I chose a route that started with an incline – a 60-foot climb. My overall pace remained consistent. Not bad for a second run in as many days.

Something has changed. In December 2019, I came down with something. I don’t know what it was, but it made the left half of my face numb, including the left half of my tongue. It started with a feeling of having water behind my eardrum. I went to urgent care, but the doctor didn’t see anything. Later, I talked to my primary doctor, but he couldn’t tell me what was happening. Around this time, I started feeling exhausted after running, to the point it would knock me out for three days. Then, in February of 2020, I was sick, sleeping for 31 hours straight. I didn’t even wake up to go to the bathroom. Until this last week, I have not been able to exercise regularly without feeling wiped out.

Now, I am feeling like my old self. I can push myself. My heart rate is not going through the roof. I was only managing 15-minute miles, and my heart rate was shooting up over 162 bpm. Today, I was managing a 13:30-minute mile average, and my heart rate only topped 161 for a few moments. So, yeah, something has changed.