Down with the Sickness

You know that song? It is a heavy metal song...pretty hard rock song- by a band called Disturbed. Yes, I listen to it sometimes. When I am running or cycling really hard- something I was not doing this week. Because, I was literally down- with a bad sickness. A head cold from you know where. I haven't been this sick in- I don't know when. It knocked me out after my race 2 weekends ago. I raced hard- then, trained hard the week after..started feeling bad last Friday...and then the beginning of this week was a blur. I had to get antibiotics on Tuesday morning. I have a Z-pack and now I am on my 5th day tomorrow. Today, I feel like a new woman. It is amazing just how much better you feel after you feel sooo bad. I don't ever remember feeling this good! When I woke up Thursday and felt like I wanted to walk to the bathroom rather than just stay in bed and pee my pants, I knew I was turning a corner. I single-handedly filled up the Recycling container outside my house with gatorade and water bottles from the week. I went through 2 over the counter day AND night cold pill boxes. And, my favorite- the Sudafed you get with your license behind the counter- that stuff makes you feel like super woman! In all honesty, you have to truly appreciate your health when you have it. I feel like it is easy to go too hard when you are a very good athlete because sometimes you don't know what it feels like to feel "fresh." Most times you are always recovering. Your legs are always a bit heavy. Your shoulders are a bit tight. Your feet are always a bit sore. I don't know that I have ever felt completely fresh- even when I am tapering for an Ironman, you still feel ways to feel a bit "off." But, when you are training and you might be feeling like you are getting a bit sick, some things to take notice of are: 1. Scratchy throat 2. Tough to finish workouts that you can normally do easily 3. Overheating 4. Increased thirst 5. If you are wearing a HR monitor, a higher HR 6. Hard to fall asleep 7. Decreased appetite I can go on...but these cues are the things that helped cue me in to my sickness- which was basically, acute bronchitis. I know that I got hit pretty hard with this, but it wouldn't have been as bad if I didn't train as hard when I felt these things above. I let it go for a few days, and then the cold came to a head. Some things you can do to prevent this are simple: eat well, get enough sleep, and recover when you feel like you need. Listen to your body. It is that easy. If you are training, want to train, or hoping that your training gets better, take care of yourself. Hydrate- fuel your body with good food, and make sure your rest is quality. Now go train hard!