Relenting My Training

I'd like to think that I'm getting smarter as I get older. Or wiser. Or at least capable of using past experiences as a means to make better future decisions. Isn't that the entire point of history class anyway? (Serious question as I suck at history (among other things).)

Every year I have, what I think, is the world's most brilliant idea for Lent. I'm going to give up not working out for the duration of the Lenten season. I had that same idea this year. Thus far, I have not succeeded. Ever. I had every intention of stepping up my game and making it to the end.

Then, that damn flu hit me. Now, according to the rules, I am excused from working out due to illness. I was confirmed ill for 6 straight days. The illness actually started on March 3rd. I ego'd my way through the 4th. Then, it was full warfare for the rest of the week.

I started up again on the 11th. I did this for a couple of reasons:

• I was feeling a little better
• My nose had almost stopped running
• The weather was such that I could wear shorts
• I'm an idiot

Let's zoom in on bullet #4. This is the most pertinent point because I was clearly not over my invasion. It didn't matter. I followed up with a run on Tuesday and a ride on Wednesday. Both were quality workouts. It was quite clear to me, however, that I was starting to relapse into virus country.

Now, here's were things get sticky. I took the next 2 days off. I call this preventative maintenance. Working out can weaken your immune system temporarily. If I was already sick and potentially re-sicking, a weakened pathogen fighter would not be wise.

How did I come to this conclusion? Well, I still had some runniness (in the nose, not the legs). The most telltale symptoms were my pansiness and a splitting headache. Whereas I'm typically a perma-pansy, headaches are few and far between. (Okay, I'm quite certain that I cause a few but that's not the same thing.) If I have excruciating head pain, it's because I've either been walloped on the head with an iron pipe, been imbibing beyond my means or something else is wrong on the inside. Since I don't remember being hit on the head (not saying it didn't happen), I didn't have anything to drink (that may or may not be true- I black out at times), I'm going with something was not quite right in my head (which is a pretty safe bet at any time of the year).

Well, the Banter Lenten Oversight Committee is not as convinced as I am. They are reviewing my case and focusing on the 14-15th of March. I stopped by the delegation the other day just to listen in on the proceedings. Policy and Procedure forbid me to actually get involved in the discussion but there's nothing in the bylaws stating that I can't hear the arguments. It was an eye-opening experience. I rarely see and hear people so polarized by an exercise topic.

One one side of the debate, the "Banter is Awesome" faction was arguing that the days off actually fell within the posted guidelines. He was sick. He felt better. He got sick again. He felt better again.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the "Banter is a Failure" clan was citing that rarely do people get sick in that fashion. If he was good enough to workout, and the workouts were of high quality, then he was good enough to put forth a couple of easy efforts.

However, the Awesome blokes pointed out that I worked out for 2 days with illness. Therefore, the 2 days later on just balances out.

Still, the Failure group countered with the "inability to make up missed time" rule. They stated that you can't make up for lost time before the time was actually lost.

I listened to the presentations and rebuttals for about 6 hours. A consensus was not reached. They were at it again today. I'm hoping that they will eventually call the case to a vote but it doesn't seem to be near that level anytime soon. The Awesome group seems to be leaning in that direction but the Failure group keeps calling in expert witnesses from various fields including sports medicine, virologists, and calendar making.

Despite all of their efforts, of which I truly am grateful, I have made a decision. I am Relenting Lent. That is to say that I am starting this whole Lent thing over. That means that I am Re-Lenting.

Since the calendar shows that March 16th was the first day that I got back into things, this will mark the initial period of Lent- Part 2. If I adhere to the original tenants of the challenge, I will workout everyday between now and Wednesday, May 1st, which is 47 days from the spot of the foul.

So here we go again. I am stubborn enough not to admit defeat. Idiot enough to keep going. And motivated enough to actually make it work. Or try to make it work. Or try to try.

I'll keep you posted.