Training run: more of a stumble

BTW, yes, I've dropped the whole "Midweek" thing as some of my non-parkrun runs aren't midweek. And while "training" sounds all kinds of serious, like I've got a plan, or there's an event I'm in training for, I've decided it's the only term that really makes sense for these keeping-me-going runs. They are, after all, intended to make me a better runner... gradually. 😉

Oh, and the post labels will change from this point on too. I may even retrofit "training" to the earlier "midweek" posts.

ANYWAY... this week, the kids went back to school and today was my first solo drop-off of the new school year. It was also warm and dry, so I took the chance to have a short-ish run on the way home. The route wasn't particularly inspiring, but did try to avoid the need to cross too many busy roads.

I was still in a fairly positive frame of mind following the negative splits run and the first kilometre today passed in 5:07, which is a pretty quick start for me. The second kilometre was a little slower at 5:10 (it included a slight incline, if that made the difference) and the third kilometre was a 4:59. Even though it was nearly all flat, it was hard going... and then my chest went funny. 😟

I've had this kind of thing once or twice before on runs. I have a history of spontaneously collapsing lungs and while I've had surgery to prevent it happening again, I do occasionally feel that I have mini-collapses. I'm not sure today was that, but the discomfort in my chest started playing on my mind enough that after pushing on a bit further, I was feeling that it simply wasn't worth the risk. Lungs, heart, whatever it was. (I've also had a colleague/friend who died of a heart attack after exercise, and he was roughly my current age, so that plays on my mind too.) In the end, I aborted the run and just walked home.

So, I notched up just 3.5km, with the last 500m at a 5:27/km pace. Good news is I felt no ill effects shortly after stopping. And the exertion up to that point will have done me good. Now, I just need to focus on my next run and almost forget today happened.

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