Friday, March 30, 2007

OK body - part 2

It's been over a week since I last posted which is kind of unusual - I really seem to be catching the blogging bug at the moment. Truth is I'm psyched by the responses - hearing from Marathon Chris and Maddy and Kevin - it's great to feel part of a larger community and it makes it so much more relevant to post regularly.

As you know I went to Berlin with my husband this week - of which a bit more later - but first - the Lincoln 10K. 4 years ago this was the first race I ever ran. Running it this year I marvelled at the changes that I made to get to that first race and was proud of myself for keeping them up. At that time I had a 1 year old and a 4 year old and had just managed to drag myself out of the lowest state I'd ever been in. I'd gone from being a sedentary, negative, heavy (85 kilos - 187 lbs) woman who had very little faith in herself to someone who ran every day, had lost 25 kilos and was getting stronger and more self-confident every day. That race was the beginning of a lot of great races to follow (to date various short races, 5 half marathons and 2 full marathons) and also the beginning of me beginning to find myself again, to love myself again (even in a binbag). We all know how easy it is, particularly as women, to feel you don't match up to a certain standard - beauty-wise, professionally or otherwise. Running has given me so much - physical strength, physical fitness, pride in my body however unlike a model's it might be, confidence and, finally, friends. I have made a lot of great friends through running - some who I've never met but feel I know through their blogs, others who I've met through running with them at my running club (like Sally and Rachel) and another who was virtual (through podcasting) and is now a real friend, Adam Tinkoff. All these people have become part of my life through running and that's a pretty amazing thing.

So - forgive the diversion - but all these things ran through my head as I ran last week's sunny 10K with Sally and Rachel. My mother-in-law was stationed along the route with my camera, ready to capture some action shots for the blog but when I ran past her I noticed the shutter was closed - and this was all I got.. I'm not even sure that is my shoe there but I'm kind of assuming ..


The race itself is a good one - flat and well marshaled - and getting bigger every year. And - who can bear the tension any longer? - I set a PB despite hacking up my lungs with a terrible chest cough all along the route. At about 8km I broke away from Sally and Rachel and went for it and managed to finish in 51:39 - about 15 seconds faster than I ran it in 2005.. One lesson to be learned though - Sally, who makes every run look like a walk in the past - was about a minute behind me. Like the half marathon a few weeks ago. I don't know why I bother to break away from her and I'm going to try to learn my lesson. If I stick with her I'll still be fine and fast..

OK then Berlin. Well what can I say? After months of all sorts of action, tension and excitement my husband and I were together, alone, for the first time and what did we do? We got sick. By the second day we got there I had to leave the Jewish museum I was so shivery and achey and sick and I went back to the hotel and slept all afternoon. The next day I popped ibuprofen and paracetamol and we had a lovely day in this beautiful and interesting city but I still did not feel great and Thursday (our travelling home day) and Friday (first day back home) I just felt awful. When I still felt terrible yesterday, and Adam had been coughing like a tubercular Victorian orphan all night we both went to the doctor and hey - we both have chest infections and so now we have his 'n hers antibiotics and steroids. What fun! I feel a lot better this morning (probably due to the antibiotics and king-size paracetamols I'm now taking) but I have now not run for a week... Which is a bit scary.

What should I do? Blog readers - this is a shout-out to you. What should I do? I'm beginning to perk up but I don't imagine I'll be able to run until about Wednesday or Thursday - I'm just too weak at the moment. Looking back, I was probably harbouring this infection when I ran that terrible 17 miler a few weeks ago. I have now missed one week of hard training (including an 18 miler) and am probably going to miss most of my step-back week's training as well. Should I just carry on or abandon my marathon? At this point in time what I think I will do - but I welcome your feedback - is get back into this easier week when I feel ready for it and then see how I do and feel. This weekend should be a relatively easy long run (13M) and I'll see how I get on with that. I would like to do this race now - I'm at week 12 of training - and perhaps, if I can push aside my natural competitiveness - I could just see if I can complete the training and do the race at an easy-ish pace and complete comfortably - aiming perhaps at 4:30 - 4:45? Anyway - as I say - feedback welcome.

Finally, thanks for all the comments. I love it!

5 comments:

Zen Runner said...

What should you do? Rest, repair and get your body (and mind) back to full health before putting anymore stress on it. When you get sick - it's a wakeup call to "slow down". The longer you put off the rest, the longer it will take for you to get fully back to your feet at full-speed. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and if your lucky find someone to make you a nice bowl of chicken soup (or Miso if you are a veggie like I am these days). The warm moisture will do you well. Listen to that body Petra - it's sending out a clear signal and if you get restless - try meditation. Find yourself a good quiet spot and focus on the pattern of your breath. Breath into your health, exhale your illness... Breath, breath, breath. That's all.

Here's wishing you a quick (and mindful) recovery.

Robert Nelson said...

Take the time and recover. You may miss running but you will miss your health more.

Running is fun and something that even the most competitive should enjoy doing.

Take the unplanned break and enjoy it and do somethings that you normally would skip because of running.

Then get back to your training and have a great marathon. Even if you don't set a PR or hit your goal target for that day, you are still going to run a marathon, something that most people never do.

Cory said...

I agree with all of the others. You should take the time to get well. Listen to your body, it will tell you when t is ready. And Adam is right...get liquids in....Here is to wishing you a good recovery...

Maddy said...

Yep Yep Yep. Rest and recover. I have played the running on the edge of being reckless with my health.

You'll feel better and stronger if you hold off until you are well.

I really like Adam's idea of soup.

:-)

Unknown said...

I'm a little late, but great 10k time! WOO-HOO!