Sick? Again?

What timing. There must be a big race coming up because once again, I feel like I'm getting sick.

Oh, that's right, that Olympic triathlon qualifier for the national age group championships.  On June 27.

Yep, it's time to come down with something.

I mostly credit that annual germ-fest known as the E3 videogames tradeshow as the culprit for my demise.  There's 45,000 people pouring through the LA Convention Center doors, most of them hygenically challenged...all putting their hands on the same controllers at each kiosk.

Gross.

So, couple that with lots of hand-shaking, late nights, early mornings for training, questionable nutrition, and less sleep.

I suppose it's no surprise that I don't feel my best.  Coach Gerardo indicated that if I skipped today's run and tomorrow's four-hour bike ride that my fitness level wouldn't be affected at all.  That's enough to get me to probably call it a weekend and go toes-up on the couch for some much-needed rest.  I tried to rally today in the pool for a long swim and came pretty close.  The workout called for 3,500 yards over an hour and 10 minutes.  I didn't have that amount of time because Stephanie and I were attending her cousin Emily's birthday party in Huntington Beach.  Still I managed 2,300 yards consisting of drills and laps in about 55 minutes.  It wasn't ideal, but I could sense incremental progress in my stroke, especially the lat muscle pulling instead of my triceps.  That means I'm using bigger muscles to push me through the water instead of just my arm and hand.  Hopefully, that will make me go faster!

For now, I'm likely to hang it out for the weekend.  Take it easy. Chill out.  Shut it down. Maybe that will help me overcome whatever's ailing me and get me back on track for next weekend's big race.

151 days and counting.