Having found my lost mojo over Christmas and defeated a few gremlins on New Year’s Day by getting a PB at Parkrun, I was determined that I would be running regularly throughout January and getting to the gym too.
Well that was before the dreaded lurgy took over...
It all started on the 2nd of January with a slight tickle at the back of my tonsils - well it would have been at my tonsils if I had any, but they parted company from me when I was 19, so can’t be held responsible. By the 3rd I was feeling a bit ‘out of sorts’ but I put that down to having cooked a tapas themed meal for 12 and been forced out of politeness to drink one or two glasses of sparkling wine the previous evening.
By the 4th the tonsil-less tickle was becoming more of a cough, but I wasn’t going to let that put me off. I dosed up on my inhaler, made sure I was hydrated, wrapped up warm and set off to do a leisurely jog. In fact I managed a fairly respectable 10km in 58 minutes, and put a metaphorical two fingers up at whatever gremlin had been trying making such a feeble attempt to stop me running.
Well that was my downfall. I’m guessing it was a “red rag to a bull” moment for the demonic lurgifying gremlin who decided to reward my insouciance with a full blown attack of germ warfare, otherwise known as a chest infection. And oh how I’ve coughed! And if that wasn’t enough, I was then plagued with hot sweats (worse than my usual woman of a certain age flushes) interspersed with chills, and the icing on the cake was the flu like aching to the very marrow of my bones.
By the time the weekend arrived I was a shivering mass of snot with the voice of a bullfrog, unable to do very much except lie in bed and feel sorry for myself. Oh and did I mention I was coughing? My asthma failed to behave itself so on top of all that I felt as if I had an elephant sitting on my chest.
The GP helpfully said it was viral but gave me steroids for the asthma and told me to take it easy and get some sleep. Easy for her to say, she didn’t have to listen to my barking every couple of minutes. Now I was giving myself a constant headache, and all thoughts of running were long gone. After a few days I attempted a visit to the gym: short workout as any cardio reduced me to a wheezing, chocking wreck.
After another week I’d had enough. There was no improvement and now my one working ear was playing up. I was pretty much functionally deaf and my balance was getting worse, so I went back to the GP yesterday. There’s no way I could risk loosing the hearing in my good ear, having lost it in the right ear because of a virus or infection a few years ago. It was a locum, which meant explaining everything again and including my worries about my hearing.
What a top man... more steroids, and a course of antibiotics just to be on the safe side. Well I started taking them at lunch time yesterday. When I woke this morning I realised I’d slept all night without waking to cough. Even Mr Razouski commented that I seem a lot better today -coughing less rasping and less frequent. This afternoon I decided to do a gentle work out at the gym.
And for some strange reason I was drawn to the treadmill. Had the last two weeks’ cocktail of cough medicines, steroids, paracetamol, ibuprofen and antibiotics addled my brain? I normally eschew the treadmill. Why would I go near it? But I did... and set myself the target of running for 10 minutes. Just a little Irishprincess style jogette. And despite the difficulties breathing and increased coughing I did it! I actually ran for 10 whole minutes on the treadmill. It was only 1.9 km but I didn’t die of boredom, or selfcombust. And even managed to get my breath back afterwards and complete the rest of my workout.
So now I’m doubly determined to get rid of this chest infection and get running outside again soon.
But hey, 10 minutes on the dreadmill? Go you! Very well done! It's great that they include mind-altering drugs in steroids and antibiotics nowadays 😂😂😂 Seriously, though, take it easy, and all the best in getting back out there x
60 minutes
10 is the Magic number W2 Complete, 
Back to C25K (on the treadmill) 
Slow jog but back to 30 minutes non stop
