Grounded!

After two weeks of coughing my way through each workout, I finally gave in and went to see the doctor. I continually had tried to convince myself that I was getting better, but I finally had to accept that I was not, and a chest infection was the most likely source of my discomfort. Friday's workout was the last straw; while I had a decent enough run, the heart rate was way too high, and even if I hadn't started coughing up half my lungs afterwards, I would have known that something was not right.

At least I didn't have to wait for an appointment, the doctor saw me straight away. I think I spent less than 5 minutes in her surgery, but she confirmed that it was a “quite severe chest infection” (her words), and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. Then came the hammer blow: no running for at least one week! In fact, if I don't feel 100% recovered after a week I am to see my doctor in Kerry, and maybe have a chest x-ray. To be honest, I wasn't entirely convinced by her. She's a very conservative medic of the “pump them full of drugs” variety, in other words the kind of doctor I'm generally suspicious of, but I will heed her advice for this week, take my drugs and abstain from running. When I told her that I was still running every day, she seemed rather shocked. Anyway, immediately after the appointment, still in shock, my first words to Niamh were “no running for a week!” and her first reaction was “oh no!”.

The worst case scenario is that I'll get cabin fever, go completely nuts, Niamh files for divorce before changing her mind and strangling me instead. The best case scenario would be to give my body a week's rest to fully absorb the training I've done already and be rested and fresh for the weeks ahead when I get ready for the Connemara ultra. That race is still 14 weeks away and there is no reason to panic.

My 10 miler on Sunday week, on the other hand, is definitely in jeopardy, but I will assess the situation a day or two before that race. It's obviously not my target race, and missing it would not really be a problem, even though I'd definitely like to run. If I do end up running, at least I will be well rested, something that's definitely not always the case for a practice race like that.

This is a bit of a downer at the end of a very successful year, but not the end of the world. I had a great year, from a running, professional and family point of view, and who could ask for more? All in all I'm still a very lucky guy.

28 Dec

9 miles, 1:09:53, 7:45 pace, HR 159

29 Dec

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