Overcoming Exhaustion

After several weeks where I was working long hours, trying to keep up with preparing for the holidays, and trying to keep my training for the marathon going, I hit "the wall" after running almost 16 miles last Saturday.

Like most days, I was up early and running on about 5-6 hours sleep (I typically need 7-8). But I wanted to get the long run in before camping so that I wouldn't spend hours running during the camping trip. I got out and logged 15.77 miles in 3 hours 5 minutes - an 11:45 min/mile pace. Not too shabby for a long run. But the last 2 miles were really tough, as I ran out of gas. After showering and then rushing to get us packed to head to our campsite, it happened. I felt tired. Very tired. I could hardly move. As usual, I pushed to keep going.

After setting up the camper I laid down to sleep at about 8:30 pm and didn't get up until 8 am the next morning. I thought I had enough rest but I felt tired all day on Sunday. We rode our bikes down to the ranger station (probably about a 4-5 mile round trip) and I felt like I could barely make it. I took a nap on Sunday afternoon for about an hour or two. Sunday night I headed to bed around 10 pm and got up Monday around 8 am.

I finally felt human again. It was the first day I felt a normal level of awakeness. I should have run on Monday, but decided against it. We got out and enjoyed a movie and some camping activities. I didn't run on Christmas either. It was a busy day - and I figured I could run the afternoon we got home.

We got home around 5 pm on Wed and I still didn't run. Getting dark and feeling a little drag while unpacking the camper and the truck.

I got up this morning to run a 5 miler after about 7 hours sleep. I was keeping a pace of around 10:45 min/mile but I felt tired the entire time - and my heart rate rose early in the run. It definitely fell into the category of "hard runs."

I think I am still overcoming the tiredness from before camping - but I also suspect a poor diet (lots of red meat and other items) could be contributing. The camping trip helped tremendously - providing several solid nights of rest and just relaxing around the campfire. I think I needed about 3 more days of camping! But alas, I needed to return to work today.

My plan: Get plenty of rest now through the marathon (now just over 2 weeks away), and eat a healthier diet (avoid the sweets and not so much on the red meats).

Any suggestions? I need to find a bit more energy if I am going to survive Disney!

Oh, and we are hosting a BIG New Year's Eve bash at our house....got some work to do to get ready for that event! (I know, I do this to myself....).