Great to be back and a surprise 5K!

[Inspiredmum]

It has been 2 months since my last run so it was great to get back into it this morning. For the last couple of months I have had this horrendous cold with a chest infection and a hacking cough that everyone else seemed to get around Christmas (I thought I had escaped but sadly not). I finally felt well enough to attempt a run today. In my head I wanted to do 2 x 10 minute intervals to ease myself back in, see how my chest would feel and to see how much fitness I had lost.

I was pleasantly surprised as I felt great after my 1st 10 minute interval and decided that rather than double back I would loop round a housing estate which I knew would be longer. I walked 1 minute and then set up my 2nd 10 minute interval. This went well and I thought "I know what, I'll go for a 7 minute interval" so I extended my run a bit more. As I had run an extra 7 minutes I once again did a 1 minute walk and then promptly ran for a 2nd 7 minute interval. By this point I was starting to get tired and knew that I needed to head towards home. I felt like I had slowed down although my pace was consistent according to Strava and I wasn't really paying any attention to how fast I was going as all I wanted to do was concentrate on finishing without collapsing in a coughing fit! That last 7 minutes dragged on for an eternity and I was passed by a 6ft tall man with legs up to my shoulders it seemed and who leisurely jogged by with a dog whilst I was puffing and panting with a beetroot red face!

I am so proud of myself as when I checked Strava at the end I had covered 5k without even expecting to and my pace was consistent (I deliberately went slow).

It's so good to be back!

[Now-runner_NeedsAttn Graduate]

I have almost the same tale, 6 weeks off (except for one run) in Canada and then caught a cold just before returning which left me with a chest infection that is just clearing up two weeks later. I'm still not 100% so I had my head over a bowl of steam before and after to ease my chest but while I was running the first 2 k I felt good, all the exercise skiing in Canada paid off as my pace was much faster and effortless. I started to breathe heavily and my throat was sore on the the 3rd km so walked a bit, ran another 500m then called it a day.

I was worried that the work I'd put in getting to 5k would have dissipated so I'm really glad that it looks good for when I've shifted this chest infection completely.

[Millsie-J Graduate]

Well done AM! Good that you are back!