It has been quite a while since I posted anything. While the past 1.5 months have been “eventful”, the news unfortunately has not been very good.
On my last training run in the mountains before the Headlands Hundred on July 10th, I managed to pick up a tick that gave my Lyme Disease. Luckily I caught it very quickly and got on antibiotics, but it really knocked me out at first, and the effects lingered for a long time afterwards.
I completed the antibiotic cycle a week before the Headlands Hundred and was feeling much better, so I figured I’d give the race a shot knowing it was unlikely I’d be able to finish it with very little running over the prior 3 weeks and still not feeling 100%.
Not surprisingly, I DNFed at mile 46. I had a good start and felt very solid through the first 25 mile loop, but the wheels came flying off shortly afterwards. I generally felt much more fatigued than I should have, and I also had two major bouts of throwing up and couldn’t keep anything down.
In the three weeks since the race, I’ve taken it very easy and have done little running. The 46 mile effort really took it out of me, and I was not feeling great for a few weeks afterwards. Mostly I was just still very tired and worn out. So I finally started to listen to my body and slept a lot more and ran a lot less. The good news is that seems to be working!
Late last week I finally started feeling like myself again. This weekend I ran 11 miles on Saturday and another 11 on Sunday. I had a lot of energy and felt like myself again for the first time in a long time. I can’t tell you how great it felt to enjoy a run and have my body respond well. I tried to keep it in check and not go too crazy to make sure I continue giving my body what it needs to recover.
Hopefully I can slowly mix in more running and continue trying to rest a lot. I’m not exactly sure where that will leave me for the Chicago Marathon on October 9th. For now I’m trying my best to keep the focus on getting well and not worry as much about the race.
I can’t wait to get back to what I love doing. The weather has been getting nicer and nicer, and I’m excited for what I hope will be a good fall!
Comments