Today was the day! I went out and did my first workout in 17 days. Yesterday I was already not feeling sick anymore and I decided that I would pick up my routine again today. This morning I got up and although it is a cold day, it is beautiful blue-skies fall day and I just had to go for a run. Since I didn't know how I would feel and how it would go, I just laced up my shoes with no real intentions for this run. I just wanted to get going and see what it feels like. I went down to the river, started to jog and thoroughly enjoyed being out and about. My breathing was good, no chest pain, no coughing and lots of sun and colored leaves. I decided to run a loop, crossing the river over one bridge and returning on another. That course is between 6 and 7 km long and I wasn't really going to check on my pace or anything. I felt so good that I was really surprised to see my heartrate when I checked it after I ran up the ramp to the bridge. The watch displayed a shockingly high 188 bpm! I don't think I have ever seen my heartrate go that high. And because I felt so good about my run I would have never guessed that it would be that high. I continued to go slower to reach an acceptable heartrate-level but it only went down to about 170 bpm which is still higher than normal for me. It took me 45 minutes to finish the run and I am happy that I went. I know that being sick can affect your heartrate and I will have to monitor it as I go on with my workouts. I wonder how long it will be until it really goes back to an acceptable range. The plan is to return to my usual 6 days of running, swimming and biking this week and I feel confident that I can pick up pretty much where I left two weeks ago. I might have to go a little slower and I am not going to push really hard but I am definitely ready to get going!
