Improvement

So far this week I have gotten every workout done, and they actually started to feel good on Tuesday.

Monday AM I swam and was so sluggish in the water and felt pitiful and was not thinking about swimming. But the water did seem to feel good on my body, after not having swum in over a week. Monday afternoon I ran and could tell my lungs were still impaired.

Tuesday AM I ran on the treadmill, which was like torture, but I kept a good pace and felt better than during Monday's run. Tuesday PM I rode LGL on the trainer because it was still pissing outside, but generated pretty good power. It is odd to me that I can still bike pretty well with impaired lungs.

Yesterday I swam in the morning, and had decent speed for about 2,000 yards worth, which is fine because on Sunday I will just swim a little more than that. But I still knocked out 3300 yards. In the early afternoon, I ran, and exceeded all speed expectations (and what I was supposed to do for the workout), and felt like my lungs had finally returned to at least 95% capacity. And it felt good to run! That made the 2-week mark since I had initially suspected I was ill.

Today I lifted for about an hour, rode for about 1:40 like I stole it, and then I had a short delay before my run. I ran (well, actually rode) into my friend Jamey who was walking down my street. I didn't recognize him until I was up close. He was having some car trouble and was trying to remember where I lived, so I pointed him about 1/2 block north, and he jogged and I rode and we got in my car (after a quick T2 by me!) with some gasoline and drove to his car. Luckily it was just that he was out of gas, and we chatted for maybe 20 minutes, then parted ways, I drove home and grabbed some Gatorade and headed out for a :30 run. OMG I was running close to my 5K pace, but it didn't feel like it! So I am pronouncing myself healed, but I am knocking wood since I won't really know until tomorrow.

Jamey is one of the coolest people I know, but our schedules don't often mesh. Still, whenever we do run into one another we always evaluate and comment on one another's body composition. He is my go-to guy who is so completely honest about himself and how he perceives me. He said I look "tight."

I feel pretty lean, in fact, leaner than I have ever been, but the good thing is that my appetite has returned and I am consuming Pringles, Twinkies and Cheetos with abandon and keeping my weight down to about 108-109. Now before anyone accuses me of being underweight and that causing my illness, just please go fuck off because the reason I got sick was from psychic stress, not from my training or diet. My body feels actually great, and my massage therapist says my muscles are all nice and supple and my joints highly mobile, although I have been a slacker in the stretching department, but am getting that back on track as well.

I am not completely over the virus/bacterial infections I have as my nose is still mucousy and I am coughing periodically, but nothing major. There is literally fuzz flying through the air now coming off various trees--probably mostly basswood trees--and that is not helping my nose or lungs as I'm allergic to all that stuff.

But I am feeling generally physically good.

Now as for the psychic stuff, well that's going to take longer. I still wake up and don't really want to get up, I am still crying a few times a day and still feeling overwhelmed, but maybe just a teensy bit less than a few days ago. At least with my body coming around that eliminates one piece of stress. Now I can start obsessing about this "race" on Sunday (Rockman 1/2 IM) and the weather has potential to be crap. This is going to be a "train through" race, since there is no way I can perform optimally based on the last 2 weeks. I am going to slack the swim, go relatively easy on the bike, and see how I can run, since I need to be positioned to get in some major hours in the next few weeks.

It is a beautiful day today. For right now I am glad to be alive.