Runs with Respiratory Infection

So by the title of this, you might have realized I was sick this week and I'm fighting to stick to some kind of training schedule during this disaster. The big problem is that it hasn't been a head cold. It's in the chest. I have a cough that puts chain smokers to shame and a rattle in my chest when I take anything but shallow breaths. I've been this way since Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morning I awoke coughing. A lot. Nothing else was wrong with me. Just phlegm deep down that no amount of coughing would hack up. I otherwise felt okay. So I did a 4 mile run at lunch time to get in some serious heat training. It was 93, sunny, high noon. I went for a jog. A painful jog. By mid-afternoon my cough was not only worse but I was starting to feel it overall. A little dizzy, achy. So I go home and get some rest, foregoing any more working out.

I wake up at 4am on Wednesday morning, hacking up a storm unable to sleep for a good half hour because no matter what I did I just couldn't stop coughing. I skipped my Wednesday morning workout. I went to work, but feeling hellish and getting a sore throat. I ended up going home early and taking Thursday off when it turned into a head cold too.

I went to work on Friday, and started to feel better as the day progressed. I went to pilates in the evening, followed by some upper body work. I was feeling weaker than usual and spent the entire time trying not to cough all over the equipment. I went to bed early on on Friday night, since I wanted to do the 20 miler today.

Well, I slept in a little - although I did wake up at 4am again with coughing. I ate some yogurt and went back to sleep. I didn't get out of the house and running until 11am. I started at Alewife for a 20 mile out and back along the bikeway. I was doing okay with only minor coughing up until the 10 mile point. I had only gone through 1 1/2 bottles. At the midway, I stopped to drink and eat a couple of clif bloks. That's when I fell into a 5 minute coughing fit. It was horrible. Trying to breath, cough, not pee because when I cough it made me want to pee. A biker stopped to see if I was okay, see if I was dizzy and maybe wanted to call for someone. I said I was going to be alright, and took a cough drop. I got about 2 miles back, and slowed because the coughing really never went away after that. It was costing me a lot of energy. I don't feel like I was getting enough oxygen since I kept having to take really shallow breathes. The coughing fits took a lot out of me too. I walk 1 mile. I then picked back up for another mile. In Lexington, I was ready to call it quits, but the bus was a while off, and I ended up running again. I made it the next mile, and the next. I paused at one point to deal with a coughing fit. I made it the last mile where I reached Arlington Heights. So I made it 16 miles. I caught a bus and went home.

What a mess. My body itself felt okay. My legs were good. It was perfect weather: partially sunny in the mid-60s. I wore the Nike dri-fit stability socks, which made my big toe sore. I need to stick to the super-thick bottomed socks. Lesson learned. I didn't use any mole skin this week. Only the asics chafeguard. No problems! No sore baby toes! Physically, not sore, my legs were great, my upper body wasn't even achy. So I know that I could have done more, if only I could have been breathing properly. Frustrating.

At this point, I want to try again tomorrow. Give myself some rest. I don't want to take cough medicine, but I'm a little tempted. Although if it increases heartrate or blood pressure, that wouldn't be good. I'll have to double check on that. If I could just alleviate the coughing for a 4 hours though, I'd be golden. I really want to get my 20-miler in this weekend.