The only way out is through
- Michelle Cohan
- Jul 16, 2017
- 4 min read
So, what's the quickest way through the forest?
Whenever something is off kilt in my life, I always wonder...how long is it going to take me to get over it...be it a bad training spell, a breakup, writer's block, or an awful cold I can't quite shake.
Getting older has taught me...there's never a way around any of these things. You just have to get through them. I've been telling myself, it's just temporary. Yes, it sucks, but I know it will be over. It's one day, or one week, or 6 months. And if it takes longer, so-freaking-be-it. It's not a race. It's recovery.
I've had a shitty (excuse my French) cold the past week...now on day 7. When I get sick...I get SICK. Like sick as a dog, #WOOF. I've always been this way...my immune system loves to take an eon to get over these things...just as my heart takes forever to get over someone, or as my brain takes a while to come out of a writing slump. I guess my spirit animal really is turtle. (ASIDE: but didn't the tortoise beat the hare?)
As you can guess I haven't worked out...at all. If I could even try...I would. But since there's barely any oxygen passing through my nasal cavity...and my head feels like an anvil is constantly banging it...that answer is obviously "nope."
Training peaks: ENTIRELY RED. I'm an always-green girl...so...this is unprecedented.
[insert mental breakdown here]
Mentally, it's been hard. On a normal block, I am clocking 15 to 20 hours of training a week...that's a part-time job. One which I love. Take that away, take my friends away, add in a boatload of work, tight deadlines, no sick days, and add in this nasty virus...enter my personal hell.
Welcome to 28???
It started out great. July 7, a Friday. I took the day off. But not from training, of course. It started out with a great 5am swim with my friends, a massage, a day on the lake, followed by a fantastic dinner with my closest friends...and then two back-to-back century rides over the weekend (a first for me!). What more could I ask for?
A total system shutdown...apparently. I've been going mach 10 for so long...living on little sleep, shuffling from work, to training, to social outings...it was bound to happen.
And it was long overdue. The last time I was sick...probably over two years ago. Crazy.
Instead of getting angry for being sick during this most inopportune of times, I am grateful. Because look at how healthy I've been the past few years. And how I get to get up every morning and go train for this crazy amazing sport that I love, with a bunch of other crazy amazing athletes that I love. I am so incredibly lucky that I get to do this. That I can even walk. That I don't have any chronic issues. That I'm living a life a lot of people don't get to.
This sense of clarity has come in part from this month's Vital Signs episode that I produced (airing Wednesday! look out for a link). This month's show is about the microbiome -- the 100 trillion bacteria that live in and on you...and how everything from diet to exercise to sleep impacts it -- and then it turn, how your these little guys impacts your health. Scientists are currently "mapping" the human microbiome in hopes that one day we'll be able to change our microbiome to optimize our health, and potentially cure diseases. Fascinating stuff.
But what happens when your gut doesn't function properly? I profiled a patient with Crohn's disease -- a debilitating, embarrassing chronic illness that results in bouts of really bad diarrhea. I have a really soft spot in my heart for this disease, knowing people who suffer with it. In fact, my first half Ironman, I raced on behalf of this illness... raising over 3k for CCFA (the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation).
The guy I featured in the episode -- Joe -- I had actually met at my first half IM in Chattanooga. I had no idea he had Crohn's back then. I just thought he worked for the organization. Low and behold, I send an e-mail to the CCFA Georgia chapter, asking for a patient to profile. And as luck would have it, they gave me Joe -- the national manager for Team Challenge (CCFA's endurance branch to fight for a cure), the same team that I raced under a few years ago.
It was uplifting hearing his story...from how awful it can be, to how it's changed his life -- in a good way. Before joining Team Challenge as a participant, he rarely spoke about his disease and lived in fear. Team Challenge gave him an outlet to meet others with his illness, and do what he loved doing -- run. It's incredible how the endurance community is so encouraging and welcoming. It's really unlike anything else in the world.
He's done over 50 half marathons and counting. This disease has not stopped him...he's so strong, passionate, and truly the definition of tough. If Joe can run through Crohn's, I can get through anything. A ten day cold? That's nothing. There are seriously no limits on life. Besides, you know, the laws and such ;).
So while I can't train at the moment -- I'm super glad I can at least write. My only other outlet.
TL;DR: Suck it up, it'll be over soon enough; be grateful for your health and all that you can accomplish.
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