Recent training and illnesses..

Well, admittedly I haven't been able to keep up with this blog as often as I thought I would. Just wanted to keep everyone up to date with how I've been doing and some of the setbacks I've been experiencing.
Ever since my duathlon I had a little bit of ankle pain which has mostly gone away now as well as some back pain probably associated with the bike.
Since then I have got in some pretty decent mileage, although the miles don't seem to be coming as easily as I would have hoped.
Last week I was able to get in ten miles on the road Monday night. Tuesday I took the opportunity to use the stair climber at the fire station for an hour. I have a theory that repeated use of the stair climber will help me to be successful in my upcoming race. I definitely noticed in Louisville's Lovin the Hills 50k that my legs, while adequately trained for the distance were in poor shape for the long, long time spent walking up steep inclines. My goal is to try and get in at least an hour of using the stair climber a week unless I am able to physically go climb stairs or travel somewhere that has significant inclines. I have dabbled with the idea of using weight vests in stair climbing since I have them available at the station, especially since my legs weren't really that tired the next day and did not seem fatigued. The nice thing about the stair climber is that it is very low impact compared to the hours of running I participate in. It will be interesting to see if it makes a noticeable difference. If nothing else maybe it will keep my legs in shape through the off season for cycling.
Wednesday was work and a rest day/ I have been pretty vigilant in trying to have a good, diet and take in multivitamins throughout this adventure, anticipating being immuno compromised due to the mileage. Lately, it seems that everyone around us has had a touch of the stomach flu, strep etc. which still makes me pretty nervous.
Thursday I was fortunate enough to be able to get out on the trails and get in 13 miles feeling pretty good and not that fatigued. Although much cooler than it has been I still found the sun to be pretty intense and surprised at the amount of salt evaporated on my skin at the finish. Fortunately my legs felt good and I suffered no cramping.
Friday I kind of hurt myself on the stair climber thing. Since Tuesday session seemed to easy with the intensity level set at 5 (out of 1-20) I decided to kick it up to ten. I knew right away this would be a more difficult ordeal. I distracted myself the first 30 minutes reading a magazine but the interval workout began taking it's toll and I was reduced to counting steps to try and make it through the fast parts of it. The relentlessness of it kicked my butt since I'm using to spending some time walking in my long runs. I got through it but afterwards felt dizzy and a bit nauseous. Running home, I felt a bit better and enjoyed my recovery drink and bath. As it turns out that evening I did get sick but not as severely as my wife the previous evening. I was able to eat dinner, go to bed and sleep through the night working the next day.
Unfortunately I was up most of the night and exhausted so took two rest days to try and recuperate.
The plan is to get out and run this evening and push for 15 miles.
Nashville is getting closer on the horizon so I would definitely like to get a 30 mile day in before I shoot for 50. Sounds like it should be a very low key race with only six registered for the 50 so far. Will be interesting to see how many show up. With six participants I may even get an award if I finish.
More to come....