Recovery after a substantial race effort – like my half marathon two weeks ago – is not something to take lightly. I was feeling a little tired the week after the race, but my training volume was somewhat reduced to help me bounce back and get on top of training for that half iron distance triathlon I’m doing in five(!) weeks.
Then the mild cold I’d picked up post-race turned into a beast that forced me to take two sick days in a row – something I haven’t done since I started working full time a decade ago.
There’s no point in evaluating how much this hurt my training overall. I tried to keep up with it, mostly with the intent of using some aerobic activity to make me feel better, and generally failed. It’s done.
And it definitely wasn’t all a loss. The boyfriend made me some vegetable-packed chicken soup to try to help me recover from this stubborn respiratory illness. Now while that was great, even more notable is that while he was making said soup, I found out that he’d never microwaved a Peep before.
Situation remedied.
Monday: Under the theory that aerobic activity usually makes me feel better when I’m sick, make an attempt at a 50 minute run. Cut it short to a 20 minute run/10 minute walk home when I started blacking out. Wimpy, I know.
Tuesday: Again, under the theory that a workout will make me feel better, head out for a 2700 meter swim with DCRP Masters that wasn’t ridiculously slow. Yes! Getting better! I’ll be at work tomorrow.
Wednesday: Go to work. Get sent home. Return to bed. Go out for a 4 mile run with 2 miles of race pace work in the evening under the exact same theory about exercise making me feel better. It kind of works, even though the “race pace” work was not my race pace.
Thursday: Easy hour on the bike trainer before a half day of work (finally), which was a short day ONLY because I had to go to Gainesville, FL to judge the collegiate national synchronized swimming championships in the afternoon. Deferred the 40 minute strength training session in favor of sleeping extra in a marginally successful attempt to beat the lingering illness.
Friday: 40 minutes of hotel-room based strength training in the morning, much to the amusement of the judge I was sharing a room with. Since I didn’t have access to weights…squats/lunges/planks/core work it was. Also to the amusement of my fellow judges, I got in a 3700 yard workout with some nice 1:20/100 yard pace efforts during a break in the meet. All better? Maybe?
Saturday: "All better" was a false alarm, as evidenced by my slow, slow 7 mile run alongside the scenic strip malls of Gainesville at 5:15 am that involved extra core work thanks to the intense coughing. Bonus!
Sunday: Finally back in DC, it was time for the first bike-run effort of the year. 30 miles of biking followed immediately by 3 miles of running – which I finished at a faster pace than the Saturday run. Obviously, I need to bike a couple of hours before I run. Either that, or I’m an inconsistent idiot. Hard to say.
Worst part of the week: I basically hacked my training plan into unrecognizable pieces and spent a non-negligible portion of my week having coughing fits.
Best part of the week: Microwave+Peep.
LOL. I loved that you microed a peep :)
ReplyDeletehope you are feeling better and can get back to normal training this week. I can't believe your half is in 5 weeks!
That still seems like a lot of exercise for a sick week to me. Being sick blows, hope you are doing better!
ReplyDeleteI've never microwaved a peep.
I was sick last week too but I was on my honeymoon in Hawaii. I did no running and felt like I was going to cough up my lungs.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're feeling better!
I've never microwaved a peep either... must try this.