I'm back baby!

So, after 3+ weeks of being sick, the final one keeping me from training at all, I'm back in the game. I wish I could say I'm completely healthy, but I'm still sneezing. Hopefully it's my old cold hanging on a bit rather then another one hitting me. It's no longer in the chest though, so I intend to get back to my workouts.

Tuesday I went for a short run and did a bike on the trainer. I didn't go to hard, but both felt good. The run was only 20 minutes, and besides a very short walk to puff my inhaler (common need for me when I'm sick or it's really cold out), I ran the entire time at a decent pace. I still remember how intimidating the first 20 minute run in the C25K program seemed. Now, I can do it after coming off an illness and not being 100 percent. Victory for me!

What did make me feel completely out of shape though was yesterday evening's swim. I can't remember the last time I felt so inept in the pool. I couldn't seem to keep my form right and I was getting really winded. Normally I can easily swim 500-1000 metres without needing a break. Yesterday I was stopping for a breather every 50-100. It was brutal. I only hope that a couple more swims and I'll regain the form I had before and once I kick this cold the rest of the way, I'll regain the stamina.

One thing I'm not sure about is my running mileage. After a week long break, how quickly is it safe to return to the mileage I was doing before? In general with training, I follow the 10% rule, and don't increase by more then that. Obviously, after being sick, I don't need to start at zero. If I keep my pace easy, can I go right back up to my previous volume? Or should I take a week or two to build back to it?