Run Luau Run

It was only a week, but I was on a roll. Speed-training, followed by swimming, followed by a tempo run, followed by rowing – I felt great! All that was left of my first week of training under the FIRST program was to get my fast-paced 14-miler in this past weekend.

So much for planning.

I started to feel a little off Friday night, a little tickle in my throat.

By Saturday I was full-blown sick – my head hurt, my nose was congested and runny, I was coughing like a pack-a-day smoker, and my lungs were completely waterlogged. I had to bail on a bowling date with my little one, sending Jess in my stead. I slept all day, hoping that I could lick this thing in 24 hours. With a little luck, I’d get my 14-miler in on Sunday morning and then it was off to my older one’s birthday party.

So much for luck.

I woke on Sunday feeling worse than I had on Saturday. Not only did I not get my run in, but I missed my baby’s party – it just didn’t seem fair to expose her friends to my illness, especially since I was still hacking away.

It’s only one run that I’ve missed so far, but honestly, I still feel like crap and I’ve got another round of speed work scheduled for tomorrow – 3 x 1200m at 10K pace minus 40-45 seconds. If I feel like this tomorrow, there is no shot that gets done.

What if this thing lingers?

What if I get better, but the fatigue doesn’t go away?

At what point do I cut my losses and choose to walk away from Sugarloaf and race another day?

This has been a strange winter to be sure here in the northeast. According to the news we’ve received 8 inches of snow this year. That’s down from over 80 inches last winter and an annual average of about 40 inches. Yet during this mildest of winters I have been sick more times than I have over the last 3 or 4 winters combined. It has not helped my running to say the least, but I think I may know why it has been happening…