Weekly workouts: 10K training week 8 (10/12-10/18) + postpartum week 17

So there's good news and bad news about this week. The good news? All of those aches and pains and general fatigue from last week's recap? They weren't postpartum related at all (at least probably not). The bad news? They were a signal that my body was getting ready to come down with a massive upper respiratory infection (complete with a fever of nearly 102 degrees) that sidelined my running for an entire week and any other type of working out for three days. So I suppose, in the long run, the good news outweighs the bad news here because I'm on the mend from my weeklong illness now.

My fever finally broke on Friday, but I was still feeling wheezy (thanks to asthma that acts up whenever I get sick, which sometimes requires a round of prednisone to regulate - it did this time). So even though I had been hoping to run on Friday, I decided it might be better to rest for one more day.

Saturday I woke up feeling worse than I had on Friday, even though my fever was gone. My chest was tight and it hurt to breathe, I was tired, and had a headache. But after a week of no running and knowing that my longest run of this training cycle was supposed to be that day, I hauled it out of bed to meet up with my training group. I nearly turned my car around on the way there but instead stopped at CVS to pick up some DayQuil and hoped my run would sweat out the toxins.

I knew I wanted to take it super easy and just finish the distance. Thankfully, there was another runner in my training group who was also in the mood to go out slow and easy. I'm so glad she was there and we could stick together on our run. When you're feeling crappy and unsure that you'll be able to finish a run, a running buddy is definitely one of the best ways to get it done. So a big shout out to her for being there and helping distract me from how awful I was feeling.

We did an out and back over the Ravenel Bridge, which I love even if I'm feeling crappy because it's such a beastly incline and none of my other weekday runs include inclines. I actually like running hills (I almost prefer them over flat land) and miss the rolling hills in Charlotte.

Honestly before Saturday's run, I was doubting I'd even be able to finish this 10K in two weeks, but now, even though I took it easy, I'm sure I'll be just fine. However, because I missed a full week of training, I think I need adjust my time expectations. I've resigned myself to the fact that it's probably going to be my slowest 10K ever and my goal is to just come in under an hour at this point. Maybe I'll surprise myself, but I doubt it. You can't fake training and while I'm not undertrained for this race, I'm definitely nowhere near where I was for either of the other two 10Ks I've run.

Here's hoping next week is a better training week for me!

The week in workouts

Sunday: OFF

Monday