Training and Getting Sick

I was on track with my training, feeling good and getting strong, and then BAM! I was hit with my period and an illness. For almost the last two weeks, I have only been going on Saturday rides, and I feel like I am back to square one!

So LAME!

Last Saturday, before I realized how sick I was, I went for an early morning ride. During the ride, I really struggled with my endurance. It didn't hurt to breathe, per se, but I just didn't feel like I had the energy and the strength that I normally do on my rides. The Saturday before, I went riding with a couple of men, and kept up with an 18 mph pace. It was a good solid ride. But, the following Saturday, I was struggling at 14 mph. Granted, I was fighting a little bit of a headwind, but still, I could tell something was up.

After my ride, I came home, and I didn't really recover. In fact, I went down from there and ended getting one of the worst headaches that I can remember, which sent me to bed at 8:00pm.

Sunday, I woke up and attended church. I came home from church, and slept from 1pm to 8pm. Then I went to bed at 930pm and stayed there for another 12 hours! I was sick and exhausted and I even had a fever of 100 degrees. I can't tell you the last time I had a fever...I honestly don't remember!

Austin was kind enough to arrange to stay home to care for the boys and the house while I was ill. It took some coaxing, but he did it for me, and for that I was grateful. He mentioned the possibility that the cleanse that I was doing might be making me feel awful. I just laughed at the idea, because I didn't think my body would respond that way.

A couple of days later, I read that while doing the GX Assist cleanse (from doTERRA), if you experience flu-like symptoms, your body is detoxing too fast. Well, I had part of my answer to why I was feeling so awful. I had thrown myself into a strong detox using the product. I was still using the product within the recommended dosage, it was just too much for me! After I realized that, I cut back to only one pill per day, and have been starting to feel better.

In addition to changing the dosage of my cleanse, I was taking 'the bomb' to increase the healing time. I love my essential oils and the way they are able to help the body heal more quickly. They are a great tool to have.

My children have been sick, too, so I know it isn't the cleanse only that made me feel the way it did. There is definitely a gross bug going around. Good thing I can help them to heal more quickly, too.

So, back to riding....now that I am feeling better, we are supposed to have crappy weather this weekend. Hmm...wonder if I will even get a ride in this week at all. With my luck, it's a 'no-go'.