Prepare yourself.
Brace yourself for the worst week of training ever. I feel like I’ve said before that sometimes life gets in the way of training and you have to roll with the punches. I didn’t really know what that meant until this past week. Before week 3, all my thoughts on what “life getting in the way” would be like were just small, bits of life. Sweating the small stuff. This past week of training showed me that there are people out there with real problems and I should probably suck it up.
This is how my week should have looked…
Just to step you back a little and set the stage for the week, Sunday the 27th I did not get in my 5 miles in the morning because I was recovering from my birthday celebration. I was also headed home to Toledo to see my family for my birthday and go to a doctor’s appointment on Monday morning. I thought maybe I would get that 5 miles in at home in Toledo, but this is about where my crappy week started.
First off, Sunday afternoon I got a phone call from the barn manager where I keep Grady and he told me Grady was showing symptoms of colic. This is a scary phone call to get. Colic in horses is a gastrointestinal issue that can be caused by a lot of factors. Whatever it was that caused Grady not to feel well, I’m not 100% sure but I have my suspicions. Colic is the leading cause of death in domesticated horses. Colic is just scary.
My Sunday evening was spent on the phone with the barn manager, the vet, friends at the barn, all since I couldn’t be there. Luckily, thanks to the help of some barn buddies and my awesome vet, Grady is ok and is recovered. But holy crap, my heart was in my throat for about 3 hours and there was nothing I could do about it.
Monday: Monday I was supposed to cross train. I had a doctor’s appointment in Toledo (I see a specialist there) in the morning, then I figured I would head back to Cleveland, get in a quick workout, shower, and get ready for my birthday dinner with Justin. But I ended up at the Toledo Hospital for pretty much the whole day, not leaving till after 3pm and I still needed to swing by and check on the horsey.
I found out on Monday I have to have surgery on my leg again. I have a vein issue in my left leg that doesn’t really have a name, but can be best described as Superficial Venous Reflux Disease. Basically the valves in an infected vein don’t work and the vein becomes dilated and dies off. Causing varicose and spider veins. These unsightly issues come with pain, a heavy leg feeling, and my least favorite, a burning sensation under the skin.
So what’s the big deal? Well, this issue isn’t in just one or two veins. My whole leg is affected, likely caused by an abnormality of the artery entry in my groin. Oh and it only affects one leg. Just one. Not the right, my right leg could model high heels in a magazine but my left leg would never pass. Plus, I am not 70 years old. I shouldn’t be having these issues at 31. But I am. And it sucks. So I will be having my 4th (fourth!) surgery. Which will fall in the middle of training.
No workout on Monday.
Tuesday: Tuesday I was set to run 3 miles. But I was in a funk all day. Just really weighed down from the weekend and from some happenings at work. Something big happened at work and it wasn’t good. Not good at all. All I can say is that it impacts my group pretty heavily. The work that I and others in my group will have to take on as a result was a tough pill to swallow.
I felt foggy and confused all day and then there was talk of storm duty which frankly makes me want to hide in bed and never get out. There was no time for a run during my lunch so I had to forgo for the day and I headed out to Oak Barrel with some of my favorite blogger buddies for some awesome food and some pick-me-up times with friends.
(pic taken and collage beautifully by Jen)
The food at Oak Barrel was really good. Located in Valley View and a menu created by the Chef Demetrios Atheneos, if you haven’t gone there yet, go. Tuesday’s is taco day and worth the trip. We all ordered an array of food. We stuck around for a long time and it was after 9 when we left. So I cursed myself for not running earlier in the day and just went to bed.
No running on Tuesday.
Wednesday: The schedule called for 5 miles but if I could get 3 in, I was happy. I spent most of my day in a cold sweat and panic over the potential storm duty. They were calling on help telling us to pack for 3 days (which means 7 in reality just no one will admit it) and would not tell us where we were headed. And then by 1 o’clock, nothing happened. All that work and panic and nothing? Good grief.
It was still warm so I decided to try and get some miles in after work. It was really windy and fought the head wind the entire run. That’s how it works in Cleveland. You are running into the wind and resistance no matter what direction you are going in. I wanted to run off a SHIT TON of anxiety and went out to fast, running my first mile under a 9. Of course this affected my last mile greatly. But I got 3.5 miles in.
Thursday: On thursday I figured I would do the 5 I should have done on Wednesday. But then I got some news from home. I don’t want to air all of what is going on, but let me say this, have you ever been told a story that just made you think, “Oh my god, that would have been terrible to experience?” Even though the person that it actually happened to was ok with it, it still tugged your heart strings so hard you just felt terrible?
That’s what this was like. Even though you are hearing “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine” you just still feel really really bad that it happened at all. I was not in a good place for a few reasons on Thursday so I went to see Grady, enjoyed some quality time with something I really love and was in bed by 7. Yes. 7pm.
No running on Thursday either.
Pathetic.
Friday: This is a scheduled rest day and I took it as if I needed it. So shameful.
Saturday: I planned to meet the running club since the route was scheduled minutes from my house. I planned to run to meet everyone, run the route, and then sweet talk a ride home. But Cleveland got smoked with some serious snow that didn’t let up for close to 24 hours. So running club canceled.
Feeling like a total waste of space I forced myself into the blizzard, armed with Rounders downloaded to my Kindle and hit the gym. Got in a fabulous 8 miles.
Sunday: Was supposed to run 5. Thought I would go with the trail group I have been neglecting due to other obligations but the roads the night before were so bad and the meeting place was 45 minutes from my house so I backed out in favor of getting to the barn to see my poor neglected horse once it warmed up and the roads cleared. No miles.
Total miles for the week: 11.5
Seriously? My biggest problem here is life balance. I have 100 things going on all the time. Things I feel like I have to do because someone else is counting on me. But inevitably someone will be disappointed in my attempts to please everyone. So my focus in week 4 is to balance more and do the things that are important to me.
Everyone is entitled to a bad week. This one was really bad. But its over, I’m moving on. I’ve got some miles to kill. Tomorrow is a new day.
How did your week of training go? Please tell me how amazing it was. I want to feel motivated!