Reassessing Own Running Goals While Sidelined

I'm writing this at my local McDonalds...the one closest to my house...after having entered my favorite Starbucks at Magnolia Parke and, seeing no available seats and the long line of customers snaking around the back of the store to the door, got back into my car and drove around the corner to this place.  I have grown to like iced coffee...the largest "venti" size that Starbucks offers, with tax, comes to $3.15 while I can get one here at Mickey D's for only $1.48: just as good, but without the long lines while enjoying plenty of seating space...and with free Wi-Fi to boot.  Oh, and I think I forgot to mention that it's a lot quieter here as well, even factoring in the occasional loud child.  Probably should have come here first...

It's approaching the end of January and, had things gone the way I had intended for them to go, I would now be in prime distance-running shape, having run the Ocala Half-Marathon a couple of weeks ago and the Newnans Lake 15K here in Gainesville yesterday...and would be gearing up for the FivePoints Half-Marathon, also held in town, in three weeks.   Instead, I am recovering from the residual effects of an upper-respiratory infection I caught earlier in the month that produced a severe sore throat and a confounding residual cough due to scarring and sensitivity. I don't know how long it will be until all is healed, but this has really set back my running efforts considerably...no, I ran neither race in Ocala or Newnans Lake and it doesn't look as if I'll be ready to tackle that half-marathon course through Gainesville in three weeks.  In short, I've been forced to sideline myself for a while from running.  How long?  I'll be surprised if, in a couple of weeks, I'm not ready to hit the road again...but forget about any racing until at least March...or maybe even later...

In the meantime, I've taken the time to assess where I'm at with my running and, considering my age (60), whether it might not be more advisable to expand my activities into bicycling and (fast)walking.  The idea would be to alternate running with the bicycle on consecutive days, with a good, long walk for that odd seventh day of the week.  It sounds like a reasonable course of action to take, and I could still run in the 5K-10K races that are more available here and which are spread out more throughout the year than are the longer distances.  But first: rest, rest, and more rest!