The 'Under The Weather' Week

I was going to say that this week has been a bit of a running write off, and my heart does still feel a bit like that, but my head tells me I have still manged a fair bit despite feeling considerably under the weather. I am rarely ill (thankfully!) and I do not cope well when I am not 100%. Pretty much all week I have been struggling with a form of cold which has given me at times headaches, earaches, a feeling of never being able to be warm, nausea, loss of appetite and most annoyingly, a chesty cough. With this in mind I should be thankful I have logged the miles I have done and also managed to keep going into work each day! I think I only have myself to blame for succumbing to winter illness; its been a busy few weeks recently, not even particularly in a running sense, and I have simply worn myself out and allowed myself to become more susceptible. Lesson learnt - usually the hard way!

MONDAY: this was the one day of the week when I felt good and completed my usual Body Pump class as normal. 

TUESDAY: I enjoyed a nice run this evening, logging a comfortable 8 miles achieved through running to meet some members of my Run Club for a social run and then home again afterwards. However when I got home I began to sense things were not quite right; I could not get warm and was almost to the point of shivering in bed...

WEDNESDAY: I woke today feeling ok, but with ice on the pavements and no plans for the evening, I decided upon an evening run when I at least thought I would be able to run with a bit more freedom on the footpaths. It seemed a great plan at the time, however throughout the day I could feel myself deteriorating; a cough developed and my body temperature seemed all over the place. After walking home from work I literally had to jump into a hot shower and then straight into bed - which is not like me at all. No running needless to say.

THURSDAY: after succumbing to my bed for all of Wednesday evening, I tried a few miles this morning with no ambition other than just to see how I felt and assess whether I would be able to join in my Run Club session later that evening. I ran 3.5 miles very gently, and to be honest I could not up the pace even if I wanted to as my cough threatened to battle through my breathing as if to remind me I was not 100%. The run gave me confidence to join Run Club later though, which I really did not want to miss as it was our final session of the year and we had a social run planned to give Christmas gifts to residents at a local care home. It was only 2 miles, so I did not overdo things too much with a double run. 

FRIDAY: Rest Day - if I felt better I had toyed with the idea of making up for missing Wednesday with a few miles today, but I was honest with myself - I felt no better and also wanted to try and feel some improvement to be able to enjoy parkrun on Saturday, as well as my work Christmas party on Saturday night!

SATURDAY: I made it to a Christmassy themed Lincoln parkrun, but I did not feel great. It was still lovely to be there though and see people in their festive dress; I had my own Santa hat hair clipped to my head, which I am always determined I will keep on throughout my run! Running was ok for the first couple of miles; I was going steadily, not as speedy as I can be, but not as much as a struggle as I thought. The final mile however was really hard; I felt all my energy drain from my body almost instantly, which considering my food intake has been pretty poor all week, was not really surprising. I finished in 22:02, which was good all things considering, although my cough and body soon reminded me that maybe even that was a bit too much of an ask today as I spluttered next to the finish funnel trying to get rid of the taste of blood in my mouth. Delightful I know. I managed to wish most of my parkrun friends Merry Christmas though - so I was still pleased I had ran.

SUNDAY: when looking at my calendar a few weeks ago I had thought today's run may be shorter and easier due to Christmas festivities on Saturday night as part of my work Christmas party - but to be honest our party was not that wild or late and if it had not been for my illness I think I would have woken feeling virtually normal. My lurgy still remained though, and sadly it seems neither running or gin is a cure for a cough! I had very little energy today but felt like I really wanted to try some form of run. It was not great, my chest did not enjoy it and any demand on my legs other than a nice flat pavement felt like a huge test. I called it a day at 4.5 miles; it seemed pointless to try more as there was no real benefit. It bothered me a little as I want to try and keep some consistent mileage during this non training period; but I have to be realistic as to what is best and actually beneficial for my body. I have probably done too much this week as it is! 

I hope my germs will disappear quickly, especially as we head into Christmas week. My festive season features a lot of parkrun plans and I want to enjoy these runs, as well as simply Christmas itself! ​