I am actually more than halfway through my half marathon training using the Hanson's method. I had started this the first week of November, and I now have 22 days until my race. The race I'm training for is a 25k, but I could not find any training plans specific to that distance. I figured that the Hanson's method, with its 6 days of running, 40 to 50 miles per week, would fit the bill.
When they talk about "cumulative fatigue" in the book, they're not joking. I'm fatigued, in more ways than one. Yes, my body is tired and almost always sore, but not in an intolerable way. I'm strangely aware of my calves and ankles lately.
General muscle fatigue is one thing, but I feel I'm drawing so much energy to maintain my 6 day a week schedule that I can't fight a nagging sinus infection. I've been battling this infection since it's infancy on December 19. Yes, I made note of the exact day and time this little virus began as a wee common cold at 1pm to its full-blown, blustering and obnoxious adulthood of today, 7 weeks later.
A sinus infection, at its worst for me, is not a mere congestion problem. It's a full body process. I'm nauseated. My appetite is low, so I tend to not eat well or drink enough. I'm dizzy. I have irritating crackling sounds in my ears. I feel like I'm on an airplane, rising above the clouds and my ears are about to pop, all the time. My upper teeth ache and I want to pull them out. There are two gremlins in my skull, sitting behind my eyes, dancing on my optic nerves and attempting vainly to push my eyeballs out of their sockets.
But the worst part is probably the fatigue. It's a difficult to describe feeling. It's like there is a parasitic, invisible soul sitting deep in my bones who is stealing energy from my bloodstream. I feel that I'm trying to energize 2 humans on 1 human-power. This makes running, even an easy run, seem like a mountain climb at 15000 feet, where the air is gauzy thin.
I guess I'm writing all of this because I feel guilty. I have chosen to take today, an easy run day, off. Instead of running 6 days this week, I will run only 5. I know it sounds a little silly to feel guilty about running only 5 days in a week, but I do not like veering off the plan. In order to maintain my health, I must back off. Good health is what running is really about for me (although I have to remind myself sometimes).
I will try to remain objective about my chosen training plan. Essentially, I think it's sound. But I don't know that I should have chosen a plan so intensive at this time of year when I know I will be battling sinus problems.
Sinus issues are not new to me. They come every year at the same time, usually January through March. This plan might be better suited for me at a time when I know I'm healthier, April through June and then maybe September through December. July and August in Florida would be too hot and humid to pursue a plan of this intensity, no matter what my state of health is.
Live and learn, I suppose. I choose to live healthily, and so I choose to not run today. It'll be OK.
