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I did not run on Sunday. I was too tired after the mostly sleepless night in A&E, and I wanted to spend what was left of the weekend with my family rather than head off on my own.

So I was back again on Monday. They told me to take it easy. I did, though I suspect they meant to take it easy on the mileage while I meant effort level. My commute is a bit over 9 miles. If that's too long then the only option is to do a shorter run before heading off for work but that would also mean getting up very early and sacrificing sleep - I can do that, have done it plenty of times before, but did not see the need this time round, so a slow jog into the office it was on Monday morning.

That one went very well, actually. The legs were a bit sore, from Saturday's hilly parkrun no doubt, but the rest of me felt perfectly fine and I got a pleasant surprise when I checked the heart rate, which had jumped down a level - again, another thing caused by that parkrun. However, that one was a nice one to have.

For the rest for the week I just continued the pattern of running into work and cycling home, or the other way round. I could still feel some pressure on my chest, and I was not just imagining that, it definitely was there. However, it did not bother me as long as I kept the effort under a certain threshold. It's not that slow either- doing 7:30 pace was still okay but anything faster than that and my breathing would start to get affected, so I'll stay away from faster efforts for the time being.

Thursday evening was the first run this week without any chest pressure whatsoever. I know this hasn't gone away but it is clearly improving.

It has been suggested that the whole problem might have been caused by some viral infection, which I think is very much a possibility. I also think I've had this for several weeks already. I remember one run a few weeks ago that felt like I only half of my lung capacity available - I'm sure it was the same issue that affected me on Saturday.

If I weren't a runner I probably would not even notice anything was wrong at all because it does not affect me apart from when I'm exercising. So, I will continue running, but will stay away from any fast efforts until I feel I can handle them again. That also means no more parkruns for a while, which is a shame. Ah well.

28 Aug

9.15 miles, 1:17:17, 8:27 pace, HR 137

29 Aug

9.25 miles, 1:12:40, 7:51 pace, HR 148

30 Aug

9.2 miles, 1:16:38, 8:20 pace, HR 142

31 Aug

9.2 Miles, 1:13:02, 7:56 pace, HR 146