Jan 22

Jan 22 The Common Cold

There are lots of things that can get you out of your normal exercise routine. I’ve certainly relaxed my self-imposed dedication when on vacation. Who doesn’t? Times have come up when certain work deadlines have dictated that I spend more time performing my assigned tasks and less time pounding the pavement. That will happen. Even weather events can slow down the exercise you want to get done. I certainly didn’t get to run as much last year when there was 36 inches of snow on the ground. These things happens. However, I don’t find any of these excuses as frustrating as the hurt your workouts can take when you become afflicted with that most annoying of illnesses; the common cold.

It all started Sunday morning when I woke up with a bit of a scratchy throat but nothing that was too sinister. Since I wasn't knocking on death's door I decided to keep my scheduled OrangeTheory workout and made my way to the gym at 8:30am. I guess it was about half way through the workout when I started to feel much worse. I was sweating that cold, sick sweat instead of the warm, workout sweat. My heart rate was up at 85 to 90 percent of my max even though I was running .5 to 1.0 MPH less than normal. It wasn't going well.

Once I got home and showered it just kept going downhill. My temperature rose to 99.9. For some that may not sound so bad but my normal temperature is a bit lower than average; usually around 97.5. So that means my 99.9 is the average person's temperature of about 100.9. It was so bad that I fell asleep in the hall about 8:15 while I was putting Cece down for the night. It was rough.

I fought the fight for about four days. I didn't really work out at all during that time. It wasn't until Thursday that I felt up to getting in some exercise but it was rainy so I tried a brief run on the basement treadmill. I struggled through 3 miles at a minimal pace and was gasping for breath. It was a struggle.

What is the point of all this rambling about fighting an illness that we all have fought at some point or another? The point is to vent some frustration about how hard it is to see improvement but how easy it is to lose those gains. In less than a week I feel like I've lost months of progress in my running. It was just November when I ran my first sub-30 minute 5K but after this week I'm not sure I could match that feat again right now.

It's not like I was being lazy. If I had consciously decided to not exercise and to lay around napping then I feel like I certainly would deserve to lose those hard fought seconds on my 5K time. Getting infected with some virus was like bad luck. It doesn't seem fair to lose those benefits through no fault of your own. That is what makes it really frustrating.

How do you overcome frustrating setbacks? What tips do you have for continuing to work hard after a slip? Do you workout when you are sick?