Fartlek and Nightmares

Saturday: I was determined to run today, after yesterday's unplanned rest, and as my son was feeling better, I left him and his sister with their dad, while I went for an early morning run. It was cold, very light drizzle and cloudy. I began my run fine, keeping to a slow and even pace, deciding to go up the easy uphill slope. It was on the downhill I decided to attempt the fartlek approach to running, after text alerts encouraged me to try it. I did try a few days ago, on a subconscious level, as I speeded up every time the chorus of a particular song came on. But today was a more conscious effort to try fartlek and it was incredibly difficult, partly because I was doing it incorrectly. I discovered my mistakes later when I received advice about fartlek from the running forum. When I speeded up, I went all out, which was not the right way, and when I slowed down, I should have waited till I had recovered. The problem is, I should be sticking with building up my endurance and fartlek is perhaps more advisable for the more experienced, or at the very least, runners who are focusing on speed and race strategies. I feel very much a newbie in all of this, which is an observation and not a complaint; I have been running for less than 3 months and have yet to race. I think once I have my first 10km run (the Great Edinburgh Run) under my belt, I will feel a lot more experienced and less of a newbie. Today's run was a lot harder because of my attempts at fartlek, and my target of a planned lap route very nearly failed because I was struggling for the last five minutes. I also felt my chest tighten and pains that were from the sheer struggle. I was relieved to end the lap though I still had to half limp home, my right calf and knee ached terribly. Fetch informed me I did 3.82km in 28mins 31secs, not bad, it would have been much slower if I hadn't done fartlek. At the end of the day, I can report the right knee and calf are playing up again, aching strongly. But to add to that, I have been coughing a lot since I came back from my run. It's possible I caught the viral infection my son has and the wheezing from running could have exacerbated it. I feel very tired and the chest hurts from coughing and even breathing is uncomfortable at times. Lots of water has been drunk in an effort to stay healthy for running tomorrow. Today's run felt painful, the best word for it, and I feel it reflected my low fitness levels, which disappoints me somewhat. I do feel that I am fitter compared to three months ago but perhaps not at the level I hoped to be. It is possible my view is being negatively shaped by the weight scales which show my weight hasn't moved for a while, still sitting at a loss of 8pounds in less than 3 months, which is pretty rubbish by any standards. I'm aware of the whole fat/muscle issue and the need to keep eating as healthily as possible, it's just a little disheartening to not be making the progress one strives so hard for. However, less talk and more action, and if I don't cough so much tomorrow, I will be out running, pushing harder. I had a strange dream last night, about many different things, one part of it was about me walking to the Great Edinburgh Run and being surrounded by thousands of entrants. It was sunny and I felt positive about it but I realised I was late and unprepared (not exactly sure how) and a great sense of fear set in, the fear that I would finish last. The other runners were laughing and joking, and moved away to the starting line; I had gone with a friend but she was nowhere to be seen, and I realised I had no idea where the starting line was, and I became frantic in my attempts to find it. At which point I woke up, relieved it was just a nightmare. Still, I won't make any progress simply thinking about running, a lot of training to do before I am ready for the Salford 5km Run on 19th April.