I ran speed workouts on Wednesday and Friday. My legs were 90% recovered on Wednesday and 99% recovered by Friday. My bruised stomach is recovering at the same rate as my legs and feels 100% today.
My allergies kicked me in the lungs this week and I have been having the usual slug fest with asthma between midnight-4:00am. Monday and Tuesday caught me by surprise and I had little sleep, so I was walking around town feeling like a zombie. Wednesday's speed workout was tough because the energy low from lack of sleep is severe, and although the asthma during the day is not noticeable, when I run I can feel the constriction in the lungs which makes running fast difficult. Breathing was fast and hard and I had to stop after 1 mile of 150m hard/50m easy repeats. I breathed fast for 15 minutes after the run.
Friday I was feeling a little better because I was sleeping better. I slept for 2-3 hours on Wednesday and Thursday from 6:00-8:00pm and then played guitar until 10:30pm. Afterward I meditated for 60-90 minutes. The meditation relaxes my lungs, calms the mind, and suppresses the asthma. I am able to sleep through the night if I meditate for 90 minutes before laying down. The deep breathing somehow negates the effects of the lung irritation.
The speed session on Friday went a little better than Wednesday because my legs felt fully recovered and energy levels had returned to near normal due to more sleep. I still had a hard time running fast due to asthma but was able to go a little faster and made it 1.5 miles.
Seeing that my legs are doing well and I have no injuries I decided to register for the Farmdale 50 on October 9th. I won't be at my best due to allergies and asthma, so I won't set any time goals. I will attempt to finish the race and enjoy being on the trails from sun up to sun down.
I am concerned that my mental preparation is lacking. I realize that 50 miles is a long way, but I can't convince my mind to take it seriously. After focusing on 100 miles for a few months, 50 does not seem as bad. Knowing that I ran/walked 46 miles one week ago with moderate effort and little damage is leading to a case of over confidence. The main thing I need to remember is to drink sparingly, as the weather forecast is calling for cool weather.
