I've been on borrowed time for a while now, and I think my time is up. I haven't had so much as a head cold since May of 2011. I used to get sick at least 3-4 times a year, but it's been 17 months now. Jerry has been sick for a couple of days, and today, my throat is very sore.
And I'm running a marathon on Sunday. Worst timing ever to get sick!
I am hoping and praying that this thing runs its course before the weekend. Usually when I get sick, it gets pretty bad. I almost always wind up with bronchitis. But if I have the same bug as Jerry, then it shouldn't be too bad. Right now, it's just a sore throat, so hopefully I won't get any other symptoms. I don't know if Airborne actually works, but I've been taking that to minimize the damage.
Yesterday, I really had the urge to go out for a short run. This rarely happens to me, and I figured an unscheduled three-miler couldn't hurt, so I got on my running clothes mid-morning and went outside to run. I started my Garmin, and made it about halfway down my street, and then I thought, "I want to run hard today--I haven't run hard since the 5K race I ran in March."
So I picked up the pace, and I ran hard. The first mile, I wasn't really trying to run at a race-pace, but eventually, that's what it turned into. I was running as hard as I comfortably could for the three miles, just to see where my body is right now in terms of speed.
It was rough. I felt like a beginner again, running for the first time, where my lungs were burning. I'd almost forgotten what that felt like. But knowing it was only for three miles helped me to push through, and I felt SO good! I felt like I really worked my legs, and I was out of breath when I got back to my house. I miss that breathless feeling of a good workout.
I was surprised when I saw my splits--I haven't lost my speed as much as I thought I did this year:
9:01, 8:54, and 8:15... average pace of 8:42/mi. If I had run just a little farther, to finish out a 5K, I probably would have been right on par with my personal record for a 5K race (26:57). Seeing those numbers was exciting for me! It makes me want to work on speed training after this marathon is over.
What's kind of crazy is that my "hard" pace for this three-miler was Renee's pace for her 20-miler; and Rik's pace for his full marathon! The thought of running that far at that pace just blows my mind.
Today, Jerry and I had a "date day" while the kids were at school. He was off work, and we decided to go see a matinee. I also still had 26 weekly PointsPlus to use up (tomorrow is the last day of my week, so any weekly points I don't use by tomorrow night will be gone--and I don't like to waste points!)
At first, I was thinking about using them on a cookie slice from Mrs. Fields (with buttercream frosting, of course). I looked up the nutritional info on my phone, and I knew the 26 PP would cover the cookie, but the amount of fat and sugar was scary! I decided I should probably save a treat like that for a day when I do a long run (maybe Sunday after the marathon?)
I looked up the PointsPlus in movie theater popcorn, and it was 7 PP for 5 cups (without butter). That just wasn't worth it to me! I want butter on my popcorn. We went to Target to see if maybe there was a box of movie theater candy that looked good, but none of those seemed worth the amount of sugar and PP.
My throat was feeling sore, and I thought ice cream sounded good. So we decided to splurge on lunch at Taco Bell, and then after the movie, we'd get a vanilla cone from McDonald's. Taco Bell is the only fast food place (other than Subway) that I don't feel bad eating. I haven't eaten McDonald's or Wendy's food in over 3 years, because it brings back bad memories of binge eating when I was obese. I didn't eat Taco Bell much when I was obese, so I don't associate it with binge eating (if that makes sense). Maybe that's just really weird. I don't know!
Anyway, I wanted to spend roughly 20 PP at Taco Bell, so I ended up ordering a CrunchWrap Supreme and a Fresco Crunchy Taco:
The CrunchWrap Supreme was 14 PP, and the taco was 4 PP--so it was definitely a splurge for lunch, but at least it wasn't pure sugar and butter like the cookie would have been ;)
We saw the movie Taken 2, and I loved it! I loved the first one, and was skeptical that the second would be as good, but it was. Liam Neeson's character is great in those movies.
As planned, we got a cone from McDonald's on the way home, and I am so glad I decided to spend my weekly PP the way I did. Those cones are the perfect treat, and only 5 PP.
I got some new tea from Teavana called Caramel Almond Amaretti, I was in heaven when I opened it and smelled it! But I have to admit, I wasa little turned off by the color. All I kept thinking about was that gross strawberry-flavored milk:
I'm sure it wouldn't look like that if I hadn't added cream to it, but how could I not add cream to a tea called Caramel Almond Amaretti? It tasted good, so I just tried not to look at it while I was drinking it. I've been drinking lots of hot tea today to soothe my throat!
And I'm running a marathon on Sunday. Worst timing ever to get sick!
I am hoping and praying that this thing runs its course before the weekend. Usually when I get sick, it gets pretty bad. I almost always wind up with bronchitis. But if I have the same bug as Jerry, then it shouldn't be too bad. Right now, it's just a sore throat, so hopefully I won't get any other symptoms. I don't know if Airborne actually works, but I've been taking that to minimize the damage.
Yesterday, I really had the urge to go out for a short run. This rarely happens to me, and I figured an unscheduled three-miler couldn't hurt, so I got on my running clothes mid-morning and went outside to run. I started my Garmin, and made it about halfway down my street, and then I thought, "I want to run hard today--I haven't run hard since the 5K race I ran in March."
So I picked up the pace, and I ran hard. The first mile, I wasn't really trying to run at a race-pace, but eventually, that's what it turned into. I was running as hard as I comfortably could for the three miles, just to see where my body is right now in terms of speed.
It was rough. I felt like a beginner again, running for the first time, where my lungs were burning. I'd almost forgotten what that felt like. But knowing it was only for three miles helped me to push through, and I felt SO good! I felt like I really worked my legs, and I was out of breath when I got back to my house. I miss that breathless feeling of a good workout.
I was surprised when I saw my splits--I haven't lost my speed as much as I thought I did this year:
What's kind of crazy is that my "hard" pace for this three-miler was Renee's pace for her 20-miler; and Rik's pace for his full marathon! The thought of running that far at that pace just blows my mind.
Today, Jerry and I had a "date day" while the kids were at school. He was off work, and we decided to go see a matinee. I also still had 26 weekly PointsPlus to use up (tomorrow is the last day of my week, so any weekly points I don't use by tomorrow night will be gone--and I don't like to waste points!)
At first, I was thinking about using them on a cookie slice from Mrs. Fields (with buttercream frosting, of course). I looked up the nutritional info on my phone, and I knew the 26 PP would cover the cookie, but the amount of fat and sugar was scary! I decided I should probably save a treat like that for a day when I do a long run (maybe Sunday after the marathon?)
I looked up the PointsPlus in movie theater popcorn, and it was 7 PP for 5 cups (without butter). That just wasn't worth it to me! I want butter on my popcorn. We went to Target to see if maybe there was a box of movie theater candy that looked good, but none of those seemed worth the amount of sugar and PP.
My throat was feeling sore, and I thought ice cream sounded good. So we decided to splurge on lunch at Taco Bell, and then after the movie, we'd get a vanilla cone from McDonald's. Taco Bell is the only fast food place (other than Subway) that I don't feel bad eating. I haven't eaten McDonald's or Wendy's food in over 3 years, because it brings back bad memories of binge eating when I was obese. I didn't eat Taco Bell much when I was obese, so I don't associate it with binge eating (if that makes sense). Maybe that's just really weird. I don't know!
Anyway, I wanted to spend roughly 20 PP at Taco Bell, so I ended up ordering a CrunchWrap Supreme and a Fresco Crunchy Taco:
We saw the movie Taken 2, and I loved it! I loved the first one, and was skeptical that the second would be as good, but it was. Liam Neeson's character is great in those movies.
As planned, we got a cone from McDonald's on the way home, and I am so glad I decided to spend my weekly PP the way I did. Those cones are the perfect treat, and only 5 PP.
I got some new tea from Teavana called Caramel Almond Amaretti, I was in heaven when I opened it and smelled it! But I have to admit, I was
