Feelin’ Good

Wait. I think I already titled a past blog that same thing. Oh well.

Just wanted to report that i’ve been feeling much better than the last post about being weak and woozy. I’m still stricken with a migraine here and there but they’ve tapered off and I think it’s because of some meds i’m on.

As far as running – i’ve been really consistent lately. Still doing a variety of 4, 5, 6 miles and within the next week or so I’d like to do a nice long one, may be 7 or 8. Haha, pretty soon long is going to mean at least double that. Whew!

My husband and I totally missed the deadline for the Marine Corps Marathon -yes!! I know you warned me!! – but it’s o.k. with us. We did register for the Baltimore Marathon on Oct. 13th which may be a better beginner marathon anyways since it’s not as big of a deal.

More Carbs?

I’ve felt funny all day today. Weak, light-headed, as though I could fall asleep at any second. It’s been this way since I woke up so I took my 50mg of synthroid which I’m supposed to have in my system at least twenty minutes before eating anything, tinkered around on the computer, and then ate a nutrigrain bar. The whole time I’m just anxious to get out and get my run in for the day. I wanted to do five miles, but I resorted to four because I just didn’t feel very energetic.

After my run, which was mediocre at best, I continued to feel woozy and unable to exert myself in any manner. I have also been battling frequent migraines lately, probably at least one a week and I could feel the tension coming on. I’ve learned that the best way to cope is to sleep. It’s a good thing I work from home or else I wouldn’t have the liberty to do that. I fall asleep on the couch for about two hours. I wake up, still groggy and tired, a little better though and wondering when my energy was going to kick in. It’s 1:30  in the afternoon for pete’s sake.

So here’s the question: could my lack of energy be from eating too few carbs? I thought back to my meals yesterday and they consisted of a yogurt + granola breakfast, a McDonald’s asian chicken salad for lunch, and grilled shrimp, peas, potatoes, and a fruit salad of strawberries and bananas at dinner. I drank water and half a mug of coffee all day. Seems like there would be enough carbs in there somewhere.

Has anyone else had days like this and discovered it’s due to running on too few endurance foods? Or maybe i’m just having an “off” day.  It makes me nervous that i’m only doing four, five, six miles right now and i’m already too tired to think about going further. Argh.

Roadkill Runner

So the other day I almost became “roadkill runner.” You have to understand that I wouldn’t choose to run on the side of the road if I could help it, but there are truly no other options around here unless I was just out to do three miles or less around and around the park nearby. I live in a small town and it certainly doesn’t cater to athletes.

( except, apparently, Lance Armstrong and other hoity-toity bike champions who have been rumored to train on our backroads which are long, hilly, and challenging – I can vouch for that)

I’m running the other morning on my same route down a back road that in my opinion is not narrow, not blind, and not all that dangerous, and I’m, as usual, just letting my mind wander to the background music of Evanescence. I look down, I look up, and I’m looking straight at the front a large old pick-up. The driver and I then make eye contact, and he swerves away just in the nick of time. My heartrate leaps for a few seconds and I just keep going. When you spend your life running past cars and aware that one too many cars come one too many inches close to you on a regular basis, you start to shrug off the near-misses.

Almost immediately I begin wondering if the old pick-up driver did it on purpose. I’ve heard stories about drivers who get irritated catering to runners and bikers on the roadways and like to see how much of an impression they can make when passing. Jerks. Not a fair fight at all. Get out of your car and then we’ll see. I began to convince myself that yeah, that trucker probably passed me on a regular basis, possibly thought I needed to run elsewhere and wanted to scare me off his backroad. Sounds rediculous now, but at the time I believed it because there was nothing else to justify his making me almost roadkill runner.

The next thing I know i’m several feet further down the road and old pick-up truck is coming in to my peripheral vision slowly. I take off my headphones and the driver, the epitome of a southern old pick-up driver, says “Ma’am, I’m sorry. That scared me! I’m really sorry.”

Aww, old pick-upper didn’t mean to make me roadkill runner afterall. Now I feel bad. I told him it was o.k., no really, it was o.k. and he went on. And I’m still running. The end.