Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
The Best Laid Plans...
by Russell Turner - 12:09 on 12 April 2025
The afternoon after the first run of April, on the 2nd, I couldn’t decide if I had a cold or hayfever. Next day, I was pretty sure it was a cold; I reshuffled the training calendar to give me two days off. Run day came and I was worse: not as bad as flu, worse than my previous experiences of covid. Runs were now cancelled rather than rescheduled.
Two more days: the date of my final long run passed with no improvement. Matchgirl developed the sniffles. Two more days: the rescheduled long run date also passed; I’d not run for a week; Matchgirl had a cold and was feeling unwell. Her long-awaited final ultra, for which she’d devoted much training, was cancelled. I was no better.
Today, the day of the ultra, it’s eleven days since I’ve run. I was briefly tempted to try an easy run/walk but can’t see the point with a tight chest and wheezy throat. Dr Google suggests I’ve got bronchitis, which I thought smoking mineworkers suffered from in the 1950s. At least it’s not rickets. And Matchgirl, who’s remarkably cheery about missing her big day and associated holiday, isn’t feeling as poorly as she’d feared.
The good news is that the symptoms are easing and the virus that caused them is probably gone. The bad news is that it might be more days – even a couple of weeks – before swelling in my bronchial tubes fully subsides and airflow returns to normal. As the virtual marathon is only two weeks away, it will be completed (I’m determined) in a very restrained manner: the “MyWay” that the virtual organisers promote. Then I’ll have four weeks to prepare for Edinburgh.
There are two silver linings to brighten the gloom: Willow and Pandora will never know of their close escape from a week in Copperfield Cattery, and a few fresh air walks have helped me complete Garmin’s final Walk the Walk badge. You’ve got to take small wins where you can.
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