3.03.2009

Training, Week Three: The Plague

Ugh, is everyone you know sick as well? At least four people in my office have been knocked out by illness in the past week. Not counting me.

Last Sunday afternoon I came down with a sore throat that lasted through the first part of the week. Figuring that gasping in the 20-degree air was not the best thing for it, I canceled my Tuesday and Wednesday runs.
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But by Thursday the inflammation had gone down, leaving me with just a stuffed-up nose as a souvenir. And while running with a head full of mucus is far from ideal, it's not hazardous to your health, so I endeavored to catch up with a short run Thursday and a regular run Friday.

Sundays are our "long" runs; while full marathoners are battling 12- and 15-milers, those of us following Hal's program for the half just bumped up to five miles. And crikey, was it a cold day for a run! The wind cut right through my clothes, and after about four blocks of bitter chills I considered asking my dad how he'd feel about just turning around and calling it a day.

But we kept going, and eventually the run warmed us up. Still, the cold is probably the reason we stopped to walk less often than normal. The only breaks we took? "Snot breaks" to blow our noses.

(You can add "tissues" to my list of essential running gear, by the way - at least when it's cold.)

2 comments:

Mike_R said...

so many people are sick out here too... its scary.
now... i understand that you are a lady. I respect that. You are a fine upstanding person. BUT. You cannot be a runner if you use tissues to blow your nose. I'm sorry. You must master the snot-rocket method. Yeah...its gross, but satisfying.
and... biodegradable.

Kelly said...

I did do that once, on a sniffly, tissue-less run. But I just don't think I could handle it with regularity - I'd be too concerned that my perfect arc of mucus would turn into a dribble down onto my lip. Yee!

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