Saturday, October 31, 2009

Health: To come back or not to come back...

Usually at this time of day, I'd be 30 km into my weekend morning ride, well warmed up and hammering along. But I've decided to stay off the bike this weekend so that I can completely get over this insidious viral infection from hell.

It's always difficult to determine when to stage a comeback after an illness. Sometimes hopping back on the bike seems to speed up recovery. It blows the bugs out of my system. There are times when you've got a cold and your body feels all stuffed up. The physical exertion seems to loosen up things.

Of course, the risk is that your body really needs rest, and the exercise just wears it down more and prolongs recovery. I think that's what happened in my most recent case. Four days ago, I was feeling somewhat OK in the afternoon and decided to do an easy 30-minute session on the rollers in the evening. Once I got going, I felt terrific. I easily got into 40-43 kph territory and was able to hold it there without much strain. I finished the workout thinking that this bug was just a nagging injury that would let me continue working out.

But the next morning, I felt awful and ended up seeing the doctor. The next day (Friday) was just as bad, and I felt like I was dragging all day. Yesterday, I put my kit on and rode around the neighborhood for 5 km, then headed home because I wasn't feeling great.

My plan is to stage the official comeback on Monday with a 30-minute session on the rollers at steady pace. I'm starting to feel normal again. The past two days, I've been able to wake up at 5:30 a.m. without my body craving a few hours more in the sack.

The biggest upside for my readers is that I'll stop obsessing publicly about my health! Many thanks to everyone for putting up with this!

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