Slogging Through

So, I am finally feeling better! Finally! Today I have only coughed 2 times which seems amazing considering last weekend I couldn't get out a full sentance without hacking up a lung. I can breath again. So, I am breathing and back up to, like, 98% lung capacity and so last night I decide to go for a run. I walk outside, all revved up, take a deep breathe and...

Oh no, I can't breath! I thought I was better! What is going on? Sudden relapse?!....

Wait, no. It is June, near the coast, in South Carolina. Temperatures hovering in the mid nineties and humidity so thick it is like breathing in soup every time you step outside. So apparently my new found lung capacity was going to be of no help to me last night. I sighed, put on my iPod headphones and headed out anyway. I would like to say I dominated that run but I didn't. I slogged my way through. I was constantly tempted to stop but I am proud to say that I finished my 4 miles run, soup-air and all.

The whole way I was thinking about speed. Mostly because I was going so slow through the thick evening air and wishing I could go faster. I have really been wanting to work on my speed lately. I feel like I could be faster. In the little over two years since I ran my first 5k I have brought my time from 29:05 to 25:10. Almost four minutes improvement on little, to no speed training. I am thinking that if I put a concentrated effort at some legitimate speed training I could improve even more. But, up until now I haven't done it. Why? Maybe I am a little scared, I don't know. Also, you need a plan for that kind of workout and I am notorious for having no plan.

So I guess the bottom line is get un-scared, get organized, find a track to run on, and just do it!

Sick of Being Sick

So, today was my National Running Day "do-over". The real National Running Day was this past Wednesday and despite the fact that I pledged on Facebook to run on National Running Day it not happen. Why? Well, it might have had something to do with me sitting on the couch, hacking my brains out while sucking down cough medicine and ibuprofen in an effort to make myself feel like a real human being....it not work.

Our family spent all winter in superb health. When all the other toddlers were sick with stomach viruses and pink eye and snotty noses, Noah somehow managed to avoid the germs. He didn't miss a day of school all year and I was so proud of his perfect attendance. Then the end of May rolls around, summer is here, and our whole family gets taken down by a nasty cold. Noah still has a lingering cough (entering week 3 of that) and I feel like their is a brick on my chest that is keeping me from taking anything resembling a deep breathe. Needless to say, the running has been nearly non existent. I have run a total of 11 miles for the last two weeks. I just can't seem to shake this funk and am feeling so tired - and operating on about 70% lung capacity - that I just haven't gotten out there.

Lest you think all I do is complain though, I have very much enjoyed the few runs that I have gotten in. I was thankful to just be out there doing it, not caring about time or pace or whatever. And, today I actually found running on TV (surprise!). The Prefontaine Classic was televised so Wes and I put Noah down for a nap and spent two hours watching it and being amazed at how fast those guys (and gals!) can go.

I am hopeful that this cold/flu will be completely out of my system very soon and that I will be able to feel like getting back out and hitting the pavement very soon!