Our entire weekend in Austin was in jeopardy. I was expecting to run in my 4th Austin Half Marathon on Sunday. A sudden bout with the stomach flu put those plans on hold. Friday night, I didn't feel strong enough to walk, much less run. And with the run less than a day and half away, I wasn't sure what state I'd be in.
I went to bed late Thursday night with a stomachache. When I woke up about four hours later to go to the gym I noticed my body feeling particularly weak and achey. I assumed it was just from lack of sleep. This wasn't an uncommon thing for me. Usually, I'd snap right out of it once my body got moving. The feeling continued throughout the morning as I played basketball and worked out. It was only after I got into the office that I started feeling the chills and the aches throughout my body begain feeling amplified. This is when I started getting a little concerned. But I had a tough day of work ahead and major deadlines that Friday and I didn't want to ditch my team. I skipped lunch because I didn't think I could hold anything down. The feeling of nausea was strong. I stuck it out until 4 pm before I decided I needed to cut my losses and get home. The aches had become unbearable and I wasn't sure how much longer I could stay upright. So I got home about 40 minutes later and I felt like a mess. I put down my things and went straight to the couch and curled up under a blanket. I didn't get off that couch until 17 hours later. The pain was all over. It hurt to move, but also hurt to stay still. I couldn't find a comfortable position to even rest. It turns out I had a fever of 101. I tossed and turned for hours. I fell asleep for a few hours at a time. Through this entire ordeal, my loving wife was by my side taking care of me as I struggled to stay lucid. All I had in my system was a banana and a few liters of gatorade, so she insisted I have some congee. I managed to get a few spoonfuls down before I fell asleep again. According to my wife, I had slept for about 12 hours. When I woke up the next morning, I was happy to see that my fever was gone. My body still ached but not nearly as much. I was starting to feel like myself again.
We got into Austin around 3:30 and I was actually feeling my appetite returning. I wondered how this would all play into the next morning's race. This would typically be the time to start carb loading, but I had eaten so little. I hoped a good dinner would be enough.
Long story short, I finished in 1:57:46. A little slower than expected but I was happy I showed up at all. In your face, flu.
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