Illogical

It all started a few days before the ELSA Amazing Race. When I woke up one morning, my throat felt itchy. Perhaps it was due to the rainy weather, or the times I failed to quickly change into a dry shirt. I was also feeling somewhat stressed around that time, from my crazy schedule of sleep deprivation, full-time work and athletics training. The logical thing I should have done was to rest it out. But I did not follow the logical path.

Instead, I played a lengthy game of basketball that weekend. For four quarters, our undermanned ABL team held its own against better and taller opponents. We lost the game by a measly two points. At the end of the 45 minutes of play, I was breathing heavily. I started to cough as my nose became even more clogged. That night, I developed a mild fever. I wanted to pull out of the Amazing Race, but for some insane reason, I did not.

I sneaked in one oval session a few days later, thinking I’ve recovered from my illness. It turned out that I haven’t. The next weekend, I played in yet another ill-fated basketball match, exacerbating my poor condition.

Despite my poor basketball skills, I just had to do my part for our ABL team – especially with the absence of our star players. There were no fairy tale endings at the end of it. We lost two of our last three games; thus, effectively ending our 2012 ABL season.

Even if I lost quite a few training days, I was glad as hell I did not back down from the challenge of playing through an illness. The thought of missing out on a good fight would have been more hurtful than spending a few days more under the weather.

Sometimes, we throw logic off the window, as the mind takes a back seat to our passions.

Picking up the Pieces

I’ve been under the friggin’ erratic Philippine weather the past few weeks. It all started at the latter parts of August. Fresh out of a basketball game, my friends and I decided to start the long weekend by a celebratory drinking spree. When I got home, my throat ached. I spent the next couple of days watching the Daegu World Championships and nursing a terrible bout with cold and cough.

Feeling pumped-up and inspired by the world champs, I went back to training a bit too early. My illness relapsed and I was forced to rest it out. Another basketball game wreaked havoc into my recovery – for the second time. At this point, I was overly pissed. My motivation has been sapped. Although I felt fine and physically well, I was in a bad state psychologically.

I’ve finally recovered from illness last weekend. Gradually, I’m picking up from where I left off. Since I have no athletics meet of note to join in the remaining months of 2011, I’m taking it easy.

Picking up the pieces (10, 13 and 14 July 2010)

I got sick for the better part of the previous week. The lack of sleep finally took its toll. It started a couple of Saturday’s ago. From a light, irritating cough, it worsened to phlegm-laced asthma and a bad cold. It took a good 5 days for me to recover.

I had no other choice but to cut my already meager allotment of gym and track time.

10 July

Last Saturday, I was healthy enough to lift weights. I didn’t feel like training though. I just went through the motions of the gym and plyo exercises. I felt weak doing the core exercises and weights routine. Perhaps it was the week-long layoff rearing its ugly head. Heeding my body’s signals, I packed my bags and went home.

Workout:

Depth jumps

Bench press

Bicep curl

Tricep extension

Abs circuit

13 July

I went back to the track on Tuesday night to do some light sprints. My pacing was off. I couldn’t seem to follow the goals of the workout (70% effort, 150m strides). Halfway through my routine, I shunned my trusty iPod Shuffle (my training buddy for the past 2 years). The music blaring in my ears were starting to become a nuisance.

Track workout:

Light running drills

3x150m sprints (70-80% effort, 4 minutes rest)

14 July

Again, I felt sluggish. It took some complex plyo reps to wake my sleepy system. I went light on weights, doing 2 sets for each exercise. I’m particularly proud of my Cleans. The hard work I put honing my form is starting to bear fruit!

Workout:

Complex box jumps

Cleans (2×9-10)

Stiff-legged dead lift (2×10)

Dips + leg lifts (2×10)

Split Squats + Ab scissors  (2×10 per leg)

Single leg shoulder press + leg lifts  (2×10)

Sick… again.

Got sick again for the 2nd time in 1 1/2 months. This sore throat is killing me. To make matters worse, my asthma is starting to act up again. Dammit. I should be getting more sleep. 4-5 hours are not enough.

This means rest, naturally. A break from training and work will do much good to my tired body.

Back in college, I used to train despite various illnesses and injuries – an ill-advised move, obviously. Thank heavens I’m more mature now.

I still woke up at 5:00 AM today, hoping to will myself to go to work. But then again, fighting through the illness would only worsen my condition; hence, I decided to rest it out. A couple of naps and two big meals later, I feel refreshed although my throat still feels kind of itchy, my lungs still immersed in phlegm.

Sick

Been sick for the past three days. It started with intermittent chills and a mild headache last week, probably from all the late nights and the epic beach trip last weekend. It worsened to a bad fever by Saturday night. By Sunday, I was bedridden – unable to do anything productive. I was forced to miss two days of work just to recover. My training calendar has been pushed back by a good one week.

I haven’t been this ill in months. I should indeed steer clear of those late night boozing.

My head still hurts, but I’m feeling a lot better now.