9 Months to Tri

So, Thursday started off great. I went to the pool and had one of the best swimming workouts I’ve had since I started. I only had about a half hour, so I really pushed the workout. I swam 4 lengths short of a mile.  When I was done, I got my standard ‘after swim’ lunch from Panera. Within an hour I was starving again. All evening long I couldn’t get enough to eat, and I was really craving protein. If it was available, I’d had it available, I’d have probably gone with a nice steak, peppers and onions for dinner.

Friday, I woke up with stiff and very sore arms. Figured it was from the swimming the day before. Fortunately, work offers free chair massages on Fridays, so I took advantage of it and had the girl work on my arms. She went deep and worked out all of the stiffness. The soreness was still there, but they were nice and loose.

However, about an hour later, as I started to head for the gym, I started to get really cold. Chills from my chest outward. By the time I got to the gym, I was tired and feeling a bit nauseated. I tried to do the workout, but all of my muscles immediately felt like I’d already done a full workout and then some. I did the weights OK, but all of the cardio was a problem. I jogged about 3/4 of a mile on the treadmill, fighting cramps in my back and side the last 1/4 mile. Then, at the end of my workout, wanting to get in my full mile one way or the other, I did another 1/4 mile, then moved to the Arc
 Trainer, where my hamstrings started cramping, so I stopped after only 2 minutes.

So, I had a puzzle. Was I getting sick, or was it the mysterious ‘toxins’ locked in my muscles that were released during the massage. If you do any internet searches for ‘toxins’ and ‘massage’, you’ll find that most people feel  that this is a hoax, or at least an old wives tale. However, you’ll also find stories of people, like myself, who immediately after a massage begin feeling sick.  On the other hand, several people in my team have been sick with some sort of muscle-achy, head-achy, nauseous bug over the last month. Do I have that? I drank plenty of water, trying to see if I could ‘flush’ the toxins from my system, and went to bed feeling a bit better.

I talked to the 2 masseuses and they suggested that it might actually be a bit of both. Yes, they feel toxins might have been released, causing a feeling of nausea, and I might have gotten so relaxed that my body temperature dropped, but if I was even a little sick, I might have suddenly started feeling it much stronger after the massage.

Today, however, I’m thinking I might be a bit sick. I woke up feeling pretty good, but now I’m totally drained. Tired. Sore. Muscles don’t want to work at all. Headache is edging at the back of my head, just waiting to pounce.

So, today, instead of going in for a 5K run on the treadmill, I’m just going to kick back and try to recover.

Here’s hoping.

Share This