Heat Run (or is that heat stroke? : )

A morning of errands in and out of the house, drove my son in-land (just a few miles) into belligerent heat for a doctor's appointment.  It was only 10:00 AM.   Back to the beach shack, where we have no air-conditioning (and we hardly ever need it), it felt like an oven.  I felt sorry for the baby-sitter.  But I was off again to fit in a run.  The time was 11:30 AM  (note to self, don't run around noon on the hottest days).

With little time to spare, I drove down to the marina.  I thought, this should be nice and cool -- lovely ocean breezes, plenty of water fountains to drink from.  The first fountain I ran past, a woman held the faucet on while her two large dogs lapped water straight from the fountain.  I'm talking slobbering mouths all over the faucet.  Nice. (After that I would let the water run a while before drinking)

I noticed a few other runners, in and out of the wharf, over the island, all of us practically suffering from heat stroke.  Nah, it wasn't that bad.  Sure wasn't cool next to the ocean like I thought it would be though.  Fortunately, a breeze came through.  But they were few and far between.  This will be good practice for Bulldog, I thought.  NOT. 

I'm spoiled now with over twenty years living on the coast.  Growing up in Covina, California, I suffered through quite a few 100+ degree days.  We never get anything near that here.  Seventy degrees, I call it hot.  Eighty degrees, gosh, the devil is in town!

Fun stress-free run nonetheless.  Felt good the whole time.  The rest of the day it was ice, ice and more ice (pelvis, hip and back).  It doesn't hurt to run.  But everyday, whether I run or not, later in the day, I need ice for the my accident injury.  I begin physical therapy on Monday.  And I am confident that I will come-back quickly. (Please, please, please)

Miles logged: 5.25

The Aftermath

The aftermath. There's always THE AFTERMATH with me and big races. I wonder if it's like that for others? I don't read about it in blogs.  Is THE AFTERMATH a big secret, or am I just always in, way over my head?

My parents used to jokingly call me "Grace" when I was a child, because I was always crashing into things, falling, stubbing my toes.  Little did they know-- "In over my head," is my real claim to fame.  I remember when my husband and I used to ski.  (Before children :) We were Blue Diamond skiers, yet, somehow I would manage to get us on these treacherous Black Diamond Runs. He'd glare at me "that look," and I'd just say something like "snow plow!"

The day after "Las Flores" my quads ached, my glutes ached, my arms ached -- a fatigue sort of ache, not injury.  I put the cloth knee brace on first thing upon arriving home.  I even slept in it (ya, ya, I read somewhere that's not a good thing to do -- but there's always another side to every claim that says, that's "bull.").  When I slipped the brace off in the morning, what had seemed like a knee injury, was completely gone.

But then there was my back.  Every so often my right, lower back would spasm, in between a constant nagging pain.  The spasms were plentiful and painful.  Had a terrible time sleeping Monday night.  Tried sleeping on the floor for that straight-board affect.  Didn't help.  A little worried, I thought that I might put a call into the physical therapist.

Here's my theory on the back, though, I am about as uneducated about muscles, sports, etc. as they come.  (Not really, I am a tiny bit self-educated in these areas).  Anyway.  The theory.  When I injured my knee, either from just plain ole' over-use, or running through those sandpits, I began compensating, changed my gait and my back took the brunt.  How's that for a theory?  Plausible?

I deliberated much on recovery after this race.  Monday, I took the day off.  Well, my middle son got the flu, so I spent my time caring for him, doing chores, etc.  But I took the day off from training or any kind of "recovery" activity. 

This was my decision:  take it nice and easy recovering from my DFL in the Las Flores Marathon.  Because judging by Sunday's performance, there's no way I'm going to be ready for Bulldog 50k, if I overdo it and injure myself.  I needed healing, and a fast track back into hardcore training.  And so, I decided on two days swimming after my day of rest.

Tuesday, hubby caught the flu.  I got boy one and boy three off to school, checked in on boy two and hubby then headed off to the gym.   I swam 1500 yards, sat in the jacuzzi (with the jet blasting on my back), layed down on an oh so lovely, straight cedar bench in the suana, took a steaming hot shower, then did some light weight training (plus some minor core work).  Wednesday, I swam 1400 yards, did my regular hip exercises at home and just one long plank.

1400/1500 yards is such an easy-going swim workout, that I decided to work on my flip turns.  Flip turns have always freaked me out -- ever since I was a teenager (and I'm 45 now!).  I have this fear that 1) I'm going to flip too late and crash into the wall, 2) flip too early and have nothing to push off from (no big deal), or 3) smash my head into the pool floor on the flip.

I've hit my head on pool floors plenty of times (funny thing though, never on a flip turn).

During these 3 days, I also iced the back, off and on.  And I have to say that my back feels almost 100% -- I'd say it's about 90%.  I'm also icing my right hip for a slight dull pain. My right hip is my usual problem. (But it was my left hip that got me into physical therapy. Overall, the hips are pretty good.  I think I'm ready for a run. : )

Now, back to, how in the world am I going to get ready for Bulldog 50k?  After much thought, I've come to the decision that I MUST lose weight.  I must, must, must.  It is essential.  I'm at least 15 pounds overweight -- and I've known it for a LONG time.  Thing is, I just haven't been able to motivate myself to drop the pounds.  I "work-out" (run, swim, gym, weights, etc.) six days a week -- I don't want to worry about diet.   As soon as I say, I'm going to "diet", anxiety grows and I actually eat more!  Usually what happens is, I eat too few calories for my activity level, that by the time night rolls around, I'm starving.  I arrive home from work between 6:30 and 9:30PM, and by then, I don't want to wait for a well balanced meal.  Instead, I go for the quick fix, and lots of it (cheese, chips, things like that) to get rid of the hunger.

And so how am I going to motivate myself this time to lose those 15 pounds?  I'm going to do what I'm doing now -- write it in my blog.  If I write it, I have to do it. Right?  RIGHT?  (I really want to run that 50k, besides that -- losing weight is secondary.)

"If I write it,I have to do it."

I hope so.

: )