Cats are ok. But.... why is it that when the kids are asleep, you have a moment of quiet, then, and only then, they decide to show up looking for attention? Such as 4 fucking AM? Don’t they realize I get up this early because it’s the only time I have alone? 

Anyway, I feel pretty good for the most part. Still a lingering cough and sore throat. Warmer temps have helped my mental state however it’s still near freezing and dark in the morning.

Race plans are up in the air still. Tomorrow I’ll hopefully find out if I got picked for the Tor des Geants. I’m nervous, not just because it’s a crazy ass race (200 miles and nearly 90,000 feet of climbing) but because I need to tell the wife I need 6 days in Italy for a race! We’ll see. She’s normally supportive of my crazy endeavors. Back up plans are looking fun though too! 

Hooray  sinuses are no longer plugged up! Still can’t hear though. Supposedly it’s an after effect of viruses called Eustachian tube dysfunction. It can supposedly last 8-10 weeks. Thanks for nothing.

Anyway I still have  a sore throat but I’m motivating to run again. Race plans are all over the place so I’m not going to talk about them. They involve a few iterations of Thames Path 100, South Wales 100, Tor des Geants, and Cotswold Century. Mainly focusing on UTMB points and a big what if when it comes to the Tor. I’m overall tired likely due to attempting to get back to a routine and my knee has been bothering me which has me a bit worried. Mostly worried about early season races, Thames Path and the Paddy Buckley Round recce

The wife’s been running at the gym lately. Too much too soon of course, I’m expecting an injury. She’s also had a migraine type eye thing going on once afterwards. Likely low blood sugar from high heart rate and not eating before or soon enough after. So despite my recommendations of go slower, walk more or you’ll get injured, eat before and after, and describing the odd migraine sensations as a normal thing when you push your body of course I’m wrong Dr. Google is right. And of course her sister claiming to have passed out at the gym doesn’t help. If she’s indeed passed out at a gym she’d have been taken to the hospital for liability reasons. Liar.

But what do I know?!  I experience this migraine sensation over and over again in a 100 miler, I eat, it goes away I move on. I talk to people about running 6 days a week strongly recommending starting easy to avoid injury. Just another example of why I rarely help people with running who I’m close to. They don’t listen or follow what I tell them. It’s my wife, of course I will help her, I opened up a bit to try, to see if she’d listen but like everyone else in the world they want a short cut, the easy way to their goals, if they have any at all.

Hot tip, there is no easy short cut!

When I help they expect results but those results don’t come unlesss they listen and follow. When they fail or do not get the outcome they want it’s then my fault. I don’t want to be in that position so I avoid going there. Let Dr. Google and the dumb shits at RunnersWorld help you.

Still holding on to a sore throat, extremely plugged ears, losing my voice throughout the day, and a mild cough. Seems to be improving, I guess that’s a start.

Considering adding the South Wales 100 to the summer plans. It seems to line up well with other plans and the key component, it’s worth 6 point towards UTMB. If I’m successful at Thames Path and SW100 I can enter the UTMB lottery for 2020. Another thing to note is I’m in the Tor des Geants lottery. Oh, and I’m hunting down -40 sleeping bags on eBay. What’s that mean? Aspirations of Arrowhead 135.

Now I just need to start running again!

So since my last post it happens I've acquired this 4 week cough from hell again, I was too positive thinking it was just a cold. As it was going the week before my birthday it arrived again. So everything is on hold again. I'm hardly running and reconsidering the Thames Path 100. Winter training here is a bitch. It's dark. I'm sick. It sucks. I've pulled out of this race the previous two years, an obvious trend. So I'm looking at North Downs Way 100 in August maybe but it's nearly full. Also the entry period for the Tor des Geants is open and considering there's no obligation if I'm chosen in their lottery it's possibly worth a try.  

Having little time sucks but is manageable as I've found, always riding the line of too much. But add in being sick for weeks on end and it's not even an excuse, but necessary, to hit the off switch for a while.