The ho-ho-holidays and what it did to me

Well, it's back to the grove, now that the holidays are over, right? Well, not so fast for me unfortunately. Seems like I didn't quite survive the frequent run-ins with shoppers, extended family members and kids, along with the -4 degree weather in Chicago. Yep, I'm sick. And not just whimpy ol' sick, but bronchitis!

I never get sick.

But, apparently, somewhere along the way I did.

I will say I did complete a great 5.5 mile run on Christmas Day. It was sunny and WARM in TX and I was running in shorts and a tee! Go figure. (Gotta love TX weather.) Then the following Monday, before New Year's, I decided to pull myself out of the house and go for a run, and I had the worst run I've had in years.

I was so tired. I had to walk in the FIRST MILE! I knew something was wrong when that happened. I hadn't had to do that in a really, really long time. My chest was heavy and I was spitting out a lot of phlegm (not to get too into the nitty gritty details for ya). I stopped at the Y and considered calling my husband for a ride back, but I thought maybe - for some strange reason - I lost any amount of endurance since the Thursday before, which is completely doubtful. I decided to do some weights and run back instead. The run back was a bit easier (of course, this was all down hill, unlike the first 1.5 miles uphill), but still wasn't easy.

Tuesday I took another try at running to the gym before doing a swim. A little easier than Monday but still not good. My swim was as good as it could be for a workout on my own and a couple weeks out of the pool. And then I hitched a ride back with Bryon, who was doing weights (and drove my swim bag up to the gym - thank you! :)).

After Tuesday, I went completely downhill from there. My sinuses kicked in, which led me and our tri group to say it was the over-chlorinated indoor pool at the Y, but then by Friday I was exhausted. Saturday and Sunday were spent in PJs all day long and on the couch.

So much for my last week of vacation.

Fast forward to this week. Monday and Tuesday my chest wasn't feeling much better and now I was exasperated when walking down the hall in the office or talking. FINALLY went to the doctor Wednesday and did several tests and an X-ray to determine I have bronchitis. Gee. Good times. I asked when I can start training again and she laughed at me and said "Please, give me one more week!" Ugh, fine.

Well, I didn't quite listen to her - I did weights this morning while Bryon ran for the first time since the Turkey Trot and his back injections. Then one of our training buddies said I better be careful or I can enlarge my heart. What?!? Yikes! I slowed down after that.

Anyways, due to the unfortunate event of this illness, it looks like I have to bail out of my group's 100x100 swim on Sunday. Yes, that 100 100yds swim, which would equal out to 10,000 yards of swimming. Which equals 5.68 miles. Bryon and I were going to relay it, but we'll see how I feel...

Hope everyone else made it through the holidays healthy and moving!