The NyQuil in me is only allowing time for a 4-picture post.

Picture #1:

Unlike yesterday morning where I ditched my workout because I had a low-grade fever, this morning I sucked it up, buttercup, and did my total body weight workout while the cat supervised.

Hyooman you a wimp.  Workout harder.

Picture #2:

This made me pretty happy, because it opened up my sinuses long enough for me to give them a good rinse.  Didn't really want to know about my sinus rinsing?  Well, too late.

Sinus rinses for everyone!

Picture #3:

Hubbs and I went out to dinner and he ordered this delicious brownie with ice cream.  Normally, I would have inhaled it all before he could get his spoon pointed in the direction of the plate, so me not having any of this was a huge dietary win for me.

mmmmmmmmmm NOPE

Picture #4:

Small dog is bored and the post shall end now.

Bored by the boringness of the boring post.

Quick!  The learnings!

• That feeling when you get home and take NyQuil and then feel like everything else you do afterwards is racing the clock before you pass out.
• I mean, seriously - I never ever passed up a brownie until today.  I think my sugar addiction is waning.
• Even more seriously - how big is that little dog's mouth??  It's almost freakishly large.
• I think we've all learned that the world is a much better place without blog posts written whilst hopped up on NyQuil.  Yep.

Tomorrow's workout:  20 miler on the schedule...let's see how many of those miles actually get done.

Yet another quick post before the NyQuil takes me.

I didn't blog yesterday because I had a late meeting at work last night.  But rest assured I managed to get a really bad selfie with recovery cat after I did Cathe's PHA workout.

Don't hate me, hyoomans, because I get da rubs.

Today I made one of the other members of my zoo happy by taking him for a tempo run that was supposedly at marathon pace.

TAKE ME RUNNING WOMAN

It was a little nippy out for a March morning, but we braved the cold and managed to, of course, run the tempo too fast.  I blame it all on large dog being generally over-exuberant about the run.

FYI: My marathon pace doesn't have an "8" in it.  At all.

But the run was, overall, a nice run, especially since I dug out a pair of fleece-lined running tights I completely forgot I had nabbed at a TJ Maxx and--you're not going to believe this--when I ran in them, they didn't fall down causing me to chafe in unmentionable places.  I would give the brand a really large shout-out....but there's no brand on them.  That's the risk you take when you get your gear at TJ Maxx, I guess.

The dog bed really completes this pic.

There's also a risk when you're writing a blog post hopped up on NyQuil that it will end abruptly because it's sleepy time now, seeing as this little runner is getting sick and all.

NyQuil-laced learnings:

• I got this dumb cold from the hubbs.  Stoopid germ-riddled husbands.
• Didn't stop me from running, though.  Because I'm a moron.
• I just need to be better soon for my 20 miler on Saturday.
• I also need to go to bed.  Nite, all!

Tomorrow's workout: 30 minutes on the bike.

When all you want is your face and teeth to stop hurting.

I did something incredibly stupid yesterday.  I went for a 3 mile run with large dog.

Large dog be like OMG RUNNING

Large dog felt fantastic afterwards.  I, however, did not.  I meant to do all of the 17 miles that were on the training plan, but after 3 I headed back inside the house to use an indoor bathroom...and after that I felt kind of bad.  And about 10 minutes later, I felt super bad.  And then it was all I could do to shower, shove some NyQuil down my throat, and crawl under a blanket and go to sleep.

Hyooman.  You can't have my blanket.

And I felt like crap all night.  If only my face and teeth would have stopped hurting from the severe congestion, I would have been fine.  But I wasn't fine; I got up at 5 AM and stumbled downstairs to take the dogs out and get something to eat.  I was ravenous because I had been asleep for 13 freaking hours, and I was still managing to feel absolutely rotten.  Through the rottenness, I realized I should probably take something while I was awake to try and ease my suffering.  And, after rummaging through the medicine cabinet, I finally found some medication that wasn't past it's expiration date--some Tylenol Severe Sinus.

I'm not usually a pill-popper, but at this point I was willing to try anything--and boy was I glad I did.  My face and teeth finally stopped hurting, and I got 3 solid, blissful, entirely wonderful more hours of sleep without any pain.  And then all the junk up in my head started to drain, making it less likely I would feel like the right side of my face had been replaced with a brick.  I felt so good after popping those meds I managed to clean the house and make me some dinner via Crock Pot.

Female cat was still unimpressed.

I wanted to see if I could get in a long-ish run on the treadmill today, but hubbs made me promise not to do any workout because of what happened yesterday.  So, that means another run on the training plan scrapped due to this sickness...hopefully this won't extend into the coming week.  I hope it doesn't, or I'll be blaming any poor performances at my goal marathon on these missed runs like any irrational runner would do.

Just a few little learnings:

• Why didn't I take that freaking Tylenol earlier in the week? I'm an idiot.
• Well, at least it's not the flu.  Then all you'd be reading in my blog posts would be "zzzzzzzzzz  *snore* zzzzzzz"
• In case you were wondering, I made chicken alfredo in the crock pot.  And it was wonderful even if the onions were a little strong.
• I'm glad I could clean the house because if I don't vacuum the animal hair starts working on sentience if it's left alone too long.

Tomorrow's workout:  I'm going to attempt speed work to get back on schedule.  Just 5 x 1000m...

Working out while sick: More facetious tips.

I don't know what my throat's problem is, but it woke up sore again this morning.  In fact, I felt like complete crap when I got up--the worst I've felt throughout this week of sickness and snot.  I was glad a run wasn't on the schedule, because it would definitely NOT have been done.  Instead, I pondered what weight workout I was up to doing.

*ponder* *ponder*

What I really wanted to do was this:

But I sucked it up (literally) and got on my weight-lifting duds.  I had intended to do one of my new Cathe Fit Split workouts, but I wanted to do some total body weights and I had already done that earlier in the week from that series.  So I ended up doing my usual Total Body Giant Sets from Cathe's Strong and Sweaty series, but just eliminated the last round of lower body so I could get my butt to work on time.

The hubbs thinks I'm crazy that I still work out while I'm sick, but I always feel better after I do.  There are some rules, however, you have to follow in order not to make yourself way, way sicker:

1. First, let's get serious: never ever work out if you have a fever and feel as if you could possibly need a trip to the hospital either before or after the workout.  In fact, if you think you shouldn't work out, then DON'T.  I once stupidly thought I could run a half marathon with a severe sinus infection + fever and almost did until I read the night before that if I did it could result in things like "pneumonia" and "hospitalization" and "coma."  I try not to tempt fate like that.
2. If you think you're good to work out, make sure all of the snot and phlegm are in your head region and not the chest.  If it's all in your head, go ahead!  Although I doubt if you had a chest cold you'd be able to do any cardio with ease.  (Never stopped me from smoking though - pathetic.)
3. Take it a little easier on yourself than you normally do.  For example, don't think you'll be busting out all those speed intervals at warp speed; do the intervals, but slow down the pace.  Or like I did on Thursday, reduce the mileage of your run.  If you're addicted to strength DVDs like I am, do a shortened version of your workout or do a lower-impact version. If I'm really sick but determined to still do a workout, I have a stretch yoga DVD that makes me feel way better yet doesn't stress out my immune system any more than it already is - and I get that "oh boy I still got a workout in!" fake badass feeling.
4. Always keep a box of tissues handy during the workout.  This is so your runny nose can stop your workout every 5 minutes to blow it, making it even more raw and red and stinging than it already is and causing you to miss the first few reps of whatever exercise is up on deck.
5. Revel in that post-workout "ZOMG my sinuses are so clear I CAN BREATHE AGAIN" feeling, because it won't last long until that brick of snot settles back in.
6. Don't let yourself be judged by your judgy zoo of animals, either, especially if the cat gives you that "stoopid hyooman" look.  Again.

Here it comes, stoopid hyooman.

Let's ponder some learnings:

• I think it's pretty obvious that I would rather err on the side of working out when I am sick.
• My nose is seriously raw.  Like, angry raw.  Angry, stinging, tear-inducing raw.
• It was probably not the best morning to force my squats and lunges to go deeper than I normally do.  Nope.
• Doesn't everyone ponder on an exercise ball?  
• I took more NyQuil again.  And these learnings are pretty clear evidence of that fact.

Tomorrow's workout: So there's this 17 mile run on the schedule that may have to be reconsidered...

When your ears hurt when you swallow, speed work gets cancelled.

I didn't do my speed work this morning.  Or this afternoon.  Or this evening.  That's because I was sick all day today.  I would love to post really awkward treadmill running pics or sweaty pics of me post-run, but I don't have any.  All I have is this recreation of what I did all day instead:

Last night I felt a fever and sore throat (hurt like crazy to swallow) coming on, so I dutifully drugged myself with NyQuil and did some sinus rinsing.

Why sinus rinsing?  Because the last time I had a fever and a sore throat, it ended with one of my eardrums bursting and then me not hearing out of one ear for about a month.  And I was miserable. No wonder little kids are so cranky during ear infections; I know I was pretty much insufferable when that happened and was begging for anyone to put me into a coma the entire time. 

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I don't mess around with sore throats.  I rinse out the ol' sinuses and then gargle with some of the rinsing solution, and I am very glad I did.  While I woke up still having a small fever and was a little stuffed up, my throat wasn't nearly as sore and it didn't hurt so bad to swallow.

Because having a fever is where I draw the line at going to work, I emailed in sick and then went downstairs and promptly fell asleep in the recliner.  I had one blanket over my lower half because a dog was laying on it so I couldn't pull it all the way up over me, so I had to get a second blanket for the upper part of my body.

I'm sure I looked like a sleeping hobo.  But I didn't care.  I was warm.  The animals didn't care either.

I don't judge, Mom.  Just gimme treats.

Female cat was a little judgy.

Stay away from me.  Sicko.

Small dog was oblivious to my sickness and I kept getting awoken to him shoving various toys in my chair and squeaking them like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST SITTING THERE WOMAN WE COULD BE PLAYING"

I'm going to just call today's speed work a loss and move on to tomorrow's workout.  If I can swallow without pain and don't have a fever, that is.

Learnings from my sickness:

• Sinus rinsing is gross, but it will help you feel better much, much faster.  Just don't use tap water unless you want to risk getting a brain-eating amoeba.  Your call, though.
• Brain-eating amoebas are one of my greatest fears.  True story.
• The cats left me pretty much alone today to sleep; female cat only did one proof-of-life check today by booping me in the face.
• Can you tell I'm on NyQuil again?  Yeah.  You can.

Tomorrow's workout:  Maybe Cathe's PHA workout.  We'll see.