Thursday, May 22, 2008

Home Sick...........ugh

Woe is me. Last week's cold has come back for round two. This time it had me waking at 3:30am Thursday morning and wondering if I was in a sauna. Sweat was running down my arms and by morning I'd lost almost 2kgs. Being self-employed with a month of work to do by the end of next week, I sucked it up (a packet of Strepsils, that is) and went to work yesterday. Dumb move.

The cold might have passed, but it didn't. It got worse. No riding today, not even any altitude simulation.

British club cyclists used to have a rule about training with colds - if the symptoms are above the neck, continue riding; but if the symptoms are below the neck, rest up. What the hell does that mean if the symptoms are in the neck?! Some people have had recent colds linger for weeks. Deciding when to start training again is just so much guess-work.

I don't bother with training diaries or plans any more. Training plans seem impossible to keep to since becoming a dad. And this blog is more fun than a training diary. But I do have several years of old training diaries. At a time like this it's handy to refer back to a time when illness tried to spoil things and see what really happened.

In September 1990 I got back from the Worlds and promptly fell in love with Sarah. There wasn't much time for training rides for the next few weeks and then, two weeks before the start of pre-season races, I was hit by a nasty cold that lasted for 5 days. After four weeks that included just four rides, there was time for only two more rides before putting the hammer down at the 'Mountains to Sea'. Three weeks after that I managed 4th at the Australian Nationals. That was a weird race 'cos I started at the back of the grid and 200m from the start my handlebar stem bolt jumped out. Sabotage perhaps? Fortunately my stem wedge was a bit rusty and well seezed. With the big bolt tucked away in my back pocket I set about picking the field off. Despite (or because of) all the recent time off the bike, my legs felt fantastic.

Reminded of that experience, I'm off back to bed. Training can wait until next week.

5 comments:

Kashi said...

Hey Si. holly... you have always been a nutter, but this is taking it to another level :))) You are going to have one awesome adventure and I can't wait to read your blog updates... all the best for it !!
Kashi

Simon Kennett said...

Thanks Kashi
The way the World Cup peloton sprints into the first section of singletrack like a herd of bulls through the eye of a needle (or something like that)...well, it takes a nutter to know a nutter ; )
Good luck with the rest of your season. If you get tired of the multi-lap thing, it's not too late to put on a couple of kilos and line up at the Great Divide Race!

Mike and Karen said...

I enjoyed your talk tonight. We've heard the talk now we wait with baited breath to watch the walk.... (ride). Karen and I look forward to depositing our 4000km donation on the completion of your adventure. Beyond that there's not much more to do other than watch your progress and wish you much good health and happiness. This is an AWESOME thing you are doing.
"Pedal on" I think is the term??!!

swtchbckr said...

Hey, from Swtchbckr to you Simon, Best of Luck, go well go hell hard. I feel honoured to think that it was me who alerted you to the pain and suffering you're about to indulge yourself in.

all the best.
swtchbckr

Simon Kennett said...

I'll track you down one day swtchbckr...one day....