An Unexpected Week Off

 Last Sunday I found myself pedaling and drenched in sweat. It isn't unusual to sweat during exercise, but I have superior endurance. I typically don't start losing my breath until the five mile mark. I also do not normally break out in a sweat until around the twenty minute mark. I was winded and sweating in the first few minutes. I knew something was off. I stopped at 14.1 miles Sunday.

Monday my throat was sore and my sinuses stuffy. My determination to not be sick saw me put in 19.3 miles on the bike. I huffed and puffed the whole way. The cough started later Monday night. It was not an auspicious start to my vacation. Most of all I was really determined to not allow yet another 2021 illness to put me off my exercise. 

When the fever set in Tuesday I knew the streak was broken. I was not going to be up to working out for a few days. My streak held from 14 November until 20 December. I went as hard as I was able every day. That is a great start to my latest fitness journey. 

I have not felt like being vertical most of this week. I have not gotten back on the exercise bike. When you cannot breathe sitting still it is a bad idea to push yourself too hard. With the help of rest, water, and the manufacturer's maximum recommended dosage of Mucinex DM I am staving off whatever this crud is trying to mutate into. Bronchitis? Pneumonia? Cooties?! I will pass. 

The 25th and the 26th did give me beautiful weather. I took advantage by getting in some archery. It is funny how much even that wears me out. I shot a couple of hours on Christmas. I shot about an hour and half today. By the 3rd time I was down range gathering arrows I was getting tired. By the fifth round my arms were starting to shake from the draw. When I missed the target entirely it was time to come inside. 

I realized about half way through the 2nd day of shooting that I had forgotten to turn on my exercise tracker.I also forgot to charge up the GoPro batteries. I really am interested in capturing the shots on film so I can analyze my aim. I am not sure if I should mount the camera on the bow or my wrist for more accurate footage. I guess I could also tripod mount it, but I want to be able to analyze my draw and release. That doesn't seem possible with the tripod mount. Then again, I do have multiple cameras... 

Christmas went well. With help, I was able to get everything wrapped. I did not bother with much camouflage this year.  I bought Teagan a new TV. When it came in back in October I sat it beside my workbench in my office. She didn't ask me about it until Thursday of this last week. I made two statements in response to her ask of," What is that?" First I pointed to my new office TV and said," Remember? I got a new TV for my office. That is a TV box." No lie there. I expected her to put it together Christmas morning, but months of anticipation ending in a frenzy of ripping paper and a ridiculous amount of gifts did not have her thinking critically about the TV box. 

I went with a more traditional Christmas dinner this year. I was nervous to do it. I have helped prep this meal more years of my life than not. Experience told me that I wanted to break up the cooking a bit. I made egg salad, deviled eggs, and potato salad on Christmas Eve. With most of the family around for the unwrapping ceremony I felt like the egg salad sandwich breakfast was a easy prep, quick serve option. I haven't made deviled eggs or potato salad since before Mom died. I remember the potato salad being labor intensive. I wanted that out of the way. 

The fun part was boiling 24 eggs up at one time. That is a personal record. Ten of those turn into sixteen deviled eggs. Yes, that is an unusual yield. The spare egg whites went into the egg salad. Two of the eggs went into the potato salad. I debate what they actually bring to the party taste or texture wise. Still, following Mom's recipe was important to me this year. The rest dropped into the egg salad. 

I got up at six am and put the ham on to bake. It was too early, literally. I wanted to eat around 5. The ham was ready to serve at 215. I handled that. The rest of the meal was simple to prep. Baked beans, corn, rolls, and sausage stuffing are not difficult dishes. I think it took me about two and half hours over the two days to do all of the cooking. It all came out great. I think the ham was the star of the show. Nothing was bad. I have way too many leftovers. 

I am aching to get back to good health. Two things have happened with the break. My legs finally quit hurting yesterday. It is the first time in over a month that my legs haven't been sore. I also lost three pounds. I crossed back under that limit I refuse to talk about which pleases me. I am hoping that my lungs cooperate with getting back into some cardio before the year ends. 

That is my next focus. I am going to examine a few systems for 2022 and set some resolutions along with ways to encourage success on them. I have some financial goals. I have some fitness goals. I have my mind on having some great vacations next year. I have some home improvement ideas I want to get accomplished. I suppose I will use this week to map them all out. I probably will even blog about them come Thursday.  I am determined not to break this streak.