Why did it take so long for me to recover from the summer? Was it the big 3 (Ironman, Comrades, and WS100 inside of 8 weeks)? Nope. It is because I am old. It takes longer to recover from races now. I have hair growing in places I don’t want it and can’t keep hair in places I do. My bedtime is shockingly early, I yell at people that play loud music.
After some rest, I started running a bit to keep the flow. My legs were tired and I had low motivation, perhaps the lowest I have ever had. Running long or fast left me feeling empty and running short was a waste of time. Cycling attempted to break up the feeling but it wasn’t going anywhere. Why not try another sport.
Post run, I played some softball. From the warm up, I was hurting. The strain in my back grew worse throughout the game and after a nap, I could barely walk. Fearing a stress fracture, I headed to the emergency room. An x-ray suggested some trauma to the disc but no fracture. Unfortunately, I could not seek any treatment. Anti-inflammatories were out of the question.
You see, prior to a surgery one is not allowed to take such medication. And a few days after the back injury I was going in for some surgery. Time to tie the tubes. Had to fix the plumbing. Close the baby factory. Look, I can’t spell it out any clearer so if you aren’t with me now, go talk to mom and dad about some serious things.
I was laid up for a while. It hurt like nothing else. One time in high school, a girl kicked me in the valuables, and it was torture. However, this was that feeling for days on end. I was nauseous, and it lots of discomfort because the pain medication constipates me and makes me incapable of driving, working, etc. It turns out, I had a slight infection, and the only way to clear it up was a round of anti-inflammatories – I guess it was safe to take them again. After 9 days off, I resumed running.
A month later, I have now done 4 straight weeks of 6 days/week. By adding longer runs and then a workout (a solo 8K time trial in 6:25/mile), I am getting back into it. Motivation returned and I signed up for Comrades and Two Oceans. Played softball there other day – 6 for 6 with 3 home runs. So I got that going for me, which is nice. Less than a month until my first marathon, which will hurt this old guy, but it won’t stop me.
After some rest, I started running a bit to keep the flow. My legs were tired and I had low motivation, perhaps the lowest I have ever had. Running long or fast left me feeling empty and running short was a waste of time. Cycling attempted to break up the feeling but it wasn’t going anywhere. Why not try another sport.
Post run, I played some softball. From the warm up, I was hurting. The strain in my back grew worse throughout the game and after a nap, I could barely walk. Fearing a stress fracture, I headed to the emergency room. An x-ray suggested some trauma to the disc but no fracture. Unfortunately, I could not seek any treatment. Anti-inflammatories were out of the question.
You see, prior to a surgery one is not allowed to take such medication. And a few days after the back injury I was going in for some surgery. Time to tie the tubes. Had to fix the plumbing. Close the baby factory. Look, I can’t spell it out any clearer so if you aren’t with me now, go talk to mom and dad about some serious things.
I was laid up for a while. It hurt like nothing else. One time in high school, a girl kicked me in the valuables, and it was torture. However, this was that feeling for days on end. I was nauseous, and it lots of discomfort because the pain medication constipates me and makes me incapable of driving, working, etc. It turns out, I had a slight infection, and the only way to clear it up was a round of anti-inflammatories – I guess it was safe to take them again. After 9 days off, I resumed running.
A month later, I have now done 4 straight weeks of 6 days/week. By adding longer runs and then a workout (a solo 8K time trial in 6:25/mile), I am getting back into it. Motivation returned and I signed up for Comrades and Two Oceans. Played softball there other day – 6 for 6 with 3 home runs. So I got that going for me, which is nice. Less than a month until my first marathon, which will hurt this old guy, but it won’t stop me.
