Things I recommend: feeling better after six weeks. Things I don’t recommend: getting sick in the first place.
Things I recommend: enjoying the holiday season. Things I don’t (necessarily) recommend (at least not frequently): earning a badge on Untappd for checking in an adult beverage for over a week straight.
Things I recommend: eating good food, often. Things I don’t recommend: not exercising, gaining 10 lbs, losing muscle, gaining fluff.
Things I recommend: back squats. Things I don’t recommend: dropping a plate directly on your foot from the racked barbell.
SO THAT’S BASICALLY WHERE WE’RE AT RIGHT NOW, FOLKS.
I finally feel better and it’s been a hell of a ride. For somebody who rarely gets sick, I felt like a whiner talking about my cold. Was it really as bad as I thought? Emphatically YES. Confirmed by multiple friends whining at week 3. Phew. Glad I wasn’t making it up.
Yes, I earned a badge on Untappd for checking in daily for over a week. I had a beer or glass of wine at home daily, sandwiched between a happy hour, dinner out and then another dinner out and $15 manhattans. My wallet wasn’t happy, neither was my liver I’m sure, but my oh my, my palate was loving it.
Yes, I also gained 10ish lbs from being sick and not exercising on top of my usual poor food choices. My middle is fluffier than it has been since college and while I know at least 10lbs of the 20lbs I’ve gained since college is definitely muscle, I’m sure a bit is mac and cheese, pizza logs, and hot pockets.
Oh yeah, and two weeks ago I went to clear off a barbell that was racked for squats and a 5lb plate landed directly onto my foot from shoulder height. Sure, it’s just 5lbs but that piece of metal had me convinced I needed my foot amputated. I haven’t been able to run since, nor walk further than 1 mile without feeling it the next day. I can’t do anything that involves flexing my big toe still, but it’s finally getting better, though still bruised. You don’t realize how often you bend and flex your toes until you can’t do it painlessly.
I’ve been trying to figure out in this time what I want to do about my running. The Lake Effect Half Marathon is in February and tradition to run, but they added a 5k option this year and that’s kind of where I’m leaning. I’m not sure I have it in me to dedicate to training for a half marathon this year.
I did make one decision though. I need to eat better. RP strength had a Black Friday sale on their templates and I gave in. I need to eat better and if I spend money on it, maybe I’ll finally do it. I know a few people personally who have had great success with it (think increased strength, better stamina, more muscle, less body fat, better recovery) so I figured why not? I started it Monday and I’m going to attempt to stick with it 90-100% each day, but realistically eating ANY vegetables and less processed food is an improvement. I plan to write up a more extensive post about RP strength soon, but I’m only a day (or two when you read this!) in so I need a few more days under my belt.
Run fast or faster. 