Holiday Half 2011

I was doing so well preparing for this year's Holiday Half.  Right up until the turkey hit my belly.

Mission Inn 10 km Run 2011

The Mission Inn Run (10K, Nov 13th) was a good milestone and I was on track with training 3x per week until the week of T'givs.  Ran the morning of T'givs but since then I haven't run in 3 weeks.  Nothing.  No crunches.  No pull-ups, dips, push-ups, lunges, curls, presses...

My back is totally a wreck.  I spent the past few weeks bound to a desk chair or confined to a bucket seat (in my car) and it has taken its toll.  I can bearly walk and talk or draw with chalk.  I have a permanent hunch.  I have tried applying a volleyball to the middle of my back to prop myself up so I can continue working.  Typing this is excruciating and I have so many online homeworks and lab reports left to grade before the semester's grades are due.

After 3 weeks of no strength training, no cardio, no flexibility, I feel like a flab monster.  I hear it takes a week to recover from one day's missed workout.  Based on that math, it would take me months to recover from this fitness break.  It was such a blur to me it's like the last month didn't even happen.

YESSSS.  It's already been brought-en.

And I am already registered for the half tomorrow.  I promised myself I would reward myself with something fun when I survived my Ph.D. defense (which was this past Wednesday, Dec 7th, and I PASSED with revisions).  So should I do it (show up and finish the race) or not?

I'm concerned about my own state of health.  Since starting at Claremont, I'm burning ~3000 cal per month, compared with twice or four times that (which kept me sane and fit).  I have to find a way to keep up with training.  Dance?  Swimming?  Other cross training that I'm overlooking?