j-lyn's corner

Despite almost a week of rest, I am still sick.

I had a cold. Only someone with a deviated septum shudders at the thought of a cold- because if that cold sticks around for more than a day or two, it's a sinus infection.

So it was a sinus infection. Some antibiotics and rest, the sinuses are feeling better... but the cough has spread to my chest. It hurts just to breathe.... and swallowing, coughing, and talking are excrutiating. Bronchitis? Strep Throat? Pneumonia? Who knows.

Sad that I'm not running. I was all for "being smart" and resting a few days. Now its going longer and longer....

I am also starting to regret being uninsured. If things continue to go downhill, I may end up with a nasty Dr.s bill to go with my nasty cough.

rumor has it I have pneumonia. not sure it's true or not, and as an uninsured American, I don't plan to find out (yet.)

New blog post. All about my ugly fears. I only take pain meds at night (NyQuil) so it's been the only time I've felt like doing anything (like writing).

http://jennilyneaton.blogspot.com/2013/02/accepting-fears.html 

took a break from trying to turn the foreclosure into a livable place and went out for a run.

I coined the term "deproving," which is the opposite of improving. my chest was tight and with a dull pain, came home and coughed for an hour and couldn't stop it.

 figured I'd need a couple more days. pneumonia is death. 

I had forgotten how light and comfortable the Vertical K's were! So sensitive, so light, so cushioned... man.

When out with JM in the dark. Utterly brilliant run- after sunset but enough light noise that no headlamp was needed, snow was warm and traction was excellent, my body felt alive again...

Still had a cough, but getting there. Energy levels were high, I had to restrain from wanting to go faster.

New blog entry is up. I tried not to whine about pneumonia too much. It sucked. I usually work from home and took over 2 weeks off becuase I couldn't lift my body into an upright position. Pretty lame-o.

Song of the day is.... there's a few, they're on the blog post.

http://jennilyneaton.blogspot.com/2013/02/perspective-musical-edition.html 

Backpacked in to the yurt with my love. We got there just before midnight. Thank heavens for my GPS or we wouldn't have found the yurt from where it left the trail. I hate carrying a heavy pack. My back is not meant for labor.

What happens when you take your ultrarunner away on a romantic getaway? They leave you to chop wood while they go for a run in the afternoon sun. Good thing he's used to me. :)

REALLY struggled, especially on the uphills, if my breathing gets hard then my chest/cough/congestion hits in. I had a lot of elevation gain, but still averaged about 20-30sec slower per mile than my pre-pneumonia pace. I'm obviously still under.

Blog post on the getaway on a later day. 

Backpacked out of the yurt. Ben sat on the sled f ull of stuff on the steep parts and I pushed him down the trail. What fun. :) Heavy snowfall.

Took my first fall on ice today. Came down on a smooth patch, which somehow managed to shred my knee and my pants and give my a goose egg on my elbow. Ouch. I sat down and cried, all bloody and hurt, and then about 45 sec later got up and ran the last 4 miles home. I'm getting good at compartmentalizing pain, I just have to allow myself to revel in it before I can put it away.

 Dimple Dell is an ice rink. Just FYI. 

Girls club fun! I was 30 min late (guess what, I got lost trying to find a trail head right off Wasatch Blvd. I'm so awesome.) but we still got 5 hours in. 3800 feet gain. I had to hike all hills for the first  2.5 hours, anytime I'd start breathing hard my chest would constrict and freak me out and remind me of pneumonia.... I don't think I'm ready to breathe hard again yet. Strangely after 2.5 hours I felt great, stopped coughing, and was even able to run up some of the hills. I apparently just needed 2.5 hours of coughing, hacking, snot-rocketing to warm up and start enjoying myself.

I wore the nasty old school rough wool socks, which rubbed the bottoms of my feet a little raw. I know it's wrong, but I enjoyed that pain a little. I also chaffed off some of my ankle bone skin, which I could feel through the rough sock, but it didn't hurt much. Between all that, the coughing, and the messed up knee from when I fell on the ice on Monday... I'm in awesome shape! Haha.

I couldn't walk after (stupid knee). Went to see my good ol' chiro, a couple knee adjustments later, 2 bouts of cold laser therapy, 1 round of e-stim, and a few rounds of ice and it's stiff but not awfully painful. I can at least resume walking and not look like a penguin. I am under strict orders to continue care and bail on the 15 I had planned for Thursday, especially if I want to run Fri, Sat, and Sun...

Ran 7 at dimple dell. Wanted to quit after 0.5. Thought I was going to do some sort of tempo run.... until I was reminded of the fresh snow, the wind, the current snow fall, and the ankle-breaking ice chunks underneath powder. I wasn't feeling it, blah blah blah, but ironically my knee felt all better. So something good came. Super slow, 1.5 hours for just 7 miles. blech.

You know it's a good run when a couple miles in (as you hear avalanche after avalanche crashing) that all the runners debate on who we would eat first-- the tallest/biggest member of the group or the Asian guy who others argued we could stir-fry.  

Did 6.6 with the track club crew. We were crazy enough to run in corner canyon... through quad deep drifts. I was angry and bitter that I was trudging (and face planting) through quad-deep snow that on Wednesday was DRY DIRT. I was also cranky from a skimpy breakfast, forgetting to pack food, and having my water hose freeze before the run even started. After a particularly memorable face plant I threw a full fledged temper tantrum, throwing snow and screaming, that would rival any toddlers. I am told it would have gone viral it if had been filmed. Fortunately only one member of the group was around to see it. After the tantrum, I was able to actually enjoy the "run." I even said the "f" word- fun. I feel a bit embarassed.

 Went out for 6 more after on the paved trail. The first snowy 6.6 took 2 hours 20min. The last 6 on the road took less than an hour. ...Yeah. At least I stayed warm in Terramar's Pointelle silk layer and Hottotties mid-weight. 

On a side note, one of my running heroes throws temper tantrums too. See Anna Frost's here. 

Ran 5 with my hubby on the JRP. I tried to talk him into 9, 8, 7, 6... but he is more stubborn than I am. That said, it's been AGES (like since Nov 2011...) since we ran together. It was fun. Even though he sprinted up the hills. 

I'm putting this as fast miles becuase I was cold and thirsty and hungry and and and I complained a LOT. So that makes it fast. Even if it was slow running up a road covered in miserable snow in negative temps. (Who's dumb idea was that anyways? Oh, yeah.)

Got to meet JG the new guy spotlighted above. The boys did 17. Not to be outdone, the girls went out for 3 more. Which started as a bad idea and ended with sunshine and a new sensation called "sweating." It's a miracle, really.

It sucked and it was fun--the bitter paradox. Laughter, crying, thirst (water all frozen by mile 2) cramps from lack of salt, and hunger. Still there was laughter, smiles, and farts. Girls may fart, but boys fart more.