If you can’t breathe, you can’t run…

For a girl who lives by her day planner, the actual planning of a training schedule is one of the most exciting elements of the training itself. I ambitiously planned out my runs for the next few months with the help of online resources and my Mother, who happens to be a certified trainer. Daily goals were jotted down, colour-coded of course, and needless to say, I was excited to begin training on Monday, January 31, 2011.

The problem? My body was NOT ready to begin training on Monday. Not in the least. After a week of battling a persistent and annoying winter cold, the only sound coming out of my mouth was repulsive coughing, not the breathing of healthy lungs necessary for running.

Ignoring the cough, I headed for the gym to begin my training with a 5km first run. After only twenty minutes, I paused the tread and caused a slight scene with a coughing attack right there on the machine. 

Let me tell you, gym-goers do NOT tolerate sickness at the gym. Looks of disgust, and looks screaming “Go home! Stop spreading your germs!” were shot at me from all angles. Admittedly, I am normally one of those people shooting the looks and thinking to myself, “you better not get me sick!” And yet, I had crossed over and became “one of them” out of fear from being behind on my training schedule from Day 1.

Discouraged. I was completely discouraged. The first run is supposed to be the easiest! The shortest! The flattest! The initial run is supposed to ignite the spark and create a buzz around your training program. The first run is certainly NOT supposed to leave you feeling like your chest may cave in at the next coughing spell.

Driving straight to Shoppers, I stalked up on more cold medicine, Halls, Vitamin C (and, okay, a little Valentine’s Day chocolate treat to cheer me up!) determined to beat the awful thing, and convinced that the 8km I had scheduled for the next day was totally possible.

Thankfully, as the week went on, the cough dwindled and my energy levels returned to normal. My original running schedule for this week was slightly altered. But, I still managed to complete five successful building runs based on time, just not the distance I was aiming for. And even more importantly, the feelings of discouragement have left....and anticipation for Week #2 has began!

Happy Running!