well, after almost 2 weeks on my training schedule, i woke up yesterday with a slightly runny nose and a bit of a cough. was feeling a little tired, but just figured it was a result of having 2 whole days off to myself and the crazy dance party that was saturday night. i thought about whether or not to exercise with the feeling that a cold might be coming on and ran the idea by my friend jon who is a crazy workout guy. we discussed the pros and cons of going and i decided that the fresh air and the increase in basal body temperature might bump off any cruddies growing in my body. well, i decided to go for the speed walk (3 minute warm up, 25 minute at a PRE of 7 and 3 minute cool down) but to only go at a PRE of about 5, which with the beginnings of a cold probably was closer to a 7 anyway since i was perceiving most all activities as difficult. at any rate, i suited up in my workout wear and leashed up the dog and headed to the track. the walk itself was good, mostly uneventful, and when i got back i decided to make some soup since i wasn't really in an eating mood (definite sign of sickness by the way!) although the soup looked good, it went uneaten as i had lost all desire to eat at this point.
at this time it was about 3 pm and i was starting to feel a little worse, the stuffies had gotten much stuffier and i was feeling pretty short of breath even just sitting still on the couch. Over the next 3-4 hours, I realized that I was quite feverish and was coughing pretty hard and my ribs were starting to get sore. I put myself to bed around 8:30 and tried to get some sleep as i had class to teach in the a.m. as each hour passed, i would wake up with bigger bouts of coughing and wheezing and was starting to expel some pretty ugly stuff. The worst part was that it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest and all of muscles had become exhausted from coughing, so even to blow my nose was more effort than my obliques and intercostals could stand. By 6 am, i knew i wasn't going to work, so i called off and tried to go back to sleep, but my bed was really soaked with sweat and i was super stinky so i got up and took a cool shower. i then moved to the futon and tried to drink some fluids which was unpleasant.
at noon, i went to the doctor to get checked out and it turns out i have bronchial pneumonia. more unpleasant is the fact that it was caused by asthma that is probably brought about by exercise and being outdoors in the allergens. I told my doctor about the training and he recommended taking at least 5 days off to let my body heal and then moving back into training slowly. I am glad that the doctor figured out what was going on with me and that we are working out a plan to get my asthma under control so that I can safely continue to train, but I am a little frustrated with the setback. this is the second time that I have had a medical issue get in the way of progress and it is hard to not be able to perform the way that i want. i know that i have to respect my body and let it find it's own way, but i just want to be strong and healthy and it is a little frustrating to not be able to move forward the way that i would like. of course, i would also like to be able to run 13 miles tommorrow and that isn't a realistic goal either, so i guess i just need to have a bit of a reality check.
oh, one side note, it seems that the lower lobes of my lungs had seized and that was why it felt like there was an elephant sitting on me. fortunately, a few hits of an albuterol inhaler and some high dose prednisone and that let go some. i am already feeling the relief of the medication. plus, now that shelby and i are on the same meds, i can really relate to what she has been experiencing. poor pup :(
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2 comments:
Bummer! Sorry to hear you are sick. And asthma is no fun. I remember always having to take a hit or two of Ventalin when I used to run in the Northeast. Fortunately, I haven't had that issue out here (knock on wood), but I can relate to the wheezing and elephant on chest feeling.
Keep in mind though, this is really only a minor stumbling block in the training. You have plenty of time--feel free to use it! Any good training program includes time to rest and heal your body if needed.
You're in this for the long haul. Listen to your body, it will tell you what it needs to be healthy!
Feel better Sis--love ya!
Double up on the words of sympathy about the sick. It is good however to know that there is an Asthma monster lurking and you can be prepared with garlic or silver bullets or all butter inhalers. Doesn't that increase your cholesterol?
Don't forget they gave Grammie Daniel prednisone when she had heart problems and Mom got it when her back was hurt. This seems to be a chick med of choice with 4 generations using it.
Be good to your body and it will return the favor.
Feel better...luv ya
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