My Funky Week (and my plans for the rest of 2009)

I've been in a week funk. Ever since I came back from my San Francisco trip, the stresses of life have just gotten to me, and it finally caught up to me this past week. Last Sunday, I went out for a 10 mile run, and when I finished, I just felt exhausted. I didn't feel physically exhausted, I just felt mentally exhausted. I knew I had a lot of things going on, but usually I can just press through everything and it will just go away. Well, this time I realized early that I might need to just chill a bit. I took 3 days off of running, and then ran on Thursday. I felt much better than I did on Sunday, but still not like how all my runs usually are. I usually always come back in the house with a big smile on my face, shower up, and feel ready to conquer the world. Well, Friday it was evident why I was feeling the way I felt. I just went into a full downward spiral with my energy all day. By about 2 pm, I had the chills at work, and actually got ill in between seeing patients at around 6 pm. My last 3 hours of work on Friday were more grueling than any marathon I have ever been a part of... that's no exaggeration at all. I just kept telling myself, "You're nearly done... only 6 more...5 more....4 more patients" Chris and Julie finished up my last patient for me, and I got in my car (my body was so achy, I had to lift my legs in the car) and drove home. I was so out of it, when I opened up the garage, I didn't realize that I didn't park the car all the way in, and as the garage door came down, it hit my car.... kinda funny now, but at that time, I didn't give a shiznit... I just walked to my bedroom and collapsed. At least I now know that my body was fighting something... I thought I was just going into an abyss or something.. LOL.

Anyways, I'm still trying to fight this nasty bug, and I can't wait to get back out there and start running again. But with all my downtime, I have had a little chance to come up with a plan for my running for the rest of the year.

I have just started P90x, which is an extreme home workout program. (Thanks Chris for letting me have... I mean borrow the DVDs) There are 12 workouts in the whole program, but I only plan on doing 3-4/week.

Legs and Back
Ab Ripper
Chest and Shoulders
Core

I did my first workout last week, and during the workout there was a series of calf exercises in which it was burning so much that I felt like my calves were going to lock up... now.... the only other time I have felt this is during the marathon... hmmm... maybe I just have some weak calf muscles??? Yup.

I'm planning on running around 35-45 miles/week for the rest of the year, in combination with the 4 P90x workouts/week. If I do that, I will hit my goal of running 2009 miles for this 2009 calendar year. I truly believe that strength training, especially with emphasis on the core and legs will help me stay injury free, and who knows?? It might even improve my running. I realize that the main reason that I have had such big improvements in running over the past 3 years is because I rarely get injured... and now that I want to put more stress on my body as I gear up for bigger and better things next year, I need to focus on building a strong base, so that my body can handle it. I'm also at the lowest weight since high school, but I only run...I'm slowly looking like a pudgy Kenyan runner...LOL... and I want to get a little more cut in my build.

BOLT!!!

This is so huge!!! This guy is absolutely amazing!!! Usain Bolt has broken the world record in the 100m and 200m 5 times in less than 12 months. Yesterday, Bolt broke the 200 m record, which he previously held by 11 /100th of a second. That's just absolutely insane!! The great thing about this guy is that he does it on the biggest stages, which says something about his mental fortitude. As a fan of sports, I love it when you see athletes show up and showcase their best on the biggest stages. Most of us would shrink when the lights come on and the pressure is there...but not these people. Jordan, Phelps, Bolt, Tiger, Serena, Federer... they all have this uncanny ability to do this. I just love it!!!

As for him being from Jamaica... it's just icing on the cake. Most of you know that I was born in Jamaica, and although I left at an early age, I spent most of my summers from the age of 5 until I went to college, in Jamaica with extended family and friends. It's such a small country, which has many problems (poverty, crime, etc.)... so when something like this happens, the country is in complete amazement...no crime, no pain... just celebration, and it makes me feel so good for them.