Improvement?

My intent in starting this blog was to only write about my riding experiences, and things that relate to riding. I've veered from that in the last few days, since I haven't been riding. So, since I'm a little off track anyway, I thought I'd introduce you to the most important things in my life. The picture above is of my family taken February 17, 2008. My son and his wife are directly to my left. My two daughters are on my right in front of their boyfriends. Standing on either side of my ex are two of my grand kids, and my youngest grandchild is being held by his mom. Pretty cool huh? Nothing comes anywhere near the joy that I've gotten from my kids and grand kids over the years. Nothing!

OK, back to the tedium that is my blog.

I woke up this morning feeling much better. The most significant improvement was my throat. I don't dread swallowing any more, and am not afraid that it will swell shut. I even had a bit of an appetite. Don't get me wrong. There's still plenty of snot, raspy throat, and achy muscles, but my death wish has ended.

One of the difficulties of being sick is boredom. I did venture out this afternoon for a short drive, and even got out of the car and walked along Lake Harriet for a little. It felt so good to breathe real air, even if it was only for a mile. It seemed to help. Maybe it was just the excitement of being outside, but that first breath filling my lungs...I could feel it going through my entire body.

I was surprised how invigorating it was to be walking outside, but kept on telling myself, "nice and easy...don't over do". I turned around and headed back for my truck still feeling strong. By the time I got back to the truck I was wiped out. It's amazing. Last Sunday I rode for over 50 miles and didn't want to stop. Today I walked very slowly for one mile and was exhausted. Where did all that energy go? Does it really take that much energy for the body to fight off illnesses?

I hope I'm past the worst of it now, and that I'll be back in the saddle soon.