"Training" for Gasparilla

My original plan when I signed up for the Gasparilla 15k in late February was to follow a training plan, monitor my paces, and aim for a moderately lofty goal.

My training has been spotty. Basically, as always over winter break, my motivation and yearning to run kind of took a vacation along with the rest of me. Still, I thought I had it in me to ramp up my training and manage a pretty good eight weeks.

And then I got the flu.

I haven't had the actual, real, legit flu since childhood. But at the tail end of an otherwise very strong running week, I suddenly developed a fever, chills, and aches, and an elephant took up residence on my lungs. I left work so early Friday I shouldn't have even bothered going in and spent the next two days feeling sorry for myself.

While my fever was gone by Saturday night, my breathing only got worse. I saw the doctor Monday, who officially diagnosed me and gave me all the necessary treatments for dealing with flu-induced lung inflammation coupled with my already tweaky asthma.

My prognosis for recovery is fine. My prognosis for training...not so much.

The thing is, part of me feels like I just need to DNS this race. It's fewer than 40 days away (that's not even 6 weeks of training time!) and my longest run has been four miles. And it was mediocre.

Another part of me feels like I can just edit my anticipated finishing time on my registration, bump down to the slower corral, and run it for fun. I'd still get to hang out and spend time with Jessie that weekend and enjoy a "birthday" race of sorts.

Truth be told, I've never run Gasparilla at my best but have always enjoyed it, so this may just be a tradition in and of itself.

Last time I ran it, I met so many virtual friends from Sub 30 AND Meb! What could be better?

The pressure has made me dread a race I was once excitedly anticipating. Maybe getting sick is a sign that I need to readjust my expectations and priorities and run it with a different mindset.

I don't know how long I'll be sidelined from running with this cough. The flu can linger for weeks, and right now I can barely fold laundry without taking a breather. I think at this rate, I'll play it by ear. Hopefully things will work out for the best!

ABK