December 2nd: Where the #$%* Have I Been?

I've been lying low the past two weeks, I know. I have a lot to discuss.

The evening after my most recent entry, I was at home, bending over to pick something up, and -- POW! -- I experienced a huge chest pain. Scary big. It persisted all night, improved somewhat over the course of the next day, and then got worse the following morning.

Rationally, I knew this wasn't the big one. First off, I Googled the symptoms, and pain that gets worse when you bend over is usually due to acid reflux. Obviously, I'm in the best shape of my adult life, so the odds of something scary are really low. And yeah, I've been under a bit of stress of late, but that's just life, you know? Nonetheless, it's frightening. And beyond that, it was outright uncomfortable, so exercise simply wasn't happening.

The doctor prescribed high-strength Prilosec. It took a few days to kick in, but things are generally better now. I'm not really sure what to do about the anxiety and stress, but that's a longer-term issue -- and exercise is as good a cure as anything. But I do have to say, setbacks like this really plant a lot of doubt in my brain about whether I'll realistically be able to 26.2.

One of the things about Prilosec is that you're supposed to take it "before a meal." So basically, take it on an empty stomach, then eat something. I'm not really accustomed to eating first thing -- usually just a glass of fiber and a cup of coffee. Over the past week or so with the Prilosec, a meal has meant a Clif bar and maybe a banana. But I tried something fun this morning. My friend and sometime running partner Dan and I, along with my son, brewed beer this weekend, and I took home some of the spent grains for baking. But for my breakfast, I mixed about a cup of them with some chia seeds and a little bit of milk, and microwaved it, then added a touch of agave. It was very good! I know you don't always have cracked, parboiled barley grains sitting around, but if you have a chance to try it, I recommend it.

I probably could have gotten out there a few days ago, but the combination of the holiday rush, the cold weather and simple inertia (again, doubt creeping in) kept me from any workouts. Until today. I figured the best thing to do after such a layoff would be a pretty light run, just to get my body back into exercise mode. A slow-ish 5K was just what I needed.

It was 39 degrees when I got out there -- before daylight -- but there was no wind to speak of, so it really wasn't too bad. Plus side: I got a couple of really pretty shots looking southeast.

The first mile was slow, but that was mostly due to two pit-stops by the dog and a quick stop to get the photo above. The rest of the run went at a reasonable clip. But really, I wasn't very concerned about speed -- I just wanted to get a few miles under my belt and get my body back into exercise mode. I did 3.5 miles in 33:34. This shot on the left I got just after I'd stopped and was walking it off -- looking away from my house down my street.

I'm really hoping to get some more miles in this week, even if it means no strength work. I feel like I really need to start getting mileage in, because after the New Year, the training starts in earnest, and I don't want to be starting from scratch. So if the winds are low again tomorrow morning, I'll get another quickie in. Maybe later this week I can do a long -- that'd be nice.

Total miles since starting the blog: 133.7