Friday, October 16, 2009

Damn Pigs

There is nothing quite like missing two key long weekends in the final peak period before your first Ironman. Last weekend my body was run down enough that I felt the need to take a couple of unscheduled rest days. It seemed like the right thing to do. This week I started out strong again. But by Wednesday night something wasn't quite right. My back hurt to be touched, and my headache wasn't going away. Thursday I woke up feeling about as sore as when I got nailed by a car on my motorcycle. I came home early from work and had a fever of 102. Yep, the flu.

So, I'm typing this from my couch, while sitting in sweats that haven't been taken off in about 48 hours, peering through eyes glazed over by triple doses of Theraflu and everything else in the medicine cabinet that looked like it might bring my temperature down. It's a big ole pity party in my living room.

This isn't the ideal situation, obviously. But now my only option is to figure out how I can salvage the last 2 weeks before taper. Planning more than a few days out doesn't seem to be working for me right now, so I'm going to start with this:
--Get a good night sleep tonight and sleep in as long as I can tomorrow.
--Start with some easy stretches and then go for a 5 mile walk. If that goes well, I'll go for a 6-8 mile run/walk, making sure not to go above low Zone 2. Then crash for the rest of the day.
--On Sunday I'll start out on the trainer and try and get through the first 1/3 of Entourage Season 1. Then go cheer on the ladies doing the Girlfriends Half Marathon...while riding my bike around. Then do my 1 hour swim lesson.

There's a high probability that this plan is going to fail miserably and I'll end up right back in bed in my sexy sweats. But if it works, it will get me about 8 hours of aerobic activity this weekend, while not taxing my body too much. If I feel like it's hurting more than helping, I'll pull the plug. On Monday, I'll re-evaluate and modify the plan as needed.

To end this post on a fun note, here is a pic of Dingo Dave in the t-shirt that I got to design for him. This past summer we raced each other at the Blue Lake Olympic triathlon. As you can see, I won. :-) He has to wear it tonight to the annual PDXKayaker film festival. I just regret that I'm too sick to attend and won't get to see him prance around in it. And, yes, those are fairy wings sticking off the back. Special thanks to Carrie & Alex for their help in the design!