Training Log 4a (Patience, Go W/ The Flow)

Friday 1/16/09

I awoke Monday morning feeling under the weather and it stayed that way well into Wednesday. Symptoms included head congestion, fever like symptoms without much of a change in body temp (body ache, night sweats), and lethargy.

My best guess is contributing factors include:
-increased mileage combined with insufficient quality sleep
-the shift from cooler temps to unseasonably warm weather.
-the unknown…………

99% of the time obstacles will be part of the game when training for endurance events. That’s pretty much a given. The trick is how you deal with the obstacle once it presents itself. Will it be defeating or will one be creative and get through, around, over or under the obstacle. Sounds kind of like Basic Living 101.

I think many of us initially go towards the realm of defeat or the negative when disappointments some our way. There have been times this past week where I went there. “How am I going to ‘catch up’? What IF this lingers awhile?”. For whatever reason (my birth order, genetics, my parents made me wear corduroy, etc) I have the natural tendency to be a worry wart. I get sick, I can’t train, I worry….that’s the natural order of things. I recognize that, sometimes sit with it for awhile, then make an effort to move past it and be creative. It’s tough work that takes practice and constant self reminders. It would be nice to master. Sometimes it takes a friend to snap me out of it.

Today, feeling what I thought was 90%, I ventured out to go on as easy 4 miler. Sometimes a bit of exercise knocks the rest of the sickness crud out. As I set about my warm up I asked myself “what is the purpose of this run”? “The purpose of this run”, I told myself, “is to go with the flow, go by feel and move a bit”.

I took off at a slow pace and within a mile realized that today was not the day to push. My legs were heavy, my head was still a bit cloudy, and my breathing was more labored than it should be. I stopped and walked the remainder of my course.

I’ll play the weekend out by ear. I still feel pretty good and am on the tail end of whatever this bug is. Worrying about being sick will not get me well. Going with the flow, good rest, and being patient and relaxed will. I'll see how I feel tomorrow.