Countdown to Ogden: Week 5

Week 5 of Ogden training, which I am counting as starting a day after my PR at the Oakland Half Marathon, ended up being a total flop. Just hours after the race, my body completely revolted and I ended up coming down with a pretty gory illness. At first I thought maybe I was having a reaction of sorts to GU Roctane, or maybe I was dehydrated, or maybe I even had food poisoning from lunch after the race. But once the chills and the aches settled into my back & shoulders -- and I took my first official sicks days at work since I started at my company -- I knew I caught the spring flu that's been going around. This week was spent resting, recovering, and fitting in what I could when I was feeling up to it. Wah wah.

Ogden Marathon training, week 5

Monday:
Goal: Rest
Actual: Rest

ALRIGHT! I actually followed one of my scheduled days this week.

Tuesday:
Goal: 12 mi. @ MGP + 30 sec.-1 min. (8:30-9:00)
Actual: Rest

I technically was feeling a bit better this day, but decided to stay home & stay in. I knew an extra day of rest was more beneficial than anything.

Wednesday:
Goal: Rest
Actual: 9 mi. @ 8:21

This was perhaps a bit much for a post-flu test run, because once I was home, I was not feeling so well again.

Thursday:
Goal: 9 mi. w/ 4 mi. @ LT (7:23-7:35)
Actual: 4.15 mi. @ 8:00

My stomach was still settling on Thursday, and I ended up setting out for some downhill miles where I worked on my form. The pace looks a bit fast here, but there was very little effort to this run since it was downhill.

Friday:
Goal: 5 mi. @ rec. pace (9:00+)
Actual: 16 mi. @ 8:29

Wanting to get my long run out of the way so I could have the weekend to concentrate on other things, I set out Friday afternoon for my 16-miler. Holllly cow, worst 16-miler ever. It was unusually muggy in SF on Friday, and after the first 4 miles, I realized I was overdressed. I headed home to change, and then set back out. Once I got back out on the roads, I developed a nasty side stitch that never went away, the wind was so strong I was hunching over to fight it, my knee started hurting, and to top it all off, my blood sugar plummeted at mile 11. (I guess that's what a week of eating only soup & crackers when you can will do to you.) This run was so miserable, but I got it done and out of the way.

Once I got home, I realized that run put me over my first official 200-mile month of running! So at least there was that.

Saturday:
Goal: 16 mi. @ MGP + 30 sec. to 1 min. (8:30-9:00)
Actual: 6 mi. @ 8:44

It was raining pretty hard on Saturday morning, and I set out for a shorter recovery run, rather than spending any large amounts of time in the cold.

Sunday:
Goal: 8 mi. @ rec. (9:00+)
Actual: Rest

Yup. Pretty slack-ass.

Overall, I finished week 5 with 35.15 miles of running (and concluded March with 209.41!!). I'm happy to have done what I could when I could, and since the race is still a good deal away, I'm not panicking about losing any sort of fitness or anything. :) I'm looking forward to being done with this crazy illness & getting into the thick of my more serious training.

7 more weeks until marathon #7!