Illness and Recovery

No posts for the last two weeks.

Kind of a lot of not much has happened.
It seems from reading back through last years posts, I having a recurring pattern of getting sick at this time of year.
Last year, just one week later, and a week before the Bohermeen half marathon I got ill also.
Same thing, running very well, and then it hits me hard.
It starts with a cold, then develops to full on man flu. I had to hit the bed for three days. I did not run a meter for 7 days. But it's not the seven days of no running, it's the recovery period on top of that which sets you back.
The Sunday before I got ill, which began on the Tuesday, I had done a very good session of 13 miles at 6:49 pace. I took Monday off as a recovery day, and then started to feel miserable on the Tuesday.
It was a week of storms, which was good in a way I suppose, as it would have been torture out there anyway.
I struggled through Wednesday and Thursday only because I was in the office those days and not flying, but by Thursday night I was done.
So by the time Monday came around, and I pulled the runners back on, it has been a full week.
Progress was slow to recovery. Very easy for an hour on Monday was 7.4 miles. Another easy hour Tuesday was the exact same. Wednesday I had a recovery day (from what!) but I was eager to try and let the body heal. The worst of the virus was gone, the problem as is typical with my illnesses was the ensuing chest infection. I was coughing and spluttering constantly, trying to get the mucus off my chest.
Thursday I got up early before work , and it was just a relatively easy six miles, with a bit of fartlek in the middle. I managed a 6:48 mile while not feeling like I was pushing it too hard.

On Friday I was off work, and it rained incessantly for the day, but out I went, and again I got an hour in but made it 8 miles as the rain eased for a while when I was out.
Saturday was a nice day, and with four sessions under the belt, it was time for a little assessment as to where I was for next this weeks half, so 1 Mike warmup at 7:20, and off for 11 at 6:55. The 11 ended up at 6:51 average, but that was slower than the last effort over the same distance which was 6:49.
It doesn't seem much, and probably isn't, but it means that there was no improvement over the two weeks ( I knew there wouldn't ) which was disappointing. One mile cool down was 13 for the session.
So Sunday had to be another test of sorts. I hadn't done any fast miles either, and to be honest I was dreading them. Again, my customary 1 mile warmup, and off at 6:30 pace. Planed distance, I wasn't sure! What could I do? I hoped for a minimum of 5 miles, and I just did the 5, average 6:26. One mile cool down again. Reasonably happy with that, while it was nowhere near the planned distance, I had to take into account the relatively hard session the day before.
Overall, I did just over 50 miles for the week, so considering I was trying to recover from the chest infection, I think it was a fair effort.

As the race is this Sunday, the tempo's are key to try and rebuild my stamina at hard pace running, so I went for another tempo on Monday. 1 mile warmup at 7:30, and again into a planned 6:30 pace run.
I was hoping for 8 at 6:30, but after 4 I knew that was a bit ambitious. It didn't help that mile 1 was 6:14, mile 2 was 6:19, 6:21 and 6:25, and the trend downwards is obvious. I kept the pace for six miles and stopped with 32 seconds to the good on the watch on a 6:30 pace, so I reset the watch to 6:45, and finished the last two at that, which gave me 6:30 average for 8 miles. 1 mile cool down was a 10 mile session.
My body was really feeling the effort today. I went out for 6 easy, and really that was all I could manage. It may have been a case of trying to cram for the exam!
There is not much more I can do to try and improve for Sunday. Plan for a few fast 1 mile repeats on Thursday, and see how the rest goes. I was disappointed to get sick again,nut that's life.
At least next year I will be watching for it. I can mark the date in my calendar.