Light at the End of the Tunnel?

I was a slug all week. A coughing, mucousy, slug. Instead of doing what little bit of light exercise I could do without coughing, I decided to use the time for sleeping, in the hope that I would recover more quickly.

I have no idea if it helped or not, but by this morning, I was left with just an annoying rattle in my left lung. Since today was Indian food day and I hadn’t done a single thing all week, I figured my lung would have to fend for itself. I needed to burn some calories. It was raining, so I went to the gym and got on the elliptical machine. I did two hours, broken into four 30-minute sessions. I took things slow at first, but by the last hour I could handle 160-170 steps per minute. Not bad, considering. (Note: My usual pace is 190-200 steps per minute.)

After my workout, I cleaned up and went to have lunch with Dan. I was coughing a little, but it was “productive” coughing, and I’ll skip the more disgusting details. After lunch, I took a nap, expecting to wake up to more mucous rattling around in my lung, but to my surprise, it’s almost completely clear.

Dare I hope I’m recovered? TWO WEEKS since the stupid marathon, and maybe, maybe, maybe, I can soon run again! I almost wonder if these annual winter bouts of respiratory issues are my body’s way of making me take time off from hard exercise, because I seem to find a way around any other hints my body gives me, like overuse injuries. Kinesio tape, anyone? What a shame I can't put that stuff on my lungs!

In other news, I’ve been very busy at work. Sometimes I go nine or ten hours at a stretch on only coffee, oatmeal and a banana, because I scarcely have time to eat. But since I haven’t been exercising, I suppose that’s a good thing. If I’m truly on the mend, I think I’ll have to reconsider my work and training schedule. I’m used to being able to go in to the office early and leave early, but now it seems I go in early and end up having to stay late. This just won’t do. So maybe I’ll start doing my workouts early in the morning, go in to the office at 8:00 or 9:00 and work until 5:00 or 6:00 like everyone else. I need to think about it and make a plan.

But first I need to be sure I’m really well. I’m still taking meds, and I still have some ringing in my ears, but the stuffiness seems to be mostly gone. I’m a little short-winded tonight, but it seems to be just ordinary asthma. I sure hope so!