July 2005 Archives

We didn't run yesterday, and I very much doubt we will today. Yesterday on my way home I realised I had no appetite, my glands were swollen and I had difficulty breathing. I also felt incredibly tired. All of these combined reminded me of the first time I had glandular fever, so I'll see how the day progresses and then decide whether I'm ok to run tonight. If I feel the same tonight, I'll rather go see a doctor first and then see if it is anything serious.

Meanwhile I've had some breakfast - lately I fancy tuna/salmon on toast for breakfast. It keeps me full for much longer than most of the cereals we have, but from next week it'll be me and Weetabix again. I haven't had it in a while, but I figure it can only be a good thing since it is full of all that wheaty goodness ;)

If I feel ok tonight, we'll probably only do a short run. I really want to write about how I'm enjoying running again - it frustrates me that I can't go out and take a jog. I think the glands were the reason for my hardness of breathing yesterday afternoon, but then again, what do I know. We'll know by tonight.

I have something to write about, but it might take a while to put it all in words. Hopefully it'll be ready by tomorrow so I can post it. :)

We didn’t go run yesterday, but we did go and hit some balls over at the driving range. When we arrived there, we were informed that the card machine didn’t work, so we had to get some money from a nearby cash machine first, but after that, it was relatively easy to lose ourselves by swinging the clubs. Andy seemed to have a particularly good afternoon – I felt like he played better than when Adas is there – and I was amazed at precisely how far he can hit a golf ball.

The little buggy drove around and there were two times that I nearly hit it. Unfortunately I think he sensed when a ball was coming and turned just at the point that if he had driven two seconds further, I would’ve hit him.

Today’s been treating me good so far. Although it is hot again, I’m not feeling the heat too much yet. We’ll see if it still applies this afternoon when we go for a run though.

We’re planning a 8km run (going to add some fartlek to it) and afterwards I want to take Andy for an icecream – although, since Liverpool is playing tonight, we might skip that and rather stay in, have orange juice and watch the football.

The run will probably follow the same route as the Worthington 5 Mile that we ran last week, although I think we’ll find it a little easier to run without the rain and taking it a little easier over the first mile or two. Fartlek is fun to do when there is more than one person, so I’m looking forward to doing it with Andy.

I’ve lately started reading through some of my old journal entries, and it might sound odd, but it somehow adds to my inspiration to go out for that next run. It just feels so good to read how far we’ve come since that first painful session that we experienced on that day that we did our first run/walk. It makes me feel proud. And even more inspired and determined.

This morning I decided to go out for a walk. Then before I even started walking, I decided to run - Andy sort of encouraged me to do it when I got dressed, so I thought a 10 minute jog couldn't hurt. It turned into a 20 minute run with which I feel incredibly pleased. I started out slowly - but as always, when you leave our town, you hit a hill, so 200m from home I started the upward climb on the first hill.

Once I got to the top, I felt good, and just carried on at the pace I was going, running along the beautiful cloud trail.... a mile into the run, I noticed a family of bunnies waiting next to the path, cheering me on. I jogged by and they just sat there... I ran up the hill and a 100m later 10 minutes had passed, so I turned around. On my way back, the bunnies were still there. I swear they were waiting for me. I tried to keep my pace relatively steady and when the 20 minutes were over, I was tired. Really tired. But I felt good.

So, the first run after being ill for almost 2 weeks felt good. I just hope that I can now build up my training again and hopefully feel back to my old self in another week or two.

On Tuesday, after a week of being ill and barely able to stand, nevermind walk or run, I find myself in the pickle of wanting to do the Worthington 5 mile race. Hmmm, what to do?

So of course, I do the most stupid thing you can after being ill and decide to do the race in the rain. Yes, you read right, in the rain. We went and entered 45 minutes before the start and stood outside with the drizzle making us sufficiently wet to not want to wear the clothes we are in, but dry enough to not change into anything else just yet.

It was Andy's first race and I really wanted him to enjoy it. So, at the start, we were joking about chafing of nipples etc, and he laughed when I mentioned that it does happen. We started too fast - the first mile flew by in 8 minutes, and we were aiming to do them in about 9 minutes each to just finish in 45 minutes.

Two and a half miles into the race I felt the first warning sign - a cramp in my back. I told Andy to carry on, and 200m later, I was in enough pain to bring me to a grinding halt - leaving me to walk up the hill to the 3 mile mark. I wanted to scream, but since there were still some other people around, managed to keep it in for a while.

The four mile mark came too slow. It was still quite fast, but definitely took me too long to get there. Now there was only a mile left. I tried to keep the pace - the end was almost there! 200 yards and it happened. I fell to the ground, my back in a spasm that didn't listen to my pleas to leave. It held me there. Some marshals ran to my aid, as did some of the other runners that had already finished.

I stood up after a while and finished the race while walking. I wasn't proud of how it happened. It was horrible. Andy went to get the car and came to pick me up so we could go home. My first race since we started running had ended horribly.

The next day I was in bed. As ill as I was the week before, and feeling ten times worse. I learnt my lesson - stay in bed when ill, don't run, and when you start again, take it easy. It isn't worth the pain to put such stress on your body when it is still weak after its battles with the germs.

I've rested since, and feel a lot better today - this weekend I'll take it easy and start training again next week. I might take it a little easier than I want to, but at least I won't get ill again.