I have for the most part shaken off the flu that laid me out From June 30th until July 9th (Bon Scott's Birthday). The biggest issue with this flu is that it has been the coughing. The fever, cold chills, and body pain passed after the first 24 hours, but the chest constriction and deep coughing have lasted and are still issues. My body is also really sore from spending so much time in bed, and my energy level is very low, but I was detirmined to run on Sunday.
I knew that it was going to be a suckfest, but it had to be done. Therefore, I chose to run the first two miles on trails, which would force me to go slow and keep me in the shade. In total, I was going to cover 4 miles, but I doubted that I would be able to run more than halfway. Still, I was hopeful that running would help to loosen up the crud that I am still coughing up. The cough main comes at night, but it was certain that running would bring in out, I just didn't know if the cough would be so sever as to stop me from running out right.
I ran really . . . really slow from the start and could feel that my energy level was still off a ton from where it had been prior to the flu. My legs were stiff and hating me for forcing them to run, but I pushed myself to keep going. I had deliberately avoided the gym and the treadmill because I knew that this feeling would have forced me to quit before it was necessary. Since I was running outside, I knew I would continue to run farther because I would be forced to walk back from where ever I stopped.
The first mile just sucked, but I wasn't coughing as much as I had expected, nor was I wheezing, which I had feared, but as I ran my lungs began to get tighter and tighter causing me to have difficulty catching my breath. I didn't feel like I was choking, but it wasn't a comfortable feeling by any measure. By the second mile my legs felt better, but I was just running out of gas across the board. My lungs weren't burning, and the tightness didn't seem to be in my bronchial area but from my back where a doctor would put their stethoscope when they listen to you breathe. I had been coughing up crude all through the run, sweating like a fiend, my nose was running -- I was just a disgusting mess. My nose, throat and sinuses hadn't had any problems throughout this flu, so looking on the bright side my runny nose was just the formal runny nose that I get when running and not some flu fueled monster.
By the end of the second mile, I had reached the end of the trail and was coming onto the utility road, and I had nothing left. I had to stop running. If it had just been either my lack of energy or the tightness of my lungs, I may have been able to continue, but the combination was just too . . . too much. I walked most of the way back to the parking lot except for a time when I was being attacked by a monster Horse fly that was determined to add to my difficulties.
I am glad to have done this first run back, but I can't deny that it was so rough that I am questioning the wisdom of it. I had been running really well and feeling great before this flu, but I am not going to complain about it because I am just thankful that I got it at a time when it will not interfere with my Marathon training. I know that this type of respiratory ailment will take time to recover from, but I refuse to get discouraged at this point and will just take it slowly.
No comments:
Post a Comment