How NOT to get over a "little" cold quickly

Last Saturday when I ran in the Great Urban Race with Kip, I felt several times during the course of the race that I was slacking a bit, something was not quite right. I wrote this off to perhaps not training enough recently or maybe it was the vest I was wearing because it was a bit chilly but ended up causing me to overheat and sweat like pig. (Sorry again Kip. In the three-legged race he suffered as well because of my ill planning.) And indeed it could of been either of these things. But when I woke on Sunday with more than a tickle in my throat I knew it was also that I had caught a bug that had glanced off Skye. She had a slight cough and crazy sneezing for a day or so but nothing else. So I was good and took it somewhat easy on Sunday.

Monday morning had me feeling not too much better, but not too much worse. Now this could have probably been the end of it had I taken it easy, but ....

I trained in jui jitsu, which is always an intense experience. And that day seemed to be more intense than usual. Now it could have been that I was fighting a cold or it could have been that I was training with two advanced belts who were in great shape and knew what they were doing or a combination of the two. I was like putty for the rest of the day.

A good night's sleep was in order but I had told Kip that I would make it out and see his band, Beautiful Criminal play at the Viper Room that evening. I knew better but I had told Kip I was going(I know he would have understood had I bowed out) and I had never been to the Viper Room and sometimes my judgment is not spot on. I went out, had a bad martini, a good Guinness and quite enjoyable time.

I felt worse on Tuesday. But that didn't keep me from running. I am after all behind on my training for the LA Marathon. Bad idea.

I still felt bad on Wednesday. But I needed to steel myself for the evening, because we were hosting another "Social Experiment" and I knew that I would be up late.

Another lovely Experiment experience(more on that next week post final Experiment on Wednesday), but I did end up cleaning the kitchen well past mid-night.

I would have loved to sleep in but the Super Duper park day was upon us and I had not prepared any sort of food for the potluck, which I ended up foraging at Whole Foods. So I rustled Skye from bed and loaded this that and the other gear for a full day at the park. Again another lovely time, the kids projects were wonderful and had many interesting and varied discussions while Skye and friends played and got in their dose of "socialization" home school style.

Friday morn, the cold had moved to my chest and I was looking forward to spending many hours that day in a massive refrigerator, also know as the Staples center to take Skye and company to see the World's Figure Skating Championships. We were very fortunate to be in one of the VIP boxes because of a friend's great generosity. Not only were the seats incredible, (that is by the way, the best way to see events at Staples) but several of the other people in the suite were avid figure skater followers, generous friend perhaps most of all. It was great to have experts to field questions and help see the subtle differences between one performance and another. But while it was very wonderful experience, I was in an ice rink all day. My fight with the cold was not helped by this.

Saturday had me sleeping in til 7 am which is good for me. I took it easy and am almost back to normal, but I knew we were meeting friends to see a play that evening at the Actor's Gang theatre in Culver City. Now the smart me would have backed off and excused myself. But they were good friends that I like hanging out with and we rarely get to the theater and I know how much Cindy loves it so off we went to see The Trial of Catonsville Nine. Very interesting and sparked more interesting conversations which simply had to be continued over a bite of sushi and a bit of beer, dark Asahi to be precise. Not exactly an early night, but certainly a nice night out.

I feel better today with little more than a sniffle and a tightness in my chest. As tempted as I am to go for a run, I am going to hold myself back and hope that I am 100% by tomorrow and then attack the marathon training fully.

I feel very fortunate to have all the friends and experiences that kept me from getting over this cold in a day or so. And knowing me I would do the same thing all over again.