Sluggish, sluggish days

So I heard last night that the reason why we Oregonians are suffering terrible allergies this year can be traced back to our nutty thunderstorms earlier this month. Apparently the force of the wind and the rain pulverized our poor little pollen spores so that they have become a fine dust, settling into our systems to turn us in to miserable, sneezing creatures. I can surely attest to the severity of this year's allergy season. I think it is ruining my running.

Okay, probably not for real, but I've got to blame something for my recent lack of energy. Pushing out a run at a 9:20 pace is not easy these days. I'm finding it harder to wake up in the morning. (Why is the word 'overtraining' flashing in my brain????) But what is surprising is that before I got sick this spring, 40 mile weeks were feeling fantastic. I was speeding up, I was feeling great - I was in the flow. But now, I can't get my weight back down, I can't pick up the pace, and I'm falling apart on this plateau.

I have a million theories about why this might be happening. Some involve planetary alignment, some on the obliterated pollen, some on what must have been swine flu that I caught this spring (oh sure, my daughter's flu swab said Influenza B, but I mean, come on. It must have been something terrible.) But none of that really matters, does it? Because whatever the cause, it is happening, and I just have to keep on trudging through it.

At least experience has shown me that these lulls do eventually end for whatever reason. Relay season is upon us, and nothing gets me recharged for running like spending 30 hours in a van with my best running friends. I can only hope that the turn around will begin before that time, and I'll be ready to meet the road with a big smile on my face!