Today’s Goal: 6 miles Actual Distance: 8.1 miles Time: 1:22:56 Weather: Sunny; No humidity; 70 degrees Time of Day: 8 AM Notes: Ran the hills on both sides of the valley; Didn’t want to stop; Added two extra miles.
Today’s Goal: 4 miles Actual Distance: 4 miles Time: 39:23 Weather: Cloudy; A few drizzles at times; 70 degrees Time of Day: 1 PM Notes: A lot on my mind, which affected my motivation; Ran strong overall.
Round 1: Today’s Goal: 3 miles Actual Distance: 3.2 miles Time: 30:51 Weather: Sunny; not too humid; 82 degrees Time of Day: 12 Noon Notes: Energy was low after yesterday’s migraine; ran the distance with two momentary stops to drink water and blow my nose.
Round 2: Actual Distance: 4.1 miles Time: 40:00 Weather: Mostly sunny; 80 degrees. Time of Day: 6:00 PM Notes: Energy was pretty good; legs sore from the earlier run; ran the distance with two or three momentary stops to drink water and blow my nose.
Total Distance for the Day: 7.3 miles
Tomorrow’s Goal: REST DAY
I am usually wiped out the day after a migraine. I refer to it as “migraine hangover.” No energy. A dull headache. Nausea. Sensitivity to light… a lot of the aspects of the migraine that are dying down.
Typically, I can’t find the motivation to do much on these days. Just getting out of bed is an effort. Sometimes I can go for a walk. After I had a migraine last week while at the shore, I managed to walk 7.5 miles along the boardwalk. But I didn’t run. And I was not happy.
Today I was determine to win back some of the running miles the migraine stole from me yesterday. I was really dragging my wagon in the morning. But I ate well and psyched myself up to run at lunchtime. I was hoping to do 5 miles and just punch the migraine right in the face (or the ass, since it was on the way out). But my time was limited due to meetings. So, I managed to squeeze in a 3 mile run. Correct that: a 3.2 mile run.
The minimum mileage I ever settle for is 3.1 miles. That’s a 5K! Running 3.1 has a great psychological effect on me! While I’m out there I think, This is great! I only have an hour and I’m running a 5K race! That psyches me up. I remember how good I felt completing past races. I hear people cheering. It becomes nearly as satisfying as actually running a race. All that’s missing is a free t-shirt at the end!
So I ran a little more than a 5K at lunch and my time was exactly 30 minutes. In my current physical condition and with a migraine handicap, I’ll take that time!
I had a crazy idea while running at lunchtime. (As if hearing people cheering while running alone on a country road isn’t crazy enough.) I had the idea to run again after work. I know some people who often run twice in a day, but I’ve never done it. Recently, I had read an article about the benefits of running twice in one day. http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/pros-and-cons-running-twice-day The article inspired me. Today it looked like I would have the chance to run with that inspiration. (Pardon the pun.)
My day worked out such that I had the time to do a run after work and, surprisingly, I had the energy. These migraines I get usually start to wear off after 24 to 36 hours. I think pushing through my first run and then eating a good lunch (salad with grilled chicken) helped me shake off most of the lingering migraine symptoms. When I ran at 6 PM I felt good. My legs were sore, but my energy level felt good. I set out to do at least 3.1 miles again. (The imaginary crowds cheered like wild goons!) Again my solitary-5K time was 30 minutes on the nose. So, I decide to “go the extra mile” and run to 4.1. (Again, pardon the pun and the worn out cliche.) I even finished with the last 2 tenths being uphill. (Oh, what a friggin hero.)
Today, I fought back and feel like I achieved something. I ran twice. I did a double. Take THAT, migraine! I just “dropped a deuce” on ya! (No apologies for that one.)
Today’s Goal: 5 miles Actual Distance: 0 miles Time: Weather: Time of Day: Notes: MIGRAINE
Tomorrow’s Goal: 3 miles
My day was wrecked by a migraine at 9 AM. It started at the exact moment I walked through the door into work. I kid you not. By the time I walked from the door to my desk, my vision was half distorted already. All day, I thought of how I was going to overcome the situation and run. I survived at work until 1:30, which included an hour long mid-year review discussion with my boss (which left me rather bothered). Then I had to call it quits and go home. I thought, If I sleep a few hours, maybe I’ll have more energy to run later. Nope. First, it was tough to get to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about several unfairly negative things my boss had to say. (Is it any wonder I get migraines?) After I did sleep, I awoke as a zombie. (Still not much improved at the time of this writing.) And, well, rather than write more descriptions of this condition, here’s a drawing to depict how I felt. A picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, “barf,” “decay,” “slime,” are a few of the sunny ones that come to mind.