I was warned this might be coming. 

Flying high, in the form of my running life and then it hit... the dreaded lurgy. 

Chatting to Neil Featherby over email a few weeks ago, he told me: “Race while you are in form mate... but make sure you have a period of rest/active rest to build up reserves to get to an even higher level.” 

After the Cambridge Town & Gown 10K, I didn’t feel quite 100 per cent for a few days but managed to just about keep it at bay as I tried to focus on eating well and getting enough sleep. 

Then came a weekend away with friends where I enjoyed myself... I’m not sure this was the sort of ‘active rest’ Neil was talking about... 

Not enough shut-eye combined with a fair amount of alcohol over a few days opened the door to the dreaded man-flu taking hold. Who knew that drinking too much gin could have a negative effect on you? 

In the past I’ve tried to muscle my way through these kinds of things, but it seldom works. 

It’s so frustrating when you’re not quite ill, but you’re not quite right either. 

During these periods you realise how much running does take away from your daily energy battery and if you let it get too low, it takes time to build it back up to somewhere near maximum capacity. 

When the symptoms moved below the neck (I’ve been ‘chesty’), I knew I had to take a bit of time out. Since turning the wrong side of 40 it seems to take me longer to shake off these little viruses. 

I’m just so grateful that this cold didn’t hit during my training for Berlin because that really would have been a downer. 

I wrestled with when to get back to running, constantly asking myself if I was still actually feeling unwell or whether I was taking a look at the cold, wet weather outside and just didn’t fancy it.  

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I won’t pretend to enjoy running in the weather we’ve been experiencing; I still haven’t had the heart to put my short sleeve training tops away for the winter but the dreaded ‘faff’ of every run being prefaced by a search for a hat/gloves/buff has well and truly returned. 

But I almost started pining for those periods of marathon training when you don’t question whether you’re going out for a run or not; you just do it because if you don’t, it’s going to make marathon day that much harder.  

I scratched my exercise itch with some time on the stationary bike, in the warmth of my house, trying to keep my heart rate low to not negatively affect my recovery. 

When it got to a week with no running, and it didn’t look quite so hideous outside, I ventured out again. 

That first run back is always quite a strange experience; my legs felt great to start with, well rested and finally doing what they’ve grown used to doing regularly for a few years.  

But after a couple of miles, the novelty wears a little and that’s probably when I should have called it quits for the run (I did five miles). It’s always good to finish runs wanting to do a little bit more and leave you hungry for your next run. 

I’m back on the horse but I might have to revise my goal for the St Neots Half Marathon in just over a week’s time. 

That’s okay; I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this period and I’m looking forward to going into more of a base building phase ahead of another marathon in the spring. 

Which one? Hopefully, I will be able to reveal more soon.