So, this past weekend was a bit ummm…. hectic. Let us start with Friday.
So at work on Friday, I was very happy to have some sequencing data to crunch, because I was feeling all sore throat-y, and I figured that hiding in my corner of the student office would prevent me from getting everyone else sick. So hide away I did. Now, I was supposed to go to a friend’s party, cause she’d competed at Adult Nationals for figure skating, but by the time I got home, all I wanted to do was sleep, besides, I had a very full day lined up on Saturday, and I wanted to be well. Ha.
So I went to bed at 9, and figured that with 11 hours of sleep, I’d be over it, cause… I usually don’t get THAT sick, right??
Well, I get up at 8, and get ready for my first ever chipped race, the 8km Spring Run Off in High Park. There was NO way I was going to miss that, sore throat or no sore throat… voice or no voice. So my lovely fiancé got to my parents’ house nice and early so that he could wish me well before the race, and I headed off. Once I got to the race, I realized that my iPod had no juice, and so not only would I have no music to run to, but it would be my second run in a row that I’d miss recording on my Nike+. Anywho, I run the race, and I’d guessed my time at 48 min, 6 min/km, all this seemed quite reasonable to me. I did have to walk a couple times, but I was sick and my throat was burning. As I got to the top of Spring Hill (the end of the race) I saw my parents and Dave, and I felt so good, despite the sicky-ness. Later, I got the results back…
Place Name City Bib# Time Chip Pace Category Category Place Gender Place
866 EBERNDL TOTONRO 182 46:01.1 45:00.3 5:46 Women 25 – 29 50/191 237/897
I did it in 45 minutes according to the chip. I was SOOOO happy… and this was when I was sick… anyway, I was proud of me. (And for the record, I realize that I can’t spell the name of my city…)
So right after that I had to get ready for my second appointment of the day, seeing the jeweller who is making my engagement ring. So, dressed in my second outfit of the day, Dave and I headed up to Richmond Hill, and… the ring was ready. It’s beautiful. If I never take it off again, it would be too soon (except that I have to take it off when washing my hands or putting on hand cream, otherwise the stones will get dirty). The sad thing?? I couldn’t even give Dave a kiss to thank him because we didn’t want me to get him sick =-(
So our next stop was at Dave’s so he could get changed, as we had my uncle’s wedding on Saturday too. Yes, it was a busy day. So he gets changed, we go to my place, I get changed, and I grab the reading. What’s that?? Oh yes, I was doing a reading at the wedding. And yes, I did sound like a frog by then.
So we get to the wedding, and I find my uncle, saying, “We have a bit of a problem…”
He says that if I’m still willing to read, then the voice is ok. I decide to read anyway, cause quite honestly, a little more talking can’t REALLY make it much worse. So the wedding proceeds (with some slight technical difficulties), and the readings happen, and all is good. I talk chemistry with one cousin, I catch up with my brother, who’s in from California, I make small talk with various aunts, uncles and other relations (this uncle is one of ten, that’s right 10, siblings, so I had lots of people to talk to). But all this small talk leads to a dying voice.
So by the time dessert was served my throat was so tight that no sound was coming out at all, and Dave and I called it a night. We went to say goodbye to my uncle and new aunt, and as we were leaving, I started to cough, and then, I couldn’t breathe. At all. I’d been coughing a little for a while, and talking was making me a little short of breath, but this was terrifying. Anyway, Dave brought me home, with a pit-stop at a drug store to get something for my cough, and then stayed with me until the rest of my family got home.
Being alone and sick is so scary for me.
While we were waiting, I had a couple huge coughs that blocked my breathing, but finally it started to clear.
On Sunday, I did nothing. Well… I sat in bed a lot. I coughed a lot. I read a single book (that normally would take me less than 3 hours, but took more like 10). I ate some orange slices. I drank tea and water. I coughed some more. I slept.
But all that was still not enough to clear this demon of an illness, because I’m still too sick to go to work today. Oh, I can get out of bed for a whole hour at a time, but then I have to retreat to my bed because I’m either boiling or freezing – or both. I can go for half an hour without coughing, but when I do, it sounds like my lungs are making a mad dash to freedom from the rest of my body.
Dave’s blaming the protracted illness on me doing the run. I don’t necessarily think he’s wrong. But I needed that experience. And it WAS fun while it lasted. I think next time I’m sick on race day, I’ll skip it. Unless, of course it’s the half marathon. No way I’ll miss that.
