Port Royal - Here I come again !

Ye Old Bar - Port Royal, Jamaica

Back in the saddle again.

Went out today and did 12.3 miles, the same distance I did 3 weeks ago before getting sick.

The morning started out routinely, up at a little after 4:30am for a cup of tea and some crackers, getting ready and out the door at about 5:15am for the drive into Kingston. For some strange reason I couldn't get through to Wilson, normally I would hear from him early.

Arrived at 6:15am and got ready right away and hit the road all by myself. As usual while riding by myself I found that I was pushing myself harder than usual, no problem I thought, if I get tired I will just lower the pace and try to catch my breath, and that is exactly what I did, steady pace into Port Royal. I was very surprised that I had reached there so quickly and took only 5 minutes to get a drink and massage Robbie and the twins back to life.

Betsy parked accross the road from
Ye Old Bar

The journey back was a little more difficult as I continued pushing myself a little faster than usual and the last mile to the car really did me in, but I stuck it out like a Champ. There were a lot of people on the road today as there was a Walk-a-ton in progress, they didn't travel along the Port Royal road so they didn't really get in my way until I was driving back home. It was wonderful seeing dozens of people walking aggressively in the hot sun working up a sweat.

I felt good today, I didn't ride further than I did 3 weeks ago but I know I did it at a faster pace than before and most importantly I didn't have Wilson there pushing me, I did it all on my own.

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November 2009

Last Ride - 12.3 miles

Total Ride for the Month - 12.3 miles

Target miles for November - 60 miles

Being Sick Really Sucks

Last week I got sick, very sick.

I was so pumped up after doing over 12 miles on October 31, that I was prepared to repeat the process and just "keep on keeping it on". I wanted to use the achievement as motivation to ride a little bit harder and little bit longer, and believe me nothing motivates more than success.

Last Friday was different, instead of my regular job of being on the road all day, I ended up in a meeting all day. During the afternoon I developed a cough that seem to be getting worse as the evening wore on. I was concerned, the cough was pretty dry but there seemed to be no particular reason for it as I had not eaten anything unusual or been in a dusty environment. Later on my better half asked me to pick up her nephew Joel and take him home as she was busy at her office. My coughing continued all the way home.

At home I went about my Friday evening routine, setting water and Gatorade in the freezer, laying out my riding clothes, getting the bicycle in my car, etc. I was still coughing but was determined to ride early in the morning before heading off to the monthly Sales Meeting at work. At about 10pm I suddenly felt my sinus clogging up, my throat getting dry and a few aches and pains coming on very quickly. withing an hour I was almost totally incapacitated with a terrible headache, a clogged sinus and a constant coughing that irritated the hell out of me.

The long and short of it is that by Saturday morning I was totally useless and that continued right into this week, I had a full blown cold, with clogged sinus, running a temperature and felt very weak. By Wednesday I was in my doctor's office because while I had started to feel better I had a wheezing on my chest that sounded like trouble. My doctor put me on a nebulizer (my first time on one) and ended up sending me home for the rest of the weeks with very strong antibiotics to clear up a serious chest infection with orders to stay off the bike until I had fully recovered.

This week has been torture, everytime I inhale deeply I feel a tightness in my chest and that usually triggers a coughing fit. I am a bit worried about that and hope its not something else developing (Asthma perhaps). In the meantime I have been religiously taking my medication and getting a lot of rest and spending a lot of time with Grandma who just came back from a 6 month long sojourn in the Great White North. (that's Canada for those of you not in the know)

I really am looking forward to next week as I do'nt want this to be a very long break from riding.