So I'm back to square one with my hiking training plan. Why? Well, it didn't help that I missed the hiking goal for November, and was well on my way to getting a fat 0 miles hiked in December. On a related note, I gained back some (not all) of the weight that I had taken off during the previous months. Had it just been these reversals, I would have still needed to regroup and figure out a way to get back on track.
Then it happened. It started with what I thought was just a typical cold, something I'd endure for a couple days and get over. This time, however, it didn't go away after a few days. Instead, it started getting worse, to the point that I couldn't eat most things, couldn't sleep (couldn't even lie down), and couldn't do much but exist painfully. At one point I hit a 104.7 fever, although that crashed pretty quickly once I took some pain/fever medicine. Finally, after putting it off for too long, I went a local convenient care so I could get this taken care of, as it was ruining my holidays.
Some investigation and a chest x-ray later, I was on my way to the emergency room, as I had double pneumonia. Turns out had I put off getting treatment any longer that what I did, I could have really been in trouble. Fortunately, I had caught it in time so the really, really, bad stuff didn't happen, although I certainly was in bad shape already. They started pumping me full of antibiotics and fluids, and I started getting better.
I spent eight days in the hospital, completely wrecking what was left of the holiday season. I "celebrated" the New Year trying to get some sleep, not exactly what I had in mind. At least I was able to spend New Year's Day watching football, even if it was while sitting up in bed or in the chair in my hospital room.
Finally, I was able to breathe well enough without oxygen, my white blood cell count started returning to normal, and I started regaining enough strength to walk longer distances than just from my bed to the bathroom to the chair and back. This was good enough for me to go home, where the next stage of the recovery would begin.
It's now been over a week since I was discharged, and I am still recovering. I still have trouble sleeping, mainly because it still hurts to lay on my side. But I do sleep, which is an improvement over when I felt terrible. I've walked longer distances every day, and the past few days I've been traveling up and down the stairs of my parents house. Ever so slowly I'm gaining back energy and ability to walk longer distances and just live a normal life. Still, it will take time, as walking more than a hundred feet is still pretty taxing.
Because of that, I have no choice but to start from scratch with the hiking training plan. I'm still a little ways away from being able to walk for 10 minutes (the minimum amount of time I consider being a worthwhile amount of exercise). As such, I'll have to focus for now on hitting calorie goals, and rebuilding my strength. Naturally, I am suspending my hiking goals for January and February, and will also be scaling back my ambitions for much, if not the entire, year.
That being said, I am focused on seeing this through. I don't know when I'll be getting back on a trail (hopefully March, but we'll see), but I'll be glad when I do. Until then, I just need to focus on getting my strength back, and remain committed to following the plan. Hopefully you follow along with me.
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