13/5/12 - An Update

I thought my blog deserved a wee update since I'm on the road to recovery. It turns out I caught a virus the Thursday before the Fling. I got worse over the weekend and was pretty floored for the following week. The doctor thought it might have been glandular fever but luckily it started to clear up the week after my first symptoms. The only thing I have noticed is that I've been unbelievably tired the last few weeks. A friend of mine had the same virus a while ago and told me that he was wiped out for a few weeks afterwards, so I think it's maybe the same thing. The last run I did was (stupidly) a run the day after the Fling...but I was really feeling awful and didn't make it further than about 4 miles. It wasn't until Tuesday just past that I exercised again. I went to a spin class which was sooo tough! I think a combination of the instructor who is notorious for his difficult routines and the post-viral fatigue...I took Wednesday to rest and then cycled into Uni on Thursday and Friday. That's about a 15mile round trip, flat, but nonetheless...I tried to run on Friday morning and did about 3.5miles. I felt really bad afterwards, tired and starving. To be honest it was a real confidence knock feeling so bad. I think not doing the Fling has had a bit of a psychological effect on me...and staying down in Cambridge has really had an effect on my running. I feel as though I'm only half as fit as I was this time last year, and I think not being able to run on hills is really taking its toll on me. I'm hoping I will be back in scotland soon enough. For all I do feel my cycling has vastly improved, I'd rather be running well any day. So, today I thought I would take another shot at the running, and did an easy 8 miler in about 1hr 10mins. Derek cycled with me. It was actually fine and the sun was shining, which was nice. This week I'm just going to take it easy and cycle into town most days with some spin on Tuesday and Thursday, and a midweek run. On the plus side, all this cycling has made me quite appreciate good bikes(not to the level of my cycling friends, mind you) so I have been looking at getting a road bike which is quite exciting. I love the way you can really build your speed by focusing your strength on things like using your hamstrings as well as your quads. I like building speed when I'm tootling along on the road and I think a road bike would be awesome. Anyway better get to bed now...we have been looking at planning a cycle up north for mid June so it's quite exciting arranging that. In addition I'm planning a few long runs on WHW and more runs on the routes down here for July in the run up to the Devil. Things to look forward to.