It’s been a big week, friends. If you saw my bio on the UR website, you might remember that I said two of my favorite things in all of the world are English bulldog puppies and moose tracks ice cream, preferably Turkey Hill brand. It is a wonder that my head did not explode because this week those two glories became a reality for me. I got a puppy!!!! And I ate moose tracks while holding her. Or attempting to hold her as she is a bit wiggly.
Truth be told, the puppy is actually my mom’s, but I am claiming her at least partially, as I hold her a lot and am helping to train her. Her name is Poppy Ingrid Bernadette, aka Pib, and she is 9 weeks old. When we first picked her up last week, she had a cold. Snot flowed out of her nose and she was coughing a lot. Poor little girl. We were fooled into thinking she was a nice subdued lazy little bullie puppy. Fake out. She is high energy, at least for a bulldog. She loves to play that she is stalking prey in the jungle while creeping through the bushes in the front yard. She pops out and takes a lap around the lawn and then rushes back into her lair. Cracks me up.
The joy of the puppy offset the rest of my week. I got a bit sick right after Thanksgiving, and it has hung on with a vengeance. I was forced to acknowledge that I was sick by taking a few days off, which was super annoying. I was able to workout on Saturday and do a long run Monday, but bronchitis is making it awfully hard to breathe while running. I will be very glad when this thing is gone for good!
I am thankful to have a coach who forced me to take time off. I think that as distance runners we tend to be a bit neurotic about getting our runs in and not losing mileage from the week, which can set us back further in the long run. I know that is the case for me. I hate admitting that I might need to rest a little to knock out the cold, so I push and I push and I push. I urge you to listen to your body during this cold season and allow yourself to fight a cold without running. Enjoy the rest and relaxation of a few lazy days while you cough and hack out the bug before returning to normal mileage and workouts.
Snuggles make me feel better.
I hope the rest of the UR Tribe is faring better with winter ailments than me. Happy running!!