This week "Flu" by ....

   Well after one of the best workouts I had in the last few weeks my hopes were high that my week would continue in good fashion.  Unfortunately, just before that workout on Tuesday I developed this dry nagging cough.  It didn't seem like much at first and I thought it would just be something that would works its way out in a day or two.  Contrary to what I had hoped, over the next 24-48 hours this little nagging cough turned into a full blown ILI (influenza like illness).  Wed and Thurs were pretty miserable since I had off and on headaches, sinus congestion, cough and slept miserable for those two nights.  When Friday morning rolled around I thought I had turned the corner, but to my dismay I was hit with a GI component and again felt miserable for the whole day. 
   Thankfully, now that it is Sunday I think I am over the worst of it and back on the mend.   I think all that is left over is a cough from way down deep which is probably just from a bronchitis that will take some time to resolve.  This latest illness just served as another minor set back in my training since I wasn't able to hit the elliptical as much as I had wanted.  The good news is that I have been continuing to do my PT exercises so hopefully my hips / thighs are getting stronger and my IT Band issues will be resolving soon. 
    I guess the only good news that would come out of this whole situation is that because I was scheduled to moonlight on Sunday I was planning on doing my long workout on Monday (which is a hospital holiday at Tufts, giving me the day off!).  While I am not sure how much endurance I lost with this little illness, I think I should be able to hit the elliptical pretty hard tomorrow.   In addition, I also have my second physical therapy appointment tomorrow afternoon so hopefully I should get some good treatment on the IT Band.  Again, the goal is to be running (at least the long runs) by the second week in March and then finish strong at the end of the month and into early April.  So far the road has been a bumpy one, but I am trying to keep my head up.