Birthday Post 2016

Saturday - Birthday

After weeks of improving and sailing through life, I finally came to a grinding halt this week.  The arrival of the flu / cold virus to our offices wiped me out for the week but somehow I managed to keep working... I didn't push myself to.  If I couldn't work, I wouldn't have but the cold wasn't that bad.  So I worked - I just drove everywhere and my only exercise was a swim on Monday, yoga on Tuesday and a day walking around site on Wednesday.

I have also been suffering a gammy knee.  A sharp, shooting pain when I descend stairs - or climb them for that matter.  On its own it's not stopped me running but it will do soon - once the cold has gone.  I nursed it through yoga practice (probably shouldn't have) and tried to be careful with it on site.

By Friday I felt better but I was still snotty.  I could breathe OK but when I bent down to tie my shoelaces, pain seared through my head, teeth, face and neck and I got dizzy.  Sinuses blocked.  I took it easy for my Birthday.  Went to some shops, had lunch, came home to "make the house less depressing".  Most people call it cleaning but I leave that so long it becomes, "making the house less depressing".  It takes the process of cleaning from Chore to Pleasant Experience by making it so direly urgent.

It lasted about 20 minutes before I decided I wanted to clean my mountain bike before it got dark and then work on it and then it was all, like, dinner time and time to go to the cinema to watch, "The Eagle Huntress" which is a beautiful film about a teenage girl in Mongolia that breaks down boundaries doing what she loves.  Gorgeous cinematography and story-telling.

We walked there and back - more exercise I guess.  It was a beautiful day.  Not 100% what I was hoping for but the best of a sick me. Last year I went for a Bad Run on my Birthday - though it was rather nice, it was shorter than intended and slower than everyone I know.  Looks like I'm starting from the same place this year.

I feel like I should write something profound and another-yearly but birthdays are just days really.  As decades go, I suspect it's better than my 23rd and definitely better than my 33rd.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Cold remedy, eat, work, paracetamol, reading, sleep (a lot), repeat.

On the plus side I am reading Jill Homer so it's getting me excited for months to come on the bike.

Tuesday - Yoga

I hate myself.  I knew I was getting sick but I went to yoga anyway.  My last chance at a strength session this week since Thursday morning was being stolen for a meeting.  Decided to do a strength set before the cold set in properly and took me off my feet.  So glad I did in retrospect.  The cold is taking longer to clear than I thought it would.

Yoga was tough because I forced my sore knee to play along.  In retrospect I made it worse.  Shit happens.

Monday - Swim - 1.1km 28 minutes - 25:28 moving

I didn't feel horrible on Monday until later so I went to the pool on my bike.  It's a little demoralising stripping off all the layers you've just put on after only 6 minutes of riding but enjoyable putting them all back on before stepping out into December air with damp hair.

I did sets of 6 with short rests of less than 30 seconds between.  Although I felt like I stopped early, I'm happy with how I felt, the time it took and my swimming in general after 2 weeks off allowing a twinged right wrist to calm down.

Hopefully I'll be back to a mile before I know it.  Whilst I was being passed by the fast girls, I was close to being able to sit on feet so I'm getting there.