Only human
As athletes, we sometimes get caught up in the more then only human mind-set. We are stronger, more healthy and more resistant to things. That's true, to a point. It's also hard to determine when you've pushed past that point until it's too late. Sometimes it's there's a clear line, like an injury - but with most cases it's a gradual build of just not feeling "right."
I'm as bad as the rest of them - both in feeling invincible to illness or injury and then ignoring that something has been holding me back. Back over Christmas Break, I got something - the crud that was floating around. Started out with three days of just miserable sore throat, so bad I couldn't even sleep because any kind of swallowing was pain. The sore throat turned into fatigue and congestion, which turned into severe congestion, unending coughing and fever. I of course ignored all of that, even after spending an entire night awake coughing up crap. I would take a few days off, but not much. And I still wanted to race the Rescue Run 5k. I've never been known to make the best choices....
All through January, with the Winter Series races and my bike workouts, I felt like I was struggling. I had gone from running some of my fastest times on local loops to just feeling run down and tired. I thought I'd recovered enough from the crud, but wasn't sure. Maybe another recovery week... I was still coughing a little, still really tired and not motivated to do much of anything. The Winter Series races felt like hard efforts despite not running that fast and not having any spunk at all. Getting up to pace was a struggle. And on the bike it was even worse. No power at all, with numbers much lower then I was used to seeing - even indoors. What was wrong? Did I need another recovery week? But that didn't help. I would finish the recovery week still feeling exhausted.
Of course, I kept racing and pushing myself. The Game Day 5k was another disappointing race. A solid start and then no energy to bring it home. And with the lack of energy, came the emotional let down. I felt like I was going backward. On a flat course, I should have been able to run faster then at the Rescue Run. Again, the doubts plaguing my mind about what was going on. The third race in the Winter Series was another nail of self doubt. A pace that I should have been able to hold, even with the snowy conditions, was a struggle. The motivation to be there, running was gone and all I wanted to do was go to sleep when I got home. I felt so run down and tired.
Finally, something broke. The rundown feeling developed into a sinus infection - something I've never had before. The pain from the sinus pressure was incredible and I just totally felt like shit. After two days of feeling like crap with sinus pressure, more coughing and slight fever, I finally gave in. Time to go to the doctor. And lo and behold! Rattles in my left upper lobe, not good. Time for a chest x-ray. There was a small amount of infiltrate in the left upper lobe - not much and barely a clinical positive. But combined with the rattles and the fact that I'd been feeling like crap with some low level coughing since the beginning of January, the doctor decided that it was time for some drugs. Of course, I ran the last race in the Winter Series - I'd gotten that far and couldn't bring myself to drop out with just an hour and forty minutes of running left. I gave myself permission to take it easy though, walk when I needed and generally chill out with the sole goal of reaching the finish line. And then it would be time for some solid recovery. Give my body a chance to work with the drugs to clear out whatever's been lurking.
Hopefully, I've learned my lesson for this year. I'm only human and I need to pay more attention to what my body is trying to tell me. With some big events coming up, I have to get healthy. I can't look back at what might feel like a wasted two months from not being healthy. I can only look forward.
I'm as bad as the rest of them - both in feeling invincible to illness or injury and then ignoring that something has been holding me back. Back over Christmas Break, I got something - the crud that was floating around. Started out with three days of just miserable sore throat, so bad I couldn't even sleep because any kind of swallowing was pain. The sore throat turned into fatigue and congestion, which turned into severe congestion, unending coughing and fever. I of course ignored all of that, even after spending an entire night awake coughing up crap. I would take a few days off, but not much. And I still wanted to race the Rescue Run 5k. I've never been known to make the best choices....
All through January, with the Winter Series races and my bike workouts, I felt like I was struggling. I had gone from running some of my fastest times on local loops to just feeling run down and tired. I thought I'd recovered enough from the crud, but wasn't sure. Maybe another recovery week... I was still coughing a little, still really tired and not motivated to do much of anything. The Winter Series races felt like hard efforts despite not running that fast and not having any spunk at all. Getting up to pace was a struggle. And on the bike it was even worse. No power at all, with numbers much lower then I was used to seeing - even indoors. What was wrong? Did I need another recovery week? But that didn't help. I would finish the recovery week still feeling exhausted.
Of course, I kept racing and pushing myself. The Game Day 5k was another disappointing race. A solid start and then no energy to bring it home. And with the lack of energy, came the emotional let down. I felt like I was going backward. On a flat course, I should have been able to run faster then at the Rescue Run. Again, the doubts plaguing my mind about what was going on. The third race in the Winter Series was another nail of self doubt. A pace that I should have been able to hold, even with the snowy conditions, was a struggle. The motivation to be there, running was gone and all I wanted to do was go to sleep when I got home. I felt so run down and tired.
Finally, something broke. The rundown feeling developed into a sinus infection - something I've never had before. The pain from the sinus pressure was incredible and I just totally felt like shit. After two days of feeling like crap with sinus pressure, more coughing and slight fever, I finally gave in. Time to go to the doctor. And lo and behold! Rattles in my left upper lobe, not good. Time for a chest x-ray. There was a small amount of infiltrate in the left upper lobe - not much and barely a clinical positive. But combined with the rattles and the fact that I'd been feeling like crap with some low level coughing since the beginning of January, the doctor decided that it was time for some drugs. Of course, I ran the last race in the Winter Series - I'd gotten that far and couldn't bring myself to drop out with just an hour and forty minutes of running left. I gave myself permission to take it easy though, walk when I needed and generally chill out with the sole goal of reaching the finish line. And then it would be time for some solid recovery. Give my body a chance to work with the drugs to clear out whatever's been lurking.
Hopefully, I've learned my lesson for this year. I'm only human and I need to pay more attention to what my body is trying to tell me. With some big events coming up, I have to get healthy. I can't look back at what might feel like a wasted two months from not being healthy. I can only look forward.
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