I went back to work on December 21. With my southern swing schedule I just finished my first 7 days on stretch before my days off. As I got ready to return I assumed I was ready. My last radiation treatment was December 7. That gave me two weeks to rest up. That should be plenty to let my body recover. I figured I would hit the ground running and it would be situation normal. Steady as she goes. I may have overestimated my recovery and readiness just a bit.
It felt good to be back. In 40 years at work, 10 weeks off is the most time I have ever missed. I eased back in as best as I could. I work in a paper mill. Blue collar. Lots of walking. Usually 10,000 plus steps. In steel toed shoes, hard hat, high vis clothes, cut resistant gloves and of course a mask. On and off a forklift. Readying railcars for product. Opening and closing railcar doors. Fairly physical work. When the railcars ship out doors in the train shed are obviously open. So it gets a bit chilly. It’s December in Wisconsin. It’s warm. It’s cold. Days are never the same.
Day one went okay. I was a little tired by the end of my shift. But not bad. I chalked it up to not being accustomed to waking up at 4:30 a.m. My sleep quality is still not exactly optimal so I figured I would be a bit tuckered out. I got some running and riding in the first few days back. Nothing out of the ordinary. At least I didn’t feel it was.
Things slowly started adding up day by day. Sleep suffered. Quality and amount. The joint pain I had earlier has returned with a vengeance. The last couple days the fatigue was honestly overwhelming. I actually fell asleep mid conversation. Not listening. Talking! Toss in a couple crappy commutes in snowy conditions. I was beat. I was angry at myself for not hitting my workouts. I was depressed.
Now of course I kept training. A couple days running. A few Zwift rides. There might have even been a day of doubling up. I felt slow. Legs of lead while running. The rides weren’t much better. Trying to hit certain wattages felt tough. Tougher than it should have felt. I kept pushing for a few days. Hey, I have never claimed to be smart. Stubborn, yes. Smart, no!
It was like a car wreck in slow motion. I could see things getting worse but kept ignoring the situation. I just kept hoping things would return to normal. But that wasn’t happening.
It was time to take a step back. I’ve taken a few days away from training. A day off is rare for me. My body usually responds well to training stress. The more the better. I guess I didn’t factor in dealing with cancer and the treatments. I’m sure the lack of testosterone isn’t helping.
The rest seems to be helping. I am still tired as hell. I still ache like hell. Sleep quality sucks. But I feel better. If that makes sense.
I’m going to rethink my short term goals. They really aren’t overly ambitious but maybe I need to tone them down a skosh. I’m really beginning to think that 2021 will be a rebuilding year. I’ve been dealing with my cancer for all of 2020, from the first appointment and tests to today. I suppose I can’t expect to get back to the amazing fitness level I was at overnight. 😁
So if you see me ramping things up too quick feel free to knock me down a peg or two. I apparently don’t have the sense to pay attention to common sense.
That’s enough for now. Thanks for allowing me to vent. I needed it. Comments and questions are always welcome.
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