Wednesday, February 17, 2010

8.5 Miles with a... COLD

Sunday morning (Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year) I realized that my throat was sore. I didn't let this stop me from doing a 4 mile run in under 40 minutes (39:25).

Monday morning my throat hurt more....and by Tuesday I told my boss that I had to go buy some Advil Cold & Sinus or I would be going home for the day. There isn't a pharmacy that close to my work, but in less that an hour I had "the goods." Really acquiring this medicine is pretty intense. They keep it behind the counter. You must have a valid driver's license. And your information gets recorded. I guess this is an attempt to bust at home crystal meth factories taking place in suburbia. Or a fun chance for us sick adults to feel like we are characters on Desperate Housewives, since we've out grown the free lollipop.
I like the way the package shows a ray of sun beaming upon "Advil." I've tried more than one cold medicine and Advil Cold & Sinus by far seems to have the best results for me. Two different versions of Tylenol cold medicine just turned my nose into a faucet :-/

Anyway, if you all will allow me to get nostalgic for a second... I got VERY sick around this time last year as I was training for my first half marathon. I typically don't get a lot of colds. I'm more of a spring allergies kind of girl (if anything.) The reason I got sick last year was a combination of stress from lack of job security AND lack of sleep due to my workload. Maybe also flying in a small plane to Oklahoma. Basically I got the common cold and couldn't shake it because I didn't have time to rest. I took some time off of running, but for the most part just figured out a way to suck it up. *Read: Advil Cold & Sinus.* I SHOULD have gone to the doctor. My cough did NOT sound good. However, I knew the Dr. would tell me to rest and there was no way in HELL I was going to miss my first half marathon. So run it with a cough, I did. One of my fondest memories of that race was actually around mile 8 when I heard another guy struggling with some phlegm in the back of his throat. I thought "Yes! I'm not the only stubborn idiot out here. What's up my brother?!" No really. Mid-run I thought those words: "What's up my brother?" And no. That's not a phrase I use regularly.

So, running with a cold is something I'm pretty familiar with. After taking Monday and Tuesday of this week off, I decided to just suck it up and run tonight. I had kind of a bad day, and needed this mentally more than anything. I ran 8.5 miles in 1:28:17 with no walk breaks/etc. (Basically the whole run was at a 10:30 pace). I had thought about pushing myself to do 10 miles but figured I should wait until I was feeling a little better. After going to the restroom at the gym. I decided to just go for another half mile which I completed in 4:58. So I actually ran 9 miles with a COLD. I'll count 8.5 miles as my true long run distance, and the 9 miles toward my mileage for the week.

I'm sort of curious to see if I feel better or worse cold-wise tomorrow.

Oh and one other thing. Adam (The Boring Runner) is doing his first ever blog giveaway. You should check it out! Even if you don't want to win a nice water bottle or gu's, his blog is hilarious and he's a really fast runner! I've listed his blog to the right under "Blogs I Read Frequently."

8 comments:

WannabeRunner said...

ugh, i'm battling a cold too! But great job on your run, that's awesome.

PS Love your new user pic!

Erica Lynn said...

haha nice I love this! I really wish you had said "hello my brother!" In a Jamaican accent.

The Boring Runner said...

Is it just me or did you change your profile pic?

It DOES make you hard core to run with a cold. Besides, when you run races with a cold, people give you the CRAZIEST looks when you hack up a lung like you are a chain smoker.

(doh, realized that WannabeRunner commented on your pic too)

inspiREDtorun13 said...

You all are so observant! Yeah, I changed my pic to one from St.Patrick's Day last year. It's about that time to start getting festive! A month and 2 days until race day.

NewbieRunner said...

Running with a cold! Good for you! So determined. I always wondered what I would do if I came across a cold. My students are always getting sick and I am always crossing my fingers that I don't end up sick! I think it would be hard to run with a cold but I might be stubborn like you. I hope I don't have to find out....good for you for staying strong. Keep it up! OH and...how many times did you end up walking on your first half? The long runs are starting to get to me...I believe I will end up running a little and walking a little...which I'm okay with. Just curious how it went for you your first time.

inspiREDtorun13 said...

@NewbieRunner...
At the water stops that I take, I'll grab the cup, stop and chug. Then start jogging again immediately. Even walking and trying to drink is pretty hard for me to multi-task...

So other than that, NOT at all. I'm short and slow, but so far I've stuck to my thought that "I paid for this thing. I'm running the whole thing, dammit."

That is the exact phrase that I tell myself when tempted to walk ;) I think a part of my stubborness comes from having friends that have completed entire half marathons without walking (and are faster than me).

A lot of people do take short walk breaks. It's definitely not the end of the world, but I guess be prepared to see that happen if you do decide to make it a goal to not walk besides water stations. It's tempting when people around you are.

You'll probably also be surprised at how much your endurance improves as you keep on training! Even if right now you feel like you may have to walk, once you get to a 10 mile run... you may feel differently :) It sounds like your training is going pretty well. Very cool you are training with your bf!

NewbieRunner said...

I can't walk and drink water either. lol. I end up spilling it all over me. I am def. determined to run the whole thing with the exception of taking a drink break (those don't count). My bf says something similar to you. He said we signed up for this so we are doing it, no stops! I'm going to do my best on Satruday to run the 8miles without stopping. I think I'm going to have to slow it down in order to do it though. We'll see... :)

inspiREDtorun13 said...

@NewbieRunner..Your bf puts it so much more eloquently than me! But yeah, same idea :)