50. Catching a cold

Mile 47 – Hilly at the start but now levelling out nicely.

The training might be going well for your marathon, but then you feel that tickle at the back of the throat and you know a cold is on the way. You face a dilemma: should you push on and run regardless, especially if you are at or close to the marathon itself, or follow the official guidance to just rest and recover?

This week my new immune system had its first cold. I had the works: runny nose, coughing all night, even a gunky eye. It has taken a full week, including a few daytime naps, but I have recovered without the need for medical assistance, other than some Lemsip and a few paracetamol. I could have picked it up from anywhere last week, on my visits to public places like the camera club, motorway service stations and a few restaurants. However, it’s what happens to normal people, and I’m not going to isolate again.

The UCLH Physio told me to take a rest from exercise until I was better, and I have only recently restarted my daily morning routine. It was tempting to keep putting it off, but you know me by now: a few days in and it’s familiar again, I’m finding it easier to get out of the chair and I’d feel guilty if I didn’t complete it. Couch to 5K has been interrupted but I should be able to redo week 5 next week. On the positive side, it has been a chance to recover from my various aches and pains.

All this has meant I haven’t much to report. I had to miss my hospital treatment, a camera club talk, and the local meeting of the Honourable Order of the Curry Club. I managed one lunch with a friend at the end of the week, which was a pleasure, and I’m feeling much better now.

In the meantime, Sue and some of her friends from choir went to see Hamilton and enjoy a meal in London. Let’s hope she doesn’t catch anything from me.

—oOo—

After last week’s fall, I had my phone fixed. The next day I was concerned that the shop I had taken it to had made a bad job of it and they might want me to pay for another repair. The bottom left corner didn’t seem to respond consistently, and it made a clicking sound when touched. I felt a bit of a fool when I took it back and the engineer quickly identified the problem as just a poorly fitting screen protector. It is as good as new now.

—oOo—

This has been one of those weeks when I seem not to have done anything until the weekend, when we made the most of the unseasonably warm weather and walked along the seafront. We weren’t alone.

Before that, I worked on another of my Christmas present models. Generally these are quite easy to put together with the laser cut plywood parts fitting tightly into their holes. I could tell this one was harder by the amount of super glue needed when I applied too much pressure.

Thanks for reading and take care.