First run of the new year. I decided to make it an even 10 miles. I ran from the in-laws down to the Jordan River Parkway and south along it until I hit 5 miles. It was pretty nice weather. Windy but warm (35°). The trail was in pretty good shape 90% clear.
Paul met me at my house and we took of tour of Providence and Millville. The roads were pretty iffy but runnable. It sure beat the treadmill, that's for sure. I dropped off Paul at the gym and did another loop of River Heights before heading home. I didn't get in the 15 that I wanted to run, but since my entire household is sick, that is probably wise at this point.
I woke up to severe stomach pains all throughout the night last night. I was hurting pretty bad, but luckily it started to subside by 9am. I went into work and things improved throughout the rest of the day. I figure I ate something bad (My guess was leftover Christmas sweets). I was ok to run by the evening so I hit the treadmill (to stay out of the snowstorm).
I tried to run today and made it all of 5 seconds before the abdomen pain kicked in. Everything is tender to the touch and Nurse Bethany says that I have an enlarged liver. Great.
Still in pain. Went to the doc. He eliminated some items (no ulcers etc). Did an ultrasound. The only usable info out of that was that I don't have a hernia as suspected. The issue is in the lower intestine. The most likely cause is a virus (I have no idea how you can get a virus in the intestine). I have a CT scan scheduled for the morning to rule out any twisting or kinking of the intestine. Looks like it is nothing major and I will have to deal with the intense pain episodes until it heals itself.
Results from the CT scan (and $700 (with decent health insurance) hard earned dollars later) came back. It turns out that I wasn't just faking but I truly am sick. I have Diverticulitis. I am not sure how all that happened as this is more common in old people. I suppose that if I eat a lot of food, my overworked colon may think it is getting old.
As a result, I am now on antibiotics and have to do a 2-3 day liquid diet. Fun. At least we have found the problem and can now get it taken care of. I plan on running once the pain has subsided to allow for such craziness. I will likely take off until Monday and enjoy the break...
I'm back. After spending the weekend on a Liquid Diet recovering and loading up on Antibiotics, I feel healthy enough to run now. I hit the treadmill this morning so if things went bad, I could step off and call it good. I made it the whole planned 5 miles. It felt good to run, even if it was slow. I will get out this evening for some more miles.
T-38:45 (7:45)
PM: 5 miles on Planet Walk. Much easier than treadmill. Still feel ok.
Providence River Heights loop today in the inversion. It turns out that the air quality (pm 2.5) is 38.8. Not good. Nothing like smoking a pack while running.
Big Workout. First in a long time, probably since SGM. I drove up to the mouth of Blacksmith fork canyon to escape the pollution and I was greeted with a nice headwind. It made for some cold temps on the way up the canyon, but the air was clear. I ran 7.5 miles up at 7:20 pace. I was working pretty hard to maintain that pace and I sure felt fatigued on the way down as a result. For the workout portion I ran from the turnaround 7 miles at Marathon Pace (~6 min miles) with a cooldown of 1/2 mile. It was a struggle to hit the times, but the workout is in the books.
Tempo Miles: 5:57, 6:00, 6:03, 6:00, 6:03, 5:59, 5:57
T-1:40:20 (6:41) 167 ave 178 max (175 ave for tempo)
AM: I decided to try the treadmill at lunch so as not to destroy my lungs from running outside in the gunk (pm is at 73.4). I lasted 2.5 miles before I threw in the towel and ran outside. I am totally dragging and found it mch easier to slog through a run outside than on the TM. So, I ran to the end of Planet Walk and back.
Got up early and drove up to the mouth of Blacksmith fork Canyon. I started at mile 14 of TOU marathon and ran up to the Hyrum City Park and back. It was pretty dark on the way up, but on the way down I could see the pollution soup. I hit it at mile 13 and the temps immediately dropped 15 degrees. My attempt today was to run easy up and hard down (similar to last sat). I felt awful and wasn't able to get going at all on the down. Oh, well, I guess you can't increase intensity AND mileage all at the same time....
T-1:28:11 (6:47) 163
"Faster" Miles (down) 6:21, 6:33:, 6:23, 6:24, 6:08, 6:20, 6:04 pace for .5
Slept in, waited for the rain to stop. It did briefly (long enough to run to Paul's house to pick him up) then started again for good. We ran up through Providence and enjoyed a nice chat. I dropped him off at the gym and slogged through Providence again for some more miles. I even did a jaunt on the Planet Walk. Bad idea. I took it easy on the bridges, but once I stepped off the bridge onto the cement portion of the trail, I biffed it hard. I slid on my hip for a good 10 feet until I crashed into the snow on the side of the trail. I couldn't even get up without slipping as it was a sheet of ice for as long as I could see. I decided to call it a day and head home. All better now...
Hill workout today. The only bummer was the -1° F temperature my thermometer read. Brrr. I was all tingly and numb by the time I got home. For the workout, I ran a 3 mile warmup into providence. I then tackled the 200E hill. I did 3 repeats with a jog recovery down. That hill is nasty. I went: 1:41, 1:40, 1:37. After the third, I continued up the road climbing more hills up to the mouth of Providence Canyon before coming home via canyon road (100 E).
Heat wave today! 21 degrees with light flurries. Perfect running weather. I ventured out for 10 easy miles on the Planet Walk - ICON - Young Ward out and back.
Lots of slow miles around Providence, Millville, Logan and Providence again. Oh, I guess River Heights too. Did about 9 with Jon then 5 or so with Paul before I ran out of time. Back to framing my basement. That sure is a time killer....Looks good though....
