Week 2 & 3 / 20 - A Slightly Bigger Bust

I started off week 2 of my training plan with an easy cross-training day (aka taking Cooper on a walk), and then got up early on Tuesday morning for a run. I didn't feel my best but muscled through. I went to work and felt progressively worse throughout the day and ended up leaving early. I laid in bed for the next 36 hours straight and didn't fully recover until about Sunday of that week. The worst of the stomach bug took a few days to hit me and lasted a bit longer than Noah and Adam's version. Even Cooper had an upset belly at one point. All that is to say, week 2 was an even bigger bust than week 1. 

I went back to work and back to some semblance of normalcy at the start of week 3 (except Sunday, that was a bust, too). My doctor warned me that the upset belly could continue for 2-3 weeks, though thankfully less intense than what I had been experiencing. They were right, I had some bad cramping and general crummy feelings for the first half of the week but I figured I needed to just work through it. It was a cold, snowy week and made for some challenges. I frequently wanted to say "screw it", especially when it was actively snowing and super icy. I was cursing myself for not asking Adam to set up my elliptical sooner, but I never get the same effect on the elliptical as I do road running. Still... would have been nice to "run" inside instead of through a few inches of snow. Sidewalks? What sidewalks?

Cooper leading the way!

At least it made for a pretty run

This week I ran the same route for every running day, so it was neat to see the small improvements day over day. It may have been only 10-30 seconds faster per mile, but any small advancement seems huge to me right now. It wasn't a particularly pleasant week, but we finally got an entire week of the plan done! 

Not only does it suck to exercise when you feel like crap and it's winter in New England, but it's also a huge challenge to stay comfortable while doing cardio in subzero temps. It took a few tries for me to figure out the best layering system. I thankfully have every item of clothing and gear you could imagine from my time working at REI, but it's been a hot minute since I last ran in 10 degree snowy weather. I started having flashbacks to people frantically coming to the store the year it was 40 degrees and rainy for the Boston Marathon. Runners were asking me how they would stay dry and warm for the race. They were pretty bummed when I told them that if they intended to run 26.2 miles in the rain that they would, in fact, not stay dry and there was no magic layering system that would do that for them. Sure, you could wear a rain jacket, but even a $500 Arc'Teryx jacket is going to make you sweat your ass off if you run for 5 hours. Pick your poison - wet from your sweat or wet from the rain?

I DIGRESS. I finally figured out the best layering system, and for me that is - midweight synthetic base layer, midweight performance fleece, high-visibility midweight cycling jacket (we usually run in the dark), synthetic tights, standard fleece sweatpants, and wool socks. I usually also do a headband as opposed to a hat because I would get too damn hot with a hat on. I wear midweight gloves by Outdoor Research. I still sweat with that on but I'm a sweaty runner no matter what. 

As much as running sometimes sucks, it's better than constant diarrhea. 

Song of the week - My Number by Foals 

Weight check in - 172 as of 1/16, total of 6.6 pounds. Thanks, stomach bug! I anticipate some of that will be coming back now that I can eat real food, but I will take it for now.