Weekly recap: 2/23 - 3/1

This was a whirlwind week on a number of fronts. I was coming off the high of a solid half marathon last week when I suddenly became very ill. At some point last weekend, I contracted a nasty infection in my lower intestine. The result was a 4 AM rush to the emergency room following a night of excruciating pain. I was convinced my appendix was about to explode. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. The ER staff were amazing and after some strong pain killers, a CT scan, and 8 hours of care, I was released and sent home. I started a cycle of antibiotics and started to feel myself come around after a few days. Through it all, Karolina was an absolute angel taking care of me. Without her, I don't know how I could have got through it. Also, a big shout out to all my friends who dropped me some well-wishes on Facebook. It was great to see everyone's notes when i got back online.

Training took a back seat the first couple days. I jogged on the treadmill on Tuesday and felt surprisingly good. I had no idea how it would go but I was able to run and didn't have any abdominal pain. If I can run I must be OK right?

Wednesday I ventured to the track to knock out a set of 1200s. I was very careful with this workout. My left hammy was tender after the half marathon and I had no idea how my body might react to a hard effort. The workout went well, thanks in part to the support of fellow triathlete Reid Kiser. Reid met me at the Herndon track and did his workout in parallel to mine. It was so nice to have someone else out there with me...along with the varsity girls lacrosse team... I hit my times on three of the four 1200s. My hammy was hurting on the 3rd repeat so I backed off. I'm within four weeks of the peak race so no need for unncessary risk.

I felt terrible on my Friday night run which cam after a very long day at the office. I was clearly 'off' and it showed across the board. The good news was I rebounded on Sunday with a very good 20 mile long run. Nutrition and pacing were dialed-in and I felt solid the whole way. Karolina even remarked that I looked like I 'ran just 10k' when I got home. The last couple hilly miles hurt, but overall this was a good confidence booster. I was also happy to say goodbye to my last 20 miler before Shamrock.

Details included below. As always, thanks for reading!

Monday	02/23/09	Off	0:00:00	0.0
Tuesday	02/24/09	6 Mile Recovery run on treadmill. Coming off stomach issue so took this very easy and paid special attention to my HR. Felt OK.	0:51:41	6.0
Wednesday	02/25/09	10 Mi w/ 4x1200m (.75 mi) @ 5k pace w/ 2 min recovery. Did this on the HHS track with Reid. Felt some tightness in my left hamstring from the race: 1. 4:33 (6:04 pace) 2. 4:37 (6:10 pace) 3. 4:45 (6:20 pace) - Hamstring tightened up 4. 4:34 (6:05 pace)	1:22:05	10.0
Thursday	02/26/09	Off	0:00:00	0.0
Friday	02/27/09	Easy Run on W&OD. Started late and felt very tired going out. Had to work twice as hard to run normal pace. Backed off and cruised home. Hurting.	1:24:47	10.2
Saturday	02/28/09	Recovery Run on the treadmill. Kept it very easy and steady.	0:34:14	4.0
Sunday	03/01/09	Long Run on W&OD. Started easy with Karolina and slowly got down to 7:5x pace. Felt very good and kept HR down until final few miles. A solid run all around.	2:42:24	20.2
Week 18 Totals			6:55:11	50.5