Running blues

I am not so stoked about having completed my long run as I had hoped.

I think the reason I have been avoiding running as much as I had planned to this week, is because I had a vague, inchoate sense that something was not right with my body. Something ails me. I'm not sure what it is, but something definitely ain't right.

I only ran just over a half-marathon distance today. I have run as far 3 or 4 other times since I returned to Beijing in mid-August. During my summer trip to the UK, I ran considerably further on at least a few occasions. This kind of distance should be relatively easy for me. I should be capable of pushing several miles further if I really wanted to. But today, I struggled to finish even this distance. And I feel like complete SHIT afterwards.

Oh, maybe it's just the pollution or the weather (it is very noticeable how much easier it is to run long distances in Scotland or Wales - or even in London! - than it is here). Maybe I have just got a bit out of shape after a month of not running very much. I hope so. But I really don't feel good. And hypochondriac fears are beginning to nag at me.