what should I do now?

[stillwaddler]

I knew it would happen, was only mentally congratulating myself last week on the fact that I had not had any cold/flu lurgs for 18 months or so, when I instantly get hit with a severe ear infection and then a flu like virus that has had me bedriden for the last three days, just about tottering around the house today.Trouble is I am a couple of weeks into Hal Higdon's intermediate half marathon training shedule, what do I do now, give up this week entirely and just progress on to week 9 - that's if I feel up to doing anything next week anyway - or should I go back to the beginners schedule, or maybe fudge a combination of beg. and int. ?? Have entered for the Wilmslow half in March, so there doesn't seem to be a lot of time left...sorry Guys, am feeling miserable, but don't want to be defeated. Any sugestions gratefully received. Andy, glad to hear you got the gismo replaced, sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun with Colin(?)

[El Gordo]

It's not Colin, SW, it's _colin. Important difference. And it may not be, anyway...

Bad luck on the flu or virus or whatever. There's not a whole lot you can do at this stage apart from hope it won't hang round for too long. The worst thing you can do is try to run before you're really ready, especially if the problem is affecting your chest. You can easily extend the problem by being over-keen to get back.

A couple of encouragements: good thing it's happened at this end of the schedule and not the other. It really won't matter too much if you lose a couple of weeks training. It will take a few runs to get back to where you were, but it will be quicker than you think. I think 2 weeks out is OK. 2-3 weeks is a grey area where you'll have to see how quickly you get back to it, and much more than 3 weeks, you'll find it tough.

There's no hard-and-fast rule. If it starts to improve now, you might be OK to run within a week.

The usual advice is not to try to catch up with what you've missed, but to pick it up where you would have been had you not been out of action. Let us know how you are in a few days, and we might be able to help you better.

Good luck

Andy

[stillwaddler]

I was already to get back into my schedule when down came the snow - typical, the pavements are now so treacherous that I daren't go out and train, never mind, I am back at work next week, so I will hit the treadmill in the college gym for 3 miles or so, don't mind treadmill running really, my mind sort of floats off and it is certainly easier on my 'middle-elderly' joints.

so how is _colin?? I want to add Powell after it????

[El Gordo]

Hi SW

_colin is wonderful thanks. I've just been talking about him in today's rather dull entry which I'll post up shortly. Seriously, this is a great tool, and has really helped me.

Glad to hear you're back in action. Yeah, the snow can be a nuisance. It depends how deep it is round where you are. Here it's not too bad - an inch or two. Just enough to settle but not deep enough to cause too much chaos. I went out and ran in it today with no trouble. Aesthetically, I like it. The world feels like a different place.

I've used a treadmill only once or twice, but haven't enjoyed the experience much. It made me realise how important the interaction with the real world is when I'm plodding along.

Hope you get back to the real thing soon.

Andy

[stillwaddler]

well, the pavements were clear although it was raining hard, so I I got out this morning for about 3 and a half miles and completed them in a fairly respectable 33 minutes, not too many aches a pains, slight left hip discomfort - going round anti clockwise perhaps? (pavement camber)? Slightly stiff feet when I started off but it felt really good to get out there. Will maybe try a little further tomorrow. Was looking at the Loch Ness marathon site yesterday, quite fancy that for a first marathon in October - anyone done it?? Had a look at the run profile, my first thoughts being that it would be very hilly, but it doesn't look too bad....worth thinking about anyway.

Andy, please send my love to _colin.

[El Gordo]

_colin is now loooking rather sheepish...

I've also looked at Loch Ness in the past, and thought it looked appealing. You'd expect it to horribly hilly but apparently not. There have been threads on the RW forum about it in the past and I seem to remember it being well thought of. Depending on how Copenhagen goes, I may be looking for an Autumn marathon myself. If I was sticking to the British Isles I'd probably veer towards Dublin, but would consider Loch Ness if that's October.

As for hip discomfort/camber, I don't know if you were joking but there is a recognised problem with running on roads that have a camber, I read somewhere. The advice I guess would be to swap sides from time to time if possible to equalise things. Running regularly on a camber cna also make your shoes wear down differently, it seems.