I'm trying not to panic.

So last December I had this brilliant idea:  I'll try to register for the Ice Age Trail 50 miler.  I've already done a 50K, so a 50 miler would be the next logical step, right?  And besides, that race fills up fast.  The chances of me getting in are slim.

Famous last words.

Thank you for using the website of RunRace.net to submit your event registration.
+---  Race Information  ---+
Race Name: Ice Age Trail 50 - 2016
  Location: La Grange
    State: Wisconsin, U.S.A.

+---  Event Information  ---+
Name of Event: Ice Age Trail 50 Mile
      Distance: 50
  Measurement: Miles
          Date: Saturday May 14th, 2016
    Start Time: 6:00 AM

So like any sane person, I celebrated for a moment, panicked for a moment, consulted /r/running on Reddit for a training plan, and mapped out the mileage that I'd have to accumulate over the coming months.

The training was going very well.  I hit most of my miles and got in my most important runs.  I did Crossfit a few days a week along the way and overall I felt stronger and faster than I've ever felt.

Then the littlest plague-beast came home with a bad cough.

Don't let this cuteness fool you.  This sweet little guy became a mess of respiratory gunk.  And little people loooooove to share their respiratory gunk with their mommas.  Within ten days, I was the sniffling, sneezing, aching, coughing, stuffy-headed, fevered mess that the Ny-Quil ads warned me about.  And with every deep breath I could hear the telltale wheeze-and-pop of bronchitis that I struggled with two years ago.

Shit.

A planned 50-mile week dropped to a 30 mile week, which was followed up with a 15-mile week - not exactly ultra-distances.  I consulted Dr. Google and learned that I should not run for at least two weeks, that I should run more, and that I probably have Lupus.  I followed that up with a call to Dr. Reddit who was quite encouraging, but only slightly more helpful.

But the good news is that through it all, I didn't break my runstreak, and I seem to be on the mend.  The bad news is that this took a very solid chunk out of my training.  I have a marathon in 9 days that I'm using as a training run, and the longest I've run this week is 2 miles.  I'm trying not to panic, but...

It's proving to be difficult.  

Right now, I'm going to try to get in one 10 mile run before the marathon next weekend.  I'll take it easy on marathon day and see how it goes.  If I crash and burn, I have another marathon/training run later in the month that I'll try to use to redeem myself.  

I guess I'm just going to go out there and hope for the best.  

Does anyone have any advice on training after an illness?

2Toms - A Product Rave and a Cautionary Tale

Disclaimer: I received some samples of 2Toms Sport Shield to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com

The dreaded chafe.

I don't chafe easily, but when I do, I do it in spectacular fashion.  After spending my first relatively high-mileage summer a few years back training in blissfully low humidity, I woke up on the morning of my first marathon to record heat and humidity.  It was the kind of humidity that fogs your glasses and makes you gasp for air.  It was ugly, but I thought I was ready for it:  I had purchased Body Glide earlier in the year - everyone loves Body Glide, right?  I decided it was time to give it a try.  I applied it to all of the necessary areas, I ran 26.2 miles, and I chafed badly.  I'll spare you the details, but let's just say I didn't even know that women could chafe there.

Yeah.  Please don't think about that too long.  In fact, let's never speak of that again.

Needless to say, ever since then I've been very interested in finding an alternative to Body Glide.

I first heard about 2Toms from the guys on the fabulous Ten Junk Miles podcast.  They absolutely rave about the 2Toms line.  Their commentary piqued my interest, but I was never able to find it in stores and I wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger on buying it online.  But when BibRave gave me an opportunity to review it, I jumped at the chance to try it.

I totally should have bought 2Toms Sport Shield ages ago.

I received the women's 2Toms Sport Shield in two forms:  a roll-on bottle, and a few individually wrapped wipes.

I couldn't wait to try it.  I've spent a fair amount of time this winter putting in miles on the indoor track at the Pettit Ice Center.  While I love having the Pettit as an option, its extremely dry climate combined with the relentlessness of long track miles (oh look, a left turn...another left turn...hey, I think I'll turn left up here...) wreaked havoc on my feet.  I started getting blisters for the first time ever.  Blisters are not an option for a streak runner.

Fortunately, my 2Toms arrived just in time.  I started using the roll-on Sport Shield on my toes, and the blistering issues went away.  I've logged six runs longer than thirteen miles at the Pettit in the past few months, and the blistering issue that I was struggling with is totally gone.  I'll spare you a picture of my feet as proof (I'm rocking two black toenails right now, so my career as a foot model is on hold for the time being) but the piggies have never felt happier.

My Pettit bag:  headphones, water bottle, cash, GUs, and 2Toms.

And 2Toms doesn't seem to sweat off, either.  I'll own up to the fact that my feet get pretty sweaty, but the 2Toms didn't seem affected.  I've only ever needed a single application for a run.

The 2Toms Sport Shield single use wipes are great too - without getting too PG-13 in my descriptions, the wipes are great for getting at all of the nooks and crannies that can chafe and blister.  I was a little worried the first time I opened the wipes - they felt a little dry.  I think because they are packaged like wet-naps, I expected them to be as moist as wet-naps, but they aren't.  They aren't supposed to be.  But they work wonderfully, and are a must-have in my race bag.

And now, my cautionary tale.  2Toms is slippery - good news for your body, but potentially bad news for other things.  For instance, if you lube up your feet and then walk across your hardwood floor before putting on socks, the 2Toms may leave a slick residue on your floor.  It won't be visible, but it will be there waiting for you.  And this residue may be so slippery that, days later, when you are in a haste to get ready for work you may find yourself skidding comically across your floor in a fashion usually reserved for cartoon characters stepping on banana peels.  And in doing so you may fall on your ass in such a spectacularly noisy fashion that you wake everyone in the house.  I'm not saying that happened to me, but...well, just be careful.  This stuff is slick.

Want to try 2Toms for yourself?  Here's the deets:

Find them at 2Toms.com

Check MediDyne's Facebook page.

Follow 2Toms on Twitter.

And best of all:  get 20% off of your order through the end of April, 2016 by using the code "2Toms20"

Ten Things Pettit Runners Know

If you are a runner in the greater Milwaukee area, you are lucky.  Not only do you have a great running club and great local races, but you also have the Pettit National Ice Center's run/walk track to help you stay in top condition during our long, cold winters.  I have spent many Saturdays and Sundays this winter making my slow way around the track.  (Personal record:  61 laps).

I'm grateful to have the Pettit.  It beats running on icy sidewalks in wind chills that get into the double-digits below zero.  But like anything, you sometimes have to take the good with the bad.

Ten Things Pettit Runners Know

1.  There's always something to see on the ice.  The Pettit hosts all kinds of great ice skating events, from ice hockey to skating lessons to speed skating time trials.  When your friends ask you if you ever get bored running in circles, you can tell them about the adorable kids you saw taking their first steps onto the ice, the raucous hockey match you witnessed, or the figure skaters you saw practicing their routines.

2.  But it can be a little dull, too.  Running isn't always exciting, right?  The key to a good, long workout at the Pettit is a good playlist, some good podcasts, or some good company.

3.  After a few laps, you'll either be great at math, or you'll forget how to count.  The track is 445.2 meters long (measured on the inside lane), which makes a mile slightly under four laps.  Because that makes for some ugly math, runners going for long distances track laps instead of miles and then calculate their mileage at the end by using the handy chart by the track.  But even counting laps gets strangely challenging after about a dozen times around the circle.  Maybe we all get a little dizzy by then?

4.  Fifty-five degrees is not as warm as it sounds.  When the whether outside is below zero, a run in perfectly controlled 55 degree conditions sounds lovely.  But with the Pettit's low humidity, it actually feels pretty cold.  A hat and gloves are nice to have until you get warmed up.

5.  The Pettit Lung is real.  That dry air can wreak havoc on your lungs and you might develop a bit of a hacking cough after a hard workout on the track.  Still better than freeze-your-face-off wind chill.  Have a nice cup of hot tea after you cool down from your run - it seems to help.

6.  Sometimes you have to pull over for the National Anthem.  Many of the sporting events at the Pettit kick off with the National Anthem.  You may be in the middle of an 800, but the right thing to do is pull over, take off your hat, and listen respectfully.   Your 800 will be there when the song is done.

7.  You'll see all kinds of characters on the track.  There's the barefoot guy who makes his way around the track with a slow-but-steady distinct cadence.  Army guys and gals run in between sets of situps.  You'll always see a few impossibly fast people who make the rest of us look like we're taking a leisurely stroll.  And there's nothing quite as humbling as being passed by a kid who looks like he's about six - kids are welcome at the Pettit run/walk track, and the few that I've seen there have always been super fast and incredibly awesome.

8.  Zamboni Crossing is an actual thing.  Look both ways!

9.  You may start to wonder what it would be like to run a marathon around a track.  And if you really want to see what it's like, you can!  The Icebreaker Indoor Marathon takes place every January.  94.9 laps around the Pettit will get you to 26.2 miles.  (The less cuckoo among us can opt for the half marathon, which comes in at about 48 laps.  But if 94.9 laps doesn't feel like enough, there's always the Gold Medal Challenge, where runners can do the half marathon and the full marathon on consecutive days).  The post-race cookies make it all worthwhile.

10.  We're lucky to have the Pettit.  It keeps us off the treadmill during these long, cold winters.