When in doubt, take a steam shower.

Harv (aka Puff Daddy) has many sayings that are now known as "Harvisms". Lisa, my sister, and I always joke about them. One of them is in reference to whenever we tell him that something is wrong, minor or major. For example:

Lisa: Dad, "Amazing Race" was a repeat tonight.

Harv: Take a steam shower, you'll feel better.

Or:

Jill: Dad, I had a meeting that didn't go as well as I would have liked.

Harv: Take a steam shower, you'll feel better.

You get the idea, but these are words of wisdom (as you can see above, Harv is getting ready to invoke some words of wisdom). I was pretty under the weather this week with a bad chest cold and congestion, and felt pretty crappy. As mentioned in the past, I am training for a ½ marathon and we're getting close. So I had a big run scheduled for this morning – 11 miles, my longest yet. As of yesterday afternoon, I still felt pretty awful. So I decided to take Harv's advice (without actually asking him) and take a steam shower. I felt better after the fact. Hmmmm….

I decided this morning to run because I felt marginally better and my coach says that I need to start preparing for days when I am going to race and things are not going to be perfectly aligned, no matter how much I prepare. Feeling as unwell as I did was a good test for this lesson. The loop I was going to do is close to the house, so I figured I could always stop and turn around. Note this is the loop that I have maintained for some time that if I could complete it, that I would be ready for my ½ marathon. Even though it is only 10 miles (I added a mile for this morning's run), the loop has numerous hills, including one that takes you up 250 ft in just over a ½ mile. It may not seem like a lot, but it's tough – at least for me.

Since I wasn't going to be running with my normal group for this run, Marc decided to bike next to me as I ran. What an awesome guy! It was cold when we started and I don't run fast. He made sure I ate and drank at the right times, held on to my hat and gloves when I got warm, and of course, provided positive reinforcement. Fortunately the weather was pretty dry and calm, so that made things slightly easier.

Well I finished the run averaging a pedestrian 11:10 minutes/mile. But I know now that if I can finish this level of run feeling as crappy as I did, I am ready for my ½. I still have another big training run ahead, but I'm starting to feel good. Thanks as always to Marc for being so supportive.

And of course, thanks Harv for the great advice! Had it not been for the constant hammering of 'Take a steam shower', I may not have done the run this morning.