Week Twenty-Eight - Day Three: Weak

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 29 min.
TIME BACK: 27 min.
WEATHER: overcast, -5C (-10C with windchill), 13 km/hr wind there; clear, 3C (0C with windchill), 11 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, fleece jacket, running gloves, scarf
NOTES:

On my first day back in the saddle after taking two days off with the stomach flu, I have to say: I'm still not feeling great. On the way to work this morning, I alternated between feeling ravenously hungry and vaguely nauseous. My legs felt like they did when I would bike in very cold weather - thick, heavy, kind of numb, and simply incapable of going very fast. The muscles in my arms and shoulders ached mildly, still starving for replenishing nutrients and rest. I don't think it helped that it felt colder this morning than it has in a while, or that there was a bit more wind, or that I attempted my old residential-street route for the first time in months only to discover that there is still significant ice cover in some areas that really slowed me down. For all these reasons, I didn't make great time today, but I also wasn't expecting to. It felt like a triumph enough getting on the bike this morning.

On the way home, it wasn't much better. I stuck to the main roads again to avoid the ice, but instead found that the combination of physical exertion mixed with the heavy consumption of exhaust fumes left me feeling pretty nauseous at times. In the last several blocks of my route home, I even felt so weak in my arms and legs I wondered if I should pull over for a rest. I didn't because I was so close to home, but it was enough to make me wonder if I should give the biking a rest for this week until I've fully recuperated.

Did I mention that my daughter is teething right now? This has not helped with my efforts to rest well at night and get better.

At least I got some nice feedback today: I ran into a colleague and her sister the other day, and today my colleague told me that her sister thought my bike helmet looked rather becoming on me. She thought that I have a very pretty face, and she didn't realize it until she saw me with the helmet. Well, then! I'll go ahead and take that compliment! Who would have thought that my awkward helmet brought out my pretty? I'm thinking I should start wearing it everywhere . . .