Today I did some exercise.
Now I will be the first to admit that it was hardly a stellar outing. I got in about 40km and I think I felt comfortable about three times. Completely over this cold I am not.
However, as I mentioned yesterday, if I wait until I am completely well before I start training again I could be waiting for a week or two. So while today I was far from 100%, I was close enough to be out the door and having fun. Well sort of fun anyway.
The discomfort on the bike was all cold related though, so I am not too worried about it. Just the usual coughing, tightness of chest, difficulty breathing sort of thing that usually comes with a cold. Not great, but not lethal either. I will hold off before I go running though. I was sort of thinking of trying a run today, but this morning showed me that this cold still has a little while to go. One step at a time.
There are other signs that the cold isn't quite done yet too. I track my heart rate and my daily resting heart rate is still a bit elevated. It jumped up on Sunday and still hasn't really come back down properly which makes me think I need to be careful to not over do the training at this point.
It is interesting the whole heart rate tracking thing. I have done it manually for years, just taking my heart rate at about the same time and same state of rest each day. It hasn't been fool proof, but it has usually given me a feel for how the body is travelling, whether I am sick, over training etc. However, taking the heart rate manually has meant that I have only been checking it a few times a day, which can make trends heard to see. Over the last few months I have been relying on a Garmin Vivosmart to do the tracking for me. The Vivosmart is a far from perfect device in terms of the optical heart rate monitor, there are lots of things it could do better, but I have found that it does give me an accurate enough idea of resting heart rate to be useful.
The 24 hour a day heart rate monitor came into its own leading into Ironman WA because it forced me to not overthink how I was feeling during taper. During taper it is always tempting to think that you are starting to feel ill, because you often start to feel a bit lethargic. Having continuous heart rate tracking meant that I could check and re-assure myself that I wasn't actually getting sick and settle my over active imagination down. I found it very useful.
The cold I have at the moment is the first time I have been continually tracking my heart rate when I have been sick though. I know from experience that when I am sick the heart rate rises, but I have been surprised just how much and how consistent the rise has been. The resting heart rate rose by about 6 beats on Sunday (when I started feeling properly rotten) and hasn't really come back down yet. I was hoping it might be a bit lower today, since I am certainly feeling better than I was, but apparently not. All interesting stuff, and as I said above, a sign that it is probably a good idea to not push too hard tonight and tomorrow. Still going to need a bit of time.
I am certainly feeling better though. While physically I am not quite back on board, mentally I am feeling much better today. Yesterday and Tuesday I felt like I was in a bit of a zombie state. I was functioning, but only just and not very effectively. Today though it felt like a veil was lifted and my brain was kicking back into action.
It was a great relief, I like my brain.
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