Running Delirium

Today was my first day back to real running. I ran yesterday, sort of. It was more like jogging for a couple miles and then calling it a day. Not "running." So, today I decided to do my speed work for the week. I did 4 x 800 at race pace, which turned out to be oddly comfortable. In fact, I was giddy during my run. It is very hard to describe the feeling. It was a mix of: having my legs feel like they were just bouncing along of their own accord, feeling a tingle in my legs for a few strides on the back stretch, being completely detached from my body all at the same time. My interior monologue went something like this (imagine Derek Zoolander saying it): "Yippee, HOOORAY. I'm running. Ha Ha Ha." (Orange Mocha Frappucino!!!) Needless to say, this is not my normal demeanor while running. I'm usually all business or thinking about something else going on in my life (usually school, as awful as that sounds, sometimes girls, but that is few and far between). I equate this experience to running drunk. As I have done this before, I have personal experience. While running drunk, all you want to do is throw up, after that you have a moment of complete clarity. It's as if you have just ascended to another plane of existence. So, in a sense running drunk can be compared to a religious experience. Think about that...

Background: I have had a mild case of the flu for the past couple of days. Frontal HA, night sweats, malaise, myalgias, a touch of photophobia, and some orthostatic hypotension just for good measure. Actually I'm on a taper for a half marathon this saturday. It always seems like you get sick while you are tapering and not while running your hardest. It's like your body just says "enough," and that happens right after your hardest workouts. So, now I feel about 70%, but I'm on a protein loading right now, which also drains your strength. I'll follow the protein loading by carbo loading in the days leading up to the half.

In the mean time, tomorrow is my last day of running until the half. I'm only going 2 or 3 miles easy. Rest for two days and then it's on like Donkey Kong.