Muscle fever

In Hungarian, when you are sore, you say you have "muscle fever". I really like that expression: it much better summarizes that feeling that is experienced by many after strenuous physical activity. Soreness just sounds like mild pain, while muscle fever says it all; I think. It being September already (jeez, where has the summer gone, or the first half of 2010, for that matter??), I've entered what's usually referred to as peak marathon training season. The month before the marathon - October - it's a good idea to give the legs some rest so come marathon day - November 7th - they are not in muscle fever and are rested and hungry for those 26 miles! So the month before that - right now! - is the best time to get those long runs in and try to get the milage up to maximum so the body knows - or thinks it knows - what's coming and doesn't shut down after 20 miles or so. They say that going over 20 miles in training is not necessary: the adrenaline and the crowd - at least is the case in NYC - will get you through the last 6 or so if you have that training behind you.

Having a full marathon and several halves behind me at this point has taught me a few things. First of all, I get injured easily. Well, that's not even true; my shins get injured easily. I think that stress fracture from last summer was just a fluke, let's hope. I know that when I get into the double digits in training, my right shin starts acting up. I also know how to deal with that now. Rest a bit, ice, massage, stretch like crazy, run slower, run less. I have figured out that I am not meant to run more than 3, maybe 4 times a week, if that's going to include a long run that's in the double digits. I also don't think that trying to stick to a training plan works for me. I just like to go with the flow.

So to make up for not putting in the milage I should, I have been trying to do more biking and yoga: the only other athletic activities I have been able to stick to since stopping fencing. One night last week I went to one of those killer yoga classes, which was constant movement, flow, from one pose to the next quickly, sweat dripping everywhere on my mat (should have seen it coming when I noticed that everyone around me had a towel with them), arms and legs shaking still on my walk home. Ahhhh, so good though! Next day, shoulders, arms, back legs, all aching, but it's that sweet muscle fever that hurts and yet feels so good, when you know you just did something really hard and you just got a little stronger. Deciding to go for a run the next day was rougher than the actual run. It's surprising how much one needs to use shoulders and arms while running: they were hurting way more than my legs the whole time! Then, on Saturday, following my adventure to Coney Island earlier in the week, I was inspired to venture out there again, this time on my bike. It turns out it's about 20 miles each way, which I didn't know, since I left my map at home - also, as a consequence, spent half an hour wandering around Brooklyn, having no idea where I was. It was lovely though, hard, but a wonderful sunny day - now I have bike short tan lines on my legs and burns on my shoulders. On my way home, I was so tired, I hit a bench near the East river straight on because I had no energy to make a turn either direction. Fortunately, I was practically going at 2 miles/hour by that point and just pretty much fell right over. Slight bruising... it was worth it. From then on, I walked the bike home, stopped to buy some beer and as I got home, I collapsed onto the couch with a bottle of ice cold beer: best feeling ever, muscle fever cooled by a nice bottle of Hoegaarden.



For some reason, even though my whole body feels exhausted after a long bike ride, my legs don't get so sore the next day. They just feel really heavy. When Rachel called the next morning to plan our run, I was tempted to skip. But that's why it's great to have a running buddy you can't disappoint. And surprisingly, I was more than ready to run 10 miles that day - just needed some extra energy in the middle, for which I wasn't prepared, so I was forced to eat a hot dog from a Central Park vendor after mile 7, actually, not as horrible as it sounds in the middle of a longish run. Then a day of laying on the couch, and now I feel wonderful. What a productive week! With lots of muscle fever!

To end this athletic week and summer, I watched Roger Federer kick some Austrian Meltzer butt tonight at Flushing Meadows. Kudos to Meltzer, who fought a respectful battle, but oh boy, Fed makes it look so easy sometimes. Looks like I'll be back there on Saturday for the semis, super excited! It's turning out to be a great year for the US Open, three sessions, two free tickets, wohooo!!