week one down.

well, i've been so busy updating the local foods connection blog - my new job! - that i kind of forgot about this one.

i'm not much in the mood for waxing poetic, so i'm just going to give you a rundown of the week.

ice age training, week one
M rest
T 4m @ easy
W 7m @ fartlek
Th 4m @ easy
F rest
Sa 14m @ waterfall glen
Su 7m @ race pace

Total for the week: 36.0m
Total for Ice Age Training: 36.0m

ice age training is officially underway!

thanks to my heaven-sent anti-embolism stockings, i made it through the brutal 50k hangover and lived to tell the tale. i ran a fun trail 5-miler with drew last weekend, worked in some running and walking during the week, and put together a 4 miler and a 10 miler this weekend. after a day of doing errands and clawing my way through spanish class today, i'm ready to begin. (i hate it that the first official day of training is always a rest day!)

today officially marks day one of week one of my 24 weeks of ice age training. 50 miles, here i come!

after walking my way to the lakefront 50k - literally running only twice a week - i'm back onto a regular resting M/F, longer miles Su, shorter miles Tu/Th, workouts W schedule. i am looking forward to running again. hopefully, the tumor will hold out. i'm going to head to the doctor sometime in the next week or two to see if we can get some physical therapy going.

so there you have it. it's off to the races!

me and my support hose.

so much for healthy! after running the lakefront 50k 14 days ago, feeling great for a week, and running friday/saturday/sunday, my legs no longer work. my tumor is throbbing and anytime i sit down for more than five minutes i have some serious trouble getting up.

one question: what the hell?

i've been walking and resting since then and still not much change. i even started wearing my knee-high oxysox and no change. finally, i resorted to buying a pair of walgreens anti-embolism stockings and success! i can actually walk now but my legs are still incredibly fatigued.

i don't get it. i know what my body usually feels like after a long race and this is not it. my legs feel like they weigh fifty pounds a piece and tingle all the time.

bummer.

"I can't go on, I'll go on." samuel beckett.

back to running! i'm recovering from both the lakefront 50k and the stomach flu that i apparently picked up from my students. after six days of rest and walking, i headed out for an easy 4-mile loop around the 'hood with drew yesterday. what fun! it felt so good to stretch the legs out and enjoy myself.

looks like i'll be taking a few more easy weeks, then beginning the ice age 50 training just after my birthday (nov. 17th!!!!). i'm thankful to be feeling healthy and enthusiastic - a complete mess at times - but healthy and enthusiastic.

one of the scariest things about distance runs, for me, is the unknown *after* the race. will i feel like shit? will i hate running? will my body hate me? can i go on?

maybe that's the point of distance running, though - to put yourself out there not only for the unknown of running, but for the unknown of the whole life experience that surrounds it. to continually ask yourself: "can i go on?" and to reply "i can't go on, i'll go on."

it's the obligation to endure and, at times, to even enjoy it.