Shortly after my knee pain subsided, I got some blood work back that I had gotten done over Christmas break in Connecticut. Unfortunately, I found out I had mono, dampening my spirits after finally putting an injury behind me. It was pretty surprising to me because I was feeling fine. I had been sick for a few days over break with a fever and extreme fatigue, but my last week of vacation was great and when I arrived back in Colorado, I expected that things would keep moving in the right direction.
I continued training for about two weeks, monitoring how I felt everyday, and continued feeling completely fine. The only struggles I had were related to adjusting to altitude: It tough breathing during training etc. Then, after those two weeks, I was hit with a wall of exhaustion. I had to put on the brakes, take care of myself and be smart. I took a few full days off, and then did some very easy training and have slowly eased back into things since.
It is amazing how much you appreciate your health when you finally get it back after a long recovery from an injury, or after a long period of being sick. It makes me realize that I should be very fortunate for what my body allows me to do week after week, year after year. There is nothing fun about having to take time off or listen to your body and just rest because we all want to be out there getting it done. It is in our nature. However, sometimes in the face of adversity we learn a lot about what is important, and we come out on the other side stronger and a better person because of it.
