Contemplating Taking Time Off

I have some confessions to make. Those iron-seam over-expensive yoga pants are my favorite gym pants. And I hate to admit it, but I feel terrible. My head hurts and my nose has the reddish glow of a two-year old, or one of Santa's reindeer in training. The head cold is slowly seeping into my chest as well, evidenced by an occasional deep wet cough and sputter. I hate being sick. And I'm wondering if my love of working out is making me more susceptible to colds.

I'm not deathly ill. But in a 12 month period, I feel as if I've had a sinus head cold at least 3-4 times, which is more than I normally get. I also use to work out a whole lot less, suffer from horrible knee pain, knots in my shoulders and neck, and I was in danger of sliding into the next size up in clothes with a BMI that was borderline chubby.

I have a doctor's appt in an hour and hopefully she'll tell me what decongestants I can take to relieve my lopsided head pain, and clear my sinuses. I've looked at websites detailing antihistamines and their side-effects but I'm not sure what's right for me. Benadryl® makes me stupid for 2 whole days so that's not even an option. I use to take Chlortrimeton® but now I'm not sure if it's safe to take with my borderline high blood pressure and glaucoma (I am using Xalatan® eye drops to control the pressure).

Maybe what I need are antibiotics. Unfortunately, yogurt doesn't seem to agree with me and I haven't eaten that in a long time (even the purportedly lactose-free yogurt gives me a stomach ache) and you shouldn't really eat antibiotics without a good counter culture. Hmmm.

Still, I went to the gym and tried to do an easy workout. It started out easy enough with me doing only 35 minutes on the elliptical. I barely got three and a half miles but I was warm at least. I skipped going heavy on Seated Cable Rows since I felt like my head was going to explode last time, and did a few sets on a lower weight. Pull ups were really hard today. I did my sets but couldn't really complete them properly. My lower right elbow's been sore for the last few days.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min cardio #6 = 3.49 miles (pace ranged from 155 strides per minute to 190)
Cage Stretch & Kicks
Seated Cable Rows: 12 @ 90 / 4 x 12 @ 105 lbs
Pull Ups: 3 x 8
Reverse Grip Bent-Over BB Rows: 15 @ 65 / 6 x 15 @ 70 lbs
Chin Ups: 3 x 6
Seated DB Curls: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Torso Twist Machine: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Lower Ab Kickouts: 100 (then I feel a rug burn warning and stop!)
Reverse Grip BB Curls: 3 x 20 @ 40 lbs
Mat Stretch

I see B today and she tells me I ought to stay home. I see Mo today too, and she tells me that everyday is a struggle to get here. The scale reads 110.4 lbs and my throat is scratchy and dry even though I've sucked my water bottle dry. I saw R briefly too but I didn't greet him. He was working out with his brother who looks younger than him, but is actually older than R is. Yeah, I know how that goes.

Maybe I will take tomorrow off. It'd be Leg Day. And I love Leg Day. But I can't work out feeling like my head's going to explode. I'm not sure what I'm going to do instead. Maybe curl up in bed with a bowl of chicken soup? I guess I'll know tomorrow when I get up and see how I feel.

************************

Well, I went to the doc and my blood pressure's a surprisingly normal 124/72 so at least I don't have to worry about fatally popping a vessel in my head (for now). The doc did all the doc things, ie, looked in my ears, nose, throat, listened to my heart and lungs. Then she told me to take a decongestant, Sudafed, and gave me a prescription for a cephalosporin antibiotic. I use to take Sudafed before I worried about my blood pressure, and before they changed it from pseudoephedrine to phenylephrine. Whether I go to the gym tomorrow still depends on how I feel when I get up tomorrow, but at least I've got one less thing to worry about.