Reminders from our friend Flu

I've been battling the flu for five days now. Five. I never made it to Memphis for Brian's grandmother's funeral. But the painful aching is over, my 100-degree fever has broken, I no longer feel like our apartment's heat is air conditioning and I haven't rushed to the bathroom in about five hours. Hopefully, I'll be able to sleep more than an hour at a time tonight for the first time since getting hit.

Flu's miserable. But getting hit with it has reminded me about a few important things:

1) I know my body really well. I got "hit" with my symptoms at about 9 p.m. on Tuesday. But the days prior to that, I knew something was up. I got back from Vegas on Friday, and all weekend just kept repeating, "I don't feel like myself -- not sick, just meh." I worked out Sunday, but it was so-so. I didn't have the energy I normally would have, even though I had gotten a few nights of good sleep. In spin class Monday, my joints hurt a lot and I had to cut my workout short -- same thing on Tuesday, when it felt as if none of my muscles had recovered from Sunday's or Monday's workouts. That was a huge clue something was up, and I resumed taking Echinacea Goldenseal. The big tipoff though was that I didn't care that I cut my workouts short -- I was just happy to stop.Which leads me to my next point:

2) When I'm really, really sick, I ultimately do not care about working out -- and that's a good thing. Give me a sinus infection or a cold and I'll quit working out after reasoning for myself that it's the right thing to do -- but I'll still count how many workouts I could get in, and think about next week's schedule, and ultimately ponder if it'll affect any of my races that are months away (it won't, but my mind will still go there). But when I'm really, really sick -- like with the flu -- I do not care. Even as I sit here now, 1,000 times better than I was a few days ago (hell, I'm on the computer and typing), I still do not care that I'm missing a workout because I still feel that shitty. I know some committed athletes would be beating themselves up or planning their next training session, and I'm thankful I'm able to be rational about working when I really need to rest up.

3) I completely and utterly appreciate having Brian around to take care of me when I'm in need. Even if I just have a cold or an upset stomach, Brian swings into caregiver mode. I try not to take advantage but do love that I can just relax and get better; knowing he's there is relief enough. He was at his grandmother's funeral this week, so it was just me. At times this week I was hunched over so much when I walked to the toilet I should have just crawled. I dropped things on the floor all the time with my weak and uncoorinated movements -- and of course had to clean up the red Gatorade I spilled on our new carpet and later the honey water I knocked over. These are extremely difficult tasks when it's difficult to roll over in bed. And when you run out of Gatorade or need Tums EX to keep your stomach from rebeling? I'm lucky to have friends who live nearby who picked up necessities, but it was awkward to ask and definitely inconveniencing. The second he came back, I already felt like I was healing faster -- it's clear I need him around. :)


4) My parents will still drop what they're doing to come take care of me if I let them. They're sick themselves and live 21 miles away, but they'll drop what they're doing to make me homemade chicken noodle soup and Jell-O, then drive it out to me through crappy Chicago traffic, with cans of Coke to boot (my mom's forgotten her own advice apparently about drinking clear liquids).

I didn't really need to experience Flu to know I knew my body; that Brian and my parents love me; that I'm not so addicted to working out that I can't take a break. But the reminders are good. They keep me in check. And we all need that, don't we?