Last Sunday in particular was really tough. I admittedly started off a lot faster than intended as I really wanted to run with a certain group of people but about 5 km in, I realized that there was no way I could continue at that pace nor was it very smart to have done so up until that point. They were doing 16km and I only had 10 on the schedule so I wasn't sure how long I'd stick it out. Thankfully I ran into a couple of other friends who had already been running for 20km so they were happy to only do another 5 or so kilometers and dragged me along beside them. In the end I clocked that run in at just over 14km and I felt wrecked. It was discouraging and humbling. During marathon training I had felt so strong, I took that for granted. In a way, I think it is a good thing, it has given me a different kind of motivation and my body felt really rested and ready to get going again.
This Sunday, I once again had 10km on the schedule. Seemingly overnight, I woke up Saturday morning sick. I had had a bit of sore throat on/off throughout the week, but I felt like it was going away. Then when Saturday hit, everything fell apart. My sinuses felt so full and my throat was extremely sore. I decided that I would run on Sunday morning anyway. It wasn't a race, I was just going to teeter along at my own pace. I've heard that if your sickness is from the neck up, then it is okay to run, but usually I just go by how I feel and I didn't feel like sitting at home. So this morning, off I went. I dressed, what I thought, was warmly, and then I went outside...
