Boy, am I stupid!

Tomorrow I visit my surgeon for my six week checkup, and my plan of running on Thursday morning (or any time in the near future) has been blown to bits. However, in hindsight, the events of the past few days was a thankful sign that I'm nowhere near ready to start running again.

Let me explain.

On Sunday, our delightful little town hosted the "Kraft Celebration Tour" on TSN, complete with celebrity hosts, free Oreos, and an Edmonton Eskimo thrown in for good measure. It was a hot day, with no parking in the river valley, so we walked down the steep hill to get to Voyageur Park. I felt good, a little slow, but then I was overtaken by the madness of the live TV show, knowing that my mom and dad were watching for the kids on TV. Scott had Matthew on his shoulders, so Elizabeth went on my shoulders - that was mistake #1.

At the end of it all, we headed towards the busses, but so did everyone else, and I decided that we should walk up the hill. After all, I had run up that hill a zillion times, it wasn't that big of a hill (?!?!?), and I didn't want to wait for the bus in 30 degree heat. I was proud when we beat the busses up the hill.

That was mistake #2.

I woke up on Monday morning and felt absolutely AWFUL! I was nauseous, was trying to force myself to eat bits of fruit, and felt like I was going to throw up any moment. I tried to do a bit of work but instead decided to spend the day in bed. I felt like I did when I came home from the hospital, and was kicking myself. I had a fever, my incision was hot, and I was worried that I had blown some stiches and had an internal infection. I envisioned returning to the hospital, going back into surgery, my doctor cursing me the whole way. It was a very depressing day.

Thankfully, I woke up this morning and felt 100% better. I was able to eat, I drank lots of water, and my fever was gone. Scott wisely "suggested" that I skip The Mustard Seed tonight, and I agreed - my body needs sleep, not a late, busy night and a midnight (or later) bedtime. Time to go to bed and continue to rest.

So 5 Peaks is out, but I'm going to cheer on my friends at the start and the finish. As my sister said, I have a lifetime to enjoy exercise, but if I screw up this recovery, it could be a long time before I do anything again, including returning to The Mustard Seed, and I want to get back there as soon as I can.

So for now, there is only rest in my future.