I kept looking for a box that said "Horrible, Crappy Miles," but "Easy" was the closest option available. After my back issues that kept me out for the first half of last week, I came down with a nasty chest cold/bronchial infection that was bad enough to keep me off the streets for another several days. As a result, today was my first day out in 9 days, and I paid for it. Although my cold is clearly on the mend, the congestion is still going strong and had me wheezing throughout the second half of the "run." In addition, I had a new pain in my inner right knee that was fairly severe for about the first mile (I almost turned around and went home). The pain lessened as I started to warm up, but never fully abated. I expect it's just one of those old-man issues that crops up as a result of taking too many days off, but I'll keep an eye on it. I was supposed to run 12 this morning, but there was no way that was going to happen with the way I was feeling. It was like trying to start an old car that's been sitting out in the bitter cold for a few weeks. That's apparently what I've come to at the age of 35. | 