Running on UGH.

If its in your Head,Get out of bed,

If its in your Chest, its best to rest.

A little rhyme that helps to remind me when to run, when to whine and when to just chill OUT!

I am going on a week of this nonsense. You know your sick when COFFEE doesn't even sound good.

I have removed sugar, processed food and have drank so much green tea I think I may turn green. I have gone through boxes of tissue, Chapstick, a bag of throat lozenges and think I may have to go to a 12 step program I have drank so much NyQuil.

I have gone from uncontrollable sneezing to coughing fits that trigger my gag reflex sending me grabbing myself and running to the toilet trying to not throw up bile. Unfortunately, I can hardly eat and really look emaciated.

Not feeling very feminine. There is just NOTHING cute about my overall sickly appearance. There isn't enough makeup to cover the dark circles or chapped nose. Not to mention, I cut my hair off and cant even style it pretty. I am winded trying to blow it dry.

To prepare for my long run this week, it seemed like a wise idea to rest yesterday. I was hoping I would be fresh and healthy when I woke up.

I woke up to Andy wanting to kick me out of bed I was coughing so bad.

THERE JUST WASN'T AN OPTION.

I HAD to RUN 15 miles.   Come Hell or High water it had to get done.

Getting the boys ready for school and making breakfast, I started packing my bag for the gym.

Running outside WASN'T AN OPTION I was entertaining. We had just gotten out first snow and it came in like a lion, 12 inches.

I tried to eat some eggs and turkey sausage but struggled getting it down like I did my half a cup of coffee.

"Great, I'm running with no fuel, sick and long, this ought to be a complete disaster." I thought.

Dreadmill or Track?

I got to the gym without forgetting anything at 8am. I stretched and rolled. I brought the newest issue to Runnersworld to read on the treadmill. Over 2 hours on the dreadmill, then having to  turn it back on after it shuts down because you exceed the time limit sounded dreadful. Everything honestly sounded dreadful. I could literally HEAR myself whining about everything.

I ended up on the track.

My Little SURPRISE!

GOAL: 15 miles between 9-9:15 min/mi

My first 2 miles I nailed , both at a 9:06. It felt awful. I could hardly breath and I felt drained.

Then I got distracted, I saw my favorite runner, JEFF! Jeff wasn't supposed to be back at the gym until December. I cheered up seeing the old timer and gave him a HIGH Five. I somehow found the energy to find out what he was running.

Jeff was running 3 miles at a 9:30min/mi. I came along side him, or maybe he came along side me because we were running MY PACE not his.

We didn't talk much, I could tell I was pushing him. Even with so few words shared I still managed to mess up my splits.

That 3 miles got me to 5 miles and I hated seeing him leave me. Alone to run in my own misery.

"Just make it to 10 miles."

Then I saw Bill Kahn. He was running faster than me, he usually does but it gave me a silent partner.

Bill didn't know it but he got me to my 10 miles then he too disappeared.

The last 5 miles were alone but not alone. The track was packed. I had plenty of people to run with. I tried to focus on runners ahead of me only they kept leaving. Maybe I was scaring them off. I was breathing like a zombie, my lips were dry and my throat was pasty. I had water and my Honeystinger chews but every time I took a drink I got a gut wrenching side stitch. I named my side stitch "Claudia" for comic relief.

I thought that if I ran maybe I could run my cold out of me. No such luck. I just had to finish. I was getting dizzy from my head hurting and I had a loogey stuck in my throat, disgusting. I decided to pick up the pace and just finish.

Counting my miles down, I discovered I was a numerical mess. Between the overhead clock, my splits, my pace, my clock on my old Timex I was so confused. I didn't want to run anymore than I wanted to think this hard.

I finished at what I thought was 15 miles....

RUNDOWN:

When I got home and fussed with the history on my watch I realized I ran 14.25 miles. I didn't grieve to hard over that lost mile. I didn't have the energy too.

Distance: 14.25

Time: 2:07:47

Average pace: 8:56

Fastest mile: 8:39

Even sick I nailed my goal, sorta. I worked hard, it hurt and yes, It SUCKED.

I took a super hot shower hoping I could bake the sickness out of me. Then I sat in the sauna hoping I could sweat it out, only to discover I was actually chilled in there. I just needed to go home.

Being a mom and hosting Thanksgiving doesn't give you much time to recover. I am living on a prayer at this point.

What is the Sickest YOU have been and thought RUNNING would heal you?

Anita