I made the mistake of telling someone the other day that I couldn’t remember the last time I was sick. I had a bit too much wine and song in Colorado Springs last Friday night and flew home on Saturday morning. Sat eve I was not feeling 100% and Saturday the bottom dropped out.
I can only describe my symptoms as “the worst feeling I’ve had in my guts in my entire life- except for once….” . It was if someone was hitting me in the stomach with a bat every ten minutes, RIGHT at the end of a deep exhale. And that “once” with the bat…… Well it only happened once, but I“ll never forget how it felt. It seems I had contracted a dose of the stomach flu and it stuck with me a good 36 hours.
After spending an evening curled up in a ball moaning and cursing and another half a day slumped over anything within reach, occasionally whimpering and gasping, the fog finally cleared and I was able to eat and drink without it returning to the surface within 20 mins. And I felt GREAT!!!! It’s amazing how good you can feel after being beat down and dragged out. And on top of that, who doesn’t like to drop 8 lbs in the span of 36 hours. Sure, that was mostly water but it sounds impressive. Bottom line, the past few days were far from pleasant for me. Not only did I lose a lot of sleep, I dehydrated myself to the enth degree, threw my system completely out of whack and lost out on not just 3 days of training (not that I am in the midst of a critical training block) but its taken me the entire week to really get moving again.
I honestly don’t get sick very often- people like to say that and I TRY not to say it but then it’s my blog. Looking back on when the shizza hit the fan, I made some fundamental mistakes that certainly did not strengthen my immune system- mistakes that I urge my athletes not to make not just when they travel but ALL of the time.
Here is what set the nausea ball in motion:
I traveled to altitude and definitely did not drink enough water, not just when traveling but leading up to the trip as well. And on top of that I had not been getting enough sleep. Upon arriving at altitude, I immediately enjoyed a few beers. I had a drink of water before bed……. I think. The next morning after not enough sleep, I ate a breakfast that was far from my normal morning fare and I MAY have had a glass of water and took off for meetings- I for sure had two big cups of coffee. I ate a lunch of…… some fast-ish food, went back into meetings, drank a soda (and I rarely drink soda), had a dinner with drinks and the cycle repeated itself for another day. No exercise was going on either but I will say that I did up my water intake on the second day BUT I was too far gone by that point. I was starting to feel out of balance- the human body is really good at sending signals, we just need to be willing to listen to what it’s saying I should mention on the last night in Co. I enjoyed more wine than usual and got involved with a bottle of port- and I don’t drink port. I may never drink port again.
RED FLAGS all around.
You can only compromise your immune system so many times before the bottom drops out and some form of viral this or that infects your person. Lack or sleep, dehydration, no exercise and a change in “normal” diet are all on their own very capable of compromising ones immune system. But when you start putting them together, your chances of ending up balled up on the couch, or even worse, on the bathroom floor, increase dramatically.
As tough as I like to think that I am, I could not hold off the bug that got into me and had me begging for mercy for two day- I’m only lucky that it wasn’t worse. And after the nausea passed and I was able to start eating and drinking I was reminded of how fragile health is and how much I take it for granted everyday. Throwing up 10-15x in an evening is rough on anyone, but then it’s done. I got to go back to my life. I didn’t end up in a bed for months, lose my sight, use of my hands, my legs, etc. etc. I got a pass.
When you’re sick you can’t do much of anything, you certainly cannot train. SO? Pay attention to the details, especially when you are traveling. And make sure to wash your hands- I don’t remember doing much of that at all.
Best,
TH
