Taking a sick day

Haven't blogged at all this week because I've been sick.

I've had a fever over 100 for four days. I think this is the sickest I've been since college. Ugh.

(And I am utterly worthless when running a fever. I do not think straight. Or do logical things.)

And here's the deal: DO NOT WORKOUT WHEN YOU ARE SICK.

Don't go to the gym and get your germs all over the equipment and breathe on your class mates. It's just a bad idea.

I've done easy runs with a mild head cold before (solo) but that's the extent of it.

This week, I was tired Tuesday so didn't work out. And the fever started Wednesday so I just stayed home and whined. And took my temperature every hour. (101.4).  I did try to get some exercise in. I have a stationary bike at home—so I tried that—super low speed to get some calorie burn in and meet my Apple Watch goals for two days but it really was really a bad idea. I was already burning up inside from the fever. I didn't need to get even hotter.

I think I was most upset that this illness made me break my Apple Watch move streak. And because I couldn't work out, now I can't get my perfect month badge :(

The Apple Watch is SOOOO ANNOYING when you are sick.

1. It gives you TIME TO STAND reminders every hour.
Seriously, it needs an option for I'M SICK today. Because you can't get more than an hour's worth of sleep for this thing chiming at you.
It does have a mute for the day option. And I could take it off. But I'm running a fever and therefore not thinking straight.

2. It reminds you that you haven't met your goals for the day. You've only exercised for a minute. You've only walked a mile.

Really, I should just take the watch off. But I didn't think of that until my fever went down. (I did this Sunday and it was glorious!)

I went to the doctor Saturday morning. My doctor was a former U.S. Rep known for saying unintelligent things. He was nice enough.

We did a strep test. Not strep. Then blood work.

And that went badly.

My head started to feel funny and I felt like I was going to puke. I was still holding tissue on my arm to clot the bleed and looked at the nurse and told her I didn't feel good.

They went into emergency mode. Told me to lay back, put a cool compress on my head, told me to do something with my arm.

I was trying so hard not to puke. And then my leg started to shake. I was so light headed through all of this. It was a horrible combination of my head, nerves and stomach. It was really scary.

That happened ONCE before in college when I was super sick. I get blood work done once or twice a year and like to think I'm tough. Not this time. I hadn't eaten that morning. They didn't ask. I was too sick to realize this before hand.

I laid there for a while. I sat up to get something out of my bag and got REALLY dizzy. That was a bad idea. I laid there for a while longer  and eventually, it passed. I ate a granola bar when my stomach calmed down.

The doctor gave my a prescription for some cough beads and I picked up some stronger decongestants than I'd been using. After the cough beads made my cough worse, I switched to a different medicine and am hoping for the best.

Hopefully, I can workout again soon. I've dropped about two pounds since I've been sick and have had zero appetite (and felt bad when I ate more than a few bites of food.)  I'm ready to be healthy again.

Throwback Thursday: Running—Then vs now

I'm 32. Half a lifetime ago I was running track for my high school. And running has changed a lot in the last 16 years. I was thinking about what's different in running for me now.

1. Running by myself
The biggest difference is that when I was running in high school someone was telling me what to do. And I had team mates. Now I run by myself. I make up my own workouts. There's no team (and I do miss this). I've thought about getting a coach or even looking into online training plans. For now it's just running three times a week—2-4 miles. I'm not really training for anything either.

2. Frequency

I ran six days a week in high school. Some times twice a day. Now, I run three times a week now, and never on back-to-back days. My knees and joints don't like running consecutive days. I feel like three times a week is enough to keep my endurance without overexerting myself. (I do teeter on the verge of over-use injuries. I battled tendonitis in high school.) It's just enough to push myself without breaking myself. This could change if I wanted to train for something in particular, but for now I think three days a week works for my body.

3. 20 pounds
I'm 20 pounds heavier than I was in high school. My thighs are bigger. My arms are bigger. I have more upper body strength. I might have been a tad slimmer then. But there's not that much difference. I could probably fit into a lot of my high school clothes. At size 4-6, I think I'm doing just fine.

4. Supplements
I'm sure supplements were around when I was in high school. I remember my mom gave me health bars for races. (They tasted terrible.) And some of the guys would take yellow jackets (caffeine pills) before races.

But now supplements are so much more common. There's pre-workout shakes and post workout shakes and all sorts of stuff you can take to enhance your performance. My routine is usually to eat a banana or a granola bar an hour before I workout—if I'm hungry. I like a shake after gymnastics, because it's so late and I'm usually too tired to eat (but usually it's almond milk, a banana and some fruit. No synthetics here).

5. Watches
I used to run with a purple Timex. I could see my running times. I could see my splits. I loved that watch (it went over a waterfall in North Georgia when I was in college.) Now, watches are crazy advanced. I run with an Apple Watch. Watches have GPS, heart rate monitors, sleep trackers, step counters, calorie goals. Some can compare your pace. Smart watches can get text messages. Watches are so much more advanced now.

6. Heart rate monitors
I don't think I'd heard of a heart rate monitor in high school. We just ran. And if we felt dizzy, maybe we sat down. Now, all serious athletes wear heart rate monitors.

7. Shoes
I ran in Nikes or Addidas in school. I hadn't heard of Brooks or Asics. Now, you can go and get your stride measured on a treadmill with a gait camera. I think I remember FANCY sporting goods stores having the tiniest indoor track you could run on. Now, you can find out exactly what pricey brand of shoe you need to wear.

8. Popularity
In high school, my cross country team was TINY. Most years we didn't have enough girls for a team. I was the only senior on the track team, my year. No one ran in high school. Now, I see so many of my high school friends posting about races on Facebook. Now, everyone runs. Which is great. Except they thought I was weird then. I guess I was just ahead of my time :)

9. Music
Running to music? Some times they played music at my high school meets. I remember running a 3,200 meter to Destiny Child's "I'm a Survivor." We didn't run with music. I used the quiet to reflect on my day or plan. Now, I run with wireless earbuds to songs with good beats.  (iPods and iPhones didn't even exist then).

10. Running clothes
In high school, I ran in T-shirts and Umbros. I had a few tank tops and shorts. Dry-wicking shorts came out my senior year of high school (at least that's when I noticed them at Target). Running clothes are so much more IMPORTANT now. Crops with compression. Sports bras with pockets. There are so many choices. There are so many high-end lines—Lululemon, Lorna Jane, Sweaty Betty, Koral, Athleta. I could have had screen printed panther leggings for my mascot. But that wasn't around then. Now, I am so addicted to workout clothes. I love wearing workout clothes and picking out my gym outfit is usually the highlight of my morning. (As opposed to mindless throwing a T-shirt and shorts that smelled clean in my backpack.) Clothes for working out are fun now.

Also new: running skirts.

I guess all of this means that one day I can reminisce to youngsters about the time when we ran without earbuds or heart rate monitors—and didn't know the exactly mileage we ran when we ran for 45 minutes.

I sure am glad I learned to run when I was young. It makes it so much easier now.  Thanks coach!

At the state cross country championships.

Valentine's Activewear Wish List

Dear husband,

If you want to get me something for Valentines Day, here are a few ideas:

Werkshop leggings in heart prints

If I taught fitness, this is what I'd wear Feb. 14.


S'well water bottle in hearts

They have a whole Valentine's collection. I also like the pink bikini bottle.

I do need a new water bottle. I lost two in the last four months.

Carbon 38 also has a Valentine's Day edit full of hearts, red and SEXY activewear pieces.

Splits 59 also has some cute heart leggings.

And I could use a new purse (the handle broke), this pink Vera Bradley bag is lovely.

And I'm sure I'll see a few more Valentine's Day promos in my emails in the coming days.

Is there any activewear you want for Valentine's Day? Or just chocolate?