The dreaded pre-race lurgy

 It's just over a week now until the Iron Horse Ultra 100-miler, and training for the race has gone exceptionally well with my weekly mileage exceeding 100km for the past three weeks, and one week it was around 125km! That's definitely high mileage for me, but I have been feeling pretty good for the most part, the only hindrance being the heat which only abated in the last week or so - we're now back to more autumn like temperatures, which includes cooler days and much cooler evenings!

Autumn running and my favourite time of the year! :)

The hubby is still away in India so the doubling up of long runs on a weekend has been hard - I hate leaving the dogs on their own when they've already spent a the work week home alone, waiting in anticipation for me to get home from work which is when I take them for their daily mayhem at the dog park. But doubling up I have done, and with some 50+ km days on the weekends, my body has certainly started to feel the benefits. 

50km run day in Devon :)

I have still being maintaining those speed sessions during the week too, but they've felt clumsy rather than smooth as I seem to have fallen into that ultra runner's shuffle again rather than the grace and speed of those gazelles I often imagine myself being! I've thrown in a couple of parkruns too, and whilst I've not got anywhere close to my PR in Edmonton, I have at least been consistently running under 23 minutes which I have been relatively happy with.

River Valley parkrun :)

This week was meant to have been my final big push before race day, but having got back from a 3 and a half hour run last Sunday, I felt a little drained and didn't feel like going out for another couple of hours later in the day was going to bring any benefits - I just didn't want to do it. It had been quite a warm day again and I had once again ran out of water despite carrying 2 litres with me, so I just put the fatigue down to dehydration. I didn't make the connection with the mild sore throat I'd had going to bed the previous night after volunteering at the Rivers Edge Ultra for part of the day, but in hindsight, the signs were there.

Volunteering at REU with the pups :)

Come Sunday evening, I had a throbbing headache, but despite taking pills, it just wasn't easing at all. I was off work on the Monday anyway, so just pottered around doing my thing, and other than a strength session, I didn't need to do a run that day. The headache persisted all day though, and I was starting to get a little snuffly with it. I've had Covid twice in the past, and this was how it started both times, except this time I'd had a sore throat - either way, it looked like I was to be struck down with the lurgy ... ugh!

I awoke Tuesday morning at my usual time to head to work, but I definitely didn't feel great. I popped a couple more headache pills to help me through the next couple of hours as I headed into the office, but as the day progressed, I just started to feel even worse. I finally gave in mid-afternoon, heading home for the rest of the day, and ended up falling asleep for couple of hours, snuggled up with Wilson and Tillie on the bed. The remainder of the day didn't see any improvement, although I did manage to eat something having had no appetite for a couple of days, so I was kind of hoping it meant I would feel much better by today.

A few days ago, before the lurgy struck - these pups
are amazing and look after me so well! :)

Sadly, Wilson was also poorly during the night and kept waking me up every hour to go outside. It din't help me to rest, and I awoke at 6am still feeling pretty rotten. I decided to stay home for another day to just rest and hopefully recover. My nose is still stuffy, and I am coughing up rubbish from chest, so I definitely have a cold or something - the only positive is that the headache has gone which makes a huge difference. Of course with having a cold or whatever it is, I won't be running until things have cleared up and I get my energy levels back. Having a 100 mile race in about 10 days time does concern me, but it is 10 days, I am starting to feel a little better, so maybe all that training will still be put to good use.I really need a good race at Iron Horse, one that will give me confidence again and that will reward all the prep I have been doing, but I also know that I can only do what my mind and body will let me do, and that health for me comes first. I keep telling myself that so long as I can do a  couple of runs this weekend at a comfortable pace and not feel wiped out afterwards, I will be ok. It's also the final race in the 5 Peaks Trail Running series out in Devon, so I have put my name down to marshall again. Given how much time I have spent on my own this past 5 or 6 weeks, being surrounded by running friends is just what I need, even if I'm not running myself at the minute.

The trail running community truly is remarkable, and they have a great way of picking each other when others are feeling down, so I am definitely looking forward to that on Sunday. In the meantime, I'll just take things a day at a time with this lurgy, and hopefully my body is strong enough to fight it off and then be ready to do a rather long run in a few days time!