Sickness strikes!
Last Sunday, I tried to write my weekly blog post, but couldn’t find any words. We had a hard workout that morning, and I spent the afternoon lying on the couch watching television. I was exhausted, not just from the workout, but from a tiring and long week of workouts and life.
I think my body may have been telling me something. I had a good swim on Tuesday evening and felt fine. I had an interval run on the schedule for Wednesday, which I did during my lunch break. This is when things started to go wrong.
Even during the 55-minute run, I could feel the illness creeping up on me. I probably should have toned the run down, but instead just tried to drink plenty of water. I was doing 5x 6 minutes at 8:30 and 1 minute rests at 10:00 (10 minute warm up, 10 minute warm down). I had to stop in the middle of the 5th interval to walk for 2 minutes before running again. These weren’t extreme intervals, so it’s clear my body was shouting at me to acknowledge the germs it was fighting off.
So acknowledge I did. Hard not to when the germs start throwing a fever, intense cough, runny nose, and body aches at me. Yep, sick.
I took time off work, because there’s nothing worse than one member of a shared office space hacking and sneezing toxic germs everywhere. I’m not going to be “that person” whose work is somehow more important than the health of everyone around them.
Plus my own health! Oh, what a test of patience this is for me! I did no exercise on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. On Saturday, I did take a short 30-minute walk to Peidmont Avenue to watch a movie, and then walked home. It wiped me out. Walking up the hills to my house (about 15%-18% grade) did a number on my delicate lungs.
These are the things I know:
I know these as facts, so mentally I’m okay with this cold happening now, during the base phase. However, I can’t help but worry about how I will stay healthy for the next 9 months. Did I get this cold because my immune system was stressed and overworked due to my training? Have I been working too hard? What happens when the volume starts to increase during our build phase and peak phase? Will my body be able to handle it?
For now, I’m going to keep the exertion to a minimum until I don’t cough up a lung trying to get out of bed. Then I’ll just have to do my best to eat healthy and get plenty of rest. Maybe I’ll incorporate some vitamins? Zinc? We’ll see.
I did get some core in! On Friday, my upper abdominals were incredibly sore, likely from all the coughing and nose blowing I was doing. If I make a point to engage my lower abdominals more in each cough, I could get an all-around workout during this cold!
Last Sunday, I tried to write my weekly blog post, but couldn’t find any words. We had a hard workout that morning, and I spent the afternoon lying on the couch watching television. I was exhausted, not just from the workout, but from a tiring and long week of workouts and life.
I think my body may have been telling me something. I had a good swim on Tuesday evening and felt fine. I had an interval run on the schedule for Wednesday, which I did during my lunch break. This is when things started to go wrong.
Even during the 55-minute run, I could feel the illness creeping up on me. I probably should have toned the run down, but instead just tried to drink plenty of water. I was doing 5x 6 minutes at 8:30 and 1 minute rests at 10:00 (10 minute warm up, 10 minute warm down). I had to stop in the middle of the 5th interval to walk for 2 minutes before running again. These weren’t extreme intervals, so it’s clear my body was shouting at me to acknowledge the germs it was fighting off.
So acknowledge I did. Hard not to when the germs start throwing a fever, intense cough, runny nose, and body aches at me. Yep, sick.
I took time off work, because there’s nothing worse than one member of a shared office space hacking and sneezing toxic germs everywhere. I’m not going to be “that person” whose work is somehow more important than the health of everyone around them.
Plus my own health! Oh, what a test of patience this is for me! I did no exercise on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. On Saturday, I did take a short 30-minute walk to Peidmont Avenue to watch a movie, and then walked home. It wiped me out. Walking up the hills to my house (about 15%-18% grade) did a number on my delicate lungs.
These are the things I know:
- I have over 9 months until my big event.
- Many people only train for an Ironman for 6-8 months.
- I began my training with a good base of physical fitness.
- A week without training may cause some short-term fitness loss, but will not take more than a couple weeks to regain.
- Bronchitis can take months to cure completely. If I stress my lungs, and allow worse than a cold to settle into them, I could severely derail my training.
I know these as facts, so mentally I’m okay with this cold happening now, during the base phase. However, I can’t help but worry about how I will stay healthy for the next 9 months. Did I get this cold because my immune system was stressed and overworked due to my training? Have I been working too hard? What happens when the volume starts to increase during our build phase and peak phase? Will my body be able to handle it?
For now, I’m going to keep the exertion to a minimum until I don’t cough up a lung trying to get out of bed. Then I’ll just have to do my best to eat healthy and get plenty of rest. Maybe I’ll incorporate some vitamins? Zinc? We’ll see.
I did get some core in! On Friday, my upper abdominals were incredibly sore, likely from all the coughing and nose blowing I was doing. If I make a point to engage my lower abdominals more in each cough, I could get an all-around workout during this cold!
Week 5 Mileage
Tuesday, December 11 Spin - 60 minutes The Sufferfest - Angels (hills) Wednesday, December 12 Run - 5 miles, 45 minutes Track workout, 6x4min at 8;00, 1 min walk Core - 20 minutes Thursday, December 13 Spin - 60 minutes Core - 25 minutes Friday, December 14 Elliptical - 40 minutes Saturday, December 15 - Coached Run - 15 minutes Video analysis filmed Spin - 60 minutes Core - 15 minutes Tire changing clinic - took me over 8 minutes, but mostly because my valve had a problem. But with the kevlar bead on my Gatorskins, feeling pretty good about 8. Sunday, December 16 - Coached Swim - 90 minutes, 3,100 yards Swam with the G3s, moving up! But couldn't quite keep up at the end. Goals! Run - 42 minutes, 4.75 miles Core - 50 minutes | Totals Swim: 1 hour 30 minutes, 3100 yards Bike: 3 hours Run: 2 hours 20 minutes, 10 miles Core: 1 hour 50 minutes Total: 8 hours 40 minutes |
Week 6 Mileage
Tuesday, December 18 Swim - 48 minutes, 2100 yards Wednesday, December 19 Run - 55 minutes, 6 miles Thursday, December 20 SICK! Friday, December 21 SICK! Saturday, December 22 SICK! (1 hour total of very slow walking, broken in the middle by 2 hours of sitting watching a movie.) Sunday, December 23 SICK! | Totals: Swim: 48 minutes, 2100 yards Run: 55 minutes, 6 miles Total: 1 hour 43 minutes |