A GOOD YEAR: Let's take this show on the road!

This is another update from Cathy.  She is documenting her experiences in regaining her health for a full year.  She started in July of 2013, and is almost halfway through her year!  Feel free to read through her entries, they all have A GOOD YEAR in the title. After Cathy's entry, I included some guidelines on when to green light exercise and when to hit the couch when your sick.

When I'm sick I'm the BIGGEST baby about the whole thing. In my mind I'm the only person who has ever been this sick or felt this terrible. As a result, when I get the sniffles I immediately go into my cocoon of childishness, unable to function. I am well aware that I do this, but I do it anyway.

This time was a little different. I was in Calgary last week when the germs set in.  I was at a training class I've been looking forward to attending for a long time. So on Monday afternoon when this virus really got a toe hold, instead of assuming the fetal position I had to be a grown-up, take my cold medicine, and suck it up. 

So why the long lead in whining about being sick? Well this time my reaction in handling it and trying not to succumb to the germs was TOTALLY DIFFERENT!  And by totally different I mean I not only went to and participated in the class but I still worked out every day I was there!

If you're anything like me, you've gotten a cold and spent a bunch of time googling colds and exercise to find an excuse not to work out. It turns out finding an "out" from a professional is surprisingly hard. Beth can probably better speak to why exercise and a cold are not incompatible but looking at google its pretty hard to find a site that will tell you not to work out if you aren't fighting a flu. 

I arrived in Calgary pretty early in the day on Sunday. The week before leaving I looked for a yoga studio near the hotel to try out but nothing had quite what I was looking for. Also, it was snowing sideways when I landed there so venturing outside didn't look like a whole lot of fun.  

I picked the hotel because it has a nice gym. It was much smaller than it looked in the picture online but it was modern, clean, and really had everything I needed to stick to my routine. It also had a towel refrigerator which I was pretty excited about but turns out isn't as cool as it sounds (towels warm up pretty fast outside of a towel refrigerator). 

So after arriving on Sunday and getting unpacked I did a 45 minute treadmill walk with various inclines to keep my heart rate up. That workout is impressive because normally I would justify not going to the gym by saying I had a long flight that had to get up super early for so I'm just going to take a nap, read, etc. 

On Monday my class started at 830am and I got my Starbucks and walked in 13F degree weather the whole 15 minutes to the office. Around lunchtime I suddenly felt a bad cold setting in. You know that feeling of doom that you get as your glands expand and your throat gets tight?  Yeah that happened. Fortunately there was a small convenience store in the building so I bought them out of cold medicine and lozenges. 

By the end of the day I was pretty achy and generally not feeling well but thought the treadmill might loosen me up some and figure that if it left me feeling worse I could just stop. But that's the amazing thing, when I was exercising I felt really good! It even helped loosen up my back!

As the week wore on I would feel worse at the end of each day. But remembering how much better I felt while working out on Monday I would dutifully put on my running shoes and go down to my treadmill. 

The class ended Wednesday afternoon and because of flight schedules I had a 630 am flight home on Thursday. That meant a 330 am alarm - which is horrible. Sadly, in the time between waking up and arriving home, around 12 hours, my cold devolved into the plague and I've been down for the count ever since. I'm feeling some better and hoping I can get out for a casual walk tomorrow. 

In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit my eating wasn't great while I was on the road. I did much better than usual in limiting myself to one item from the dessert tray that they bring out in the mid afternoon during all day meetings. But, skim lattes became part of my morning routine, as did a banana chocolate chip muffin. I did manage to stick to a chicken Caesar salad with dressing at most dinners but then added French onion soup and rolls and an apple crumble a la mode. So eating wasn't horrible but not great either. 

But, if I focus on the positives I see this week as a huge victory!  Mostly because I didn't have to talk myself into working out. It has become so ingrained in my life that I just did it. I didn't even do it for the calories. I did it because it would make me feel better. And that is a huge win. 

BY BETH

WHEN TO WORK 'EM OUT WHEN YOUR SICK!

Cathy was hit by the internationally known, Crud, a.k.a. Le Boog, a.k.a 2-Weeks-Lots-Of-Lozenges disease, as have I, as have many big and little people in my social circle.  When are you good to get back to working out?

The general rule is above the neck, what the heck!? I might have added a little pizazz to that.

If it's above the neck, break a sweat! I could go on all day!

Snifflies, mild sore throat, or sinus pressure, are some above neck type symptoms that indicate you could go ahead and workout through.  These are signs of a head cold and working out should be alright for you.  The above the neck rule is pretty good one, but if you have a severe head cold, you still might need to take a time off.  If your symptoms are not severe, go forth and exercise!  But turn down your intensity (like go for a walk versus a run) and the duration of your activity.

If you have a fever, upset tummy, hacking cough, and/or body aches, wait until you feel better before hitting the gym.  Systemic illness needs some good ole rest!

With fever action, your body temperature is already elevated.  And your body's ability to cool itself down is inhibited. Exercise innately increases your body temperature, and it may worsen your condition if you work out with a fever.

A study was performed that showed infected animals (this thought is disturbing) who were forced to work out (why am I sharing this!) with fever, had a prolonged course of illness, worse symptoms, even some life threatening issues.

Be aware of where you are working it, viruses hang out in doorknobs and handles, and you could be putting others at risk.  Consider exercising privately before you bring your germ milieu to others.  When it is time to be part of the gym atmosphere, wipe down equipment before and after, wash hands, and stay hydrated, and grab a machine not so close to others.

Bullet Point Summary time:

• DO work out if it's above the neck, nasal business, mild sore throat, or sinus pressure. 
• DO take it easy if you pass the above neck test. Turn down the intensity and duration of your activity, and if your noggin symptoms are severe hit the bench.
• DON'T exercise if you have a systemic illness, bronchitis, fever, severe body aches and pains. These are flu symptoms to be respected.
• DO give yourself a little time to get back to your normal routine if you have been out of commission for a week or two. Ramp up your intensity slowly!

FUN FACT: moderate exercisers get less colds, AND typically have a shorter duration of symptoms.

I love Cathy's story!  I love how she overcame two big birds, exercising on the road, and exercising with mild cold symptoms.  And she also recognized how she just could not keep going once her symptoms worsened.