No.  Nevermnind.  The gory details are what make the story.  Here goes…..

If you’ve been following my posts you will recall that my little guy was throwing up all over my husband and mom while I was running the Ogden Marathon 2 weeks ago.  By the time I got home he seemed pretty good.  Definitely not 100%, but he was okay.  I let out a sigh of relief and figured it was an isolated incident.  I was VERY wrong.

As Jake started feeling better and was getting back to 100%, he was apparently infecting our entire household.  On Thursday after the marathon, Sydney let me know that her “tummy was hurting”.  I kind of blew it off until she threw up all over the place that evening.  By Friday evening, it was clear that Syd was not going to have the quick turn around her brother experienced.  We had a couple of long days and nights.  By Friday, I was pretty exhausted, but still managing to get in a few workouts over my week of post-marathon recovery.  I ignored the fact that my “tummy” was feeling, maybe, a little bit ABnormal.

I woke up that Saturday and headed out for my long bike ride.   I felt good in the morning and figured any pangs of sickness I was feeling the night before were just sympathy pains for my poor daughter who had barely moved in 2 days.  I mounted the bike and headed out.  After 20 minutes of telling myself that I just needed to warm-up, I was beginning to doubt the condition of my health 🙁  By 45 minutes, I threw in the towel.  My breakfast was sitting in my stomach like a lead balloon and anything else I tried to get down was just adding to the problem.  I DIDN’T FEEL WELL!  I should have turned around long before and though I was only 15 miles from home, it felt like it took an eternity to get back.  I figured it was silly to call Adam to come and get me (putting sick kids in a car is not the best idea if you like your upholstery and that “new car smell”) because it would probably take as long to get home.  I felt like I was going NOWHERE!  I was barely turning the pedals.  All I wanted to do was get off my bike and lay down.  I was really starting to feel awful.

When I finally made it home I collasped on the floor in front of Adam and pronounced what I had been denying for 14 hours……I WAS SICK WITH THE STOMACH FLU!  Ugh!  What is is with these viruses?  They permeate our bodies and sideline us like we have just been run over by a truck.  I’m happy to report that I avoided praying to the porcelain throne, but definitely was queen for a few hours.  Double Ugh!

The worst part about being sick was that I knew I was missing key workouts.  My first triathlon is quickly approaching and after a week of recovery from the marathon, I needed to get to work!  I didn’t have time to lay around getting better.  I tried talking to myself like I was a client.  I reminded myself that rest is always good.  Coach M reminded me that our bodies know when they need a break.  They will take it no matter what……even by force.

I figured that by Monday, I would be good to go.  Nope, still couldn’t eat.  Tuesday.  For sure, Tuesday.  Nope, I felt much better and was able to eat fairly normally, but I was in no shape for a workout that day.  Wednesday.  It would be wednesday.  I could eat and felt normal, but knew that the smart thing to do was to make sure I was 100% before starting again.  THURSDAY?!?!  YOU ARE KIDDING ME!  Thursday.  Finally Thursday, almost after a week of not feeling well, I was back in the pool and on the road.  I actually felt pretty good, a little slow, but good.

Getting sick is not something any of us enjoy (except for this one woman I worked with who saw a round of the stomach flu as the perfect jump start to her on-going weight loss plan…….yeah………someone needs a therapist).  This was a nasty stomach bug and I think my body was just worn down and susceptible.  I was exposed right after a hard marathon that had really depleted my body.  I was ripe for invasion.  I guess sometimes we just have to take what we get and be so grateful for the times in life when we are healthy.  It’s terrible to think of those who have to manage life through chronic illness and disease.  I’m so grateful for my health.  For a body that is able to perform when I ask it to.  A body that takes the physical abuse I put it through and manages to gets stronger and faster.

So here’s to good health and to those days and weeks that make us grateful for our many blessings 🙂