Reset

My blogging this summer has almost been as bad as my running. Almost.

But alas, all misgivings must come to an end. No guarantees on the blogging part, but I do think things will dramatically improve on the running front.

I went to the doctor on Friday and they couldn't find anything conclusively "wrong" with me. Although the doctor was also an athlete and totally "got" everything. She thought something was definitely off and that not only should I keep up with vitamins, but also work on electrolyte balance. She did not test my iron because my red blood cell count was fine. However, she didn't think it would hurt to continue taking the supplements I have.

Five days into the iron supplements and I can already notice a difference. My feet aren't as pale, my under eyelids (for lack of a better word) are no longer white, and I am not as tired. That could also be due to 4 rest days and a 3 day weekend, but still.

When I started getting really serious about my running in 2006, I paid great attention to my diet, hydration, rehydration, recovery, etc. But admittedly, over the years I let that all fall off and figured I had this whole running thing down pat. This summer, I couldn't figure out why I chronically felt dehydrated even though I felt like I drank more than a gallon of water a day. Yet I never drank any gatorade (or anything similar) and I have a very low salt diet.

I also couldn't figure out how my iron could be low. But I eat red meat only 2-3 times per year. And I don't eat nearly as much spinach as I used to. I have conformed to my family's diet. I no longer focus on eating/drinking right after a long run and getting the optimal protein/carbs for recovery.

Why not? Maybe laziness. Maybe just so used to everything falling into place. But now my focus is on getting my body back to where it needs to be. My mind too.

The doctor told me not to race on Saturday. But I found it hard to bail on the race given that they could not find anything conclusively "wrong." So I went down with my friend Michelle and we had a blast. It was her first half. The weather was terrible. It was 97 percent humidity - so bad I needed the windshield wipers on even though it wasn't raining. Crazy. I ran at a controlled pace and ended up finishing at 1:47:54. This was almost 10 minutes slower than my time on this course last year, but I was happy that I did not wimp out, nor did I go out too fast and end up doing a death march. And it was a lot of fun.

Looking into the next couple of weeks, I am going to continue loosely follow my schedule. I am going to try to run several more short races. The summer is almost over and I feel as though I have hardly gotten out there. So I will reset my mind and my body. Hopefully my speed and strength will follow.