30%

That's what I felt my lung function has been since the weekend. The cold I've had since Christmas has finally caught up with me.  Despite my best effort to ignore it and crack on, the chesty cough, previously an annoyance has finally showed its strength.

Last week I ran 10 miles, 10 miles through snow and strong wind, it appealed to my love of tough conditions and I ran happily, even though I was tired I felt reasonably strong throughout, getting home my legs were tired but after a few minutes I felt refreshed.. definitely a good sign.

Saturday I ran again, even though my schedule advised a rest day and my arms ached enough following my swim Friday night to keep me awake.  Considering I managed a 10 miler only a few days previous I really struggled, 2 miles in I was reduced to walking for a minute or so at a time.  We had a hugely busy weekend, with several birthday parties requiring drives in between, during a brief respite on saturday I snuck off to bed and immediately dropped into a dreamless sleep.

Sunday was a struggle and my cough seemed to be getting worse, with monday came my planned 30 minute run;

Getting up took willpower but I'm determined this year to avoid excuses and easy get outs, through the door and I tried to get into my normal rhythm without success, by the time I had covered 1/4 mile I was questioning my 'no easy outs' policy, another 1/4 mil and I was stopped, bent over and struggling for breath, realising the futility of my situation I headed home, within minutes of getting through the front door I was in bed and asleep.  When Kate's alarm went off I failed to surface.  Deciding I just needed to rest I stayed home, I slept huge amounts with little improvement and settled for a second day at home.  When walking to the kitchen from the lounge left me out of breath I decided that maybe I needed a second opinion. 

The doc has diagnosed a chest infection which explains the breathlessness and general lethargy.   A course of antibiotics will hopefully have me back on the road before long.