Working out while sick

It's asked everywhere, I'm catching a cold, I'm sick...should I still work out? I usually follow the rule if you're sick from the neck up it's fine to keep working out, if it's from the neck down then no.

ie. Head cold, runny nose, congestion etc, fine to work out. Coughing, sore throat, fever, vomiting, achy no working out.

Last Saturday, 10 days ago!!, I caught a cough. Yes, it started out directly as a deep chest cough. It totally ruined my 3 day weekend because I was worn out and just coughing all day and night. After a few days of coughing, my throat got sore on a couple of occasions because I was coughing so hard. Fast forward to this past weekend. 7 days in, I was over being sick. I had lost motivation in doing anything, no running or exercising, no cleaning the house, no grocery shopping, no anything. I was ready to be healthy. But this weekend I wake up feeling worse. Super congested, sick tasting mouth and my cough got so bad that I gagged and threw up on two separate occasions. (Yes, I have an issue when I cough hard I start to gag. My gag reflex initiates during coughing fits, it sucks!)

10 days in and *maybe* I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not coughing as much though walking up and down the stairs at work does get me going. I'm not waking up with sick mouth and I'm starting to feel a little normal. I'm hoping by Thursday (do you hear that body?) I can try to attempt a short run and not cough myself to death afterwards. We'll see how my spin class goes on Wednesday (last Wed I had to suck on cough drops and drink a ton of water and still coughed my way through class).

Oh and best part of this illness?! EVERYONE in my family has it. The hubby and both kids. Which means everyone is coughing, everyone is waking up in the middle of the night. We have gone through several boxes of kleenix, numerous bags of cough drops and a bottle of Nyquil. It's not pretty at our house. I'm soooo OVER being sick. Thursday body, you hear that?! Thursday!!

I've created a monster

Well, not a monster but a following.

A coworker of mine said her doc recommended more workouts. So in order to fit in a workout/work and school we decided to do lunchtime workouts. I had already been running 1-2x a week so she joined me on those runs, slowly working up her mileage. Well another coworker said she'd join us but walk instead. So now it's been an encouraging thing, we all try to go Tues and Thurs at lunch, if one of us can't make it we make sure the others go. And our group has increased in size, it now can range from 3-6 people going.

And then I found a bootcamp workout in Women's Health Magazine, you can see the details here.
We run 0.35 miles to a local park near our work, then do the workout and run 0.35 miles back. 3 of us do the workout, now grown to 4 (parttime).
The workout: Do each move in Round 1 30 sec each. Rest 10 sec between each. 1 min rest between Round 1 and 2 or 2 and 1. Do twice.

Round 1:
Squats
Pushups
Bicycle Cruches
Jumping Jacks
Regular crunches

Round 2:
Walking Lunges
Squat Jumps
Tricep dips
Standing High Knees
Mountain Climbers

We do this workout once a week and boy does it kick my butt. The first time I did it my chest hurt from pushups. Last week it was my quads. We figure we'll do this one for a month and then change it up for next month. Switch out some exercised to change things up a little.

Exercise and pregnancy

I'm a promoter of keeping up with your workouts while pg. (Note: Remember to talk with your dr first especially if you're having complications with your pg.) My first pg I worked out 5-6 days a week all the way up to the day before I delivered. This pg I'm trying the same thing. I teach spin classes twice a week and I'm trying to run 3-5 days a week.

My goal this year for running is to reach 500 miles. As of today I'm at 468.87 miles, I have 31.13 miles to run by Dec. 31st to meet my goal. I've set up a plan to reach the goal excluding major holidays. I'll post on Dec. 31st if I made it.

That said, my cardio endurance has reduced drastically and rather quickly. It was almost as if I found out I was pg and all endurance went down the drain. My running slowed to 1-1.5 min/mile slower. I don't go for longer than 3 mile runs. It's sad but at least I'm still moving.

I think all the working out has paid off. As of a couple of days ago I've only gained 4lbs so far in this pg and I'm still wearing my regular clothes. Granted the pants I used to wear with belts I don't have to wear belts with but it's still non-maternity. I'm hoping to hold out till 2nd trimester for maternity clothes. And since I only have 4 more days till 2nd tri I think I'm doing good.