Under the weather...

Thanks for all the comments after my last post. Yeah I was happy with the time particularly on the hilly course. I was even happier when I plugged the time in to the 'age grader' and it said that 23:15 for a 37 year old is equivalent to 22:28min run if I was in my prime!! That's faster than the PB I ran back in 1994!! Not sure I fully agree with the science but it does give me a smile !! :)

After the race the sore throat that I had the night before came back (i.e. a bad head cold was brewing) with a vengeance and also a strange darting pain in my left hip/groin area turned up (particularly noticeable when I'm walking down stairs but seems to be settling now). So on Wednesday I went for a 'kill me or cure me' type recovery run. Not necessary at recovery pace but at a relatively even easy pace - 5.64miles in 39:50, i.e. 7:04min/mile avg @ 158bpm.

That run didn't quite kill me but on Thursday the head cold was certainly worse but the sore throat now replaced by coughs / sneezes etc so I thought the better of running and rested with lots of paracetamol, fluids etc.

I took Friday off work but I didn't run. At that stage the coughing had stopped by the sniffles were still bad.

Having skipped 2 days running and with my next race planned for the 29th I was getting a bit anxious about my training. So when I woke up early today with only a slight sniffle I decided to head out and test the water and try a 4 mile 'easy' run. It ended up being 5.08 miles in 37:13mins i.e. 7:20 min/mile @ 151bpm. Maybe it was the fact that I was running at 7:30am or maybe the head cold has taken something out of me but my legs felt a bit too heavy during the run but my breathing was fine and the heartrate doesn't seem to be elevated. On that basis I'll assume nothing too serious and I think I'll try and fit in an 'easy' 12mile run tomorrow.

After this mornings run it was up to my sister-in-laws for a big brunch followed by a trip to the pub to see France hammer Italy and England struggle with (but beat) Scotland in the Six Nations Rugby Championship. 3 hours plus in the pub was more than enough for the children which meant that I got to watch the Ireland v Wales game here at home. What a game (my nails will never be as long again and my children think that I will never be calm again!!) and what a result (17-15 to Ireland) giving Ireland not only the Six Nations Championship title but also a Grand Slam - the first since 1948. How sweet to win the Grand Slam in the last game of the Championship in Cardiff. Ireland is a great place to be tonight - no recession here!!