Tuesday, for the first time in my 7 weeks of marathon training, I missed a training run. Monday night I was heading back from an evening at my parents’ house and started to get that achy feeling that’s a sure sign of an impending fever. I don’t even bother to take my temperature any more. There was no way I could run the next morning. I could barely even get to work, which is pretty bad considering my office chair is literally 12 inches away from my bed.
I don’t get sick very often, but it’s happened enough for me to know what to do to bounce back quickly. Cancel everything, get as much rest as possible, drink plenty of orange juice, and “embrace” the fever. (I try to stay as warm as I can possibly tolerate so the fever can do it’s job and help to kill off whatever bug has got me.) Within 24 hours I was back to normal.
This morning I did my regularly schedule 5 mile short run. I didn’t push myself because I didn’t know what my energy level would be like a day after a fever and I didn’t want to wear myself down and risk a recurrence. So, I took it at a comfortable pace and ended up finishing in just under 43 minutes, which is pretty is right between the times from my two short runs last week.
I’m looking forward to doing another 11 mile long run this Saturday, now that I know how to can map and measure running routes.
