Coughing until my lungs explode

I've had this chronic cough for nearly a week now. It's the same cough I had back in July that wouldn't go away. It sounds like a cigar smoker's dry cough. The hacking I do every so often won't loosen up the phlegm that I know is there. All I end up doing is make a horrible noise, have my eyes bug out and water, my lungs burn and my whole face turns beet red. The coughing takes a lot out of me. I'm exhausted after. And the lack of sleep I have been getting and the forced training runs I am doing regularly doesn't help either. But I've been in worse health before and I figure if I can walk and talk, I'm fine.

To keep my plate as full as possible, I registered for the Turkey Trot 6m run on Thanksgiving Day. Why not, I thought. Besides, the money goes to my alma mater high school track and field team. The very team I started my running career with. And they need the cash. The jerseys they wear are fugly.