Two "Sick" Runs

WARNING: There's a photo of snot in this post.

I'm in the middle of my 2nd cold in 2 weeks. I normally don't get sick this much. I started feeling nasty just after the swim meet about 12 days ago, and Henry and I both got a cold. Then, as we both were feeling better on Friday, BOOM - another cold. (The cold made Henry sleep nearly 14 hours on Friday night!!) This 2nd cold is much "snottier."

I abide by the "neck rule" when working out with a cold: "If it's ABOVE the neck, you're fine to workout. If it's BELOW the neck, do NOT workout." So it's fine to run with a typical head cold, but you shouldn't work out if you have something nasty in your lungs.

So I Sunday, I headed out for 10 miles. I blasted a GREAT snot rocket in front of our house just before our run which cleared me up wonderfully. It was so thick and amazing. Here it is 75 minutes later after my run:

With a bottle cap for scale.

That's the first and last gross photo in this post, so don't be afraid to scroll down.

That run was fine - I ran 4 hard miles in the middle that averaged around 6:30, which I didn't think was bad considering the weather and my condition. I felt fine and my cold didn't seem to affect the run too much.

But then on Tuesday, I headed to the Metrodome for some intervals. Those sucked. I felt heavy right away. Soon, my TEETH even hurt. Really. I wasn't right. Let's look at some quick interval numbers from the last few weeks to see how horrible my most recent intervals were (a "lap" at the Dome is just over 600 meters):

• 4 weeks ago:
3 x 2.5 laps in 5:19, 5:12, and 5:15 (5:15 ave = 5:38 ave mile pace)
(Lap splits between 2:04 and 2:09)

• 3 weeks ago:
4 x 3 laps in 6:22, 6:25, 6:24, and 6:27 (6:24 ave = 5:43 ave mile pace)
(Lap splits between 2:05 and 2:12)

• 2 weeks ago:
4 x 2 laps in 4:18, 4:11, 4:15, and 4:11 (4:14 ave = 5:38 ave mile pace)
(Lap splits between 2:03 and 2:10)

• 1 week ago:
No intervals: rest.

• This week (while sick):
2 x 2 laps in 4:35 and 4:43 (4:39 ave = 6:12 ave mile pace)
(Lap splits between 2:14 and 2:24)

My half marathon PR from under a year ago was at a pace faster than those "intervals" this week. Craptastic. I ran less than 2 miles hard. And by the end, I was too exhausted / nauseous to even keep running easy. (I grabbed some water before one lap, and I literally ran 14 seconds EASY [according to my watch] before saying "nope, I can't do ANY more," and turned around to head home.) And my individual lap splits were among the slowest I've ever ran at the Dome. I was definitely not feeling right.

So I'm still taking it a bit easy for a few days. Maybe an easier longer run this weekend along with a swim, and I need to get my bike tire changed so I can start spending some time on the trainer. To apologize for the nasty snot photo above, I'm giving away a tri bag and some gear. Make sure to go to Tuesday's post to enter! And simply "like" the Trinona Triathlon on Facebook to be entered for more gear.