I’ve had some sort of low-level virus going on for about a week now. General lethargy, and then last Monday I woke with that bruised achey feeling in the edge of my ear (like I’d slept on it curled in) which is still with me. Then Tuesday morning I thought I’d cricked my neck but it turned out to be swollen glands on that same side, which is still with me. Also lots of sneezing and snuffling which I’d initially put down to pollen but now I’m not so sure. And I just couldn’t seem to get on and get things done.
I managed to run on last Tuesday and Thursday but it all seemed such an effort. And I’d put off my Saturday run and just went for a walk instead and even that was an effort to lift one foot after the other. Nearly bottled it yesterday too and I actually had breakfast and was on the verge of stripping for the shower when I pulled myself together and put my running gear on instead. It was nearly 11.20 by now!!! I was also avoiding it due to the fact there was going to be loads of runners doing Virtual London Marathon too and I’m anti social when running 😂. At least I don’t like too many people about.
So with this in mind I set off ( remembering my inhaler this time) and changed my usual route. I went in around a little estate near me and meandered in and around all the little side streets. A couple of dads washing cars gave me strange looks as I nipped in and around them but I carried on regardless. Again It seemed really hard going, not my breathing in particular or even heavy legs just generally hard work just moving forward…. Like running in a swimming pool.
Then I remembered a pretty little country lane I’d found once by accident. There was a lot of slum clearance back in the 50/60s locally and they knocked down loads of little cottages and houses but there is one little street that is still there, and one or two newer, but not much, houses on the other side of the road, pretty little hedgerows full of wild flowers, primroses just finishing, bluebells everywhere, pink campions, white spring flowers dotted about and loads and loads of obligatory Stinking Billie or wild garlic. So I turned off and ran along there. Trees full of blossom all along the tops of the hedges and it was a joy to run down through the lane. It’s only about 10 mins to the end, which ends in a field and then I turned and came back and finished up my 30 minutes back where I started. That last bit definitely cheered me up and as there are only about 10 dwellings max I saw no one else and no cars. … just a couple of ducks in the tiny stream at the side of the road. Bliss!!
Well I ran…..it felt really hard but I did it. I was a little faster than the last 30 mins run so maybe that contributed to the feeling of struggling, but I wasn’t breaking any records so I’m putting it down to being off colour. My son and daughter are both full of colds so maybe it’s some form of that. My daughter keeps telling me how cold she is while I’m opening windows and thinking how hot it’s been. Hopefully we will all feel better soon.
Well done to all our Marathon Runners from yesterday, especially my mad friend Louise Butcher who ran topless, to promote not being afraid of mastectomy scars, bless her !!!
Written by
limberlou
Graduate
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🍏 Hope you feel better soon but well done on finding a rather quiet & beautiful place to run ( a girl after my own heart!!) Not easy to run when feeling as you are but you did it! 👏🙌
Hi lou, I've got something really similar going on this week and it's really messed up my c25k! Might try and get out later, but just wanted to say I know how hard it is to get out when you're feeling like this, so blooming well done. You're in touching distance of finishing this now, rest up before run 3.
And also, your friend Louise is a bona fide hero to show off her scars, if you are reading this Louise, thank you! 💜
ever since the advent of Covid there seems to have been loads and loads of little bugs going around that don’t exactly show up as Covid but certainly seem to wipe you out for a few days or even weeks. I’m getting fed up of it now!!! I’ve had Covid at least 4 times even though I’ve had all my jabs and several of these odd little bugs too.
Also had the return of something that was probably covid or covidesque which derailed my running for some weeks as it left me with a lingering horrible cough. I was wary of running through it as one heard so much about long covid being triggered by over exertion ( although honestly my slow plods might not be termed exertion ) . It is then hard to get back the levels of enthusiasm and fitness .
No doubt immune systems have been compromised and no doubt there are strains of the virus that are mutating and not being picked up.. the history books will be interesting for future epidemiologists to see the impact and extent of damage of this covid era and to see what should have been done/learned from it all.
Firstly, congrats to your friend - what an utterly awesome thing to do!
Yours sounds like a great run, especially under the circumstances. We've had a similar bug hovering for a few weeks and think it was Covid, as it has floored me on some days and allowed me to run on others. In general I've cut back on runs and runs that in my head were going to be 30-40 minutes have barely scraped past 20 - and those have sometimes exhausted me even into the next day. Yet in the same 3-4 week period I have also done a few 50 minutes runs, so 🤷♂️
"Like running in a swimming pool" is a great description; on troublesome runs I've been pushing to carry on after the first few minutes and one run did stop after a couple of minutes. I'm hoping that the extra stamina a near year of running has given me will fight this bug off sooner rather than later.
I forgot I hadn’t replied to this yesterday as I meant to.. well done to your friend Louise Butcher for her courage in the marathon.. Body confidence like that is so hard to achieve. I was following Milly Pickles on the tracker app yesterday afternoon.. she has the same level of amputation as me, plus a missing calf muscle on her real leg, and only three toes. She had a fortnight in a wheelchair off her legs altogether with problems after a half marathon recently so I didn’t see how she could complete a marathon so soon after that, but she did it, albeit walking the last few kms.
Almost everyone I know is saying the same thing about repeated infections that floor you for a few days, or that keep recurring and make life and work a struggle. The weather doesn’t seem to help either. Well done for struggling through this run - the little lane with spring flowers and ducks must have made it worthwhile, and I hope the next one will be easier.
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