Winter Hits Me with a Sucker Punch

I've been sick. This is my excuse for why I did not write a blog entry last week. Sicker than a dog; too sick to blog. I'll cover the last two weeks here.
The week of the 9th through the 15th was a great week, with my total at 84 miles. We got a break in the weather for a few days, and Tuesday was so nice I ran in just shorts and a t-shirt. Even though the weather reverted to winter mode for the rest of the week, the little break helped lift my spirits. It didn't last. On Saturday, I felt the cold that I had been fighting off begin to take hold. By the time I finished 22 miler on Sunday, at a very good pace thanks to Paul R., E-speed, and Dave P., I felt like crap.

By Sunday evening, the fight was lost and I was in the full throws of a raging upper respiratory infection.

I did not run at all on Monday, and went to sleep as soon as I finished dinner. On Tuesday, I didn't feel any better, but I wanted to try to run. I blame the illness for my bad judgment. I did six miles in the morning and another four in the evening. For the last three of those miles, I mostly just looked for a place to lie down and die. My schedule for the week was:

• Get to work between 5:30 and 6:00 AM
  
• Come home around 6:00 PM
  
• Eat dinner
  
• Go directly to bed (usually by 7:00 PM or earlier)
  

I thought I would never feel good again, but then, at precisely 3:20 PM on Thursday (I noticed the time on my taskbar clock), I began to feel better. Only very slightly better, but there it was. I tried to run a little on Friday, grinding-out 6 slow, uncomfortable, head-throbbing miles on the treadmill. On Saturday morning, I felt better than I had in a week, and so I went to Lock 29 to run the trails with the group. The trails were snow-covered and the footing was dicey, but that didn't matter much since we bush-whacked most of the morning. For the first time in my experience running with this group, we actually briefly lost our bearings. It turned out to be a little mini-adventure involving a stealthy passage through a Boy Scout camping area, crossing a snow and ice covered dam that was only 18 inches wide, and of course, lots of bush-whacking. Two and a half hours trudging through the snow in the woods wasn't what I had in mind to help my recovery, but I think it actually helped. I came through it feeling better than when I started.

Sunday morning, I felt even better than Saturday, and I put in an early 3.5 miles before joining the SERC group in Solon, I ran the 15 mile route, running much of it was E-speed, including the last six or seven. I got my 20 plus for the day, and managed to average a 7:53 pace. Given the circumstances, I was satisfied.
After I got home, Sue made pancakes with fresh blueberries. I ate my pancakes and watched Liverpool - Man City play one of the most exciting 1 - 1 draws I have ever seen. If any of you were lucky enough to have seen the last 25 minutes, you know what I mean.