Hernia and race plans

After a frustrating doctor visit I'm in a better mood. Shit happens. Deal with it.

I've been frustrated since any training I do now will only go away once I've had surgery so I haven't ran in nearly a week. Well I guess if I can run I should just to hang on and keep building my base. 

I got in touch with a friend who had the same thing happen. He trained and raced through his hernia, with excellent results, up until his surgery. This looked to be about a 4-5 month span! Post surgery he was training, although lightly, within 4 weeks. Back to normal after 3 months and he said he was pretty conservative just to be safe. 

Looking ahead, I've got other race options. I'm already in Lakeland 100 in late July (maybe too soon?). The Cotswold Way, which I skipped this past fall, is an option too. Both will keep me in good standing for qualifying for other things in the future. I've yet to look at other marathon options but I'm sure they're out there. A sub 3 or better yet 2:45 would be nice to see. 

No idea about GUCR. It all depends on when this surgery happens. How I recover. And who knows what else. Honestly I've yet to think positively about it because I'm assuming it's not happening. Give me a few days to think it over and I'm sure I'll post about it.

So as of now I'm going to get back running as this thing will allow. Calisthenics are on hold. I may experiment a bit because I'm sure there are some I can do. On we go. 

Dr. today said I have a hernia. Supposedly I can run but need to stop the calisthenics. Yeah, it's not officially been looked at by a specialist but I'm super down. I was so excited for GUCR. I don't even want to run today. It seems pretty much everything that's left of who I used to be will now go away. Maybe it's time to become the day-drinker I once was. Maybe I'll concentrate full force on a ketongenic diet for fun. Maybe I'll become like everyone else. Maybe I'll realize that's what I should have done years ago. I wonder how far I'll fall down. Best Christmas present ever.  

After a couple solid weeks running the holidays interfere. Just too much going on, inflexibility, and my streak of 17 days ends. I've been off the past two and I'm sure will struggle with tonight. Had a solid 46 mile week last week and was hoping to hold onto the 40 plus weekly mileage but it's Sunday night and I'm sitting at 23 miles. Lame. I'm exhausted as well from sleepless nights of feeding my new son. All I ask for is a fucking hour per day to run! Is that such a tall request!? 

And like always as I get excited things topple down. Some sickness infiltrated my house and I was unknowingly sick. I was insanely exhausted. I kept pushing through until one day I finally opted to nap versus run. I slept for two hours! And I'm not a napper! 

It's finally on the way out and I'm feeling better even doing all of the night feeds of my new son. I'm up about every 3 - 4 hours at night and it isn't bothering me too much. 

I found another "training race" leading up to GUCR. The Wychavon Way Ultra. Point to point. Local. 40 miles. Cost is only £21! I signed up immediately. I believe it's about five weeks out from GUCR so ideal timing for a long run. Having aid stations make these long runs do much easier to do. 

And my legs are back. That didn't take long. 

I'm feeling pretty good despite major episodes of sleep deprivation. I'm trying to not stress too much about missing days right now. Considering the circumstances they'll most likely be a must. Not because I don't have time, but because I'm not sleeping consistently. I've already picked up some illness, noticed a crazy bump of flesh protruding near my ear the other day. It ended up being a lymph node. Sure enough a day later the scratchy throat arrives! I need to stay healthy.

It's been fun toying with training deprived of sleep and it's opened my eyes to the possibilities of training; ie running at 3am IS possible. Training around a crazy schedule also makes me realize even more how much free time there really is when you focus on what's important to you, disconnect the iPad and use the time productively. 

One of the hardest things it seems while being exhausted is staying calm and positive. The more I see this side effect of my family life right now it's a huge training opportunity. Realize that yes I feel like shit. I'm tired. Grumpy. Rarely am I this tired so focusing on staying in a positive frame of mind during these times of exhaustion is a win win for everyone. It's not easy, willpower is a fascinating phenomenon, but practicing can only build it up. 

In order to maximise my time last week at work I got out for 5 miles on my lunch break. I can't believe I hadn't taken advantage of this before!  Probably because I can normally bang out 17 miles before 7am and it was unecessary, but now I would feel confident tacking on another few at lunch. Great opportunity to run in a new area. I think this will become routine. Kind of a hassle bringing my running stuff to work but well worth it. Good opportunity for day time photos too! 

2015 race plans, training with kids!

I'm in the Grand Union Canal Race! 

Pretty excited about this one. Kind of the same feeling I had for Superior which is good. The best thing is that despite 145 miles it's pretty much flat so the terrain is in my favor unlike a mountain race. So it 

looks like this will be my "A" race. 

Training for now will be difficult. A lot going on in my family life with a new baby and all. I've been running consistently now for maybe ten days but scheduling has been tough. Night time runs, which I hate, have been a must. Just trying to work back into it and get my legs going for now. I'm planning on MAFF for 4-6 weeks and see where I'm at. Then "officially" start training and looking at increasing mileage, still at MAFF pace, and adding in two days of focused marathon training a week. In the build up to GUCR I'd like to race a couple marathons going for a PR. I think fast marathon training with a some races, higher mileage, and also a 50 miler (maybe Malvern Hills Ultra) leading up to GUCR should set me up pretty good despite the 145 mile distance. 

This all sounds good as long as I can find the time, stay injury free, and stay motivated! 

I'm signed up with GUCR as an "unsupported" runner (no crew), thus the race organiser supplying me with food and also shuttling drop bags throughout the race. However it sounds like a possibility that a few family members who helped crew at Superior may try to fly over to help! That's pretty sweet as not only would it be great to see them but make the race that much more fun! I think having family and friends at Superior made it way more fun. The other races I've done it's just been me, and yeah they were fun, but it just wasn't the same. 

I said scheduling has been tough. Watching two kids, one a baby, and trying to keep the house in order is crazy busy. I have no consistent period of time off. The iPad and Internet are on hold. I have no time to waste. I just need to sneak in my calisthenics more effectively to be sure I get them done. Hopefully the new addition starts sleeping through soon and I can get my mornings back. That and nights are usually a sure thing. 

Not sure where I'm at on this thing, usually all over the place, but it's off season for me! 

Lots has happened recently. Skipped Cotswold Century as my wife was way too pregnant to justify it, we had the baby, my parents were over to visit, and sleep deprivation has been top notch! So it's been super busy.

Previous to the time off I'd been enjoying running in the Brooks PureFlow 3 which was a new shoe for me. It just fit better than the Cadence 3 so I went with it. 

Am near to registering for the Grand Union Canal Race lottery, I'm really excited about this race, the demeanor of the race director is hilarious. Sure hope I get in. 

Anyway, starting to get the itch to train now after about a month off. Received some running toys from the kick ass crew at Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City, CA as well. 

Getting back to any sense of normalcy and routine will take a bit I think. I had a kick ass routine going before the new baby arrived. I'm back at my calisthenics which has been a challenge to stick with. I'm exhausted by the time my 3 year old is in bed and she demands so much attention now with the baby around its hard to fit it in throughout the day. Before the baby arrived I had be meditating every day for 98 days straight. That milestone disappointingly was lost. Oh well, I'll just need to start over soon. I'd also been working on my JKD 5 nights a week for 30 minutes after my daughter went to sleep, this should be fairly easy to get back into. The hardest thing will be running. It's selfish, it takes time away from the house, but I'm ready to train again. Even if I'm stuck on the treadmill in the garage I'll be happy as it's a start. Feeding the baby the middle of the night has been taking its toll on me. I'm exhausted all the time, so getting out early like I normally do isn't really feasible as I need the sleep. I think this is the week to start though, it's go time.