Shamrock Training Week 2

Well let me start out by saying if you would ask me, what does your perfect training cycle look like? The answer would not be this one. Last week you may recall me saying that I felt like I was getting sick. Well this week I felt the wrath of the cold. The week started with a sore throat, nothing major but some discomfort. I decided I could still do some running since it was just my throat.

MONDAY: 5 miles on the treadmill. I started out at a 9:30 pace and kept speeding up at every mile. I finished the run in 42 minutes. I felt really good for the workout, except the whole throat thing. But I didn't tire out and my legs felt really great.

TUESDAY: 5 miles on the treadmill. I decided to make this a tempo run. I started the first 2 miles at an 8:30/mile pace, then ran miles 3 and 4 at a 7 min. pace. Once again I felt really good and thought this may be the start of great week, wrong!
Wednesday when I woke up I noticed that my throat wasn't really sore, but I had developed a nasty cough and every time I coughed would bring up some really nasty mucus. As the day went on I could tell I was wheezing. I kept telling myself it's okay, I can still run later. After I got home from work though I just felt awful and happened to stumble upon an article in Competitor Runner about should you train when sick. It really didn't have a clear cut answer but it did say that if you are sick you need to take everything into account. Since I have asthma and was wheezing I knew the smart thing to do was rest.

  Thursday was no better, in fact I now couldn't hear out of my right ear. So now I am couching, wheezing, and now partially deaf. I was just having an awesome time, not really. So once again I had to pass on the running and do what is best for the body.
Friday nothing had changed, and by the end of the day I could tell I was having a gout flare up. At this point I was livid. All I wanted to do was get out and have a few good runs and here I am laying on a couch drinking tea and snuggled up with my dog.

Saturday and Sunday were both spent in pain from the gout and still unable to hear out of my right ear. The couch is starting to go away and I am hoping this week will be better than last week. The only good that came out of this is that it is still early in the cycle and I have plenty of time to get on track. The bad thing is I may have gave the cold to every person I have come in contact with. My wife caught it in the middle of the week and she lost her voice. A few people at work are stating to feel the effects and I am probably the person to take blame on that.