Feeling Feeble

I was hit with yet ANOTHER virus this week: a nasty head-cold that came on early Monday morning, after my hardest training weekend. I'm starting to feel like my body is turning against me. It's so frustrating. I've been doing my best to eat right and get enough sleep, taking my vitamins, but the reality is that there is just not going to be much down-time for me, and that is likely the problem. After I get home from my long weekend workouts, the kids need me, my husband needs free-time, and honestly I would rather be outside pushing them on the swings than sitting home with my feet up on the couch (no, really!).

I've been googling endurance training and illness and I've learned that this is a common problem. The immune system weakens after long endurance workouts, and having two small children in school is probably leaving me susceptible to all kinds of viruses.

So aside from sending my germy kids abroad for the next few months, my best options seem to be: making absolutely sure I'm staying hydrated, continue taking my vitamins, hand-washing, hand-washing, hand-washing, and taking a probiotic called lactobacillus, which I read has been shown to cut illnesses in endurance athletes by half. And hopefully with the warmer weather coming, the sick season will soon be at an end.

Between Dan being away in SF and me being sick, I have missed all 3 of my morning swims and one short bike ride this week. I should be able to make up one swim this weekend, but still, not a great week. I have a 3-hour bike ride and 1/2 hour run to do tomorrow morning and Deanne and I are very excited to get OUTSIDE and hit some hills, so I'm resting up today, drinking a ton, and hopefully I'll be ready to roll tomorrow.