This is a picture of me .... really that is me!
Well, if you follow me on Twitter you probably know that I have been under the weather for the last few days. Officially I have now been sick for 7 days and it is awful. I have bronchitis and an upper sinus respiratory infection. I started to feel crappy last week after doing 6 miles with the LTF run. I woke up on Thursday and my throat was pretty much swollen shut.
At this point a normal person would schedule an appointment to see their Doctor. Well, one thing that has been chronicled time and time again on these here pages of the interwebz is that I am not normal, in fact it could be debated that in this particular instance (and probably many others) I am an idiot.
See I decided to use some antibiotics that I had left over from when I had my wisdom teeth extracted. According to the label on the antibiotics they had passed the expiration date by 8 months. I decided that doesn't really mean anything and just took 2x the recommended amount of pills (see where the idiot part is coming in?). This did nothing at all.
To make things even better I had a Sales Meeting with my company in Miami on Monday and Tuesday. This meant I had to fly and work back-to-back crazy long days - this should do wonders for my already depleted immune system right? Well, it did not do wonders, it made me worse.
I got home late last night and felt like ass. Took some Nyquil and passed out. I hit an emergency clinic later in the afternoon today and the Doctor prescribed the antibiotics (Z-Pack) and gave me an extremely painful shot in butt cheek - it is still sore.
One funny thing today: He took my BP and HR and was concerned with how low my HR was. He asked if this was normal (52bpm) and I told him that I must be nervous because it was high. It then led to the discussion about training, triathlon and Ironman. He told me to take today off, take the antibiotics and if I was feeling better I could start training again tomorrow. He said it wouldn't do me any harm based on my current fitness level. So, I will be back at it tomorrow.
I am going to admit that I am freaking out about missing 7 days of training. This is the last week of the Base Phase of my Training program and I am afraid that the last 7 weeks are all now wasted because of this illness. I've discussed my concerns with a few of my Tri buddies and they all think I will be fine because of the decent base I accumulated at the end of 2010 but I think they were all just being nice. In my mind this means I am just going to have to work harder!
In other news my lovely wife Annie has the same damn thing and she has the Houston Marathon on Sunday. Luckily she is much smarter than me because at the first signs of being sick she immediately went and saw a Doctor. And luckily she is already feeling the positive effects of the antibiotics and should be fine come race day.
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff
*** Edit - EVERYONE - We have a friend who is running her very first Marathon on Sunday and is in not good place because of tendinitis in her knee. Could you lovely, positive souls please drop by her blog and leave an encouraging comment? She could use a pick-me-up right now! Thanks, you guys rock: http://moonmadness13.blogspot.com/
Yikes, hope those antibiotics do the trick quickly! Had to laugh at your "high" HR - I got the same questions last time I saw the doctor.
ReplyDeleteThis does SUCK !! You would have done the same as your wife if you had been closer to go time I bet. That is the way we are wired. Get better and take some of the wifes drugs, eeeer meds.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Jets losing had something to do with your not feeling well.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, feel better.
Ok, your label made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteYou are gonna come back strong like bull. 7 days is nothing considering the fitness you have in the bank currently.
Its all in your head!!! Let your body do the talking. It will come around.
LOL! Who takes expired leftover antibiotics? Too funny.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you can get back to training! :)
Feel better!
ReplyDeleteZ pac; medicine from heaven! Glad you are on the mend.
ReplyDeleteaaaaahhhhh no good
ReplyDeleteglad to hear she is on the mend and upswing
you will be fine after completing the z-pack cycle. I just had to do the same thing a few weeks ago.
D
I'm so sorry that you got that crude too! It sounds like the same thing I had and the same thing I now have..AGAIN! Maybe I should look into this zpack thing?!?
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better soon! Don't worry about the training, just take it easy, get better, and you'll be back at it before you know it!
p.s. did you see my buildasign post? A window cling is yours, if you want it!
oh my goshhhhh!! you should NEVER have leftover antibiotics!!! you should ALWAY take ALL of the pills regardless of how much better you feel halfway through taking them!!!!
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon. At least the weather was reasonable down here for you.
ReplyDeleteI love the looks by the nurses also when it pops out a 47 bpm.
Better now than much closer to your race. Rest up and get better!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say the last seven days were wasted. I'd be willing to bet (if you those antibiotics work and you rest) that those seven days will be what you need to be fresh and rested for a good start to your race training.
ReplyDeleteI don't ever go to the Doc but I did one time and he gave me Z-Pack and seriously felt unreal in hours.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in getting over this.
I am a realist and will tell you that a week off is a setback but not as much as you think it is. You have been banging your body and getting it prepped and the rest will do you some good but you will have to get back in the saddle soon. That being said your base is there and you are not as far back as you think.
Off to your friend's blog now.
I hope you are feeling better! I bet you will bounce back in no time considering all the time you put into training beforehand. Your body will remember!
ReplyDeletehahahaha. Sooooo is it any surprise that I have a drawer full of meds and do the same thing :) I have a lot of different ones though that we have had in the past and I am educated ENOUGH to know which meds to take based on my symptoms. No doctor visits for 3 years for me :)
ReplyDeleteTake it easy man. You do not lose ANY conditioning until about 2 weeks. You have time. Calm down and get better.
Good luck to the MRS this weekend :)
blech, sorry to hear about being sick. BUT listen to your doctor and your body and take that rest. you will come back in no time.
ReplyDeleteFeel better real soon! Don't worry about your lost training. YOu will be okay!
ReplyDeletehopefully you are feeling a little better today?! sick. sucks.
ReplyDeletelove the blood pressure story. that's always a fun time [explaining]. ;)
Hope you start feeling better soon. Being sick really sucks - missing training sucks that much more.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you and Annie!
Sounds like your aerobic engine will be fine with a few days rest. Remember, that's when our body "actually" gets stronger. Get healthy, so your training is quality. Good work
ReplyDelete*shaking head* I do not take anything that is expired, anything, food, beverages, drugs, gels.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giggle at the expense of you getting a shot in your booty.
Your not going to lose all your base, your first couple workouts, you will probably suck wind, its normal, body getting over being sick on top of getting your grove back
I'm not going to repeat what everyone else said about the anitbiotics.
ReplyDeleteand try not to bug out too much about losing that time, you're in shape to begin with, so you'll be back at it in no time.
off to check out your friends blog, feel better!
Oh, how could I did I forget this!!
ReplyDeleteGO PACKERSSSSSS!!!!!!!!
Never too early for me to start
See! The yuck is going around! I am only on about Day 5, tomorrow I will see if I can be seen by the doc casue I am getting worse, not better!My BP makes docs who don't know what I do for a hobby make comments, kinda funny really
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon!
Flame. Hang in there to you and your wife.
ReplyDeletenice post... love the label
ReplyDeleteI'm fighting a sinus infection too; the first antibiotics turned my HR onto turbo. Barely held a 8:00/mile for a 5k with a 202 HR... that's at least 90seconds slower that I run, even more so at that ridic HR... I got new pills and traded the HR issue for a very test GI tract. Almost done though.
ReplyDelete7days w.o training is ok; 5days and you lose fitness at around 1-2%, but it'll come back after the first session or two. Not to worry.
As a coach, I'd tell your friend to bag it. I had to pull out of a race in December due to a knee. Missing a race and eating an entry fee is better than 6-12 weeks of nothing for healing and rehab.
I hope you're feeling better soon. Lord knows I know how much it sucks to have infections....just call me the "I Queen". Let the drugs do their thing :)
ReplyDeleteLOL at BDD's comment! Go Packers is right!
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better so. Don't worry about the training, you'll be just fine!
I'm a nurse practitioner and was coughing for 3 weeks before I saw a Doctor. Apparently a daily dose of "suck it up" just wasn't working. Now I'm on steroids, antibiotics, and inhalers. Getting better but still coughing like crazy at times. Feel better soon!!!! (and my off-the-record belief is that medication expiration dates are guidelines, not firm deadlines...after getting sick I used an inhaler that expired in 2006!)
ReplyDeleteUGH that totally totally sucks...hope you start feeling better soon, I think it's the type A in all of us athletes that think we can just "deal" with being sick and sometimes we just need to realize that we really do need to rest/get to a Dr!
ReplyDeleteI had someone ask me about my HR as well because it was really low and I told her I did triathlons and she just looked at me like I was nuts, so I couldn't even really go into any detail, just the mere mention of triathlon she was like "whatever" :)
I WILL say that i'm sorry you're feeling so badly but i'm REALLY glad your wife is feeling better since her big day is RIGHT around the corner. Chill on the 7 day hiatus from training..you'll be fine as wine :)
Jeff, perhaps reading the Trakkers team emails you caught something from me?
ReplyDeleteHope you feel better soon. I know what a drag it is to train while you are feeling under the weather. Get better soon hombre. Drink plenty of beer and eat chocolate. They have copper in them. Copper makes you better. Beer and chocolate. That's my prescription.
Take care of yourself first and your wife. There's always time to train later.
ReplyDelete