This illness started last Monday afternoon. At first, I thought it was an allergy attack. Because I already felt like I was drowning, I decided to skip Monday’s swim workout. By midnight, I knew it was a cold, not allergies. And now, a week later, I’m still sick.

We’d planned to go camping this weekend. Richard, the friend with whom we camp every Memorial Day Weekend, had to cancel. I was really looking forward to camping, though, so we still planned to go. There’s a lot of work that needs done around the house – we bought a shed kit, and Jim’s been leveling the pad on which the shed will sit – so I figured we could always come home on Sunday to do yard work on Monday.

I was hoping to feel well enough to still go camping. Then, Jim came home Thursday evening and announced he was coming down with the cold, too. No camping.

I ran some errands Saturday, and that wore me out. Yesterday, we did a little work in the yard – picked peas, took the bird netting off the cherries – and that was all we could muster.

Around midnight last night, one of my left sinuses started aching. This morning, I realized the upper teeth on that side hurt when I bite down. I may have a sinus infection. I’m not running a fever, so I’m going to let it go today. If I feel worse tomorrow, it’s time to go to the doctor.

I haven’t worked out all week. I’m training for the Race the River Sprint Tri in July. The good news is I’ve done this course before – flat bike & run, and it’s the only OWS race I’ve ever done in which the swim went well. I’m not setting a goal for this race, other than to enjoy myself and feel good at the end. I had a great race last year, except for the run – I completely cooked my legs on the bike – and I don’t want to set my expectations too high and then have a bad race. Also, absent this cold, I’m fit enough to do a sprint tri right now. My transitions are rusty and I’ve only done one Brick workout, but I can do that distance without wearing myself out.

Still, I’m concerned. Once I’m ready, I’m going to try some easy workouts – no pace goals, just easy. When I’m back at full speed, I hope to pick up the workout schedule as if I’d been training all along.

This makes me anxious. Even as I sit here feeling weary, I feel like I should be doing something. I’ve been eating too much sweet stuff (self-pity), and the decongestants make it hard to stay hydrated. I’m probably headed back to the futon to lie on my back and watch more TV — I’ve watched more movies in the last week than I have in the past year, and I think I’ve watched an entire season of Little Mosque on the Prairie — but I need the rest. No sense in taxing myself and extending this awful cold.

Maybe I deserve a little self-pity. But I need to lay off the Girl Scout cookies.