Winter in Montreal makes it hard to stay in shape.
I'm not really equipped for winter running, and I hate gyms.
So my last run of 2021 was in late November.
When I went to Dallas in late January the weather was nice, so I went for a run one afternoon, and to my surprise, I was able to do 5k without stopping, not something I was expecting for my first run in 2 months. I followed that up a few days later with a treadmill run in the hotel gym positively confirming I hate that way too much to repeat the experience.
Fast forward to this week, back in Dallas but staying in a different area, I find a park with a 1 mile loop that seems ideal, so I go expecting to do 2 or 3 laps (3 or 5k).
After 1 mile I was completely spent, I had to quit. After driving back to the hotel, I spent 1h in bed coughing my lungs out. Part of my problem might have been starting the run with a pace too fast for me (a mistake I was doing quite a lot when I started running).
I went back this morning, paced myself better, and I did 2 laps, and I feel much better afterwards. I might have been able to continue a bit more, but I'd rather take it one step at a time.