Training: The Long, Slow Comeback

This one won't be hanging on the wall.

Some of my readers might have noticed that there haven’t been any training posts to speak of for the last few weeks. Two weeks ago, I posted about my malaise and voiced hope that I might be able to run today’s Oakland 5K. Today, I slept right on through the race start and felt no guilt about missing it. After two and a half weeks of no exercise — yes, you read that correctly: zero exercise — even walking a 5K seemed like more of a chore than I was willing to take on.

What was wrong with me? After being poked, prodded, tested, observed and otherwise analyzed by no fewer than half a dozen doctors and technicians, and after my test results have been analyzed by clinical specialists both remote and distant (many thanks to my consulting doc in DC), I’ve gotten nothing more than a shrug and the analysis that whatever it was, it was most likely a virus. And as we all know, “virus” is code for “we have no clue what ails you.” Lovely. Dear little virus, please go away and never return.

The good news is that the fog of oppressive fatigue is starting to lift and I actually attempted three workouts last week. The first was 20 minutes of speedwalking on the treadmill; the second was an hour of Pilates that felt harder than it’s felt in years; and the third was a poorly planned attempt to hike up the world’s windiest hill in the cold and fog. And even though I usually do five or six workouts in a normal week, those three were more than enough for me as I tried to once again find my groove.

Which brings us to this morning. I went to Oakland yesterday to pick up my race shirt (Greenlight Apparel, the best tech shirts on the market) and bib, just in case I wanted to give it a shot this morning. I didn’t set my alarm and decided that if I woke naturally before 6:00 AM, I’d get out of bed and head to Oakland with enough time to eat, park and get ready before the gun went off at 7:45. Instead, I was awakened by the Tiny Kitchen Assistant at 8:02 AM. 8:02! For those of you without kids, allow me to explain: a kid sleeping in and allowing you to sleep until after 8:00 is the equivalent of sleeping past noon BK (before kids). It. Was. Amazing. And unprecedented. Frankly, sleeping in for the first time in five years was much more worthwhile than plodding through a 5K that I hadn’t trained for.

So here I am on Sunday, March 25. I have five weeks until my 8K in DC: 4.97 miles. In some ways, it seems like an impossible task, but I’m going to spend the coming weeks doing as much as I can without my body pitching a fit and relapsing. And I’m looking on the bright side: having never raced an 8K before, nor having raced in DC, I’m guaranteed a PR no matter how slowly I have to go.

Anybody else been sidelined by an evil virus this winter?

Tags: 24 hour fitness, gym, illness, pilates, recovery, running