Week 3: 7/24/06 - 7/30/06

Weekly Summary
With so much to take care of this last week in Boston, I wasn't able to run quite as much as I would have liked, but at least I got in 50 miles. I also didn't get as much sleep as I should have this week, but I'll have to catch up now that I'm in Europe and have nothing to do except run and sleep (and sightsee) for an entire month. Zurich is a quaint little city. It was nice to get in a 16-mile run as soon as I got there, but I felt really weak and dehydrated by the end of it. I later found out that the Zurich lake is actually 1200 feet above sea level (I had assumed that it was pretty much at sea level), so maybe that had something to do with it. I'll be even higher soon, once I get to St. Moritz, which is 4000+ feet above sea level.
Resting HR: 52
Total Weekly Mileage: 50 miles

Sunday 7/30
AM - Zurich Lake. HR: 145bpm (121-154). My plane arrived into Zurich around 9am this morning, and I took the train and a cab to my hotel (which I booked on Orbitz from the Newark airport). I'm staying at the Wellenberg Hotel, which is a quaint place in the historic old part of Zurich. Fortunately they let me check in early as soon as I got there. Even though I was exhausted after getting 4 hours and 2 hours of sleep the past two nights, I decided I should go ahead and get a run in before doing anything else. So I changed and headed out to the lake and ended up going on a 16-mile run. It was pretty sunny and hot outside, and I was pretty tired, so I kept the pace slow. My gps watch said I averaged just under 7:00 pace for the entire run, with the last few miles being the slowest (I was feeling dehydrated by the end of it, so I slowed down even more). Running along the lake was nice, but unfortunately most of it was hard-surfaced. I'm looking forward to all of the trail-running I'll be able to do in St. Moritz. A nice bonus of running along the lake was that I saw about a dozen topless girls sunbathing. Anyway, I was glad that I was able to put in 16 miles today, even though it was slow, because it got my week to 50 with only 5 runs. As soon as I got back to the hotel, I showered, ordered a 10 dollar bottle of water from room service because I was too weak to go to the nearest store, and laid down on the bed for what was supposed to be 5 minutes. However, when I woke up, I realized it was 6pm and I had just slept for 4 hours. So I got up, walked around a bit, had dinner, and am now at an internet cafe typing this entry. I think I'll go on a boat and gondolla tour of Zurich tomorrow and then leave for St. Moritz in the late afternoon/evening. That's it for now...
Sleep - 2 hours or so on the plane, but then after my run, I took a 4 hour nap.
Food - Breakfast: Croissant and fruit on the plane. Lunch: Bratwurst, yogurt. Dinner: Mixed kebab.
16 miles

Saturday 7/29
AM - This morning, I got up around 9am and finished packing up my apartment. I didn't have time to go on a run before leaving for the airport, but at least I had time to have a relaxed brunch with Sarah at Firefly. My mileage is going to be really low this week after taking today and Thursday off, but I guess I'll make up for it once I get to Switzerland...
Sleep - About 4 hours. I was up past 4am packing up my apartment since I had to get everything done before leaving for the airport.
Food - Breakfast: Eggs benedict and oatmeal from Firefly. Lunch: Crab meat wrap and clam chowder from Legals at Logan Airport. Chicken and rice and fruit salad in Newark Airport. Dinner: Crappy airplane food (chicken and rice).
0 miles

Friday 7/28
PM - I kept putting off my run today because I had so much left to do to get ready for my trip/move. And then when I was finally ready to run, this huge thunderstorm came in, so I decided to eat an early dinner and run later. So I finally got out the door around 10pm and ran down Mass Ave. to Porter Square. I tried out my new Garmin Forerunner 305 that my dad just got for me today. I was a bit skeptical, but so far it's actually really cool. I ran a route that I knew the mile marks for, and it seemed to hit them right on. It also records my heart rate and my exact path (as soon as I figure out how to link it up to Google Maps, I'll post my routes on this log). When I got to Porter Square, I pressed a button telling it to take me back to where I started, and it showed the exact route that I needed to follow to get back. I'm sure this will come in handy while I'm in Switzerland. Anyway, I finished the 10 mile route in about 65 minutes. After stretching and showering, Sarah came over, and we got drinks and dinner at 1:30am at the Franklin Cafe. It's such a weird feeling to be going to all of these places for the last time. For some reason, my legs were sore at dinner. Maybe I didn't stretch enough.
Sleep - Not enough! I think I got about 5-6 hours and was really tired when I woke up.
Food - Breakfast: Yogurt, Cheerios, blueberry muffin. Lunch: Cheeseburger and fries--my last lunch at Bain Capital! Dinner: Turkey sandwich from Emelios before my run. Wasabi salmon from Franklin Cafe after my run.
10 miles

Thursday 7/27
AM - Mass Ave. HR: 144bpm. I was super busy today, so I didn't end up having time to go on a run. I got a new phone today though. It's the Cingular 8125, and so far I like it a lot more than my old Blackberry (and I already set it up to receive my Stanford email). I'm kind of pissed off at Cingular though because it ended up being a big pain to get the phone. The story is too long and boring to put on this blog. I'm also annoyed that they won't let me unlock the phone so that I can use a different carrier while I'm in Europe (they say you need to be a subscriber for 3 months before they let you do it).
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Oatmeal. Lunch: Jack Fultz came over to Bain Cap to have lunch with me today. We had scallops and rice and talked about lots of different things including my training plans and the Izumo Ekiden. Dinner: Pasta with peas, shrimp, and cream sauce (Sarah made it and it was very good!).
0 miles

Wednesday 7/26
PM - Since this is my last week in Boston, I decided to jog over to the Harvard track this afternoon to say hi to the BAA guys. They were doing 4 x 1 mile, 1 x 2.5 mile. I wasn't planning on actually joining them for any of it, but then I decided to try doing the first mile on the dirt path with them. I ended up doing 2 x mile in 5:10 and 5:00. Everyone who was there today pretty much stayed together, at least for those first two, and I was able to stay in (the back of) the pack. They didn't feel too fast, but my trainers felt a bit heavy, and I figured it would be best not to do any more than 2 of them today, especially since I wasn't planning to do any. I talked to Pieroni for a while while the rest of the guys finished up. He's going to put me in touch with Peter Gilmore, who lives out in the Bay Area. After talking to Pieroni for a while, I jogged back to work and stretched for a while before showering and getting dinner in the Food Court of the Pru.
Sleep - 8 hours. Slept very well.
Food - Breakfast: Yogurt and cinnamon scone from ABP. Lunch: Lasagna, pizza, and peas. Dinner: Burrito and straberry-banana odwalla drink.
9 miles

Tuesday 7/25
PM - I flew back to Boston today. After work, I ran the Jamaica Pond loop in 55 minutes (~6:30 pace). I still feel like I can't run that fast--I remember when it was easy for me to do the Jamaica Pond loop at 5:50 pace. But it was a pleasant run, and fortunately not too hot outside. I stretched for a bit when I got back and then went back to my apartment to have Thai food with Sarah. It's hard to believe that I will only be in Boston for a few more days. I still need to finish packing!
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and toast. Lunch: Chicken sandwich. Dinner: Mango fried rice with chicken and shrimp and drunken noodles from Brown Sugar Cafe.
8 miles

Monday 7/24
PM - This afternoon my parents had a Pilates instructor come over for an hour, so I ended up doing that before going on a run. Pilates was fun, but I don't know if I'd be able to find the time to do it regularly. It was already starting to get dark after pilates, and I was pretty hungry for dinner, so I just went on a short run to Bolles and back along San Jose Blvd. It took me 22:30 to get to Bolles, and 19:30 to get back. I think it's about 3.5 miles each way, which would make it 6:30 pace on the way out and 6:00 pace on the way back. Earlier today, I went to a celebration lunch at Dreams Come True for my cousin Kyle, who has cerebral palsy. He is going to get to meet J. K. Rolling in New York later this week. He is only 13 years old, but he is already an amazing writer. Maybe I can get a copy of one of his stories to post on my blog sometime. I can't wait to read more of them. Kyle, if you're reading this, keep up the good work!!
Sleep - 8 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Oatmeal and scrambled eggs. Lunch: Pizza and tuna sandwich. Dinner: Steak, broccoli, rice.
7 miles

Week 2: 7/17/06 - 7/23/06

Weekly Summary
I don't seem to be injured anymore, so I guess I can't complain, but I felt like this was a pretty boring running week for me. I'm trying to slowly get the mileage back up, but it's taking my body some time to get used to running again. Despite the fact that most of my runs this week were slow, my legs still feel tired. I guess that's what happens when I go from 0 to 60 in a couple of weeks. I just can't wait until I feel good and fresh doing 100 mile weeks once again. As you'll notice in the total weekly mileage below, I've decided to show my cross-training "mileage" separately (16x means I did 16 miles worth of cross training in the pool, elliptical, etc.). I used to just add it all together, but I think it will help me if I show the split from now on.
Resting HR: 60
Total Weekly Mileage: 46 + 16x = 62 miles

Sunday 7/23
PM - I slept in this morning after the late party last night. After a late breakfast, my parents and Sarah and I headed out to my grandma's house at the beach, where we met up with my brother and Lindsey, and a bunch of my cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. I had lunch around 2pm, and then went on a run around 5pm. Sarah rode next to me on her bike while I ran, which was nice. We went along the beach for about 6-7 miles before turning around. On the way back, we decided to run on the roads because the sand was a bit too soft for Sarah riding the bike. I, once again, got an upset stomach in the middle of the run, but it might be that I didn't wait long enough after eating lunch, or maybe it was something I ate or drank at the party last night. It was pretty hot and humid today, and I felt tired and dehydrated by the end of the run. I was trying to pick the pace up towards the end, but I doubt I even got down to 6:00 pace.
Sleep - 9 hours. Slept like a rock.
Food - Breakfast: Oatmeal with lots of fruit. Lunch: Tuna sandwich. Dinner: Chicken and rice for an early dinner, then steak teriyaki and sushi at Sakura's for a later dinner.
13 miles

Saturday 7/22
AM - Flew down to Florida with Sarah this morning and decided to take the day off from running. First we went to see my brother's new house. He's two years younger than me, and he already owns a house. Then we went out to the beach to meet up with a bunch of my cousins, and finally we came back into town for my mom's 60th birthday party. It was a great party, and went past midnight. I enjoyed seeing all of the family there.
Sleep - 4 hours. Was up packing until about 2am, and then had to get up before 6am to go to the airport.
Food - Breakfast: Yogurt and bagel with cream cheese at the airport. Lunch: Tuna salad that my dad made. Dinner: Steak, seafood with cream sauce, bread, salad, coconut cake, and beer. It was a delicious dinner for my mom's b-day party.
0 miles

Friday 7/21
AM - Took lactose breath test this morning. Turns out I'm not lactose intolerant afterall.
PM - I might take today off, but I haven't decided yet. My left knee is still a bit sore. Nothing major, but I am being super-sensitive right now about getting injured. Actually, I ended up running this evening after all. It was raining and starting to get dark, so I decided to do Bunker Hill instead of Jamaica Pond, even though Bunker Hill is all hard surfaces and my right knee was still kind of hurting. I finished the loop in about 57 minutes, so I went very slow (probably 6:40 pace or so). When I got back to work, I started packing up my office and then I went home pretty late to pack for my trip to Florida this weekend for my mom's birthday.
Sleep - 7 hours...didn't sleep very well.
Food - Breakfast: Skipped breakfast because I had to take a lactose breath test (a 3 hour ordeal that required me not to eat or drink anything, including water, after midnight last night). Lunch: Pork, macaroni and cheese, squash, yogurt. Dinner: Chicken with cashew nuts from Chilli Duck.
8 miles

Thursday 7/20
AM - I jogged over to Friedman's place in the late morning, and we went on a run around Fresh Pond. Friedman said he thought we were probably averaging 6:35 pace. I have no idea how he can estimate it down to the second, but I'll take his word for it. So the 8 mile loop from his apartment plus 2 miles each way to and from work gives me 12 miles for the day. I stopped at Friedman's place for a while to have some gatorade and look over an atlas of the U.S. before jogging back to work. Friedman thinks that when I do my roadtrip next month, I should drive from Yellowstone through Idaho and Oregon rather than going south to the Grand Canyon because it won't be as much driving and there is plenty of cool stuff to see in Idaho and Oregon. I'm still not sure what route I'll take. I'll have to see what Sarah wants to do...
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Balance bar. Lunch: Fish, corn chowder, salad. Dinner: Lots of pasta with tomato sauce, salad and mango shake from b.good.
12 miles

Wednesday 7/19
PM - This evening, I was going to run outside, but my left knee was kind of hurting, so I decided to jog over to the MIT pool and aquajog. I was in the pool for a total of 45 minutes: 10 minutes easy, 5,4,3,2,1 hard with 1 min easy in between, and then 15 minutes easy. I actually didn't push myself too hard during the hard parts, but it was more effort than the easy parts. I guess I'm just getting back into things gradually. When I got out of the pool, I stopped in Ana's Taqueira for dinner and saw Jen standing in line. She told me that Alasdair has only run twice since the Corporate Challenge. I wonder what's up with him. I forgot to mention that I saw Steve at POST physical therapy again today. He gave me a few more exercises.
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Yogurt, bagel with cream cheese. Lunch: Chinese noodles with chicken and pineapple. Lunch wasn't very good today. Dinner: Chicken burrito from Ana's and caesar salad.
8x miles

Tuesday 7/18
AM - This morning, I went on an easy jog from work along the Charles River around the Science Museum and back. It was really hot and sunny this morning and I was pretty tired, so I kept the pace very slow. I felt a bit nauseous when I first started jogging, but that feeling went away a few minutes into my run. I ran across Matt Taylor (a buddy of mine from Yale) along the river, but we were going different directions and I was running late for a meeting at work, so we didn't stop to say hi.
PM - I was going to go on a run with Friedman this evening, but he wanted to wait until after 10pm so it would be cool enough. I ended up going around 8pm, and it wasn't too hot. I did the Jamaica Pond loop at a very easy pace. I've been pretty tired recently from the increase in my mileage, but things seem to be going okay so far. Unfortunately, my stomach was bothering me a bit during my run this evening, so I had to stop at the porta potty at Jamaica Pond. I wonder if it's something I ate for lunch...
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: grape nuts, lemonade. Lunch: pasta with swordfish, tomato soup, banana, yogurt. Dinner: Sushi platter from Douzo.
5 + 8 = 13 miles

Monday 7/17
PM - I didn't workout until 10pm this evening because I had to go home and wait around for a guy who saw my TV on Craig's List and wants to buy it. He said he'd come by around 7, but he didn't show up until after 9pm. At least he said he wants to buy the TV and entertainment center, so that's one less thing to move out to Stanford. After he left, I jogged over to work, did 45 minutes on the elliptical, and jogged back home. Even though it was 10pm, it was really hot outside when I jogged between home and work. Earlier today, I went to see Ellen Halpern, a massage therapist at Myotech. She has helped me out a lot over the past couple months. Today, she spent time working on my left achilles and right hip flexor. I also had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Keroack, a GI doctor at MGH. He said all of my blood chemistry appears to be normal (I was tested for celiac sprue antibodies and thyroid stimulation hormone, among other things), so I'm going to go in on Friday for a lactose breath test. The good news is that my stomach is actually feeling much better these days, so maybe it just took me a while to get over that stomach bug from Argentina.
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Bagel, yogurt, and odwalla green tea protein drink. Lunch: turkey sandwich. Snack: sushi, chicken, pita with hummus. Dinner: pasta salad, potato salad, and caesar salad.
8x miles

Week 1: 7/10/06 - 7/16/06

Weekly Summary
I was pretty happy with this week, considering the fact that it was my first week back after hardly running at all for a couple of months. I took it pretty easy this week, but I was still able to get in 55 miles. The Sunday run at Walden Pond felt great, and I can't wait to get into better shape so that I can get some longer runs in. It's just two more weeks until I'm in Switzerland!
Resting HR: 60
Total Weekly Mileage: 55 miles

Sunday 7/16
PM - After spending most of the morning/early afternoon packing stuff up at my apartment, I decided to go to Walden Pond with Chris, Owen, Sarah, and John. The parking lot at Walden was closed, so Friedman and I dropped off everyone else and then ran from another parking lot about a mile away. It was hot and humid today, but it actually felt pretty nice to be running in the shade of the trails (other than the areas we ran through with lots of bugs). Friedman and I ended up going for about 90 minutes, starting off quite slow at about 7:00 pace, but probably getting down to 6:00 pace, or maybe even a little faster at the end. I felt great today--no hip problems and no stomach problems. I was surprised that I was able to go for 90 minutes today without hurting. It makes me feel more optimistic about my trip to Switzerland in two weeks. Hopefully I can get some good mileage in while I'm over there. It felt great to hop in the pond after the run today. Going on a run like this today makes me remember how much I miss being in shape and going on longer runs.
Sleep - 7 hours. I was out until 2:30am with my roommate Owen and a friend of mine from high school named Chris.
Food - Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with shrimp for brunch at Tremont 647. Chris had a couple of bloody mary's, but I was happy with H2O; Lunch: Balance bar before my run and a couple of rolls with prosciutto right after the run; Dinner: Thai food from Brown Sugar. Owen, Chris, Sarah, Takuya and I ate dinner on my roofdeck tonight. The weather was perfect this evening--I'm sure going to miss my roofdeck.
13 miles

Saturday 7/15
PM - Decided to take the day off because I'm already at 42 miles in week 1 and I was feeling a bit hung over from last night. I spent most of the day packing up stuff in my apartment, since this is my last weekend in Boston. I'm trying to get rid of most of my stuff so that I don't have to move it all out west next month. I'll get in a run tomorrow to boost my mileage over 50 for the week.
Sleep - About 7 hours. Went to bed at 4:30am after a late night cruising around in the stretched Hummer after Underbar. Woke up a few times in the morning, but didn't get out of bed until noon.
Food - Breakfast: Slept through breakfast; Lunch: Bean burger and strawberry banana shake from b.good; Dinner: Lamb with a bunch of sides from Ruth's Chris Steak House for Sarah's sister Kimmy's birthday.
0 miles

Friday 7/14
AM - This morning Friedman called me and woke me up, even though it wasn't exactly early. I ran over to his place and we ran around Jamaica Pond and then I ran back home. It was super-hot today, so I was pretty uncomfortable the entire time. My legs also felt pretty tired (and Friedman raced yesterday) so we kept the pace slow, probably 7:00 pace or so. I stopped at Cappy's on the way home to get a Vitamin Water, which gave me a bit more energy, but I don't think I got fully hydrated again until several hours after I finished the run. I didn't have time to stretch much at all after the run because I had to get to work. Now I'm about to leave work for our farewell party tonight. First we're getting dinner at Clio's and then going to Underbar. And after Underbar, we've got a stretched Hummer to take us around until we all pass out.
Sleep - 9 hours... good to get that much sleep last night.
Food - Breakfast: skipped breakfast because I went on a late run; Lunch: salmon, potatoes, veggies, yogurt, banana, apple, cherries, lemonade; Dinner: Lobster, salad, fish, apple tart at Clios. After dinner, we went to Underbar and had quite a bit of champagne, vodka, etc. since it was open bar for us...
12 miles

Thursday 7/13
PM - Today I had to drive out to Attleboro to do some work at Sensata, one of Bain Capital's portfolio companies. Traffic was pretty bad on the way back, so I didn't get to go on a run until around 7:30pm. I ran Bunker Hill by myself, and finished the loop in 55 minutes, so a little over 6:30 pace. I felt pretty fatigued, but I didn't feel like it was that hard to go 6:30 pace, other than the fact that I was tired. So even though I am still slow and out-of-shape, I feel like I am already starting to get back into it a bit. My stomach was bothering me a little bit during the run, but fortunately not bad enough that I had to make any pit stops. I spent quite a bit of time in the Bain Cap gym afterwards stretching out and doing some exercises that Steve at POST showed me yesterday. My abs are sore from some of the core strengthening exercises.
Sleep - 7 hours, but woke up a couple of times in the early morning.
Food - Breakfast: granola and yogurt; Lunch: chicken fajitas, rice and beans, broccoli; Dinner: lobster and shrimp pasta from Joe-Vs.
8 miles

Wednesday 7/12
AM - This morning I went to POST physical therapy therapy for my hip, and then went on a run around Jamaica Pond. I've been going to POST for the past couple of weeks, and the combination of that and massages from Ellen seems to be doing the trick. Ryan Carerra also just sent me some stretching exercises that he got from Andrea Gillespie. I haven't tried them yet, but they look pretty good (ex1, ex2, ex3, ex4). Anyway, the run today was another easy one. I finished the 8.3-mile loop in 55 minutes, so about 6:40 pace. Man, I'm out-of-shape. I felt weak on the run today, and even though I was going slow, I didn't feel like I could have gone much faster. Once again, the hip didn't hurt, so that was good. It started pouring towards the end of the run, so I was drenched by the time I got back to work. Because I was so wet, I just hopped in the shower as soon as I got back to work without stretching at all afterwards. I'm a bit tight now as a result, I think. I need to be better about stretching before and after my runs.
Sleep - 7 hours and still tired (didn't get back from Rumor until around 2am).
Food - Breakfast: grape-nuts, yogurt, banana, muffin, chocolate milk; Lunch: pasta with pesto, spinach, rice; Snack: oatmeal; Dinner: chicken burrito.
8 miles


Tuesday 7/11
AM - This morning, I met up with Friedman at my office and ran the Bunker Hill loop with him. I felt okay, but my stomach was bothering me a bit. Maybe it's from the bag of Skittles that I ate last night while Sarah and I were walking home from the Madonna concert.
Sleep - Slept about 8 hours last night.
Food - Breakfast: oatmeal and lemonade (after morning run); Lunch: Steak, swordfish, potatoes, apple juice, water; Dinner: Tonight I ate at the Federalist with a bunch of my co-workers. We've been having a bunch of group dinners recently as part of our extended "farewell" (we went to L'Espalier last week and are going to Clio on Friday). I can't remember everything I had at dinner, but the things I remember are tuna tartar, crab cakes, salad, steak, bread, cheese, and chocolate cake. We also had a bunch of wine with dinner.
8 miles


Monday 7/10
PM - This afternoon, I went on an easy jog around the river. I felt pretty lethargic today. I guess I'm just out of shape. I was probably averaging 7-minute pace or so. At least my hip wasn't bothering me.
Sleep - Only got 6 hours last night, and woke up a few times.
Food - Breakfast: oatmeal and fruit salad; Lunch: turkey sandwich and gatorade; Dinner: Potato salad (we were rushing to the Madonna concert so didn't have time for a bigger dinner); Night snack: Pretzel, peanuts, skittles and vitamin water.
6 miles

What's next?

So it's Monday, July 10th, and I have decided to start running again. What's next?

Well, for one, my last day of work is Friday, July 28, and school doesn't start until mid-September. Which leaves a month and a half of traveling and running. For these 45 days, I hope to be running in a different place every day!

Here is my preliminary schedule (I will be updating this periodically):

7/29: Fly from Boston to Zurich. Continental flights 1189/78 (BOS->EWR: 2.30pm->4.06pm; EWR->ZRH: 6.50pm->8.40am)

7/30: Sightsee in Zurich. Hotel TBD.

7/31 - 8/9: Run in St. Moritz and stay at Hotel Stille, where Marius Bakken recommended I stay while I'm there. (I no longer think I'm going to try to run across Switzerland because Tom McArdle thinks I shouldn't do anything too crazy before the Trials next year, and the best running is in St. Moritz anyway... but I'll figure things out once I get there).

8/9 - 8/12: Go to Lugano, Luzern, Interlaken, and Bern.

8/13: Go to Lausanne.

8/14 - 8/16: Sarah arrives in Geneva on Continental flights 1191/80 (BOS->EWR: 3.30pm->5.01pm; EWR->GVA: 6:15pm->8:05am). Hang out in Geneva with Sarah and the Batas.

8/16 - 8/19: Stay at Chateau de La Colassiere, a castle in the French countryside not far from the Loire River.

8/19 - 8/25: Drive south from Colassiere to Madrid, stopping in San Sebastian and Barcelona on the way.

8/25: Fly back to Boston from Madrid with Sarah. Continental flights 63/1172 (MAD->EWR: 11.30am->1.55pm; EWR->BOS: 3.30pm->4.55pm).

8/28 - 9/11: Drive west from Boston, MA to Palo Alto, CA with Sarah, sleeping in and running in many places (from Chicago to Yellowstone to Oregon) along the way.

9/14: Start at Stanford Business School.

The past 5 months -- what's happened to me since Austin?

As most of you could probably tell, the past several months -- ever since the Austin Marathon in February -- have been a difficult time for me. I think I made the mistake of not taking enough rest after Austin. I was in great shape, and I didn't want to stop. I figured I would be able to keep climbing higher and higher without letting anything hold me back. However, I learned the importance of taking a break the hard way.

Here is a recap of the two big problems I've been dealing with:

1) In March, I caught some sort of stomach bug in Argentina, and even after taking Cipro and Metro (anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic drugs), my stomach is still not back to normal. I saw a GI doctor a few weeks ago, and he said it is possible that my stomach lining is still irritated as a result of the stomach bug, even if the stomach bug is now gone. He took a bunch of blood tests, but hasn't provided any other advice yet (he did give me a prescription for a pill that I can try to take before I race to slow down my digestive system, but I'm not sure how I feel about taking that). Anyway, I guess I'll find out the test results soon. I hope they are informative. I've always had a sensitive stomach, and I'm beginning to think that I might just be allergic to something that I eat all the time such as dairy, wheat, etc. Maybe I'll start keeping track of what I eat in my running log to help me determine what's going on. If any of you have any thoughts or advice, please let me know!

2) In April, my right hip-flexor started to bother me. It got so bad that for an entire week, I could hardly even walk on it because it hurt so much. Nothing I did seemed to help it get better other than taking rest, but I didn't want to take rest. So I got a bunch of massage therapy and physical therapy, and tried to (cross)train through it during the month of May. It wasn't until June that I finally realized that the only thing I could do was to take time completely off from running. I've gone on a few easy runs over the past week, and the hip is actually feeling a lot better, so I think that taking a month off might have done the trick. I guess only time will tell though...

So that's the recap. I still need to figure out the GI issues, but I think my hip is going to be okay. And as long as the hip is okay, I can start running again, even if I do have to make a few extra pit stops on the way until I get my GI issues worked out.

So, with all of that said, I'll start the daily posts once again. Hope that things aren't too boring for people as I slowly get back into it...