The Bellaire Trolley Run did it again. They ordered up a cold front. I had a sore throat and generally felt cruddy, but hoped it was allergies. Thursday night I did an easy 5 miler and my right hammy/groin got very sore. I woke up on Saturday morning feeling a bit sicker, but still thought it was allergies. My leg was feeling ok and it was definitely nice and cool. You have to give it a shot when you get weather like that in Houston.

The warm up felt tiring and I did not feel like running. I have had some pretty good races when feeling less than optimal. I did a few striders and it was time to start. I got in a good group and was moving at a good pace. I always start these 5k's too slow. I hit the 1st mile in 5:48 which felt right, but it was unlikely I would hold the pace for a sub 18. You just slow down the second mile. The next mile was a 5:56 with the wind. We turned for the long home stretch and my stomach started betraying me. I started to dry heave with .6 miles to go. I had to let the group I had caught gap me so I was unable to draft. I continued to dry heave off and on the rest of the way, but kept plugging along. Once I got to the last .1 I went ahead and kicked it on in. My last mile was 6:01 and the last .1 in about 28 seconds. Total time of 18:14. Pretty good given the circumstances. I need some actual speed work and I could finally get the sub 18. Oh well, one of these days.

The bad news is that I have a full blown cold. My throat is very sore and I am wiped out. I hope it resolves quickly as I need a few good runs to fine tune for Boston. I just have to hope that this cold does not turn into something really bad or long lived. I would like to race Boston, but I at least want to run and have fun. I can't do that with bronchitis or a bad cold. If it stays out of my chest and I can get in some decent training I might still race it.

I think I might post an old Boston report just to get in the spirit.

Happy Trails.