Training log - Week ending 5/8/16

This week was 24.5 miles of running and 4 miles of pool-running-- training log is here.

This was a pretty easy week to log.    I shut things down completely for a few days as a reboot before building back up for my half-marathon in June.

By the middle of the week I was cranky, depressed, and my muscles were ridiculously sore and tight. Wednesday's massage was one of the yelpiest I've had in recent memory.  I blamed the tightness and depression on several days of completely sedentary life, and reasoned that some light yoga/pool-running (with my coach's permission) would help.  They did, but only slightly.

I started running again this weekend, and both runs were rough slogs, despite the fact that they were moderate in distance and pace, with good company for each day.  But by then I was pretty sure what was going on.  

When I saw my allergist/ENT doctor a few weeks back, we discussed how my sinuses were dry and painful this spring, not congested.  He commented that those symptoms possibly indicated a mild chronic staph bacterial sinus infection in addition to the allergies.  The bacteria lies dormant deep in one's sinuses, and then revitalizes when it has pollen or mold to feed on.  He prescribed the antibiotic Clindamycin, so that I could do a week-long course of it (150mg every 8 hours, if anyone cares).  If my sinus problems are bacterial in nature, that should take care of the issue.

Of course, antibiotics are medicine's double-edged blade - very good at what they do, but not without unwanted side effects.  In the past, antibiotics have knocked me for a loop, so an off week was the logical time to take them, since I had the luxury of choosing when I'd start them.

Clindamycin's reported side effects are generally gastro-intestinal, not fatigue or muscle soreness, so I wasn't really expecting to feel quite this lousy.  But on the other hand, this is consistent with my experience with every other antibiotic I've ever taken.  So really not such a surprise after all.

The good news is that I took my last dose this afternoon, so I should be feeling better in the next few days. And the better news is that I haven't had any sinus pain this week, though that could also be due to the anti-inflammatory aspects of Clindamycin.  Or the endless days of rain that we've had cut down on the pollen.  Clindamycin does have the nasty side-effect of killing off all your good intestinal bacteria, so the next few days are going to be heavy on the probiotics.

Dailies

Monday:  Nada but foam-rolling.

Tuesday: Nada but foam-rolling.

Wednesday: Light upper body weights in the morning, massage at night.

Thursday: Yoga and 4 "miles" pool-running.  Foam rolling at night. 

Friday:  Yoga and upper body weights in the morning.   Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  10.5 miles aerobic (8:20), also foam rolling.

Sunday:  14 miles aerobic (8:03) and yoga.  Foam rolling at night.