Laid Out

Last week I started to wonder if I was getting sick.  I didn't really have any symptoms, but I was SO tired.  It wasn't just that I was waking up at 4:30 every morning or working until 10:00 at night.  My tiredness was a bone-weary exhaustion.  At night I couldn't seem to function, and working during the day was practically painful.

When I awoke Saturday morning, though, I felt great.  I was a little worried Friday night, because Saturday I was scheduled to run a half marathon.  I had one goal in mind: beat my time from last year, but if I was still so tired I didn't know if I'd be able to do it.  Well, I felt great, and my time reflected that.  I was able to push a little harder, the weather was great, and I clocked a time that was 5 minutes faster than last year.  Huzzah!!!

So, I thought I was doing well.  I was very tired afterwards, but that's kind of to be expected.  I went home, showered, and slept for a few hours.  It was beautiful.

Sunday I was still really tired, but I had stayed out late the night before (a night at the theatre and driving a friend home), and I figured my body was still worn out from running 13.1 miles.  I went to work, I napped when I could, and I was fine.  Things went well for Monday and most of Tuesday.

By Tuesday evening, though, I could feel that something was different.  My head hurt, my legs ached, and all I wanted to do was sleep.  When I woke up Wednesday morning, it was official.  I was sick.  My throat hurt, my ears hurt, my nose hurt, my eyes hurt.  I took the majority of the day off from work to recuperate.

Today I'm back at work, but I can't say I'm feeling much better.  All I really want to do is sleep.  The worst part is, I know this isn't even close to the worst cold I've had.  It actually isn't all that bad except for the bone-weary tiredness.  So, this tells me something.  I need to sleep.  I need to sleep a lot.  It's obvious that's what my body's craving is rest.  I've been pushing hard for a while now, and I'm simply exhausted.  This is made obvious when I go to bed at 9:00 pm, wake up at 7:00 a.m. and am still exhausted.

So, I skipped my runs this week (I hate doing that).  I'm sleeping more.  I'm eating much better.  Hopefully, by treating my body with a little more care, it will care for me back.

Fingers crossed!