Pre-Race Thoughts, Part I - The Negatives

"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place." 
- the Red Queen, Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)

For nearly three months, I've been trying to get my body ready to run a sub-2:00 800. As I detailed in a previous post, it's been a long time since I broke this barrier, and, if I want to do it again, it has to be soon, or I'll likely miss my chance entirely.

Things got off to a smooth start this year, as I was able to build up some speed in preparation for the USATF-NE Masters meet in late January. I popped off a 2:02.6, narrowly losing to Mike Galoob, who was at the front end of a long (and still going) string of impressive races. That time was run on a flat 200m track and equates to a 2:00.8 on a banked track using the NCAA recommended conversion factor. Given that I also ran a poorly paced race that day, I probably wasn't far from being in sub-2:00 shape at the time. All I needed to over the ensuing month and a half was to maintain or slightly gain some speed (and then run a smarter race) to crack 2:00. It all seemed so straightforward at the time. Unfortunately, a spate of bad luck struck, and now I'm not sure I've gained any fitness at all since then.

As I write this, I have a piercing pain in my knee. My ankle is throbbing. I can hear my lungs wheeze with every breath. Am I 85 years old? What happened?

It was really just three independent events over the course of two weeks that resulted in this sorry state of affairs:

January 30th

What happened: The well-documented and complained-about ankle sprain. I recovered unusually quickly but still feel pain after hard workouts.

How it could have been avoided: Don't try to step on ice chunks of unknown size and firmness when running in the dark.

February 3rd through today

What happened: This requires a timeline of events.

Feb 3 - Started feeling sick midday. Flew to California for work. Felt terrible by the time I arrived.
Feb 5 - After resting for two days, felt better. Did a hard hill workout. Felt sick again for the next few days.
Feb 9 - Belleville Pond 10K race. Felt pretty strong during race and ran well.
Feb 10 - WTAC party. Got sore throat from talking so much (I am usually a selective mute). Lost voice over next few days.
Feb 11-14 - Developed cough that kept me up most nights. Took off from running a few days and didn't do any workouts.
Feb 16 - Finally did a workout again. Went well but cough was awful at night.
Feb 17-19 - Three days off. Cough is bad. Have to excuse self from meetings at work to deal with coughing fits.
Feb 20 - Short speed workout. Survive.
Feb 21-Mar 1 - A few runs and one workout. Almost stopped a run early after nearly puking following a particularly fierce coughing fit. (I wound up getting lost on this run, so maybe the coughing fit was a sign from the running gods.) Decided it's time to go to doctor. Have bronchitis. Get prescribed an inhaler and cough pills.
Mar 2-5 - A welcome excursion to Disney World thanks to Ma and Pa Garvin's generosity. Cough subsided almost immediately in the warm weather. Hmm. Got in two workouts in a week for the first time since January.
Mar 6 - Home again. Freaking cough and wheezing are back.

How it could have been avoided: Rest when feeling sick until completely better, especially in the winter. I'm starting to wonder if I somehow damaged my lungs by trying to run through this. What will happen if I try to race an 800 with already suffering lungs? Am I risking a long-term issue?

One other note is that I should be extra cautious during February. Thanks to my data obsession, I have the nice frequency histogram below showing the number of illnesses I've had by month since 1998. February, October, and November are the clear "winners." Maybe I should live in a bubble during those months. If I do, let's just agree right now not to play Trivial Pursuit.



February 9th

What happened: Ran Belleville 10K. Tweaked something in an unusual spot on the inside of my right knee due to rough footing. It's not a normal running injury but seems more like a basketball/football/skiing injury, like I strained my MCL or something. My internet-based self-diagnosis is actually Pes Anserine Tendinopathy (say what?), as it really only hurts when running fast, doing hamstring curls, and twisting my knee getting out of my car or stepping over baby gates.

How it could have been avoided: Don't run a snowy trail 10K when training for the 800! There's no way I wasn't going to run this race, but if I want to seriously focus on a single event, I shouldn't be messing around with these unrelated races. Even after the injury, I could have approached the recovery differently. This actually isn't the first time I've had this bizarre injury. In 2011, I injured the same exact spot during the one and only yoga class I ever took. (We were repeatedly told by the instructor that yoga isn't a competitive sport, but I totally won that class.) After that, I took a week off completely, and the injury went away shortly thereafter.

Summary

It all seems so simply avoidable in retrospect, but is there anything more difficult than deciding whether or not to back off when you're feeling a little sick or a little injured? As runners, we're always striking that delicate balance between not enough and too much, and when something comes along that threatens the balance, we make small adjustments to keep it in check without going too far one way or the other. Inevitably, we look back with regret when we fail to take the prudent path. "If I'd just taken off a week, I would have kicked the cold/injury right away and been able to gain back all that fitness and more." But when you're in the fog of a training plan, it's hard to know how those decisions will play out. I keep intricate records of all my past injuries and illnesses specifically so I don't make the same mistake twice, yet I'm learning that every situation is different, and I don't have enough data points to know how my body will respond to the particular set of variables it faces each time.

To be honest, I'm not sure I would approach things differently if I had to do it over again. I already take off three or four days a week; in my mind, that should be enough to kick a nagging illness or injury. Anything more seems like overkill. Had I taken the time off, I might still be sick and sore but also slower. Who's to say I didn't already take the ideal path and that my current state was a guaranteed outcome regardless of my approach.

Despite all this, there were some positives to come out of February. I managed to maintain some fitness (I hope) by doing one hard workout per week. (I should note that I have no idea what pace I've been running, since the snow has rendered track work impossible and I don't trust my Garmin on short intervals.) I kept my injuries at bay. I got in some decent mileage (for me) and feel pretty aerobically fit. If I could just get rid of this darn cough, I'd be feeling pretty good about things.

Stay tuned for Part II (The Positives) in a few days. There will be more charts and more data!