Home Sweet Home

I returned home on Saturday evening.  The thick smoke the BF had been telling me about had lifted and there was only a slight campfire smell in the air from the nearby forest fires.  Not that I was planning on running that day - I had a slight fever and it felt like daggers were being thrust into my throat every time I swallowed.

It's amazing what a good night's sleep in your own bed can do.  I woke up Sunday feeling much better and ready to run, but overnight the wind had died down and the smoke had settled back into town.  I checked the air quality online: 

Strenuous activities should be avoided.

I woke up feeling sick on Friday and hadn't run since Thursday, so I was eager to get my run in.  I kept checking every hour on the hour until the Air Quality Index went down to 3 -

Enjoy your usual outdoor activities. 

By this time it was 3:30 in the afternoon, the sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot, and there was still a haze in the distance, but it was much better than in the morning. 

I needed to drop a key off at work, so I planned my route to go from where I live, down into the valley and around downtown, and over to the youth house.  I hadn't had a "fall back" week since I went on vacation in early July, and have been building mileage ever since to get back on track with my training plan.  Though the plan said to run 26K (16 miles) this week, and fall back next week, I decided I would let myself fall back this week depending on how I was feeling since I hadn't eaten much for 2 days. 

The run started out great.  The route that was becoming a bit of a bore before I went away felt fresh after being away for 6 weeks.  I didn't have any trouble breathing from the smoke, but noticed my mouth dried out quickly so I was drinking more water than usual.  As I got down to the bottom of THE HILL, the haze was a bit worse where it settled in the valley and I felt myself getting tired faster.  Breathing wasn't a problem, but my muscles were feeling sluggish.  I decided that I would do 19K well, rather than struggle through 26K, and possibly prolong my sore throat.

I finished the run with an average pace of 5:57min/km.  Given the fact that I hardly had the energy to sit upright on Friday, I'm feeling pretty good about it!

The air quality is good today, and I have 4 miles on the schedule - I just have to figure out where to squeeze it in!