My Days of Rest

“I am my own affliction; I am own disease”

Switchfoot

Saturday, August 14 I proclaimed to myself and my running friends that I would not run again until Bulldog.  I would rest.  I kept my word.  I have not run, not even from the car to the front door. 

This is how I’ve spent my days of “rest” (besides reading, cleaning, and sleeping extra hours):

Sunday, I slept in : ), swam 1,500 yards and did  strength training (weights & core).

Monday, 65 minutes on the elliptical (5.22 miles) and core work on the floor at home in front of my favorite soap opera.  To bed early (8:30!)

Tuesday, slept in again : ) 65 minutes on the elliptical (5.68 miles) and more strength training (weights, but no extra weight or repetitions than usual).

Wednesday, woke up early, Physical Therapy 8 AM, then to the gym for 1,500 yards of swimming, then again core work on the floor at home watching my soap.

Thursday, woke even earlier, Physical Therapy 7:30 AM, then to the gym for strength training (weights & core) plus 1,500 yards of swimming.  Napped in the late afternoon.

Friday, no workout whatsoever intended.  Sleep in and keep a cool head, pick up a few things from the store and pack.  I won’t even do a plank!

NOW, there may be friends and readers who will give me that funny look, giggle and accuse me of not resting these past days.  But believe me, this has been a rest.  In the past five days, I’ve probably slept an extra ten hours.  No cardio activity lasted more than 65 minutes, and the strength training, I didn’t “up” anything.

As a result, I feel rested.  My toe isn’t pretty, but it’s practically healed.  No pain at all, no limp.  My hip is also doing much, much better.  Though my pelvis continues to rotate forward.  Anything will do it.  Sleeping does it!  But I am getting better and stronger at realigning my pelvis back into position.  So, if you see me out there in Calabasas laying in the dirt, pulling and pushing my right leg, I am not hurt, I am just preventing pain and injury by realigning.

There you have it – my days of rest.  Now I am a bundle of nerves, hoping that I can complete the upcoming race, my first ultra.  My goals:  (besides completing), no falling, no injuries, handling the cramps when the arrive, keeping a smile on my face and a positive attitude, and most of all enjoying the beauty and relative solitude.  Because it really is beautiful out there at Malibu Creek State Park.

So long til then.

Food for Thought

I have been sick the past few days, and it's really pissing me off.  I mean, I really have a bad attitude about it.  Thing is, I KNOW, that's not the way to heal.  Rest, positive attitude, good food, that's the way to heal.  Not me, I've been grumbling, eating nachos for dinner and tossing and turning through the night. 

I hate to get sick.  And this is not your oridnary sickness -- this is one of those dental/bacterial things, which means there's pain involved.  That makes me even angrier.  I've been trying to let go of this anger.  I even read Bach's Illusions, which is a lovely, lighthearted book with lots of good advice that I have not employed once.

So what is my problem?  I'm just a baby, that's my problem, and it seems that my attitude is somehow tied to sweat.  If I don't sweat, I have this irrational fear that I'm rapidly growing physically weaker.  And it's only been two days. 

On the good side, I have kept up the hip exercises and the planks.  Not going to do much good fighting those nacho dinners.  But perhaps I will not lose strength.  (I am toying with the idea of sneaking in a run today, or at least faking that I am much, much better, and perhaps I will be better, and that this whole sickness thing is really more attitude than anything else).

I shall leave you with this video clip that I found on Runnerdude's blog.  It's a good one for plank instruction.  You can find lots more on youtube.com