Dosed up with paracetamol & antihistamine, I set out for my w9r3 session, the last run of the couch to 5k programme, my first run for 9 days & my first outdoor run for exactly 2 weeks. My God it was hard. I had gremlins hanging off every limb, really in the first 5 minutes when I'm sure I was doing some sort of Highland Fling rather than running as I just could not work out my pace or breathing. But I just kept telling myself I could do it. I had already done it. I had run the 5k I'd started the programme for in the first place, & I'd already done both an indoor & an outdoor 30 minute run. This was just a tick box exercise. Ok, my eyes are still swollen (though better than yesterday) & my nose & throat aren't great, so I was doing more mouth breathing than I would normally, but I was at least breathing so that's always a bonus! Anyway, heavy-legged, & I'm sure doing little more than a running-style power walk in places, I did it. I did my final 30 minutes & went so far round my normal route that I had to stop & turn back to avoid ending up in completely the wrong place.
Thank you all for your advice & support over the last few weeks & especially in response to my last post. It has been great knowing that there are people out there who get what we're going through, good & bad.
Now, what's next?!