05 April 2011

I have a cold

I admitted it aloud on Sunday. I felt it last Friday after my ride. I felt that scratch in the throat, and had to snort forth an unusual amount of nose hooey during the ride. Still I didn't want to admit it. I should have started drinking more water. I should have started drinking lemon honey tea. I should have gotten right on the echinacea and ginseng, but I didn't because I was in denial.

Even on Saturday, when I first wondered aloud whether I might be "coming down with something" I didn't believe it. What I do believe in, firmly, is the power of denial. The power of "keeping on keeping on." M said she was going to pick up some cold fx tablets, the ones that contain echinacea and ginseng, but she warned me that I'd have to have started taking them as soon as I felt the cold symptoms. I was already more than a day past that. So I went for another bike ride. A longer one. And it too included even more snorting of nose hooey. I quite besotted my gloves and riding tights.

That night I didn't fall asleep until around 4 am. That's the last time that registered. So on Sunday I had no option but to fully admit it. I had a cold. The coughing and snorking and tossing and turning and blowing and drinking and so on were ample evidence. Which worked in my favour on that morning, as I had little trouble convincing M that I'd simply have to stay home from church. There was no dispute. Only pity. I love those mornings! (The love being tempered by the actual physical discomfort of the cold.)

So here I am, still with a clogged sinus, a lingering cough, and a just-on-the-verge headache. At the end of the day today the headache stood up and made itself known. Thank goodness the wind was right for the bike ride home.

They say you should feed a cold and starve a fever. Even the New Scientist agrees. I've been working on it. It's the one upside of this ordeal. (Is it an ordeal, or am I just a weak-minded nervous ninny?) I just finished a bowl of oatmeal and raisins. Mmmm. Now I'm heading over to the cabinet for a nip of rye - neat. I'll get by, but as my neck aches and I'm so much more aware of how my body is feeling, I'm looking forward to feeling like I don't have to think about how I'm feeling again.

I think I'll shave tonight. It'll help. I'll feel cleaner.


Ride report
in: -1'C wind 5 ks W
out: 3'C wind calm (W)

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