As an athlete I find it very difficult to take time off if I don't feel 100%. With great enthusiasm, I convince myself that if I work out I'll feel better. The evil twin in my head even suggests that I need to quit being a baby and just get out there. The internal monologue goes on to state, "you'll regret not working out, the day is beautiful, don't waste it", and I even suggest to myself that I'm perfectly fine and it's just a crap excuse to get out of training. Sound familiar???
There are, of course, days in which the random excuses are just, well, excuses. But then again, there are days I should have listened to my body and taken a rest day vs. listen to the internal evil twin that has a side job as the boss of a chain gang.
Here's how it all started:
T- 4 A random person coughs across the counter in my direction and mutters "don't worry, I'm no longer contagious! This is just the remnants of a horrible cold." RIGHT! I bet they also own a dog and as the dog is chasing you down the road, said person is yelling "don't worry, he doesn't bite!"
I decide to go for a ride that night, I'm feeling fine.
T-3
I wake up feeling "pretty good" but I have this weird heaviness in my lungs. Nothing to really think twice about; I chalk it up to the sudden 50 degree jump in temperature and figure it's just heavy air.
Mistake #1. I go for a ride after work, feel a little off but, hey, I got in the workout. What I should have done was go for a 45 min. easy spin just to see how I was feeling, not a full blown workout.
T-2
The lung heaviness now has a partner, a weird dry cough that sounds like one of those fake coughs. It's the cough people do when they are faking a cold and just want attention and sympathy. I am embarrassed every time it happens and do my best to cover it up.
Mistake #2. My internal evil twin convinces me to go for a easy ride, and figures I can "blow it out of my system". I end up going 25 miles and it was less than easy. I hop off the bike, giving myself kudos for the ride and then burst into a coughing fit that leaves me gasping for air. If I had a brain in my head I would have skipped the ride, gone home, and rested.
T-1
I get to work and croak a hello to my co-workers realizing that I sound like a 4-pack a day smoker. The dry cough has grown up and is now a deep chest rumble, my co-workers look at me with concern and suggest that my eyes look like two holes burned into a blanket. I assure them that "today is the turning point" and tomorrow I will feel better. They don't look convinced as they wash their hands with disinfectant and try to do their jobs outside of my orbit of infection.
After work, I wisely decide to stay off the bike and just head home.
T-DAY(aka Typhoid Mary)
Mistake #3. I dragged myself into work. We were short handed, so I didn't want to call in sick but I should have. I now have a full-blown deep nasty cough, my nose is a faucet and I feel and look like a flattened squirrel. I am sure everyone in the building will blame me for getting sick (rightly so) and, it goes without saying, I wasn't doing myself any favors either.
There will be no riding for me in the near future, I am officially as sick as a dog. Funny, my internal evil twin is nowhere to be heard from. Probably sick in bed!
Even seasoned athletes fall victim to their internal evil twin. So, here's a good rule of thumb to follow:
-If it's above the neck. Translation: drippy nose, headache, head cold. It's okay to train but easy does it!! Your body is fighting something and you don't want to take your bodies' resources away from dealing with whatever is going wrong to supporting a hard workout. An easy workout could even boost your recovery engine but it's a tricky balance, so easy means EASY.
-If it's below the neck, training is an absolute "no go". If your respiratory system is compromised you need total rest. Your body is focused on trying to knock out an interloper and if you distract those resources to support your training effort, well then you may become a Typhoid Mary.
I am not saying that if I had skipped T-4 through T-2 rides that I would have miraculously dodged this phlegm infested bullet but I do know that the pit I now have to crawl out of is a little deeper because I listened to the wrong voice inside my head.
Remember, there’s an athlete inside all of us.
Be safe, have fun. 'Til later
Sarvary