February 25th,

Well, the flu season is among us and it has hit the Goucher household! Adam and I are curled up the on the couch with blankets and tea as I write this. We have runny noses, achy bodies, and sore thoughts. We may be miserable, but our cats (Simba and Ellie) are enjoying having us lounge around all day.

The week after I ran at Millrose, I started to feel a little tired and flat during my runs. I traveled to Birmingham, England to race an indoor 3000m there. I attributed my lack of energy to the travel and time change. I was so excited to be in Birmingham! The city was great. We stayed just meters away from the canal which ran throughout the city. There were numerous restaurants along the canal and best of all- a nice flat dirt path to run on! The paths along the canal went for miles and it was fantastic running. The indoor facility was beautiful and I have never seen a nicer one! The building was actually built around the indoor track. Can you imagine a building built around a track? It has a great warm-up area, seats thousands, and of course- has a top notch banked and boarded track.

I felt privileged to be able to race, and even though I wasn’t feeling my best, I was confident that things would come together in the race. But… they didn’t! I felt terrible in the race. The moment the gun went off I knew that I was in trouble. I struggled to simply finish and it really isn’t even worth revisiting. It was a bad day, it wasn’t me.

After traveling back to the states and doing another track session, Alberto and I decided that something was off with my body. Although I didn’t have flu symptoms, it was obvious that my body wasn’t right, so we decided to pull out of the indoor champs.

That meant that I got to start my two week break! I am now taking two weeks off to refresh and recharge before the long year ahead. Unfortunately, Adam came down with a severe case of the flu on Wednesday, and he has now passed it on to me. So, I am on a very rare break. The weather has been beautiful here in Portland, and I am stuck at home in bed! At least my cats are happy.

I do have some good news; the grocery stores are stocked full up with Easter candy. Easter candy is my favorite of all seasonal candy. The pastel colors, everything shaped like eggs, so much chocolate; I love it! Pathetically, it has brought me joy over the past few sick days.

So, I will spend the next couple of weeks resting, fighting off the flu, eating so much Easter candy I get a stomach ache, and hopefully jetting to Arkansas to visit my father-in-law. I sincerely hope this finds you healthy, enjoying the crisp outdoors, and running away any stress in your lives! Send me some positive vibes when you are out running, Adam and I need them!

Thanks, Kara Goucher