Time to Regroup

The cold virus that took me out last week was no joke.  I had a physical this week and while I was recovered enough to see the doctor, she noticed my residual symptoms and asked, "Oh dear -- did you get that terrible virus that's going around where it starts with a super sore throat and you can barely swallow, then the mucus builds like crazy and you lose your voice?"  Um, yes.  I did.  Apparently, my 7 days of serious symptoms followed by 7 days of minor symptoms are on the light side of what this virus has done to her practice -- take care of yourselves, friends!

From Aruba

Given the residual infection, I tried to reign in my running efforts in hopes of an aggressive taper, improving health, and eventually being able to race my last target race of the year.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.  The morning of the race, I still had a stuffy nose and mild sinus pressure and it was scheduled to be pouring down rain during the race.  I went back and forth on what to do (should I be smart?  I did cough quite a bit after waking up... but then the coughs stopped.  Am I wimping out?  I am more fit than I've been in ages and I think I can definitely set a decade PR, even with the rain... and on, and on).

Finally, I decided not to do a hard effort in the cold rain while still recovering from the worst virus I'd had in at least 3-4 years, mainly for the sake of my brother and mother's husband, both of whom are severely immunocompromised.  I was really looking forward to Christmas with the family, and the reality is, if I relapsed to how sick I had been, I would have to avoid the big family gatherings altogether.

So, Sunday, instead of racing, I hung out inside and worked on a new jigsaw puzzle with my visiting cousin.  Monday, I spent 2 hours gardening, mainly removing all of the remaining tomato plants that finally died, but also raking leaves and being shocked at how winded I got from it, although, in fairness, raking is a full body workout that recruits many muscles I don't usually use for aerobic work.

E with his standard "I hate selfies" look.

Tuesday, I finally headed out for an easy jog, running *very easy* to and from the pharmacy to pick up a prescription.  My Rx wasn't ready, so I took the 10 minutes they needed to prepare it to jog around behind the store and do some unplanned 8X15s strides with jogging recovery.  Woot!  First "workout" in a couple of weeks, with some actual speed work, even if *very* light. 2.5 miles + 1 hour gardening (still removing the plants).

When I couldn't do the 5K last weekend, I had to reset. My original end of year goals were:

1. At least 1 lesson of Spanish study every day between December 1 and the end of the year to prepare for our New Year's trip to CDMX.

2. 5K decade PR.  When it became clear that I wasn't going to run a 5K, I was sad, but fairly certain I could hit this goal in 2019.

3. *Very Good* on the Cooper Test.

I'd been doing well enough on the first goal that I'd started to have some Spanish dream snippits, so that was good.  But the 5K... After the failure on Sunday in San Jose, I knew I'd have to let this one go.  And, realistically speaking on the Cooper Test... I wasn't there yet.  I wanted to be.  Certainly.  But I just was not close enough to that fit.

A goal that seemed super doable, however, was a sub 9 minute mile.  I hadn't had one of those on my log in well over 2.5 years.

And that's what I did today.  Y'all, I managed 8:52 for a mile, and I'm happy.  May you all have great outcomes in 2019.