill and I didn't feel like I was running at 100% effort. Today, my final mile was downhill and it was 6:30 and I definitely felt like I was running at 100% effort! Just shows what 15 extra degrees can do to you in a race!

My overall feeling about this race is that I didn't have a ton of energy and the humidity seemed to impact me more than it typically does. And it typically impacts me a lot! I was probably a combination of:

• Lack of sleep
• Recovering from being sick a week ago
• The humidity
  

I am not trying to make excuses, but rather identify why I didn't have as much energy as I typically do. 

This was all validated by my heart rate. My heart rate was much lower than expected! My heart rate averaged 168, and it usually averages in the high 170s to low 180s for a 5K. If it's humid, that's more like the mid 180s. So according to my heart rate, I simply wasn't working very hard. And I would agree with that. I didn't push as hard as I was physically capable of during the first two miles because I felt crappy.

As I mentioned earlier, I think a longer warm up would have helped too. If I could run a 3.6 mile race, with a timing mat at the 0.5 marker to measure the final 5K, that would be ideal! In workouts I always feel like that first half mile is so hard, and then I settled in. 

On the positive side, any time you negative split a 5K is a good day, even if the last mile is downhill! I had a ton of fun out there and I'm proud that I showed up and worked hard. Plus, I have things I can work on for the next 5K!

Covid Recovery - Slow but Steady

I hope I am not jinxing myself by saying this, but I believe myself to be 100% recovered with no lingering symptoms. In my previous post, I said that this would either be a "normal" recovery or it would turn into my mono-like illness, taking months to recover from. 

In retrospect, it seems like it has taken me slightly longer to recover than the average person, but not abnormally long. Here's a recap:

Days 1-2: Mild sore throat
I noticed that my throat was slightly scratchy. It was more of an annoyance than anything else; I had no other symptoms and was fully energized. Thankfully, I didn't run during this time because I was on vacation and was planning to take a few rest days anyway. I took the required Covid test to fly home from Mexico and it was negative.

Days 3-5: Severe sore throat, loss of voice
These were the worst days. I was moderately fatigued but I couldn't eat whole foods and I couldn't speak. I was continually spraying throat-numbing solution down my throat and using NyQuill to sleep. My at-home Covid test was negative on day 3, but positive on day 5.

Days 6-12: Body aches, coughing fits, skin rash, fatigue
My sore throat lessened in severity but I had coughing fits about 8-10 times per day and it kept me up at night. I had tiny bumps all over my back, butt and stomach, and a few on my legs. Not loads of them; maybe 20 total. I started to feel more energized by day 11, so I walked on the treadmill on days 11 and 12.

Days 13-17: Lingering fatigue, body aches
It turns out that the treadmill walk was too much and I woke up the next day feeling totally wasted. I did, however, test negative for Covid on my at-home test. At this point I think I was rid of the virus, but I was now suffering from post-viral illness, which felt similar to my mono episodes. The big difference between this and my mono episodes is that I was never tired in the sleepy sense. I didn't nap. The fatigue was more of a bodily fatigue and not a head fatigue. I also did not experience dizziness like I had with my mono.

I decided not to engage in any physical activity at all during these 5 days. I just rested. On day 17, I decided to take one of my Turmeric supplements. I had read an article about post-viral fatigue and it said that some researchers believed it to be caused by brain inflammation. Turmeric is a natural anti-inflammatory so I figured it was worth a shot.

Days 18-22: Major improvement
The day after I took the turmeric I noticed a major improvement. If I was at 65% on day 17, I was at 85% on day 18. I felt almost normal the very next day. I decided I could go ahead and resume walking, but very slowly and only for 15 minutes. 

By this point, I had only slightly noticeable throat congestion and the sore throat was totally gone. I didn't have body aches any more. I continued with the turmeric plus the other vitamin supplement I had been taking all along (Zinc, D3, C + lots of other herbs). 

Every day from 18-22 I felt better and better, with my legs feeling stronger as I walked. Previously, they had felt like jello. 

Day 23-Today
By day 23 I was 100% symptom-free and feeling like my normal self. No lingering fatigue. No weakness. No throat congestion. I continued my walking regimen and got up to 2 miles walking before I attempted to run. My first run back was a run-walk on the treadmill because it was pouring rain outside. I did 6 x (3:00 walk, 2:00 run). And I kept the runs very easy. 

Everything felt great during the run and after the run. So I continued to progress my workouts, shortening the walk breaks and increasing the overall duration of each session. My most recent run/walk (today) was 8 x 1:00 walk, 4:00 run. This is 32 minutes of running. I didn't feel like I needed the walk breaks, but I kept them in any way as a chance to "check in" with myself to make sure everything felt normal after each run. 

I can't stress enough the importance of walking multiple times before attempting to run, and waiting to be  100% symptom free. I felt 100% symptom free for about 4 days before I started to run, and when I did run, it was a run/walk. 

While there is a protocol for returning to run post-Covid, everyone is unique and it also depends on how long you were sick and how severe the illness was. Because I have so much experience with illness, I know my body pretty well and I can tell when I am ready to walk and when I am ready to run. My rule is to always wait a few extra days after feeling ready! I probably could have run on day 22, but I waited an extra 5 days to be absolutely sure. I would much rather have a slow and steady comeback instead of a rollercoaster of ups and downs from doing too much too soon. 

Looking Ahead
Overall, this illness took about a month of training from me, plus the 2-3 weeks it will take to get back to where I was. With the Boston Marathon coming up in the middle of April, I certainly have my work cut out for me. Thankfully I was in pretty good shape before I got sick and my body adapts to workouts relatively quickly. I don't plan on doing any hard running for another week; I first need to wean myself off of walk breaks and then increase the duration of my runs. 

I'm not at all worried; I know I will be able to finish the marathon and I wasn't planning on trying to run a PR anyway. My original goal was to run a course PR and I think that's still possible, but I will re-assess as the race gets closer. 

2022: A Shaky Start

This is my 500th blog post! And it's the first blog post of 2022.

The year is off to a shaky start. On New Year's Eve, I had some major digestive issues that left me feeling

January 5 snowy run

quite fatigued and unsettled. So when it came time for my annual New Year's Day race, I made the decision to run it as tempo run, not a full-out race.

New Year's Day 5K
I didn't write a blog post about this race because it wasn't really a "race" for me. Greg and I were planning to leave for our vacation in Mexico on January 7, and I didn't want to get sick beforehand because I raced a 5K when feeling worn out.

Backing up slightly. . . I received the J&J booster shot on December 19, which meant I would be fully boosted by the time I departed for Mexico on January 7. Greg and I also decided to do a self-imposed quarantine after Christmas. . . aside from the 5K race. This meant no going out to eat, curbside pickup groceries, and no going into the office. No socializing with family or friends. 

So with the vaccine booster, the self-imposed quarantine, and the decision to not race the 5K full out, I thought I was being pretty smart. The goal was to make it to vacation and back while staying healthy.

Back to the race. It was 57 degrees with light rain. I decided against my carbon fiber plate shoes because those have no traction, and I am not convinced they make me any faster in the 5K distance. So I stuck with my adidas Adios 4. 

Greg and I warmed up for about 2 miles beforehand. I had a Maurten caffeinated gel, which I hoped would sit will with my still recovering stomach. I felt decent during the warm up but definitely not good enough to want to race at 5K effort.

The first mile was downhill. I went out conservatively and was passed by about 4-5 women. By the end of the mile however, I had passed all but two of them. (6:49 split) 

I decided to increase the effort slightly in mile 2, however it ended up being my slowest mile. I passed one of the two women who were ahead of me, but then there was a slippery path we had to run on followed by another slippery wooden surface. At this point, I was passing 10K runners on a narrow path so even though I had increased my effort for the first part of the mile, I slowed down quite a bit on the slippery surface while passing other runners. (7:10 split)

The last mile was up hill and I had just one woman to catch, but I didn't have the motivation to go any faster than my strong tempo effort. (7:01 split).

I ended up with a time of 21:18 and second place. The course was short and the first place woman was 19 seconds faster than me. I am confident I would have won the race if I had given 100% effort, but there will be other races to win in the future. It wasn't my day to push hard and I was happy with my decision.

Vacation in Mexico
After the race, there was just six days left until our Mexico departure. Flights were being canceled all over the place due to Omicron and the weather. So each day I monitored the flights from Dulles to Cancun and all but one of them were on time. 

Greg and I hadn't flown since the California International Marathon in 2019. We had driven to all of our races and vacations because we wanted to avoid sitting next to strangers in close proximity. I've always viewed airline travel as having a high potential of making me sick. 

Our flight was on time, our plane was only 1/3 full. We had the entire row to ourselves and nobody sat in the row behind us either. The airport wasn't crowded. We had just recently secured Global Entry/TSA Pre and we breezed through an empty security line. 

When we arrived in Mexico, the customs line was ridiculous. It took nearly an hour to get through it and people were packed in there like sardines. Some people were coughing. Sure, everyone was wearing masks, but I don't think the cloth masks do much to stop a virus. I'd personally be more comfortable with people truly staying six feet apart.

We finally made it out of customs, got our transfer to the resort and we were there! We arrived healthy and on time, after two years of wanting to visit our favorite vacation spot: Excellence Playa Mujeres. This was our 5th stay at this Cancun resort. We love it so much that we don't want to go elsewhere. 

I asked my coach to leave my schedule blank and I would "play it by ear". I decided beforehand that I wasn't going to run all that much because the only option is the treadmill, and I didn't want to spend a ton of vacation time on a treadmill. It's not safe to leave the resort and there's really no place to run around the resort. I ran Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, with workouts on Saturday and Tuesday. 

The treadmill was in kilometers so I did a 7K progressive tempo on Saturday and then 4 x 2K on Tuesday. Given that the gym was hot and I was on a treadmill, I was pleasantly surprised at how strong I felt running around 7:00-7:20 for these workouts. 

My favorite workout was on Sunday, when I swam in the resort pool. It was nearly twice the length of a traditional lap pool so it was a nice challenge to have to swim more before turning at the wall. Normally I swim the lazy river pool, which winds around the resort and you don't have to ever stop! But that water was way too cold. The water in the long pool was warmer and I had no issues swimming in it. I did 7 out-and-backs, which I am guessing is around 500m. 

I swam 14 lengths of this!

The goal of our Cancun vacation is always relaxation so we spent our days lounging at the beach and/or pool, and we didn't do any excursions. Unless you count going to the spa for a couples massage an excursion! The staff hands you drinks, the food is amazing, everything is all-inclusive and it's just the best place to go!  

Leaving Mexico
In order to enter the United States, anyone traveling by air must have a negative Covid 19 test taken

within 1 day of traveling. This does not apply if you are traveling by sea or land--only by air. So on Thursday, Greg and I were tested at the resort. (The resort offers free on-site testing the day before you leave.) This was actually my first-ever Covid test! I never had a reason to be tested before. 

Greg and I were slightly nervous because we had heard that Covid was going around the resort and 30-50 people were in quarantine after positive tests. Also, I started to feel a sore throat on the day of the test so I was worried I actually had Covid. Thankfully we both tested negative so we would be allowed back into the United States. If we tested positive, they would have quarantined us in a guest room for free, and allowed us to order room service from any restaurant. This would not have been so bad, but it wouldn't have been ideal. If only one of us had tested positive, we would both be allowed to stay, but one of us would be in quarantine while the other continued to enjoy a free vacation. 

We flew home on Friday and everything went smoothly. When we checked in for our flight, they did ask us to show proof of vaccination, even though it's not a requirement. Thankfully we both had photos of our cards on our phones and that was acceptable. They really should not have asked for that because all you need is a negative test, but since we had the vaccination proof, we didn't question it too much.

My Blog was Down
On Saturday, I realized that my blog was completely offline. It wasn't Blogger (my blogging platform) but the service I used to register my domain. They had an outage which resulted in all of their domains being completely down for 3 full days! I wasn't too irked by this because I wasn't trying to write a blog over the weekend, but it was unsettling to type my URL and have nothing come up. Also, it can impact search engine rankings if you are down for too long. There was nothing I could do but wait, and I'm thankful I was able to figure out the source of the problem relatively quickly. Not knowing why it was down would have driven me insane. (I never received any kind of notification, I went into my Google console and figured it out for myself. Some communication would have been appreciated!)

Post-Vacation Illness
My sore throat got worse and worse and on Saturday I found myself physically fatigued, which hadn't been an issue previously. One of my friends happened to have an extra at-home Covid test so Greg went to her house to retrieve it. (She left it on the front doorstep for a non-contact exchange). I tested negative on Saturday night.

Having had two negative Covid tests, I was pretty sure I didn't have Covid, but I definitely was ill. My main symptoms on Saturday were sore throat, loss of voice, dry cough, body aches, weakness. I didn't have a fever.

Given my history with mono, I was worried that this could turn into mono. Mono is not a virus, but a syndrome that is caused by a virus. So any virus could bring about mono. This has been my main Covid concern from the beginning: if I got Covid, would it turn into mono, taking me months to recover? Perhaps my body doesn't recover from viruses normally - it takes WAY more time. 

Not much changed on Sunday. I still couldn't talk and I still felt totally wasted. Greg, meanwhile, felt completely normal. And he was taking great care of me. I couldn't eat solid foods because my throat was so sore, so he made me soup and oatmeal. 

On Monday, I decided to take the second test from the BinaxNOW kit that my friend had given me. And this time it was positive. Yikes. Well, I guess if I was going to be this sick it might as well be Covid to give me some natural immunity in the future. So much for the J&J booster! Greg got the Moderna booster, and that is supposed to be more effective. 

Now it's Tuesday and I have made progress. My throat is less sore, although it's still tender and swallowing hard foods makes me cough. I still woke up coughing multiple times in the middle of the night last night. I can talk again, although it's a strain to talk at my normal volume level. To summarize:

Main Symptoms:

• Severe sore throat
• Pain with swallowing
• Dry cough - coughing fits lasting 5 minutes at a time
• Inability to eat solid foods and loss of voice
• Body aches
• Fatigue/weakness (although not tiredness)
• Bumps on the skin of my back and butt

No Sign of:

• Headache
• Fever
• Nasal conjestion
• Runny nose/sneezing
• Dizziness
• Loss of taste or smell

I am making progress and I feel like I will either be running again by Monday or it will be another 4-6 weeks. I am optimistic because I don't have the typical dizziness that comes with my mono and I feel like I am starting to regain strength. But time will tell! My spirits have been high and I am in a good place mentally. 

We had a bed on the beach!

A few people asked Greg and me before Mexico if we were sure we still wanted to go with Omicron surging? Our answer was yes because something is always surging. It's almost like the boy who cried wolf. When you live in a constant state of fear, and there's always a new variant to worry about, then you become de-sensitized to it. You realize there will never be a "good" time to go, so you just do it. 

I also have no regrets. I enjoyed my vacation and I probably would have gotten Covid at some point in my life anyway, so why not now? 

Running Plans
I am registered for the Shamrock half marathon, which was supposed to be a PR attempt. Now that is looking less likely so it might be a Covid Comeback race instead of a PR. I am also planning to run Boston, but I kind of don't care that my training for that has been interrupted. I know I can run a solid marathon on as little as 8 weeks of training and with Boston I don't care about how fast my time is.

For blog #500, that was pretty eventful!

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Marathons & Mandates: A New Era of the Sport

I'm going to tackle a controversial topic: marathons and their vaccine requirements. 

Last November, the Boston Marathon announced that all runners for the 2022 race must be fully vaccinated. Other marathons, like New York City, have made similar announcements. 

2021 Races: Vaccines not Required
For the large 2021 marathons, the vaccine was not a requirement. Participants must have either shown vaccination proof OR tested negative for Covid-19. A May 2021 article in the New York Times stated:

"The marathon announcements share something with seemingly every other major race that is set to return — there is no requirement for all runners to have a vaccination. Instead, runners have been asked to produce either proof of a completed vaccination series or a negative Covid test close to race day, even though health officials acknowledge that the safest environment would be a fully vaccinated field. . . Erin McLaughlin, a labor and employment lawyer specializing in health care, said running organizations might not want to require vaccinations because the nature of their operations might qualify their races as a place of 'public accommodation.' That would prohibit them from discriminating against people who may be medically unable to get a vaccine, and establishing eligibility for those exceptions could prove onerous and open the door for litigation."

Obviously much has changed since this article came out in May 2021. Vaccine mandates have since been established for many everyday activities including going to work. 

My Vaccine Decision
I am vaccinated and boosted. I am not sharing this to convince others to do the same and in fact, one of my pet peeves is those Facebook profile picture frames that say "I'm vaccinated". Well, good for you!

I am not a vaccine expert. I am not a health expert. I am not an expert in other people's lives. So I am in no position to persuade others to get vaccinated. Furthermore, since I am vaccinated, I shouldn't have to worry about catching the virus from others. 

That said, these Covid vaccines are not "vaccines" as we know them. I have always understood a vaccine to provide full immunity from a disease whereas these shots do not provide full immunity. Vaccinated individuals can still get the virus and spread it. 

I chose to get the vaccine because I do not want to get Covid-19. I realize I could still get the virus. But the vaccine should make any infection less severe. I realize there is no guarantee, but I believe that the side effects from the vaccine are not as severe as the illness could be. I could take my chances with the shot, or take my chances with Covid. I chose to get the shot.

It's important to keep in mind that every individual is unique. Some people have no reaction to the shot. Some people get very ill. Some have allergic reactions. The same goes for Covid. Some people will have mild symptoms resembling a common cold. Others will have life-threatening symptoms. So while we can look at data and statistics to see general patterns, every individual is still unique in terms of how their body reacts to vaccines and viruses. Because we are all unique, I don't think I am in any position to tell other people what medical choices to make.

To sum up, I believe that the vaccine was the right choice for me. It may not be for other people, and I respect that.

2022 Marathon Mandates
As I said earlier, these mandates are highly controversial. When Boston announced its mandate, there was an eruption of backlash on social media with many runners saying they would not apply. Thus, the number of applicants for the 2022 race was much lower than in previous years. Is the vaccine mandate the only reason for this? No, there are are many reasons why runners might not be interested in the 2022 race. But based on the number of people who signed a petition against the mandate, it's apparent that this mandate contributed to the decreased number of applicants. 

I have several thoughts on the mandates. First, it is not a human right to be able to run a marathon. The B. A. A. manages this event and they can put whatever rules in place that they want. This is not the first time they have been accused of being unfair; they are continually under attack for their qualifying standards and policies being unfair. So we need to remove the notion of "fairness" from the equation. It's their race. They can do whatever they want. It might not be fair, but that's how it is.

That said, the New York Times article above indicated that these mandates could be viewed as discrimination against those individuals who cannot get vaccinated. While the B. A. A. has created an exception for these cases, it has not been published what medical exemptions are acceptable.

It's not unheard of to require vaccines to participate sports. I had to have certain immunizations to be part of my high school dance team.

The New York Times article that I quoted above stated: "health officials acknowledge that the safest environment would be a fully vaccinated field." I am not a health official so I am in no position to disagree. BUT, as a logical thinker I do not see how a negative Covid test would not also provide the safest environment.

• The 2021 race with test option was not a super-spreader. 
• Vaccinated individuals can still transmit Covid
• Without a test there is no way to know if runners have the virus, regardless of vaccination status

I have heard examples of vaccinated runners who had Covid while running Boston. But since they were not tested beforehand, they were not aware of this. Once again, I am not a health official or a health expert, but it seems that the safest environment is not a fully vaccinated field, but a field that has tested negative for Covid-19.

Personally, I would rather share a seat on the bus with someone who I know is not currently ill versus someone who has a vaccine but could be ill. 

One thing that surpasses all of this is the fact that you cannot Covid-proof an event like a marathon. Volunteers and spectators line the streets. Hundreds of thousands of people come out to cheer for the runners on Marathon Monday. The crowds are thick and many people are standing closer together and for a longer period of time than the runners. So if the objective is to have a Covid-free event, it's not going to be possible with the number of spectators who gather around the race course. 

But there are other valid objectives. Optics, for one. Making the runners feel safe. On social media, many runners have thanked the B. A. A. for their decision and said the mandate makes them feel safer. Another objective could be satisfying the requirements of the small towns that the marathon runs through. While this decision is coming from the B. A. A., we don't know if it was truly their decision or if it was required by town officials in order to gain permits. Or it could simply be for liability purposes. 

All marathon runners take risks when we line up at the start line. This is why most marathons require a waiver that acknowledges these risks. I believe it is the responsibility of the runner to be aware of the risks, and if he/she is uncomfortable with those risks, then it's probably best not to race. If I was afraid of getting Covid from a race then I wouldn't run it; I wouldn't expect the organizers to enforce a mandate just so I could be comfortable. 

In closing, I don't agree with the mandates because I think that athlete testing is a safer approach, and we've seen evidence of its safety from the 2021 races (Boston, Chicago and New York). The mandates seem to be in place for optics and compliance with local towns. As someone who is vaccinated and boosted, I believe that vaccines are generally effective. However, they might not be the right choice for everyone.

The Future of Marathons and Mandates
Are these mandates here to stay for future years? If Covid is somehow eradicated within the next year, will vaccines still be required? Have we set a precedent for vaccination requirements regardless of what the threat level is? Will the supreme court rule on the constitutionality of mandates? It's hard to know the answers to these questions. 

For now, these mandates are a fact of life. Some people love them, some people hate them. The running community is definitely divided on this issue and I'm sure some people will un-follow me for my views here. Or they may tell me that I am not a health professional and therefore have no right to share my perspective. I hope that one day we can all come together again and be united by the sport we love.

Rehoboth Beach Marathon: 6 Weeks To Go!

How did that happen? All of a sudden the marathon is so soon. I realized that I hadn't posted much about my training, so here's and update.

Post-Race Illness
The day after the Lower Potomac 10-Miler, I woke up quite ill. Only a runner would think, "Yes! That explains why I ran the race slower than I expected to!" So in a sense, it was good news because I had been feeling like the race result indicated I wasn't in as good of shape as I had believed. But with my history of prolonged illness, there was also a huge worry that I would be out for weeks. My main symptoms were extreme fatigue and dizziness, similar to what I experienced when I was sick over the summer.

I did not run or go to work on Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday I started to feel better, which was a huge relief, so I took a short walk around the neighborhood instead of running and was able to go to work. By Thursday, I was feeling mostly normal, so I ran an easy 10 miles. What a huge relief.

I think I got sick not because of the race, but because my immune system had been weakened by multiple workouts in the heat/humidity. It was in the low 70's with 100% humidity for the first two weeks of October. And even though I know that's a danger zone for me, I kept thinking "this will be the last time because it's going to get cooler" but it didn't. So I ran warm workout after warm workout at high effort levels and my immune system caved.

As for the foot with the Morton's Neuroma, it hasn't been impacting me. I feel it on some days more than others, particularly when I run long. I hope it doesn't become a bigger issue and that the shots will help it go away entirely.

Marathon Training Begins
Thankfully I recovered, but started to feel woefully behind in marathon training after having missed 3 days, and not having run the same mileage and long runs as I did when I was training for Boston. My coach did this by design, though. His theory (and I totally believe it) is that you really only need six weeks of true "marathon training" with long runs, high mileage, and long workouts. In Boston I had a longer ramp-up, but when I look at my mileage, there were really only six weeks of super-charged training, with mileage in the 70+ range. Plus, it would have been difficult for me to run really long/hard workouts any earlier in the season, given the extended summer.

As I said above, I ran 10 easy miles on Thursday of last week, and then 8.3 miles easy on Friday. Greg and I took a train to New York City on Friday, so we were able to run in Central Park. We saw the musical Wicked on Friday night, and then did the long run in the park on Saturday. There's something magical about running in Central Park. Both last weekend and back in February, I had a totally indulgent meal (including a cocktail) the night before, stayed up late seeing the show, didn't sleep well, but somehow managed to run really strong in the hilly park.

Central Park, New York City

The plan called for a 2-hour run, starting at a pace of 8:30 and progressing down to 7:45 for the first hour and 40 minutes. And then for the last 20 minutes, running at a pace of 7:00. My Garmin lost its signal in the park, and was telling me I was going much slower than I was, which of course resulted in me running faster than planned.

Greg was with me and his Garmin was working. He told me I was going too fast, but I was stubborn and ran the first hour and 40 minutes at a pace of around 7:50, according to his watch. Greg let me run ahead for the last 20 minutes, which I think averaged somewhere around 7:10-7:15. I probably could have hit the 7:00 if I didn't over-run the first 1:40, but oh well, it was still a strong run. Based on Greg's Garmin and my assessment of my effort for the last 20 minutes, I think I ran 15.45 miles at an average pace of 7:46. And it felt really good.

I ended up with 39.5 miles for the week, which isn't bad, considering I took three days off entirely for illness. Here are a few more photos from the trip to NYC:

Week of October 22
On October 8th, it was 71 degrees and humid for my track workout. Two weeks later, it was down to 30 degrees and it stayed in the 30's in the mornings for most of the week. I am not complaining about the cool weather, but it's a shame to miss running in the 60's, 50's, and 40's. I had bought a few new tank tops for the fall season that I still haven't had the opportunity to wear!

Monday: Speed Intervals

Monday, October 22

On Monday, I geared up in my compression tights, half-zip top, gloves, hand warmers, and headlamp. The workout called for 4 x (600m, 400m, 200m - with 200m recovery jogs in between) and 3 minutes recovery in between the sets. My coach prescribed paces that were faster than anything I’d ever done: 600m in ‪2:‬10 (‪5:‬48 pace), 400m in ‪1:2‬2 (‪5:‬30 pace), 200m as fast as possible. My previous fastest 600m was 2:13 and my previous fastest 400m was 1:25. I was unsure if I’d be able to hit these speedy targets, but I decided to go for it.

Actual splits were: (2:15, 1:24, 0:40‬), (2:07, 1:24, 0:40), (2:11, 1:25, 0:40), (2:14, 1:25, 0:40). I cant believe I ran a 2:07 for 600m! That’s a 5:40 pace. Granted, it was too fast and I would have preferred to drop time in the 400m, but still it was a huge PR! 1:24 is also a new PR in the 400m. I’m pleased with how this workout went. And if this type of thing doesn’t improve my speed, I don’t know what will!

Tuesday: Easy Run
I ran easy for 80 minutes, which ended up being 9.48 miles at an average pace of 8:26.

Wednesday: Easy Run
I ran easy for 70 minutes, which was 8.2 miles at an average pace of 8:34.

Thursday: Wave Tempo
Back to the track for an 8K tempo run, alternating the pace each kilometer (2.5 laps for each). This was a continuous run with no stopping or recoveries. I had done this same workout last December and loved it. I was obviously hoping to be faster this time. Last time I did this I was 3 weeks out from the Houston Half, which is my PR. And now I am about two weeks out from the Richmond Half, so I was kind of using this workout as gage to compare my fitness now to my pre-Houston level.

Splits were: 4:10 (6:42 pace) 4:22 (7:01 pace) 4:08 (6:39 pace) 4:22 (7:01 pace) 4:07 (6:38 pace) 4:21 (7:00 pace) 4:05 (6:34 pace) 4:18 (6:55 pace). The result: 8K at an average pace of 6:50 in a time of 33:59. I felt very strong and could have done another 1000m/1000m set at this pace. The fact that I could crank out 5 miles at a 6:50 pace and have it feel only somewhat challenging is a huge confidence boost going into Richmond. Overall I ran 14 seconds faster than I did last December which isn’t huge, but I think my effort level here was maybe a little lower to achieve it, with gas in the tank.

Friday: Easy Run
I ran easy for 70 minutes, which was 8.3 miles at an average pace of 8:27.

Saturday: Long Run
A Nor'easter blew through, bringing strong winds and rain. At temperatures in the upper 40's, I was

chilled to the bone. Originally, Greg and I planned to take a trip to Rehoboth Beach to do the long run on the actual course. About half the course is run on a packed dirt trail and I wanted to experience that before racing on it. But being on the coast, and up north, the area was forecast to receive winds of 20-30 mph, gusting up to 50 and very heavy rains. It wasn't much better here in Virginia, but I figured the weather would be enough of a challenge without also trying to figure out how to navigate the course and run in mud.

I ran 18 miles, which was a nice leap from the previous weekend's 15.4, and handled it well. My legs didn't seem to get tired at all and I felt nice and strong the entire way. I progressed from 8:50 down to 7:35, with beautiful splits: 8:50, 8:24, 8:21, 8:19, 8:19, 8:18, 8:09, 8:06, 8:05, 8:01, 7:57,  7:53, 7:52, 7:50, 7:53, 7:44, 7:40, 7:36. The headwind was biting at times, since I was completely drenched and it was only 49 degrees. I didn't let it slow me down, which is a nice confidence booster in case the marathon is windy.

Sunday: Recovery Run
I ran easy for 60 minutes, which was 6.9 miles at an average pace of 8:41. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't notice any lingering leg soreness or fatigue from the previous day's long run. Usually my recovery runs are in the 8:50's, but this felt more like a typical easy run.

My overall total for the week ended up being 68.7 miles.

I'm much more optimistic about my fitness and upcoming half and full marathons than I was in my previous blog post two weeks ago. I think I just needed for the weather to turn because my body performs well in cool temperatures and struggles in the heat.

Weekly Mileage

Seriously Sick Again

If you've been reading my blog over the years, you know that I have a tendency to get mono or a "mono-like" virus that lasts up to three months.

I officially got mono when I was in college, so I think that all the subsequent illnesses have been re-activated mono or a mono-like virus. The problem is-- my immune system has issues. When most people get a viral infection they are able to kick it in about a week. That's not the case with me. According to the doctors, my immune system goes into high gear when I get a virus and then doesn't calm down for a long time.

Previous episodes with long-lasting post viral fatigue:

• The summer of 2008 after running the Rock 'n' Roll VA Beach half marathon (5 weeks)
• The summer of 2012 shortly after running a hot 10K (12 weeks)
• The summer of 2016 shortly after running a 4-miler in 90+ degrees (12 weeks)

I thought that maybe presidential elections or summer olympics had something to do with this but now that it's 2018, that theory is shot! And it would have been nice if this was on a four-year schedule so I could plan accordingly.

All joking aside, it seems like this immune system issue is triggered by running hard in the heat. My doctor told me last week that after you run a race, there is a short period of time in which your immune system is really weak, and if you happen to catch a virus during that time, you won't be able to fight it off. For me, I don't seem to have this issue in cooler temperatures. I was handling 75+ mile weeks last March and felt great. I ran the Boston Marathon in that crazy hypothermic weather and didn't get sick. I've always known that the heat impacts my running performance to a greater extent than most people, but now I also see that it really takes a toll on my immune system. Summer arrived about a month early this year, so instead of getting sick in late June, I got sick on June 1. I'm now on day 12.

This sucks. I mean, this REALLY sucks! Not only does it set me back in terms of my running but I also can't go to work, I feel like complete crap, and I don't have a life aside from sitting at home and resting. 

So what, exactly, am I sick with? The best way to describe it is an over-reaction of the immune system triggered by a viral infection. I had a sore throat for the first three days and now my symptoms are:

• Dizziness when standing up from a seated position
• Weakness in the legs and an inability to walk at a normal pace
• General fatigue, and low energy levels, requiring about 1-2 hours of extra sleep per night
• Varying degrees of body aches

Progress with this illness is not linear. Some days, I feel almost normal as long as I stay seated. Other days (like yesterday) all I can do is lay in bed and even moving the slightest bit feels like a huge effort. Because I've had this illness in the past I know not to get too discouraged when I have one of the really horrible days. I basically just see it as a message that I need to continue to take it easy. 

Taking it easy means doing no physical activity other than moving around the house as needed. Since getting sick 12 days ago, I've been pretty much homebound. I went to the doctor's office twice and Greg took me to the new Wegman's that opened a mile from our house. I sat in the cafe and ate lunch while he shopped for groceries. Other than that, I haven't gone anywhere.

The second time I went to the doctor was to get blood drawn for tests. They needed 5 vials, and I passed out after just 2. It was a bad scene and I couldn't move or talk properly for a good five minutes after I passed out. To make matters worse, 2 vials wasn't enough blood, so that whole ordeal was for nothing.

I haven't been to work since getting sick, and thankfully the people there have been understanding and supportive. I'm doing some work from home, but I'll probably end up on short term disability. I can tolerate a loss of income but I cannot tolerate the stress of feeling like I have to go back before I'm ready.

As far as my mindset, I'm taking it one day at a time. Yesterday was simply miserable because I felt so weak. I wear a FitBit and I logged a whopping total of 550 steps-- the minimum to go from the bed to the bathroom a few times! The last few times I've had this illness I tried to return to work and running too soon. And I think that's why it lasted 3 months. My plan now is as follows:

• Return to about 90% of my healthy energy level
• Ease my way back into work by going in for half-days
• If I tolerate the half-days and feel 100%, start working full days
• If I tolerate full days and feel 100%, wait a few days and then start taking walks around the neighborhood
• If I tolerate the walks around the neighborhood, wait a few days and then run.

I have no idea what the timeline would be, but BEST case scenario, I am running by July 1st. Worst case, end of July.  I've pretty much accepted this. I'm good at accepting it because I've been through it so many times before. I know that I am capable of coming back even stronger and faster than before. And I'm still targeting a 3:15 marathon in December as well as a half marathon PR in November.

Every runner has their strengths and weaknesses. I've always known that the heat was my biggest weakness and now I realize how true that is. Comebacks are exciting. But they aren't exciting until you can actually start coming back. I will need to channel all the patience I have and trust that it will be worth the wait.

Running in Stanley Park, Vancouver

The trail run in Ketchikan, Alaska was the last official event of the Great Alaskan Running Cruise. The cruise ship was "at sea" the following day (Thursday) with no stops or excursions.

The cruise winds down
Just as these running events were winding down, my body decided it was a good time to get sick. It all started with a mild sore throat on Tuesday evening but after finishing the trail run and getting back onto the ship, I began to experience all the traditional cold symptoms: cough, sore throat, pressure behind the ears, and waves of being hot or cold. Thankfully, the ship had a medical station which was well stocked with cold meds.

Because of my previous experiences with mono, I take illness seriously and I'm very careful not to overdo it. I assume I got sick because of the time zone change, lack of sleep, being on an airplane, the movement of the ship, and participating in several strenuous running events. Taking Thursday off was a no-brainer, especially since it would have meant running around the cruise ship deck again, which wasn't exactly the most fun thing in the world. My marathon isn't until November, so I'd rather take a little bit of time off now than regret it down the line.

This running cruise was an incredible experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys running, traveling, and meeting new people. Everything was extremely well organized by our hosts Jenny Hadfield and John "The Penguin" Bingham. There were no surprises and we knew exactly what to expect. Greg and I really enjoyed meeting other runners from around the world. Most people were from the U.S. and Canada and had run numerous races all over the country.

The cruise ship, named The Radiance of the Seas, is one of the older Royal Caribbean boats, and while it was nice, it didn't impress me nearly as much as the ship from our 2010 Royal Caribbean cruise, or the Viking River cruise. The food was mediocre, which kept us from overeating, but the room was relatively comfortable, given its small size. For a trip like this, the cruise ship's main purpose is transportation, lodging, a viewpoint for the Alaskan scenery.

View from the cruise ship as we sailed from Alaska into Canada

So what did we do on Thursday with no port stops? Jenny Hadfield invited me to be a guest on her podcast! She had her equipment with her, so we found a quiet area of the ship and recorded it. We mainly talked about my book and all the struggles I went through to qualify for Boston. After the podcast was over, we chatted for awhile longer about running, careers, and life in general. I really connected with her and it seemed like we had a lot in common. The podcast should be live within the next week or so.

Vancouver
The ship arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia early Friday morning. Greg and I made our way to our downtown hotel and checked in. Our hotel suite felt like a mansion in comparison to our ship stateroom. Physically I felt better than I had on Thursday, but I was still coughing, experiencing bouts of hot and cold, and my nose was running more than I usually do! Once again, it was a no-brainer to take another day off from running. I was thankful that the illness held off until all of the official events were complete, and now it was time to focus on enjoying Vancouver and relaxing.

The weather was ideal for walking around: 70 degrees and sunny with no humidity. One of the best things about this vacation was being able to escape the Washington, DC heat and humidity in late July. We walked from our hotel to Granville Island, which earned me about 12,000 steps on my FitBit. I love exploring new places, especially when the weather is nice and there are so many beautiful and interesting things to see.

Vancouver, BC

We had lunch there and walked around the Granville Island Public Market, which is a massive food hall filled with fresh foods. The fruits and vegetables looked incredible, but of course we ended up with the fresh doughnuts! We took a cab back to our hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and napping until it was time for dinner. We had dinner at the Water St. Cafe, and the seafood was unlike anything we typically get back home. I had a halibut dish, and Greg had sockeye salmon.

Stanley Park Running
Our flight on Saturday wasn't until 12:45 in the afternoon, so we had time to run through Stanley Park. I had a two-hour long run on the schedule, but I still wasn't feeling all that great. That said, there was no way I was missing out on this run. I had heard amazing things about running in Vancouver and it was one of the things I had been most looking forward to. I decided I would go out and see how it felt. If I felt horrible, I could always turn around and come back. I figured that two full hours was probably not realistic, but hopefully I could manage at least 5-6 miles.

We had to take a five-minute walk through the city to get to the water where the path started. One of the coolest things about running in Stanley park is that there is a dedicated path for runners and walkers, and a separate path for bikers. And no cars allowed!

When we started, it was about 58 degrees and sunny. I can't even describe the views, so I'll let the photos do the talking:

This run was amazing and I was thankful to be healthy enough to enjoy it. I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have if I hadn't been sick, but you take what you can get. We decided to turn around after 4.5 miles, making it a 9-mile run. I figured that was plenty long, and we were able to see over half of the park. We kept the pace easy and stopped several times to take photos and videos.

After we finished, it was time for the long journey home. We had a direct flight and we were back in our house by 9:30pm eastern time.

Today I am feeling pretty good except for some pressure behind my ears and some mild dizziness. Greg is also feeling dizzy, and we think it could have something to do with the flight and time zone change. I was able to get out for 6.5 miles this morning, and it felt decent. I ended up logging 31.8 miles this week, which is really low for me. But given that I was sick and on vacation, it's actually a decent amount. Hopefully I'll wake up feeling 100% tomorrow morning and ready to resume normal training and life!

For more information about the Great Alaskan Running Cruise and other running cruises visit www.runningcruise.com.

Running After Mono: Making Great Strides

It's comeback time!

I am thrilled to be healthy and able to run again!

My previous post, Running and Post-viral Fatigue Syndrome, summed up the timeline of the illness,
and my first few runs back. I officially consider September 20 as my first successful post-mono run, and since then I have been doing quite well. So it's been about 2.5 weeks, after having not run for 12 weeks.

Before I get into the specifics, I'm going to make some comparisons between this comeback and my comeback from mono 4 years ago. I'm a bit of a data junkie, and I love analyzing things based on the facts. Here are some key findings.

I'm running more frequently, but my distances are shorter.
For the first month or so back in 2012, I ran a pattern of 2 days on, 1 day off. With my current plan, I am running 5-6 days a week. In fact, I plan to run 6 days a week for the foreseeable future. But my daily mileage is much lower. At this point in my comeback in 2012, I was already running 7 miles!  I prefer this current approach because it keeps the legs moving with more consistency, and no single run is all that difficult.

I'm not taking walk breaks.
I used walk breaks for the first month of my 2012 comeback. It allowed me to do those longer runs without getting too worn out. I did walk breaks for my first week only this time, and I don't plan to go back to them. It's definitely more challenging without the walk breaks, particularly from a mental standpoint because there is nothing breaking the run up. As a result, my overall paces are faster. So, in 2012 at this point I ran 7 miles at a pace of 10:35, but now I am running 5 miles at a pace of 9:33.

I'm not using a heart rate monitor.
Part of my attachment to walk breaks in 2012 was to keep my heart rate down. I wanted to keep my heart rate in zone 2 to make sure I wasn't overdoing it. This time, I am pretty sure my heart rate is creeping into zone 3 by the end of my runs, but I don't want to be as scientific about it. It's good to keep the heart rate down on easy runs when you are logging loads of miles and also running speed workouts. But right now, all of my runs are easy, and if I don't get my heart rate up a little bit, I won't make as much progress. I'm primarily running by effort/feel.

So, given all that, here is a recap of the past two weeks:

Week of September 26:
Monday: 5 x (6:00 jog, 1:00 walk) for at total of 3.3 miles at an average pace of 10:37

This is fun!

Tuesday: 2.0 miles at a pace of 9:49
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 2.2 miles at a pace of 10:21 (on a treadmill because of thunderstorms)
Friday: 2.5 miles at a pace of 9:48
Saturday: 4 miles at a pace of 9:26
Sunday: Rest

Total mileage: 14

I was honestly shocked that my Saturday run was as fast as that. I had planned to run it at a pace of around 9:50, but the faster pace felt more natural. All of the runs last week felt super easy and not at all challenging. By the end of the week, I was antsy to do more, and I didn't feel like I needed a rest day on Sunday. The rest of my training plan from here on out has me running 6 days a week instead of 5, and I think I will be able to handle that just fine.

Week of October 3:
The great thing about making a comeback is that progress happens quickly. So last week's "long run" of 4 miles became this week's easy run! On Monday, I ran a slightly hillier route than I had on Saturday, so it was more challenging.

Monday: 4 miles at a pace of 9:41

Tuesday: 2.9 miles at a pace of 9:32.  This run finished with 4 x 50 meter strides (that's about 10 seconds of running). My coach didn't want me to do any speed work for the first month, but I asked him if he could include some strides just to get my legs used to turning over quickly again. It felt so good to be able to run fast.

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 3 miles at a pace of 9:17. This run also finished with 4 x 50 meter strides, but by this time, I was a pro at strides! I found my "stride" and ran them at the following paces: 6:17, 6:22, 6:31, 6:33.

Friday: 4.2 miles at a pace of 9:20. This was the same route as Monday, and the effort level felt

Feeling wonderful!

equivalent. How nice to be shaving 20 seconds per mile off of my easy pace in just four days. This is the best thing about making a comeback! Progress happens quickly at first.

Saturday: 5 miles at a pace of 9:33. During the last two miles, I started to feel some fatigue in my legs. This is to be expected, and I actually liked it because I want to feel like I am being challenged. Last week, I felt like the training was too easy and I flew through it. I felt the same at the beginning of this week, but now I feel like I am pushing myself to some extent, but without overdoing it of course. Throughout the run, I felt relaxed and my breathing was easy. I was able to easily carry on a conversation with Greg. But my legs were getting tired and I could feel the effort in my lungs a little.

Tomorrow: Planning for 2-3 miles before I go cheer for Greg and my friends at the Army Ten Miler. This will give me about 22 miles for the week. Which is awesome!

I have some 5Ks on the calendar, the first of which is in five weeks. With the Army 10-miler tomorrow (which I am registered for, but not running) and all of these other fall marathons going on, I am just dying to get back out on a race course. It's tough to be patient, and I need to make sure I focus on my own journey without getting caught up in what everyone else is doing. My day will come.