I haven't done any running for 8 days now due to this nasty chest infection. I trained through the first 2 weeks of it but enough was enough last week and I ended up taking a very rare trip to the doctors and getting prescribed some antibiotics.
It's the third time I've had a chest infection in 12 months incidentally! I hardly ever pick up a conventional injury so it seems like my immune system is the thing that is most likely to let me down.
I've been getting only marginally better each day while taking the antibiotics and tomorrow sees my return to light training. If I wait until I feel 100% again then it could be weeks more before I start training. I'll be hitting the gym for an hour or so in an attempt to try and sweat this thing out.
Saturday will see my return to David Fairlamb's Beach Bootcamp. Regular readers will know how much I enjoy this 45 minute session on Tynemouth Beach. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get the weekend off to a great start with an overall body workout. You don't have to be a total athlete either! David Fairlamb has the knack of letting you train at your own pace. The session starts on the beach opposite the Grand Hotel in Tynemouth at 9 am. I would recommend getting there 10 minutes early in order to register etc. Click on the following link for a video of a typical session.
After Beach Bootcamp, I will be attempting a few runs up the steps in nearby King Edwards Bay (pictured above). The aim this week is 5 lots of steps. I think my poor suffering lungs should just about be able to handle that.
Week 59 of USA 2011 training starts on Sunday and I'll be doing a gentle 10.5 miles on the 6 Bridges Challenge route. Or should I say the "Peter's Pies 6 Tyne Bridges Challenge". Yes folks, the regular Sunday morning run that has been going for just 5 weeks now has an official sponsor and it's the 2 charities who will be benefitting. I'll talk more about this run and it's importance and relevance in the build up to USA 2011 at a later date. If you fancy joining the merry band of runners who attend then we meet at the Newcastle end of the Millennium Bridge at 9 am each Sunday. Click here for a review of our first outing last month. In the meantime, I hope to see as many of you as possible on Sunday morning on the Quayside.
So then, it's an important 3 days! It's a 3 days where I'll be easing gently back into the old routine. I'm probably 2 weeks away from getting the full schedule up and running again. After that, the aim is to build up to 31 miles per day on consecutive days. If all goes to plan I should reach this target by the end of March 2010. I'm not thinking too much past the next 3 days, though, for now.
