Thursday, November 29, 2007

Sorry I've been so scarce

For the few of you that do read this blog, perhaps you've been wondering what happened to me, or where I have been. Well I just seem to have had lots of work to do lately, and perhaps things haven't felt like they are going as well as I'd hoped they would. In short, I've been feeling kind of lousy about my running the past few weeks. It hasn't stopped me though.

Two or three weeks ago I was feeling so lethargic (all day long) that I went to my GP and asked him if he could think of anything. He listened to my breathing and my heart, ummm'd and ahh'd and couldn't tell me jack. He said maybe my electrolytes were out of balance so he sent me for a stack of blood tests, but these all came back fine, including a bilharzia test I prompted him to do as well (Roodeplaat dam is known to have it).

My bout of whatever seems to have passed but I'm still not feeling as energetic as I was a few months ago. I think there could be numerous reasons. Working late at night, eating badly, stressing about stuff. Perhaps I pushed too hard, or perhaps it's the hotter, more humid weather. I have no idea, whatever it is it's got me a bit down about my 21km goal. Got me doubting whether this thing is really possible. Everyone tells you that if you put your mind to something you will always get there. But in this case... well how do you fix a broken ticker? No amount of willpower and determination is gonna do that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop running, or trying. But I think I might take it a bit easier than I have, or try cross training with some cycling. Cycling to me seems to allow you to control your power output much better. If you're struggling up a hill, change to a lower gear, or go slower. You can't do that while running, at least I can't. I'm either running, or walking, there're not gears in between.

Besides the next big thing for me is going to be the Great Mpumalanga Bike ride. I'm going to have to get cycling fit for it, should be a blast. 8 days of slow riding through some awesome scenery. Anyway that's the end of my update, if you really want to you can go ahead and read all the new logs, I'll try keep up to date once more, but with the holidays looming, I doubt it :P

Week 46

This week I ran 14.61km in 1hr56

Monday 19 November 2007
Distance: 4.76km
Total time: 37:05
Intervals: 60/90
Pace: 7:48 min/km
Average HR:  142
Route: Nicholson 

Wednesday 21 November 2007
Distance: 5.25km
Total time: 43:26
Intervals: 60/90
Pace: 8:16 min/km
Average HR: 136
Route: Premier

Friday 23 November 2007
Distance: 4.6km
Total time: 35:41
Intervals: 60/90
Pace: 7:45 min/km
Average HR:  140
Route: Mackenzie

Week 45

This week I ran 13.96km in 1hr57

Monday 5 November 2007
Distance: 4.98km
Total time: 39:22
Intervals: 60/90
Pace: 7:55 min/km
Average HR:  137
Route: Can't remember 

Wednesday 7 November 2007
Distance: 3.77km
Total time: 29:59
Intervals: 60/90
Pace: 7:57 min/km
Average HR: 128
Route: Can't remember

Friday 9 November 2007
Distance: 5.2km
Total time: 47:44
Intervals: None
Pace: 9:11 min/km
Average HR:  123
Route: Boys High (walked) 

This was the week where I wasn't feeling particularly well, hence the slow time on Friday.

Week 44

This week I ran 10.27km in 1hr20

Monday 29 October 2007
Distance: 5.07km
Total time: 38:22
Intervals: 60/90
Pace: 7:34 min/km
Average HR:  133
Route: Stellenbosch 

Friday 2 November 2007
Distance: 5.21km
Total time: 42:16
Intervals: 60/90
Pace: 8:07 min/km
Average HR: 139
Route: Can't remember

Week 43

This week I ran 10.13km in 1hr20

Monday 22 October 2007
Distance: 4.87km
Total time: 39:14
Intervals: 75/90
Pace: 8:03 min/km
Average HR:  148
Route: Clarke 

Wednesday 24 October 2007
Distance: 5.26km
Total time: 41:05
Intervals: 75/90
Pace: 7:49 min/km
Average HR: 144
Route: Spiral