Sunday’s run didn’t do too much to exacerbate my illness but I don’t think it necessarily helped. My cough is a little more persistent but I’m convinced that would be the case regardless of Sunday’s run. If I’m not awake and constantly clearing my throat then it’s only natural for this mess to creep down into my chest at night. So I have chest congestion but not head congestion. Is that how you describe it? Eh. I’m not a doctor nor do I make it a habit of seeing one for what I lovingly refer to as common ailments. I’m not saying there are times I should have seen a doctor for this exact mess and didn’t go only to cause whatever was in my chest to solidify which took me weeks to get over. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger (except in cases of the common cold I guess).
But Sunday’s run was really nice! The weather was beautiful. Perfect really. It’s what you’d expect of spring like conditions in east Texas. Temps slightly under 70 degrees, a cooling breeze to sweep across your back at just the right time to dry that sweat starting to bead up on your neck (coupled with the occasional burst in the face as you are running up a hill….), birds chirping, green grass, other people out walking, running and riding their bikes, a little blonde headed boy sitting in his Power Wheels Jeep with one wheel spinning in the air as he pressed the gas to get unstuck on the hill he was obviously stuck on in his own front yard.
If you are a runner in the Tyler area and need a safe location with varying elevation to enjoy a long run you should really consider the three housing editions around the Hollytree golf course. There isn’t a ton of traffic, there are other people exercising as well and the scenery is beautiful. Well, scenery that’s mostly made of up houses that are five to 10 times more than what I make in a given year but there are also some little pond areas as well as the golf holes that area located within the actually edition. That was odd for me to see but whatever works.
We started out slow. My partner in crime was not feeling it. At all. She kept trying to convince me to run fewer miles while we were driving around looking for a place to stash our water bottles. At one point I stopped and asked when the tables of encouragement turned in this running relationship! Haha! The first couple of miles were a little rocky. I had to stop a little after two miles and let my burning throat rest and she was fighting the odd sensation of her left foot going numb but after that we rocked out the remaining six miles like nobody’s bidness! We estimated our total broken up walking distance to be around a mile. Our total time ended up being fantastic for two people that couldn’t get their act together starting off. We finished in 1:48:36 (according to my heart rate monitor because I started RunKeeper sooner than we actually started running). This was 10 minutes better than my time last week. Water bottle filling, numb feet, wheezing and all.
Our good and bad days have been relatively in sync which bodes well for race day since we’ll be depending on each other to get across the finish line. Her goal is to beat her previous time and mine is to finish under three hours. At this point in the game both are going to be more than attainable. Especially if Sunday’s run is any indicator of how we’ll perform on race day.
That’s not to say the long runs aren’t getting harder. Because they are. I’ll be tackling my 11 mile long run on my own next week and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Right now, coming off of Sunday’s high, I keep telling myself I can handle it but actually getting out there and doing it is a totally different ball game. Especially alone. Having someone encourage you to start running again instead of walking the remainder of the run is a huge help. So much of long distance running is mental. Even if you aren’t conversing with the person beside you just knowing you have support make all the difference.
My first race, the Azalea 10k, will be two week from Saturday. The week after that I run my second race in the Malawi 5k. The following week is my taper week and then an easy week before the big day on April 13th. It’s almost here. I’ve come so far in such a short time. Regardless of how the day goes, just crossing the finish line will be a huge accomplishment that so many people haven’t even dared to tackle.
I will proudly be one of those people.
……And I may or may not talk about it for weeks afterward. I make no promises.
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