February 5k

a picturesque trail up a hill in the woods

As I mentioned last Monday, I was just feeling good again after the flu, when I got strep throat. The strep knocked me out for a good part of the week, though I did manage to get some things accomplished.

The antibiotics helped my sore throat, which stopped hurting pretty quick, but the fever hung around longer than I thought it would/should. I've decided having a fever is the most exhausting part of being sick. Headaches, sore throats; they're nothing to the alternating sweats and chills of a fever.

I was feeling well enough Thursday to do a hike, but we didn't do it because we had history club that afternoon and I knew I'd need the energy for that. I was tired by the time we got home, so I was glad I didn't try to do too much.

I tentatively planned to do a hike with the boys Friday while Sunshine was at co-op, but I didn't have time or energy after running several errands. This was probably for the best, since I had a race Saturday am and needed to conserve energy.

Why would I run a race less than a week after getting strep throat?

Well, several reasons:
I'd already registered for the race.
I'd already had to bow out of the race I'd originally planned on running in February because I was still feeling crummy from the flu (I hadn't registered for that one before getting sick, so it was easier to skip that one).
It was my last chance to run a race in February.
I was feeling a lot better Friday than I was Monday, so I gave myself the green light.

Not that I was stupid about it. I purposely took it easy, avoiding breathing too hard or getting my heart rate up too much. I didn't want a repeat of last year's ear infection and burst eardrum after a hard race or a relapse of strep (can strep relapse?). In any case, I didn't want to get sicker, so I ran conservatively and walked a lot.

Surprisingly, it was not my slowest 5k. I ran 3.04 miles in 41:05.
1st- 12:43
2nd-14:46
3rd- 13:12

I actually ran this race two years ago for my 40 by 40 goal. This race is run on a high school cross country course, and it's one I would have liked to run in high school. It's a nice mix of fields and woods, and while hilly, it's not the hilliest course around. The weather this year was a lot nicer than last time- 50* rather than 30*. The warmer temps were a definite plus for someone trying to stay healthy :)

peaceful trail through the woods

Weekly Mileage
Sat- 3.04 miles walked and run
    total miles- 3.04 miles

1 hike towards #52hikechallenge

38.17 foot miles towards #365milechallenge

25.00 bike miles towards #365milechallenge