Be Kind

When I look back on the four marathons I've already run, I have fond memories. Some were good (Victoria, Kelowna), one was okay (Surrey) and one was unexpected in so many ways (Saint John).

In my personal view, running the marathon itself is the best part. It's the part that's the most fun. It's the climax to 18 weeks or more of intense training - an epitomization, in many ways, of the work one has put in to get ready for a singular moment: crossing that finish line after running 42.2 km.

Training for those marathons, on the other hand, is - and others might disagree with me on this point - well, less fun. It's the work. I mean, who likes to do work, am I right? Yes, it's necessary. Absolutely. But some days, and because it's "necessary", it can feel "mandatory"... which, frankly, can suck the joy right out of running.

Knowing these things, having been in this position before, I've taken a more relaxed approach to training for number five. My overall attitude: work hard but, if certain things don't work out? Ah well! Illness, injury, work, family, busy-ness, overall malaise, life in general... shit happens.

What I've come to know is this: worrying excessively about how well I'm marathon training on top of being stressed over life can be brutal. If I think I'm not doing enough, running enough, not being fast enough, not eating well enough - it makes me feel bad. It makes me think I'm a failure. So guess what? I'm not gonna do it. I'm gonna remind myself that no, I'm not perfect, but I'm trying - really hard. And then I'm gonna take the small wins every day because, really, what else is there? We, as individuals, need to celebrate our own accomplishments and recognize, ourselves, when we've done a good job. We can't rely on others to do that for us; that confidence has to come from within, no?

When I was running number three in Saint John, because it was such a small marathon, there were huge stretches of distance where I would be all by myself. And it wasn't a great race for me as I was undertrained and did not pace well at all. Being alone out there, it would have been so easy to just give up, to stop completely. I only had myself - and my thoughts - to rely on. Long story short, I struggled. But I made it.

My dad had this relaxed way about himself, and living life. I think it irritated my mom sometimes, who has always been a little more high strung (guess that's where my personality comes from). When I get stressed, I ought to think to myself: "What would my dad do?" Probably have a rest. Play some guitar. Watch some TV. And basically, chill the fuck out, a little.

Fans of the TV show This Is Us will certainly remember this conversation between Miguel and Kevin. Also, if you're not watching this show, you totes need to be. (GIF cred: TV Fanatic)

I reflect on this this weekend, as I've not been feeling well the past few days, and woke up this morning to more snow (g*ddamnit, Mother Nature! Bitch got problems), so decided to give myself a break from my long run. Does that worry me? A little bit. But I know I've also got to get over it - pick my battles, and have a better week this week. That's all I can do.

Be kind to yourselves, friends. Enjoy your Sunday.

The 411 on Running and Illness

Happy New Year, runners, readers and friends! I sure hope 2017 has been off to a good start for you all.

I've unfortunately been battling a cold since the turn of the year and so have not been running since I didn't want to make things worse by pushing either distance or intensity while under the weather. However, this forced break has given me time to reflect on running and illness.

© 2009 Doug Savage 

Given recent sick spells and (perhaps, too frequent?) accounts on this blog about being sick during training (see: Being Sick Blows; Running? What Running?; Canter Rain Check; (Non) Running Round Up: First Edition of 2013; It Begins...Again; The Sick Verdict a.k.a. Sick of Being Sick and Sick of Complaining About Being Sick; Weekend Woes a.k.a. Stories from the Sick Bed; Here We Go...; and So. Much. Mucus.), I've often wondered whether running actually contributes to illness. 

Certainly, my individual experience is not enough to account for anything substantive so I decided to do a little research and, after a quick scan of the literature, it seems that there definitely might be some weight to the theory. Weidner and Sevier (1996) find that 

"...regular, rigorous exercise increases both the incidence and severity of upper respiratory illness, yet the immune system appears to have a distinct level at which moderate exercise promotes optimum health." 

Essentially, it boils down to this: 

Certain levels of exercise = GOOD 

Too much or too strenuous exercise = BAD

Well, not bad, per se... but too much or too strenuous activity could risk increasing one's chances of getting sick. So... still not good, really.

How to mitigate? Unfortunately, for long distance runners and high intensity athletes, there's not much else to do beyond what anyone can do: keep stress to a minimum, wash your hands and get enough sleep (Brown, 2013; Reynolds, 2009).

However, the literature does say that moderate exercise or less-than-normal-intensity exercise while ill is fine, so long as the symptoms are confined to "above the neck" i.e. just a head cold (Brown, 2013; Laskowski, 2014; Reynolds, 2009; Weidner & Sevier, 1996). But - caution! If you push things while still sick, you'll probably stay sick or even make things worse (Laskowski, 2014; Reynolds, 2009). 

There you have it. Mystery solved: running can contribute to illness. Also, I'm not crazy; getting sick while running is a thing!

Final note: when trying to decide whether or not to run when sick, the basic rule of thumb is - as in most other things when running - "let your body be your guide" (Laskowski, 2014). It knows what's best.

--

Sources:

Brown, J. (2013, March 11). How Exercise Affects Immunity. Athletes’ Performance. Retrieved from http://www.coreperformance.com/knowledge/wellness/how-exercise-affects-immunity.html

Laskowski, E.R. (2014, March 6). Is it OK to exercise if I have a cold? Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20058494

Reynolds, G. (2009, October 14). Phys Ed: Does Exercise Boost Immunity? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/phys-ed-does-exercise-boost-immunity/?_r=1

Weidner, T. G., &; Sevier, T. L. (1996). Sport, Exercise, and the Common Cold. Journal of Athletic Training, 31(2), 154–159. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1318446/pdf/jathtrain00018-0060.pdf

So. Much. Mucus.

It's race weekend in Vancouver! I hit the expo yesterday to pick up my bib and race kit and wander the kiosks.

I've deliberately been keeping mum as I've been trying to decide whether I'd be actually running #5 tomorrow, given that I had to resort to some last minute cramming in my training. A few weeks ago I'd reasoned that I could give it a go, as long as I was okay with running a slower than normal marathon.

Of course, I didn't bargain for the nasty cold I caught which left me exhausted on Tuesday, with no voice on Wednesday, and mouth-breathing the rest of the week. Running a full marathon being undertrained is one thing, but also while not 100% healthy? Tricky decision.

Being at the expo yesterday I felt that familiar race excitement in the air: runners verifying their bib info, checking their race chips are working, talking about their training. Which makes it all the worse that I've decided to forego tomorrow's race, after all. Marathon #5 will just have to wait.

In the meantime, good luck to everyone running this weekend! Have a great race, enjoy, and see you at the finish line.

© 2013 Vancouver International Marathon Society

Here We Go...

It's race weekend! And after a terrible September plagued with illness, I am happy to report that I've recovered well enough and will be at the marathon start line on Sunday.

I'm a bit under trained, given that I didn't complete nearly as much mileage as I would have liked these past few weeks. But I'm hoping that the big mileage I ran last month will serve me in good stead. 

Epiphany: being ill while training for this marathon has made me appreciate the ability to run all the more. Out there today, I realized that being healthy makes such a world of difference. When I can't run because I'm injured or sick, I'm miserable. I'm certainly grateful that I have the opportunity to run this weekend - and I won't take it for granted because, who knows? There may well come a day when I can no longer do so. 

I leave you with this quote from John Stanton: "No time to run? Your mental attitude can be practiced at any time." I will therefore stay positive between now and Sunday, and really focus only on the things I was able to control these past few months in training. 

If you find yourself in Surrey on Sunday morning, come see me along the course or at the finish line. I'll be one of the stragglers bringing up the rear (happily!).

Course map
© 2012 Surrey Marathon

Weekend Woes a.k.a. Stories from the Sick Bed

It's amazing. Not one day into the start of fall term, and I end up sick as a dog. 

Today is the first time in over four days that I've woken up not hacking my lungs out and instantly wanting my life to end. But this obviously has meant no running. I was supposed to do 32 km on Sunday... ha! As if that was going to happen. Not with my lungs on the floor and my apartment covered in snot-filled tissues. 

With only three weeks to go until marathon #4, this recent sickness has got me a little stressed out. But maybe it's better than I got sick now than closer to the end of the month. Right? Right??

A few observations. You know you haven't been running in awhile when...

• The battery in your Garmin has drained itself twice since you last wore it.
• You don't remember what distance you last ran.
• You don't remember what day you last ran.
• All of your running gear is clean at the same time.

The Sick Verdict a.k.a. Sick of Being Sick and Sick of Complaining About Being Sick

Do I sound like a broken record? 'Cuz I sure think I do and I'm certainly sick of it.

I've been sick this entire past week and, apart from last Sunday's long run, have missed all of my running this week. I've debated going out there even though I've felt miserable, but haven't actually done so.

I've brought this up before, this question of whether or not somebody should be running while they're sick, and no one has given me a definitive answer. I turned to my personal running library and, surprisingly, none of the books I own really talk about it at all. 

Yesterday, I looked it up on the Internet (again), but actually decided to take some time to really read what information is out there. A lot of it is heaping piles of poo: articles written mostly from conjecture with no evidence or backing of the claims being made whatsoever.

There were, however, a few bright lights in the darkness. While the New York Times' article, Don’t Starve a Cold of Exercise, starts out anecdotally, it goes on to describe clinical studies that were performed with men and women of varying levels of fitness who were deliberately infected with a rhinovirus and then asked to either exercise, or not exercise, while they were feeling under the weather. The doctors involved in the study found that their subjects' "overall exercise performance wasn’t impaired, even though they were reporting feeling fatigued” and also found that, when the exercisers' provided an assessment of their symptoms they actually "felt O.K. and, in some cases, they actually felt better."

Other clinically-supported theories, like the one described in Runners World's article, Should You Run When You're Sick?, refer to the neck rule: "symptoms below the neck (chest cold, bronchial infection, body ache) require time off, while symptoms above the neck (runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing) don't pose a risk to runners continuing workouts."

With that in mind, and a self-assessment of my symptoms revealing a "neck up" affliction, I charged up my Garmin, prepared my Gu gels and hit the sack early last night, eager and determined to run 23 km this morning. Sadly, I woke up after only an hour of rest, and didn't get back to sleep until 2:00 am. And when the alarm went off this morning, I felt worse than I have in the past five days since I first became ill.

In her article for the Globe and Mail, Dr. Wijayasinghe explains that whether or not to exercise when you're sick is ultimately a personal choice, as "Everyone is different and every body reacts differently to colds. It is important to listen to your body if you choose to exercise when sick." When I woke up this morning with my headache, clogged up sinuses and after barely any sleep, I decided to skip my long run after all. It's disappointing, and it means I'll have to look at adjusting my training schedule to work around this latest bout of sickness. But hopefully I've made the right choice - and hopefully it means I'll be back out there again sooner rather than later.

It Begins...Again

Welcome to marathon training!

My marathon training schedule starts this weekend in earnest. So begins 18 weeks of steadily increasing mileage and trying to not hurt myself like I did last spring. 

Hmm, stairs. Not yet.
© photos.uc.wisc.edu

Starting a new training schedule always feels a little daunting. I know I've done it before, but yet there is still apprehension in beginning again. Each time I think, "Am I crazy to be doing this?" But because I've asked myself that question, I know that it's the right thing to do.

Today's run: 10 km. Weather: overcast. Feeling: a little run-down (still recovering from that nasty cough and cold I had these past couple of weeks) but overall, glad to have been out there today.

More updates to come! 

(Non) Running Round Up: First Edition of 2013

Happy 2013 and welcome to a whole new year of running!

I realize I'm behind on this kind of well-wishing, but I feel like I haven't had that much to say. I haven't been running, but I've been seriously thinking about it (that's worth something, ain't it?). I'd love to (finally!) share some of those thoughts with you.

Sicking Sticking With It
Getting into my shoes has obviously been a big problem ever since I ran marathon #3 in August. I feel like I've been plagued by illness ... and thanks to the blog acting as an online journal, after looking back, I apparently have been! One of my classmates also confirmed that ever since she's known me (i.e. since the start of the school year in September), I've been sick. I'm not trying to use this as an excuse for not running, but in some ways it's nice to have validation. 

My only thought on this: did I not run because I was sick, or was I sick because I didn't run? 

I do actually believe it's the latter. Obviously, there are plenty of studies out there that show physical activity helps to decrease stress and boost immunity levels. I haven't been running, therefore I've been stressed out and sick all the time. Makes sense! 

The solution? Go running. Go figure. 

Time Management is a Bitch, But ...
I found it extremely difficult in my first semester of grad school to balance schoolwork, life and running. And I know it's going to continue to be difficult for the next year and a half. Not that long ago, I got to the point where I seriously considered not running at all! But that's silly, right? Time management will always be a challenge. If I can figure this one out now (it will be a miracle!), I think being able to juggle any schedule in future can and will be possible.

Long story short: I'm continuing with the plan to run Five by 35. And blogging about it at the same time. While undertaking a Master's degree. (I must be out of my freaking mind.)

Racing 2013-Style
I'm just gonna lay it out there. Here's what I'm thinking: no spring or early summer races. 

I know it can be hard to stay on track that way, but here's the thing ... races cost money! And I'm a poor student now. I never realized before how expensive entry fees are, but that's because I was always earning money. 

I think, to give myself the best chance to finish marathon #4 this year, I need to pick a full that is scheduled for late summer or early fall. The current school term wraps up in April. Over the summer, I'll be working and doing a little research, but I'm not expecting to be as time-crunched as I am right now, which means (relatively speaking) I'll have oodles of time for slow long runs on weekends. 

(Sidebar: as I finished typing that last sentence, I got tingly all over. I'm gonna take this as a good sign that I'm ready to get back at it!)

Here's my shortlist for #4:

• The Santa Rosa Marathon on August 25;
• Sunriver Marathon for a Cause on September 1;
• Lake Chelan Shore to Shore on September 7; and
• Bellingham Bay Marathon on September 29.

The criteria I used to evaluate which races made the final cut were:

• Dates: as alluded to earlier, this one was the priority; 
• Proximity to home: if my husband and I have to travel, we didn't want it to be too far; and 
• Size: the last two marathons I've participated in were a little smaller, so it would be nice to run a race with a fair number of registrants.  

I need to pick one soon, so I can get it in the books and commit to it publicly ... always helps in the goal setting process! 

Will you help me choose? Please vote on the blog's main page!

Quote of the Day
This time it's from the man, Albert Einstein:

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

Therefore, to get out of this non-running rut, I've gotta do something different. Got it. 

Thanks Al!

Canter Rain Check

Today was supposed to be the first annual Christmas Canter. Yes, that's right ... I said "was."

Sadly, I did not make it out there. As sometimes happens on race days, one might be injured, or get sick, or just not be prepared well enough. Mine is a combination of sickness and ill-preparedness.

A 10 km run I could do without much training, albeit at a leisurely pace - not the race pace at which I had originally intended to run the Christmas Canter. But running it while not feeling well? Not keen on the idea. (Anyone else feel like I've been perpetually sick all year? I sure do.)

To be completely transparent, my running has definitely fallen by the wayside. Creating the race at least got me thinking about running - and got me into my running shoes more in the last few weeks than I'd run all semester. But the workload for school has definitely been a huge factor that I'm going to need to manage better if I'm going to complete any running goals next year. 

For today, I'm going to rest up, pack for our Christmas trip and perhaps do a little research into the races I want to run in 2013. I'm contemplating the Spring Run Off, a long-standing 8 km race here in Vancouver which, oddly, I've never run. I'm also thinking about doing the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon again, as an intermediate race to a full marathon later in the year. Edge 2 Edge is definitely on my mind, having had to let that one go this year due to injury. Although, aiming for a fall marathon might be more realistic, as I'll be able to better train over the summer, without any classes and school work to worry about. Things to ponder.

I'm a little disappointed about not running today, but hey - shit happens. Whaddya gonna do? Sorry to those who were looking forward to today's race results! Perhaps we'll try again next year.

Merry Christmas! Wishing you all the best of the holidays. 

Running? What Running?

It's been a crazy few weeks. In a nutshell, this is what I've been up to:

• I wrapped up things at work before going on my educational leave. This was a surprisingly hectic task.
• I started my graduate degree program and had a small freak-out about the volume of required reading ... so I've spent a lot of time this week with my nose in many different books. 
• I've also been suffering from an extremely stubborn and irritating cough and cold. Can't seem to shake it, either. It's super annoying.

What I have not been doing, sadly, is running. I'd try, except for this small issue of being prone to unexpected and sudden coughing fits. I'm hoping this will change soon.

Rest assured, I will get back out there once my itchy throat goes away. I'm looking forward to discovering just how my new schedule and school routine affect my ability and motivation to run (and blog!). Will I have to run first thing in the morning versus in the afternoons? Will Sundays need to be reserved for group project work instead of long runs? Will the blog accidentally creep into my life as a student? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear about what you guys have been up to, as I feel this need to live vicariously through my running peeps! Did anyone do the Vancouver Triathlon last weekend? Who's running the Queen City Marathon this weekend in Regina? And what other races do you have coming up in the fall?

I go to school here. It kinda rules.
© 2008 Harbour Centre Complex Ltd.

Being Sick Blows

These past few days have been a bust for me running-wise. 

I was feeling a bit grotty on Thursday so decided to delay my 6 km run ... but then left the office on Friday feeling the onset of a cold and completely devoid of energy. The weekend was no better; my state deteriorated into a sore throat and sheer exhaustion which meant no running for me.

When I don't feel well, I try and stay somewhat active by toning down the runs to easy 15 or 20 minute jogs. But I've never been sure what to do if I have a long run scheduled. I had 23 km on the docket for today but didn't run at all simply because I really didn't know what to do.

Here's my question - and I'm looking at the long-distance runners who are reading this blog: 

What do you do when you're sick and have to do a long run? 

Do you rest up on the weekend and try to fit that long run in during the week instead? What if you don't have time to be out on a three-hour training run during the week? Do you split up the mileage into two or three runs instead? I know that's not ideal, but we're all working within constraints, right? Are two 12 km runs a reasonable substitute for a 23 or 24 km long run - even just for one week? Or do you merely write it off and work a bit harder next Sunday? 

This is something I've always wondered about but never really knew what might be best. Anyone have any tips? Would love the feedback!

(On a happier note ... being sick this weekend was such a great excuse to do nothing but stay on the couch and watch the Olympics. Who else is watching London 2012 coverage? Can't wait to see how the athletes do in the running events!)