Last week was very successful in terms of running, and I hope to continue this streak! My goal for the next two weeks leading up to my departure to London (eek!) is to equal the 50kms/week that I ran last week, and then use my first week in London as a mini taper (taper = lowering running distance prior to a race), with no long runs–around 30kms total. As luck would have it, the sublet where Lior and I are spending our first month in London is very close to Hyde Park, meaning that I’ll have easy access to the perfect running location, and I’ll be able to preview some of the Royal Parks Half Marathon course!
Spoiler alert: I got sick and didn’t come anywhere near close to my goal…
Sunday, september 22
I spent today working on my training plan–I’ve decided to run another marathon, and I am very excited to train for a big goal race, and have something to do while I’m in London for four months.
This evening, I ran a chill 8kms. I felt a bit sore at the beginning of the run because I ran 15kms yesterday, but I didn’t push the pace. It felt nice to get my legs moving.
monday, september 23
Today I registered for the Tokyo Marathon, and shared about my decision to run another marathon here! I had early evening plans today, so I ran my 10kms in the middle of the day–it was a terrible idea and I had many rest breaks.
tuesday, september 24
Today was annoying–after several calls to my bank to check the status of my credit card and not receiving any response, I decided to visit in person. Of course, the banker told me that my application failed, she didn’t know why, and that she allegedly tried to call me… We reapplied for the credit card, I told her I need it because I’m going abroad in two weeks, and…we’ll see. She’s supposed to call me tomorrow.
On a happier note, today I went to my ulpan and collected my certificate of completion! I also engaged in a rare bout of retail therapy.
I also went to my doctor to try and get her to sign a medical waiver. Races held in France and Italy require a signed and stamped waiver from a doctor, saying that the runner is healthy and able to run the race. My doctor doesn’t want to be held liable, so instead she gave me a generic form in English, saying that I’m healthy. Since this doesn’t explicitly cover running, my guess is that I’ll need another form. A cursory internet search tells me that I can take care of this while I’m in Paris.
I went for a run around 6:00pm and ran 8km. It felt great! I then came home, made dinner, and checked the status of my credit card application online–SUCCESS! Now I just hope that it will arrive before I leave…
wednesday, september 25
Yesterday afternoon I set my alarm for 6:00am to go bang out a long run, but Lior got home late last night and I wanted to spend time with him, so I cancelled the alarm. This turned out to be the right move because although I was exhausted, the second I lay down to go to sleep, my mind was wide awake! I blame my afternoon coffee…because I can’t imagine what else could have caused this.
Instead, I woke up at 10:15 and planned to do my run in the afternoon. However, my day included multiple urgent bathroom visits and a need for Kal-Beten (easy stomach), which is similar to Pepto-Bismol. In general I have an iron stomach, but not today. Surprise rest day for the win! Considering I ran 4 days in a row and this is only my third week back to regular running, this was probably a smart idea.
Even smarter idea–I still went and ordered an arepa from a place around the corner from my apartment. After feeling kind of woozy with a somewhat off stomach, this hit the spot! (No picture because I inhaled it.) It didn’t make my stomach feel any worse, so I consider this a good idea. And honestly, I’ve been trying to eat healthier, and I probably ate some bad fruit or veggies. The grease from the arepa was probably medicinal. 😉
On a positive note, today I found out that my request to recalculate my student loans (due to the fact that I am currently unemployed) was approved!
thursday, september 26 – saturday, september 28
I had a stomach bug that kept me housebound…Friday afternoon it seemed to go away, and I planned to run on Saturday afternoon. However, on Saturday afternoon the bug returned with a vengeance, so Lior took me to the doctor, who prescribed a round of antibiotics. I got these in addition to some probiotics (prescribed by my dad), and started both on Saturday evening. Hopefully this will be the end of that!
total distance: 26km
Sh*t happens (literally)! Next week is a new week. I don’t have any time goals for the Royal Parks Half (my goal is to finish the race and enjoy the experience), so while I’m bummed that I didn’t get to run as much as I wanted, it’s not the end of the world. In general I’m lucky to be extremely healthy–seriously, the last time I was put on antibiotics has to have been in high school (or earlier). The ability to run (mostly) whenever I want is a privilege I don’t take for granted, and I know that my next run will be extremely satisfying.