« A Few Light Days in the Midst of Snow! | Main | Two Big Rest Days.. Now I feel ready to Go! »
April 5, 2006
Fighting off a Cold
I have decided that I am definitely trying to fight off a cold or flu this week. This past weekend Mark had a fever of 104 which stayed with him for two days. I was not with him for the worst of it but I suspect a bit of it is trying to manifest itself within me and present itself. I am hoping that by backing off a bit I can hold it off. I predict this because my lower back and joints are sore and I feel creaky.
This afternoon I held the first middle level track practice. There were about 20 athletes who showed up and for about an hour and a half I introduced them to our warm up routine, drills, core body circuit, indian sprints, and a quick 4 x 100 relay, followed by a cool down. Practice flew by. There are a few energetic boys but they respond well to what I have to say so I think it will be manageable.
After practice I took the dogs for their evening walk/run. I only had time to take them for a mile and then I met my friend Jen for our workout. I was playing it by ear because I had no idea how I would feel. We were scheduled to do a tempo run at seven minute pace and since jogging was bothering me I had no idea if a faster pace would increase my current level of irritation. I was so relieved because the snow had melted from the track and we were able to run on the track.
In high school I hated running on the track. However, once I became a 10,000 meter runner in college and learned to pace myself and know splits I started to really enjoy the constant and reliable feedback I received from the track. When I am really good I only need to check my splits every 800 or mile and I can usually be within a second. These days I check about every 200 meters and tend to still be right on except for the first 200 meters.
Today was no exception, we ran 2.5 miles and were really consistent, running 7.02 and 6.59, and a 3.24 for the last 800 but I had my friend and I accelerate for the final 100 meters which felt good. The 7.00 minute pace felt like my marathon pace, it was conversational and I forgot about my flu like symptoms. Yet as soon as we began to jog and it was a jog, I felt horrible and sore again. I spent too long talking outside the house after the workout and quickly became chilled making the symptoms worse. I am glad I got the workout in and was able to help my friend and I really don't think I did any damage to make me feel any worse but I do want to take it really easy tomorrow so that I can focus on my training runs over the weekend.
On Saturday I plan to run 15 miles or so and Sunday I'd like to do a five hour run in Burlington. I know I'll have company for the first half so that is what I am looking forward to. I just need to make sure I don't get sick. Tonight I have decided not to do any work. We'll see if I can stick to that plan, my notes for the anatomy class I am teaching will be sitting right next to me so it may be hard not to read them over. Mostly I want to relax and my goal is to feel better by Saturday. Another easy workout is planned for Friday, 200's and 400's at 90 second pace. Another update tomorrow.. now it's time to relax.
Posted by mary at April 5, 2006 7:53 PM