Chicago and Running While Sick

We are back from our mini-vacation to Chicago! We saw a lot in a few short days and had a great time. Shamefully I didn't take advantage of the fitness room at our hotel but we walked miles every day so at least I was being somewhat active. On Saturday, Pete and I both had sore throats... we were wondering if it was due to our hotel room being really dry - but Sunday they were even worse. Spent four hours in a car driving home and by the time we got back I was straight up miserable. Luckily Pete felt better yesterday and went to work, but I'm still feeling like total yuck. My sore throat is gone, but I feel like my head has 100 pounds of snot in it and I've got the whole coughing/sneezing/runny nose going on.

Sunday was spent in the car and laying around. Yesterday wasn't much better. I'm still sick today but I said enough was enough - I had to get off my butt and do something. I have a 5K coming up on Saturday that I've done no preparation for and laying around obviously isn't making me feel better, so I decided to try going for a run.

I did more walking than running, it was hot out and I forgot to bring tissues with me so by the time I got home I was a sweaty, snotty mess. It wasn't a pretty run but I am so glad I did it. I listened to an audiobook instead of music and I really enjoyed that. I changed up the route I took and was happy to see that it ends up being a 5K! So I've got another practice route mapped out now.

I start my new job tomorrow. I'm really nervous. Not about the work itself, I know I can handle that - just meeting new people. It's a small clinic, will they like me? Will I like them? I hope so. I'm also hoping I feel better because having a leaky nose all day is not going to make a great first impression.

I'm choosing not to go into a lot of details about the Chicago trip... mostly because I don't feel well but partly because I don't want to bore you. We went to the Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum (home of Sue, the T-Rex), The Museum of Science and Industry (Brady LOVED it), Navy Pier (yes, we rode the ferris wheel!) and Willis Tower. We also went to some awesome food places - Bob Chinns, Bubba Gumps, Portillos (I had a chicago style hot dog!) and the Billy Goat tavern (made famous from an old SNL skit). I'll leave you with a picture of Pete, Brady and me on the Skydeck Ledge at Willis Tower...

So readers - please comment! I feel like nobody is out there but my page is getting traffic so I've just got quiet people coming by. Which is fine, but it'd be cool to meet other runners/bloggers so don't be shy! How many of you listen to audiobooks while running instead of music? Want to share an experience you had running while sick?