Running Under the Weather

This weekend my long run "assignment" was six miles on Saturday. I was ready to go, but then late last week I came down with a cold. A gross, stuffy, sneezy cold. Cut to Saturday morning. After a terrible night of sleep, I didn't hear my alarm. I woke up 15 minutes before I was scheduled to meet my trainer for a run. That meant jumping up, getting ready, and running out the door with nothing in my stomach but a dose of DayQuil. Big mistake.

I hadn't run with Dan for a while, so I was excited to show off the progress that I have been making. I was going to bound over hills. I was going to clear mile after mile to prove I have been working hard (and I have). What it actually turned into was far from my fantasy. After about two miles I had to stop and walk. I felt weak, dizzy and winded. It was a run/walk event from there, and it's wasn't an outing that I was proud of.

But... throughout all of my apologizing and my wheezy "I need to walk" moments, Dan kept reminding me that there will be runs like this once in a while. He then gave me grief for running with only DayQuil as my fuel, and for trying to train while sick in the first place. On both counts I promised "never again."

As for training, it won't be perfect all the way through. After a bad run the best thing to do is get over it, and to get out and run hard the next time. And I did.

For those of you who are curious, my training schedule for this week is below. You can also check out what I have been doing for my news station NBC29. It's all things Marathon Monday! Just click here. This week's segment was all about finding the right running shoes!

Week Four Training Schedule - designed by trainer Dan Bayliss.


Sunday- Off (or non-weight bearing exercise)
Monday- Run 4 miles
Tuesday- Off (or non-weight bearing exercise)
Wednesday- Run 4 miles
Thursday- Run 4 miles
Friday- Off (or non-weight bearing exercise)
Saturday- Run 8 miles