May, Philosophers Trail, then some time off

The month of May started off good.  The Philosophers Trail Runs race was early in the month.  Had a lot of fun, even though my time was still a bit slower than I expected.  Here I am getting close to the end of the 15K, somewhere around the 2 hour mark.

The week after the race was a different story.  Had reasonable runs at lunch on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then took a few days off.  I had planned on starting up my long runs again over the weekend.  However, I had a bit of pain in my shoulder, followed by an odd rash.  So, I went to the doctor.  Not one of my favorite things to do.  Got the bad news that the pain and rash were caused by shingles.  I asked the doctor if I could keep on running.  The answer I got was sure, if you feel up to it.  But the reality was that no, I did not feel up to it.  Not even close.  

The pain got a bit worse each day for a week or so.  And its now going on 4 weeks of no running.  Rash is finally starting to clear up, but the pain in the shoulder is still there.  Hopefully, that too will ease up in a week or so.

So, I am now in a period of down time.  Nothing at all on the calendar, but I am looking at what half marathons are nearby for the fall.  And if all goes well, I should be able to start base building again in another week or so.