There's ice ahead and other setbacks

Last week was supposed to be the first week of my training plan for Grandma's Marathon. Unfortunately, it didn't go so well.

Two weeks ago, I went on a final longish run before my official training plan started. It was beautiful in Minnesota--warm enough that I was wearing shorts, a long sleeve, and no gloves. My plan was to run somewhere around ten miles.

The run started out great. That morning we had taken little one-year-old Calvin to baby swimming lessons at the YMCA, so I threw my bag in the car and ran home while Laura drove Calvin. The YMCA is only four miles from our house, so I headed south to run in a u-shape to hit ten miles or so.

I wanted to run a hilly route, which is easy to do in Eagan, but I wanted a really hilly route. There's this nice paved trail called The Highline Trail that has two really steep hills and a couple more gentler ones, so I decided to run there.

 Besides the hills, the other nice thing about running on The Highline Trail is its beauty. It goes through a restored prairie and by a couple of ponds, so there are often birds, turtles (not so much in the winter) and deer to be seen. Though it's not as pretty in the winter, it's still nicer than running along one of Eagan's busy streets.

So, as I was enjoying the hills and the beauty, I came up on a group of walkers. "Watch out," one said. "There's ice ahead."

"Thanks," I said.

The walker wasn't kidding. At the top of a hill there was a twenty foot section of ice shaded by the trees. In my infinite wisdom I thought, OK, I'll just run this section really slowly--I'll keep my strides short so I don't fall. It was a brilliant plan.

Or not. After a few strides, my feet flew from underneath me and down I went. I was able to keep my head up, so I didn't get knocked out, but my back, glute, and pelvis didn't fare so well. I landed hard on my right side, slid about five feet, and came to rest. I'd landed sort of on my lower back, slightly to the right, so the bulk of the force went through the top of my pelvis, my glute, and my lower back--all on the right side.

Unfortunately I was still three miles from home. So, I hobble-ran the last two miles, which gave me pain in my hamstring the next day.

Due to my stupidity, I had to take an entire week off of running--which really stunk because we had amazing weather for three of those days.

But, I was thinking it wasn't a huge deal because my marathon training plan didn't start until the next week. Then, another setback.

Last Saturday night I started feeling nauseous, and by Monday, the first day of my training plan, I wasn't any better. Stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting kept bothering me, and last week I only felt good enough to run on Tuesday and missed the entire rest of the week.

Yesterday I finally went to urgent care, and the doctor there sent me to the ER. At the ER, after a CT scan, they diagnosed me with colitis. They gave me some prescriptions for medications for the nausea and stomach pain along with an antibiotic for the colitis.

They also gave me some medication in for the nausea through an IV, and after the third try and second different medication, my stomach finally felt better. After getting out of the ER I was able to eat real food for the first time in four days.

I took the nausea and stomach pain medications this morning, and as of right now I'm feeling pretty good. I'm optimistic that I'll actually get to start training for Grandma's this coming week.

Run well.