Thursday, March 15, 2018

Shamrock Training: Week 10

This is it! The LAST week of prep for the Shamrock 15K is officially done!

Since this is the taper week it was nice and easy... for the most part anyway. The first run was just three miles. No problem, or so I thought. I started this run at my mom's house and it was dry. How many run photos have you seen me in wearing a hat? A ton! Because I like a hat when it rains. This time it was appearing to be dry and I knew I wouldn't be gone long, so I left with the freedom of no hat on. I guess I'm always learning...

The first mile was awesome! And it was half way through that mile that it started raining. Fine. No big deal. During the second mile it started coming down more and more, and my glasses were in need of windshield wipers. I had no idea that all of this was going to trigger a Meniere's attack. I've had Meniere's Disease since 2003. I've been running since 2009. And yet I'm still learning new things with how these two things merge together. I was just finishing the second mile and my legs went mushy. I couldn't see. I was struggling hard. I should note that not being able to see wasn't because of the wet glasses, it was because the vertigo came so fast and hard that I just couldn't actually see straight. In the photo below I tried to show how things look to me, versus how they are in reality. 

It was during that final mile that I realized I could call my step-dad and have him come get me. But I also told myself if this happens during the race (which it has before) I can't call anyone for help. So I cancelled that idea. I had to laugh when a ways down the road I saw my step-dad driving toward me.... to see if I wanted a ride! Did I take it? Nope! I was determined to finish, and I did!


As I sit here writing this I am still not completely back to my "normal" since that run. My "normal" IS dizzy, by the way. But even with the extra dizzy status I was determined to finish out my training plan with today's run. Happily this was just a 2 miler. Out and back, also at my mom's house. And this time it was raining from the start, so I tossed on a hat and went for it. That one simple thing kept my glasses dry and I didn't have to deal with any vertigo beyond my norm. This was what felt like a simple fun run. No stress, just something to let me keep my legs moving and get me thinking about the race!


And what are my thoughts on the race? I'm cautiously optimistic. I haven't followed a training plan in so long, and I've been loving it, feeling more and more confident with each week. I'm also cautiously scared. Oregonians familiar with Portland know Terwilliger and OHSU. We freaking run up that insane, curvy hill to the top and back down. I'm also kind of excited to be near OHSU again since that is where we created my adorable little baby. I'm super excited to get to run with my friend for the first time. I just hope I can keep up! The expo looks like it is getting bigger every year, so I'm looking forward to checking that out on Saturday. Weather wise, I'm curious to see what we get. The first year I ran it I was at the top of the hill, using my hat to block the rain, sleet and snow that was coming sideways at me and stinging when it hit my skin. That's pretty much normal. If it doesn't rain I'm gonna be shocked!

So that's it! Training is over... but next week I will start half marathon training, which will have me running 4 days a week instead of 3. This was kind of the practice training. Next time we meet on this blog I'll be sharing all the good, bad and ugly of the race... but let's try to keep it more good and pretty, less bad and ugly!

Race countdown: 2 days 17 hours 26 minutes


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