Jason vs. The Cold and/or Flu

I had a great start to the weekend.  I really did.  Friday night I had to finish Week 2 of the Couch To 5k running program.  I felt great after it.  A good workout, 90 seconds of running followed by 2 minutes of brisk walking, repeating that for 25 minutes or so.  I felt so good that I actually extended it by about 10 minutes.  I pushed it a little too far, as I was pretty sore from it, but I still felt great.  Quite a feat for a 332 pound 33 year old.  I was feeling pretty damn good about myself.

After that, I took the boys and headed out to Sears to pick up an exercise bike (gotta love price-matching and diligent searching).  I set the bike up that night, did a little on it in front of NBA 2k10.  Still felt great.

The next morning, I was picked up by Steph and Drew for Strength in Numbers Walkathon and 5k in Ithaca.  We were doing the walk.  My good friend (and unofficial AtOurPace mascot) Mike Bruton was doing the 5k run.  He did great.  We did the walk after, and we did great.

Steph and Drew dropped me off, and I had a great time at home alone catching up on all the outdoor work that hadn't been done.  Winterizing, picking up, getting the yard looking like it didn't get wiped out in a nuclear holocaust.  I felt great.  Was thinking about starting week 3 of the running program.

Amy got home with the kids, and we all headed to the bowling alley for our league night with Steph and Drew and the 'At Our Pace Tastefully Simple Extreme Bowling Team'.  Or the 'Tastefully Simple At Our Pace Extreme Bowling Team'.  Or 'Two Chicks and Two Guys That Can't Bowl for Crap That Think the Name Parker Bohn III is absolutely hilarious...Extreme Bowling Team'.  Conrad was great, Seth wasn't, but we still had a good time.

We headed home, and I could feel a little scratchiness in my throat.  I didn't give it much thought.  I went to bed around 11:30.

I woke up at 1 am.  And 1:30 am.  And 1:45 am.  And several more am's throughout the night.  Each time I felt worse.  I was having crazy dreams.  I was tasked with driving a semi from Oswego or something back to Auburn, and I kept on hitting things.

It was weird.

By the time morning rolled around, I had felt like the truck had hit me.  It wasn't pretty.  I must have looked like some fat zombie with a monster drooling  problem.  It was horrible.  My entire body was wracked with pain.  Even sitting up in bed caused me to be exhausted.  The running program wasn't going to be continuing on Sunday.  I had taken 3 showers from 1 am to 5 am, the shower being the only real relief I felt.  From 5 am to 10 am I took three more.  That's pretty much how the day went for me.  It was shower, rest, sleep a little, shower, and repeat.  I had to do some running around with Amy that afternoon after she finished her bowling tournament, and it was brutal.  We went to Clay to get her "car fixed" (at Target, and stores like that, parents know what I'm getting at here) and walking around the stores was brutal.  I thought I was dying.

But here's the thing.  I was ravenous.  I wasn't controlling it.  I ate everything that I came across.  Here I was, thinking I had this whole eating thing down.  I don't.  My diet took a monster hit.  That has kept up, too.  All day Sunday and all day today, I'm insatiable.  All I want to do is eat.

I still don't feel right, and this is Monday.  If I want to get week 3 in for the couch to 5k, I have to start tomorrow.  I will start tomorrow, regardless of how I feel.  I just can't put it off.  I miss it.  I miss the feeling of accomplishment I get after.

I guess the moral here is never assume you have something under control.  Even something as simple as a cold can derail you.  I'm broken, but not beaten.  I'm excited for tomorrow.  I might even try to get on the bike tonight for a little cardio in front of the football game.  Tomorrow is right back to healthy eating.  I have some interesting recipes I can't wait to try, and if they're good, we'll post them.

I have set an interim goal.  There is a 5k run in Seneca Falls in December.  The running program will done the week before that, so I'll have a week in between to do some longer runs on my own.  I will run in this 5k.  I will be able to finish it.

My will shall shape my future.