US and Jamaica, Allergies and ITBS!

That poor panda!! That's how it is living in the Ohio Rivnah (inside joke, sorry) Valley. Today I had my first taste of Spring time here this year--it's weird how it happens. I finish my run (which goes fine, by the way, nothing weird, no symptoms) and IMMEDIATELY there's this weird feeling in my throat. And it doesn't go away. Then it feels like I shouldn't talk and my throat is constricted. And the coughing or the sneezing begins. 3 hours after my run and I am having horrible coughing attacks. So, I took my first sinus pill of the year just now! YAY! NOT!

I was pretty amped to hear about the announcement from USATF and the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association--next year, the US and Jamaica will be going head to head in a series of track and field events. The USA vs. Jamaica Challenge series is a team based series of track and field events that will include long jump, two hurdles distances, three relays and 100, 200 and 400 meters competition! I think it'll be exciting and a positive way to bring track and field back into the radar for a lot of people! US athletes--you better start working now!

So in the interest of helping DBF with some errands tomorrow, I switched my higher mileage day of speedwork to today. I ended up doing just over 7 miles total--3.75 miles of intervals at 10K race pace. Great running on hills--I'm powering up those babies a little easier than I could before but still it ain't no joke! I realize I shouldn't be doing speedwork at hilly ass Iroquois Park but I don't really have any other options. Okay so I do--run a loop over and over and over again. But no thanks.

By the third interval, my mind was getting into my mind. LOL I swear, that was a tough one to break through--my ITBS had kicked in again (must be speedwork on hills induced...*sigh*) and I was having a hard time running normally, and my phone was ringing and a guy wanted to chat--I now understand why those speedy runners that look straight ahead with a slight grimace do that. As soon as I looked up beyond my current step (which I thought was going to be the apex of the current hill), I told myself to stop. Not just stop running fast. Just stop and walk dammit! MORE HILL, just STOP! YOU CAN'T DO IT! And then "One More Mile" Kriston came out. She fired back, "Umm, how the hell do you think you'll ever get better if you don't just suck it up and power up this damn hill." One More Mile Kriston can get a bit moody sometimes, but it's always out of love. Unconditional, crazy, bite my hand til it bleeds LOVE. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to 1:45 in the video below, if you feel like wasting your time! LOL)



Anyway--I powered up that hill, probably wobbly. I definitely thought I was never going to be able to breathe again. But I made it!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...