I once ran a 15k race sick with what I later learned was strep throat. When I was in college, I got mono, and ended up going to class and working straight through it. I wound up being sick for a solid month, but didn't really give my body a break to recover. Who knows how many other people I got sick because I was obsessed with still working no matter how sick I was.
This past week, I've been fighting with a stupid cold. I went to urgent care; it isn't COVID, strep, nor the flu, just a shitty cold. I took a solid day off to recover, but it lingered quite a bit longer than that, and at the end of the week, I started a stronger medication to reduce symptoms in the hopes that I'd still be able to compete at the Highland Games that I've been training for. By Friday night (the night before the games), I thought maybe I was in good shape and ready to go throw some stuff!
I set out all my clothes, had my gear and food all packed, and went to bed hoping for the best. Look how freaking cute that kilt is! Thank you to American Highlander in Ewing, NJ - Melo is the best!
Saturday morning, I woke up with my frickin eye gummed shut - pink eye. I went back and forth with myself quite a bit before deciding it was best for everyone involved if I sat it out. I don't know why it's so hard for me to just say that I'm sick and need to cancel. It was extremely disappointing, but I probably wouldn't have performed very well with how I felt.
I know that some of y'all struggle with the same weird thinking about pushing through illness -- I've seen some of you show up to your personal training sessions sick! This is why I follow a six hour cancellation policy with my personal training clients and not a 24 hour (which is pretty common in the industry). I don't want folks to feel like they need to drag their sick selves onto a Zoom session because they're going to lose money.
Now, I just need to keep working to apply the same logic to myself!