Sick Again?!?!

The Sunday before last I woke up feeling like dung.  As you may recall, I was very sick in mid-January, which was only about 2 months ago, so I really am not due to be sick again for a good long time.  And yet, here I am, with a super stuffed nose  (which I was blowing about every 5 minutes this weekend!) and a super sore throat that feels like it is half swollen shut.  I assumed I have allergies, because how could I possibly be this sick again so soon?  But I have taken all the allergy meds and they haven't made a dent, not even for a short while.

This is my new theory on illness: My body is right on the verge of illness all the time.  Sickness is right there, just waiting to pounce, and the only thing keeping me from being sick all the time is a healthy immune system.  So as soon as my immune system is compromised the sickness sees its chance and takes over.  I have noticed that every time I start working a lot of extra shifts, and consequently getting a lot less sleep, I start to feel sick.  It is almost instantaneous.  For instance, last week I worked a 17 hour day, slept about 4 hours, worked 8 hours the next day, got a full night's sleep, then worked another 16 hour day, followed by about 3 hours' sleep, followed by an 8 hour workday.  By the last day, I was sick.  Even though I went into those few days well-rested and well nourished, after those days I was sick.  I know that training already compromises my immune system because my body needs to repair the muscle damage I am doing, which is how I get stronger and faster.  But that leaves less resources for fighting off common germs.  Then throw long work hours and little sleep into the mix, and I guess my body throws in the towel.

Now knowing that I am always just this side of healthy, I am going to be extra careful to control the variables that I actually can control, like eating well and trying to get enough rest.

The irony is that even though I woke up feeling awful every morning this past week, and was stuffed of nose and sore of throat all the time, I had a great training week!

Monday: REST DAY
Tuesday: 35 minute hard interval workout on spin bike
                20 minutes running stair intervals
                (worked double shift)
Wednesday: 8.5 mile hike with my sister and the dogs
                     30 minute swim with 5 X 100 yards HARD intervals
Thursday: 36 mile ride on Ironman course
Friday: 30 minute swim with 25easy/25building/25easy/25hard (My favorite!)
             30 minutes on spin bike with 15 minutes alternating 1 minute HARD/1 minute easy
Saturday: 30 minute hill run
Sunday: REST DAY

I felt great during all of those workouts!