Immunity

If you watch much competitive reality TV, you know that immunity is one of the most coveted rewards for winning some sort of challenge. When you have immunity, you cannot be voted off the island, out of the house, off the ranch, etc. Doesn't that sound nice?

I could use some immunity right now too...immunity from GERMS! Unfortunately the immune system weakens during pregnancy, and I'm experiencing that more this time around than I ever have before. Starting with that bout of bronchitis in November, I feel like I've just been going from germ to germ, rarely feeling well except for a couple days at a time, here and there. Each illness lingers longer than it should too, such that other than the bronchitis and the stomach virus I suffered in January, it feels as though I have just been fighting one long cold that never really goes away.

All of this whining does have a point, I promise. When I wake up in the morning feeling really congested, I'm unlikely to engage in strenuous exercise. Running is no fun when you can't breathe, and leaving a trail of phlegm in the pool is just gross. I'm so frustrated. I feel like I have enough working against me already just trying to exercise through pregnancy for the first time. It doesn't seem fair to have to battle constant illness too!

You may be thinking that an easy solution to my problem would be to exercise in the evening instead, but that's really out of the question these days. By the end of the work day, my whole body is exhausted and all I want to do is sit in a comfy chair with my feet up. Maybe that's mostly laziness, but I feel like some of it is also all the abdominal muscles getting strained and stretched all day to the point where they don't want to have to support any extra weight anymore. Granted, they're not supporting THAT MUCH extra weight just yet, but it's enough to make me tired and achy, and enough to make me give in to the comfy chair.

I'm embarrassed to sound like such a big crybaby today, but I also want to be honest about my feelings. I do want to exercise regularly, but I'm struggling. I ran on Tuesday and it was really rough. I tried my new plan of running a quarter mile at a time, and it didn't help. I only completed the first quarter-mile run, and after that ran in even smaller increments for a total of only 3/4 of a mile. The congestion/cough may have played a part, or I could just be losing more and more fitness. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, I haven't been able to force myself to the pool yet this week. Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up feeling well enough to go!

I just wish I could win some sort of immunity prize and stop getting voted off of Healthy Island!!! Maybe Spring will bring a break from the germs...