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5.5 weeks ago I got a swollen lymph node under my ear on my neck.. Thinking nothing too much of it as I didn’t appear to have any symptoms of anything, I pushed on and did the Womens 3 day tour, followed up a few days later with another massive training day + crit race, then the next morning I tried to swim and was going backwards. Got out, went home, and took the next couple of days off training. That Sunday I thought I was ok, so went and did another crit, and after the race my HR wouldn’t drop below 130.. Lump was still there, and I started to realise something not great was up so went to the Doc’s – ‘Probably an infection, here’s some penicillin, come back in a week if it’s still there’.. Took that whole week off training, and stopped drinking my 2 cans of coke per day, and realised I was REALLY tired. Slept at least 10-12 hours per night all week..
Long story short, after going back to the doc’s for a couple of blood tests, turns out I have a mild case of Glandular Fever.. But after the initial 7 days of heaps of sleep, resting HR was back to normal and I felt fine again! Lump appears to be gone too..
Now normally you hear of people having glandular and being knocked on their butt for several months, can’t work/train/all they do is sleep.. Is there anyone out there that’s had just a mild case of it?
My strategy has been if I wake up and I think I’m tired, check resting HR, or just go back to sleep. I don’t feel guilty for taking a whole day off of training, or sleeping in and missing some of swimming (Helps that my swim coach is being awesome and not minding me rocking up ½ an hour late).. I’m still doing some bike racing. Team bike rider @ Shep on the weekend, which did leave me tired on Monday, so I just left work early and went home for a nap..
So my advice, and the lesson I have had to learn for myself – Embrace the Rest day! I know it’s the advice everyone gives, but don’t go and learn the hard way…
Long story short, after going back to the doc’s for a couple of blood tests, turns out I have a mild case of Glandular Fever.. But after the initial 7 days of heaps of sleep, resting HR was back to normal and I felt fine again! Lump appears to be gone too..
Now normally you hear of people having glandular and being knocked on their butt for several months, can’t work/train/all they do is sleep.. Is there anyone out there that’s had just a mild case of it?
My strategy has been if I wake up and I think I’m tired, check resting HR, or just go back to sleep. I don’t feel guilty for taking a whole day off of training, or sleeping in and missing some of swimming (Helps that my swim coach is being awesome and not minding me rocking up ½ an hour late).. I’m still doing some bike racing. Team bike rider @ Shep on the weekend, which did leave me tired on Monday, so I just left work early and went home for a nap..
So my advice, and the lesson I have had to learn for myself – Embrace the Rest day! I know it’s the advice everyone gives, but don’t go and learn the hard way…
