This week was 51 miles of running, 500 yards of swimming, and 11 "miles" of pool-running -- training log is here.
I added in a conservative track workout on Monday (really just wanted to get my feet wet again). The weather was warm and humid and I'm out of shape, so I was pleasantly surprised that the splits were as fast as they were.
A personal trainer that I've exchanged friendly greetings with for many years on the track approached me after Monday's workout to ask if I was all right. He explained that he didn't want to overstep, but that I didn't look right - "you used to float, and now you're not."
I wasn't upset at all, honestly. It was really validating to have someone else notice what I felt - that I'm just lacking oomph and have been on and off for months. The question, of course, is why.
Which leads to Wednesday's upper endoscopy and colonoscopy - essentially they put me under and then sent a camera down my mouth to check out my esophagus, stomach, and first part of my small intestine. Followed up by sending a different camera up the back end to check out my large intestine and the last part of my small intestine. Unfortunately, you can't reach all of the small intestine from either direction - for that you have to either get a CT scan or swallow a pill with a camera in it.
They found some inflammation in my large intestine - not surprising since I have ulcerative colitis. They also saw some inflammation in the antrum (bottom part) of my stomach. So they took biopsies of the inflamed areas, plus everywhere else, to determine the nature of the inflammation. I should hear back on the biopsy results and next steps in about 10-14 days.
As odd as it sounds, I'm actually glad they saw some inflammation in the stomach. My on-again-off-again nausea has become much more on than off over the past year, and my issues with iron and folate malabsorption also point to an issue (plus the fatigue and lack of oomph/floating). So it's good to have a possible explanation.
Colonoscopies with biopsies are hard on the body, so I spent Thursday in the pool and waited until Saturday to do my next workout - a repeat of Iwo Jima hills. I've been really happy with how the uphill portion of these workouts feel. Usually, when I start these workouts, my legs burn and struggle until I adapt. This time, my legs have felt great from the start; it's just my aerobic capacity that lags. I suspect that my focus on squatting in the gym has really helped with the hills.
Monday: 10 miles, including a short track workout of 2x1600m at tempo (6:38 and 6:33) with 3:00 jog in between, and then 2x200m in 42 and 42 with full recovery in between. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.
Tuesday: 7 miles very easy on treadmill (9:38) and streaming yoga. Also a lot of lemon jello and margarita shot bloks. Foam rolling at night.
Wednesday: Colonoscopy and upper endoscopy in the morning; a bit of foam rolling later.
Thursday: 8 "miles" of pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night.
Friday: 7 miles easy (9:48) plus drills and 4 hill strides, and then streaming yoga followed by 3 miles very easy on the treadmill (9:40). Foam rolling in evening.
Saturday: 12 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima Memorial hills (~2 minutes hard up, jog, 25 second downhill stride, jog) plus leg strengthwork, 500 yards recovery swimming, and 3 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling in evening.
Sunday: 12 miles easy (9:38) followed by drills and streaming yoga. Foam rolling in afternoon.
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