Sunday, March 4, 2007

A Long and Tired Week

It's been a long week.

After the 15 miler last Saturday, I felt great. On Sunday I went to an hour spin class that was a pretty tough session. I just love those spin classes. I took Monday off as usual for a rest day.

Then it hit. I don't really know what it was but it sucked every ounce of energy I had right out. By Wednesday I could barely get out of bed. I just dragged at school. I wanted to sleep during my lunch and planning period. It was all I could do to pick up the kids and get them settled at home and then try and make something for dinner. Running or a workout of any kind was last on the list.

I decided to take a sick day on Thursday. Besides being so tired, I was feeling like I was trying to pick up a head cold. My kids have both had it the last couple of weeks. After dropping my son off, I cam e back and went to bed for another hour until 8:00am when registration for the Nike Women's marathon opened up.

I guess that was a perk of staying home that particular day. It took 15 minutes to get onto the site and then once I got on, another 45 minutes to complete the registration process. I was excited about that. So far, there are 10 women from out Y club that will be making a trip to San Francisco in October for this full or half marathon. I registered for the full. It's pretty cool that the theme for this year's event is "Run Together," fits our group well.

After registering, I went back to sleep for about another hour and a half. I couldn't keep from doing any work that day. Progress reports were due and luckily I could do them online. So I got my grades completed and sent in and then went back to bed where I graded tests on American Colonial Society that I had given my students the day before.

Before it was time to go pick up my kids, I rested a bit more and decided that my kids needed some time at the Y. They love to go there and play in the nursery, or "big kids" room. I hadn't taken them all week due to my fatigue. Even though I stayed home that day, I decided to give walking around the track a try and the recumbent bike a whirl. I walked for a while and decided I 'd run a few laps. I made it a half mile before I stopped. Way too tired. I walked a total of 1 1/2 miles before I went to the bike for about 20 minutes. I was glad to be moving, but I really felt horrible. Just very tired.

Friday was better. I guess the rest really did help. I felt better during the day and went to sleep fairly early that night. I knew I wanted to run easy on Saturday, just because I barley ran all week.

It was a small group that met at the Y on Saturday. It seems we have had huge groups lately. We all ran together for about a mile and a half before a couple of the guys went of to run hills, then a couple of the ladies decided to run through the park. There were four of us left and Michelle took us off on a run to avoid hills. We still had a couple that we couldn't avoid. That was okay.

I felt bad for a while on this run, my legs were tight. By the end I felt pretty good and was happy with our slow and easy 5.7 miles.

Today I was feeling good all around. Still a bit sleepy feeling, but not the fatigue that I felt the last few days. After church I ran an 8.5 mile hill loop near my house. It was great. It was Rather warm out, about 47 degrees, and once I started running, I wished I went for short sleeves instead of long. I felt great in shorts and has glad I didn't grab gloves.

Spring is popping up all over around here. Seems the crocuses are tired of the snow too. trees are beginning to show signs of wanting to bloom and the birds are singing everywhere you turn. The run was beautiful. I wanted to go on forever. I was feeling so good. It felt nice not to be so tired. I am hoping that this week will go well and I 'll feel increasingly better each day.

I am looking forward to the 20 mile training run set for next Sunday. I'll have to miss church and find someone to work in the nursery for me, but that's okay every once in a while. I'll also miss the second day of our new class on David, but I have the material for next week. It's on David and Goliath. I am looking forward to studying this story this week. It seems like it has been forever since I've visited this particular event.

I am hoping to get in a spin class on Monday, run on Tuesday, Wednesday, and maybe Friday. I have conferences at school on Thursday so nada on that day.

Oh, my father in law goes in for surgery tomorrow. He has cancer of the esophagus. They will be removing most of the esophagus and moving his stomach up. How all this works I do not really know. We do know that the cancer was caught early and that he has a good prognosis that others do not have when the cancer is in later stages. He'll be in the hospital for a while and eat with a tube for a few more weeks. We are praying for a complete removal, a fast recovery, that he does not lose too much weight, and that my mother in law will ask for help when she needs it! They can be stubborn and not like to let others know when they need help. We don't want my mother in law to get to overwhelmed when there are so many people who would be happy to help. Keep them in your prayers too!

Grace and Peace to you.

7 comments:

Backofpack said...

Jenny,
I'm glad you ended the run yesterday feeling better than when you started it. We had a beautiful and spring-like run at Pt. Defiance today too.

I will be keepingPaul's Dad close to my heart this week. All the best!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about your father-in-law and I will keep him as well as the rest of your family in my prayers. I hope you have more energy this week. We could all use some more of that.

Joe said...

Some weeks are like that...glad you bounced back, Jenny. Cool that you are in for the SF marathon!

Tough news for your FIL. We pray he will make it through all of this. Could be some hard days ahead for him.

Olga said...

What is it with our in-laws? I never thought all those digestive track cancers are so popular before I found how many of my friend's relatives have it. I'll keep your father-in-law in my thoughts.

Journey to a Centum said...

Jenny,

Hope that the surgery went well with Paul's Dad.

Sounds like your body was asking for a break. You have been running really well and putting in a ton of miles. Good job listening and getting a little rest.

Look forward to seeing you this weekend!

Eric

Anonymous said...

Sometimes our bodies (and minds)need that day or two off. Glad you recovered quickly for a good run. Take care of yourself first and prayers for your father-in-law.

Anonymous said...

Jenny,

Sorry to hear you were feeling beat down, but it's great that you were able to listen to and interpret the signals that your body was giving to you. And, it sounds like you are bouncing back really well!

Take good care!
Meghan
www.running-blogs.com/meghan