Forced Run Subsides Headache

I have not run or exercise since Sunday. My sinus issue has kept my head spinning, my chest congested, and my energy low. I visited the Doc on Tuesday and went on the Z Pack. It's starting to help. I planned to ride a tad last night, but when I got home from work, my head began to pound and I lost all energy.

Today, I forced myself to run at the Sandhills. The 2 Much Fun 5K is this Saturday, and I wanted to get some work in before the race. I had hoped to work hard the past three weeks to get ready, but that has been a bust.

I started slow with the pounding head, but ran okay, and pushed on the big hill and the long slow finish climb. My chest still feels like there's a brick on it, and I fought for air a good bit. My nose is not as clogged as it has been this week, so there's hope I will feel better by Saturday.

I did not time myself, so there's no data to report. The good news is that post workout, my headache disappeared. It's great to know a bit of hard work opened my head up, and maybe I'm turning the corner on this sinus infection.

Blocked Sinus, Congested = Slow Run

Went for another shot at the 5k course for the upcoming race at the Sandhills this Saturday. I was going to run with some other folks from work in the race, but we did not meet up, so I headed out on my own. I had not run solo in awhile so I pushed the pace more to see if I could put a good time together.

Running was labored, and my HR was up to 15o fast. I finished with a time of about 19:30. Not great, but at least I did not stop and walk.

I was thinking I could get a sub 27 minute run this weekend, but now I wondering if that's possible.

What's Going On...

Went for a training run at the Sandhills today. A change of plans and an offer from my wife, and I ended up switching to running with Amy on a different series of trails.

We were excited to head out and the first mile was a lot of fun, since we left our usual trail for something new we had spotted. I was a nice section - wooded, rolling, and following a stream. Something happened about 20 minutes in and both of us started really struggling. I was short of breath, and my legs just felt dead. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the heat, time of day (5 pm right after work), over training, air quality??? Who knows. Maybe it was a combination of all factors. I just don't want to ever feel that again. cutting back on running the past month seems to have caught up with me. I enjoy swimming and biking more, and seem to favor those workouts.

In all, we ran - or walked - about 3 1/2 miles. I stopped checking the time and cals burned and don't really care to worry about it anyways.

Cross Training

Trying to get back into a regular thing again. Tonight was swim and bike at the Y

Swim: 100 - 500- 500- 200m - Total 1300m (I timed one 500m at about 9 min.)

I could the burn in my shoulders from taking so much time away from swimming. My form felt good and I kept a nice ryhthm.

Bike: 15.88mi. in an hour on the bike. I burned about 700 cal.

I felt out of breath the last 10 min and really had to push to get my speed up to try from 16 miles. Not training regularly has caught up with my exercise asthma I believe.

2 Much Fun 5k Training

Getting set for the district's 5k in May, and ran the course with some folks from work. I'm not a fan of the trail, since the Sandhills has much better to offer. I'm not sure why they designers decided to leave out the most interesting spots

Anyways, I ran the course in about 34 min. (Really Slow!!) My HR was around 140 accept for the big hill and finish. I burned 440 calories as well. Overall, I was not excited by the run  today. I have a long way to go to get back to my goal time of 26 minutes for race day. 2 weeks of not running caught up with me fast.

Biking over Spring Break

During Spring Break, my wife and I took the Boys to Atlanta for a visit to their Aunt. One thing worth mentioning is how much I love the Bike Trail in Gwinnette (SP?). We were able to ride to anywhere in the city with wonderful wooded trails. It was great. I so wish Richland County had something like this.

Also, we learned about the Silver Comet Trail from Atlanta to all the way into Alabama. We are planning to head back soon just to ride a section of the Rails to Trails Project. I sounded great.

Back to Blogging

It's been awhile since I've posted. The past Fall and Winter have been productive at work and in training. I haven't stopped training, but definitely felt burned out with all the postings. With the coming of Spring, and in need of some added pressure to start training harder, I've decided to dust off the training blog.

Since I last posted, I've run in 2 5Ks. I ran the March for Meals at Riverbanks again, but this year trained about 20 students from my school. I focused less on my goals, and took on the challenge of getting some kids interested in running. It was one of the best things I've done in a long time. 

I also ran the St. Patty's Race in 5 Points, and even set a new PR for the 5K. I broke the 26 minute mark. That had been a goal for quite awhile, so it was nice to finally make it.

I've been riding, biking and swimming, but not logging the results. I have not done much the past 2 weeks with Spring Break and a bad cold. I will be running with a group of teachers from my school in the Richland 2 Just for Fun 5k on May 2nd. I don't want to embarass myself, so it's time to get serious.