Infl-eewww-enza

I feel like the flu took over a week's chunk out of my life, from last Monday to today. I am hoping to get back to the gym for cardio any day now. My cough has gone from a death-rattle to just a strangle. It sounds terrible, but at least I am no longer grabbing my stomach with each cough, trying to keep the intensely sore chest and tummy muscles from moving. I had days of chills, fever, and my skin hurt so much I didn't want to take a shower. I knew the water droplets hitting my skin would hurt. They did. My clothes felt like they were scraping against my skin. I am sure glad much of that is behind me.

Last weekend (a week ago) was fun. Friday night I went snowshoeing with New Zealand Wendy and Kristin. Turns out it was drizzling, but we stuck it out and had fun. Saturday I wanted to go try skiing at PETS for the first time, but I woke up with a headache and was really tired, so I stayed close to home. I heard lots of loud pounding going on, but kept going back to sleep, since I had stayed up late. I knew that my neighbors were taking down a wall that day. Later I went over to check out their progress. I saw a teammate's car parked behind mine, and knew that he must be over there too. I hadn't seen him in ages, it was great to catch up. I later found out that all four of the people in that room that day besides me were either sick or about to get sick! That's probably where I got my big dose of flu germs.

My friend Brian was having an impromptu party later and I realized I was running out of time to work out. I decided that it would take less time to go x-c ski for an hour on the lakefront than it would take to go to the gym for an hour on the eliptical. The ski expedition was horrible. It was dark and incredibly windy. The snow was covered with a layer of ice, kind of a crust. You could barely even see the indentations that the skiis made - it was more like sliding around sideways than settling into a groove. There really wasn't anywhere to settle - it was just slip n' slide, instead of glide. I tried going over to the campus lakefill, thinking that would have real snow and be better but instead I just worried about whether I could grab onto the fence cable in time if I slipped sideways on the ice and started to slide into the lake...it was all bumpy ice where people had walked and left behind icy footprints.

The party was fun. Brian made veggie gumbo and I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a while. Dan and Susan brought their new puppy, a Puggle. Cute. Somebody pulled out a game called CatchPhrase late in the evening. I was not in the mood for a game at all, but it turned out to be really fun.

That Sunday was the 'Cross Banquet for our local series. The turnout was smaller than I expected, but I had a great time. We had a lively table - my old teammate Tim, his wife Kim, and some other folks. We were in the room next to where the awards were announced - it was hard to hear what they were saying. I missed talking to some of the people at the other tables before they left. Congrats to all of the series prizewinners!! Great job.

It ended early enough that I was able to hit the gym after and get 1:20 in on the eliptical. That exercise session has had to last me for over a week - I got sick the next day.

After that, the long feverish week.

This past weekend I got up earlier than usual for me on a Saturday and went to a meeting out in the burbs. Some decisions to be made. Then stopped by a local shop that was having an event and saw a bunch of people I knew. NZ Wendy and John wanted to go snowshoeing at the end of the day so we went to the woods. I probably shouldn't have - I felt much worse on Sunday. But the river was pretty and it was nice to get out.