Cold

I had hoped that the cold would disappear within a day, but for once I was wrong. I’ve fought off quite a number of colds during the winter, and none of them bothered me particularly, and all of them very gone within a day or two. This one, however, is a lot more persistent. I felt pretty bad on Thursday evening, and wondered if I should even set my alarm for Friday morning. I eventually did so, reasoning that I could always turn it off and sleep in if I wouldn’t feel up to it.

However, once the alarm went off I got up and got ready. After all, I was awake anyway, so I might as well go out and run. I did make one concession to my lower energy levels, namely that I didn’t force the pace at all, and was happy enough to run easily, even though it meant running at above 8:00 pace for the first time in ages. It’s a bit of a mental barrier, but at the beginning of the training I had resolved that I would not force myself to run under that threshold if I had an off-day, and today was definitely one of those. I did wonder if running 17 miles when feeling like that was a good idea, but once I was on the road I pretty much ran on autopilot for most of the way. After about 5 miles I came across the last crossroad where I had the chance to bail out, but didn’t even glance at it, and continued all the way around Caragh Lake. Just before the halfway point I ran past a sign “Road Closed”, which was a little disconcerting, but I reasoned that the road should always be passable to a runner, even if it’s closed to cars. I was correct. They are in the middle of re-doing the road surface (it’s amazing the amount of work that goes on around here when an election looms). A stretch of nearly 2 miles was covered in a thick layer of dirt, and they hadn’t got round to putting the tarmac on top of it. As far as I’m concerned they could leave it that way, it felt lovely and soft. Mind, had it been raining it would have turned into a massive mudslide. Anyway, after two miles I passed the opposing “Road Closed” sign on the other end of that stretch, and from then on it was back to the hard, unforgiving surface, to the regret of my knees. I also felt some hunger pains around that time, but they went away after a minute or two. I did tire towards the end of the run, but managed to get home just fine.

I still felt like crap on Saturday, and Niamh told me not to go running, but since when do I listen to a non-runner’s advice? I had just gotten a new pair of shoes, and wanted to give them a spin. I was a bit nervous, because my favourite kind of shoe is the Asics Nimbus, and that was my first pair of the new version 9. A new version of your favourite shoe is often hit-and-miss, but after covering 10 miles in the new pair I can report that I’m perfectly happy, they felt just right. What felt less perfect was the fact that it started raining at the halfway point, and coupled with the freezing wind it made for some uncomfortably cold miles on the way back home. Just the thing you don’t need when you’re already suffering from a cold. While the run itself was fine, I felt knocked out for the rest of the day, and once again Niamh asked me not to go running the next morning.

But since when do I listen to a non-runner’s advice? I compromised and only went for 6+ miles, and I’m finally getting better. My energy levels are seeping up again, and my head doesn’t have that horrible stuffed feeling any more. The weather could be better, it’s still raining on and off, and it’s rather windy, but we’re off to Slovenia in 3 days’ time, and the weather there is supposed to be a lot better at the moment. I’m bound to discover a whole new area for running.

25 May: 17 miles, 2:18:33, 8:09 pace, avg. HR 150
26 May: 10 miles, 1:17:18, 7:43 pace, avg. HR 153
27 May: 6.1 miles, 46:52, 7:40 pace, avg. HR 153

Weekly mileage: 73