Sunday, May 15, 2011

Vacation's Over!

Well the TNT Kick Off meeting was today. The training for my 2011 marathon is officially underway!

I had a huge scare a couple weeks ago. It started when I was wrapping up the work week to go on my two week vacation. Thursday of that week I felt a cold coming on. By Friday I had a full-fledged cold.

I flew out to visit my parents early Saturday morning. When I arrived at my parents place I felt dreadful. But I figured it was jet lag. After a good night’s sleep, I woke up feeling worse!!

My parents are quick to medicate. Me, not so much. It felt like the worse cold I’ve ever had. But as we all know, you can’t medicate a cold. It’s a virus. So, extra rest and extra liquids is the best I knew to do.

But the coughing was so bad that I was getting a relentless headache and my throat hurt so bad I couldn’t talk. I spent the whole first day lying in bed in a lot of pain. My parents begged me to go to urgent care. I kept declaring “You can’t do anything for a cold.” But when I woke up Monday morning, I hurt worse than the day before. So I thought it couldn’t hurt to see the doctor. Worse case scenario, she’d tell me, “It’s viral. Can’t do much. Just get lot’s of rest and drink lots of water.”

But my worse fear was that I had to start official marathon training two weeks from then. I had to get well and fast! So off to urgent care I went. ...and waited for over an hour.

The doctor took a blood sample to determine if it was bacterial or viral. She told me, “It’s viral.” But she went on to say she could give me some steroids to get my body from attacking itself so hard and that should relieve some of the symptoms. Great. At least I could do something.

I was worried about not being in good shape in time to start the marathon training. So I asked the doctor if I was ok to run when I started feeling better. She paused for a moment then said, “Yes. ... But stay hydrated!” No problem.

I didn’t run at all that week. In fact, I spent the WHOLE first week in bed. I couldn’t talk so if I had to respond to a question or convey a communication, I had to type on my computer. It was very quiet in the house that week!

I was so paranoid about my training that most days I dragged myself outside for short walks just to stay on my feet and try to keep my strength up. I think it paid off in the long run.

By Thursday, I was feeling only marginally better. My husband was flying out on Saturday to join me on my vacation and I had been looking forward to going on runs with him. I was worried that wasn’t going happen, but also that I might not be fit enough to do anything with him!

By a miracle, I was feeling on the mend by Friday. By the time my husband’s plane landed, I had use of my voice again, though my husband hardly recognized it! We went on three different runs that second week and I felt darn good!

We had great runs. The first one was on a piece of the high trestle trail that runs from Hawkeye park and out of town. It’s lovely and treel lined. Dad dropped us off at one end and picked us up three miles down. We appreciated that since that meant we could run the trail without doubling back to the start.

Next we drove out to the high trestle trail bridge which was about 25 miles from Hawkeye park. It spans the Des Moines river and is a pedestrian trail. So you don’t have to worry about traffic at all. They also sculpted beautiful pillars at each end of the bridge and cool squared arches across. At night the sculpture is lit with blue LED lights. Just beautiful!!!

We timed our visit so I’d have just enough time to get three miles in just before dark. Then we hung out so Kris could get pictures. He got some spectacular shots!

Then we hiked the 1.5 miles back to the car in the dark through the trees. It was so fun!!!

Our last run was in the morning. (I don’t like mornings!) I routed a course that took us through my old neighborhood and past three of my alma maters and brushed by the park. I knew Kris would enjoy the course.

We lost each other though as I got stuck for 10 minutes at a light on HWY 69! Ugh! I knew we were in a tight time crunch so I short cut my route a bit and ended up in front of Kris. (I still got in a solid 3 miler though).

But the best thing, is Kris had wanted to run in the rain while in Iowa and he did! This was our last day to run and as luck would have it, it was raining! And WINDY!! Especially on the last mile in, we had to run against a stiff head wind. It was really hard but a good run!

We had to hurry home though because we had an appointment...at the spa! All four of us.

Every time we visit Iowa, Kris and I and my parents go to the spa at the same time. I say, “The family that spas together, stays together!”

A great time was had by all. But vacation’s over, tomorrow, I start training!

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