While I feel a little better, the cold from hell is still with me, and today's problem symptom is the loss of my voice. It's gotten worse, and today I can barely get out a hoarse word or two. I tried a long hot shower today, and a cup of tea with gobs of honey, but neither helped. I decided against going to the Flickr meetup, because I wouldn't have been able to talk to people or get a word in on a group discussion. Also, I didn't want to take a chance on spreading this little superbug, so I just laid low today. It's so strange how my throat feels almost back to normal, yet when I try to talk, a croaking sound comes out instead of clear words.  

It's been a rough few days, but I've turned the corner and feel a little better. It's as if my body's immune system, initially caught flat-footed by a determined viral invader, finally got the alarm raised, and the situation is now under control. I even went to the gym today, and did a light circuit of weights, no cardio, and felt pretty good. If tomorrow brings further improvement, I'll attend the scheduled Flickr meetup. My wife is running a 10k early tomorrow morning, which needless to say, I'm not running in, but maybe the next one...

This is the worst cold I've had in years, possibly ever. I usually just get two or three of the usual major symptoms, but this time, I have every symptom possible. My voice is shot, lungs filled with crud, nostrils red and cracked, and I think my eyes and ears are even infected! I alternate between shivering, and burning up. I can't describe how disappointed I am in my reaction to this cold.

Starting on June 1, I've been going to the gym like a maniac, have lost 25 pounds, built up lots of muscles where there once was flab, and boosted my endurance. I've started running, fast, and have been eating tons of vegetables and whole grain foods. I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. I assumed that my immune system was functioning at peak levels, and I'd shake off the cold in a day or two, especially while taking large doses of vitamin C, echinacea, and zinc. Instead, I'm almost ready to go to the emergency room, unable to take a deep breath despite using my asthma inhaler repeatedly. WTF?

I wonder if the wildcard is stress? Work has been atrocious, and I understand there's only a chance things will slow down in a couple of months. The weather isn't helping much, either. or, maybe I have a secondary bacterial infection, and need antibiotics (good luck getting those from my anti-antibiotics doctor). Maybe my immune system is so souped up, it's attacking perfectly good cells in addition to the cold virus. Maybe it's a strain of flu not covered by my flu shot? 

All I can do is hope to wake up tomorrow feeling better.  Taking a sleeping pill, and going to bed now.

My wife has had a really bad cold for the past week or so, and despite taking all the usual precautions, I think I've got it now. Symptoms include a sore throat, coughing, sneezing. etc. I really wanted to stay home from work today but had a morning meeting with my boss so had to go to work. I ran out of tissues, so went to buy some, but the only ones with lotion they had at CVS were Puffs Plus Vicks, with the "scent of Vicks" and they are burning my nose. Yikes, I need to get regular tissues plus lotion ASAP. Stupid cold - it's very frustrating. With work so busy and a million holiday obligations coming up, I need to be at 100% performance, and the timing of this illness is a big pain in the ass.   

Yeah, that would be me, the idiot wearing short shorts on the way to and from the gym in this freezing weather. It's too damn warm in the gym to wear sweatpants, and I don't have any, in any case. And the whole point of living two blocks from the gym is to not have to wear street clothes there and to use a locker. That would be a pain. I almost wore a heavy winter coat, but thought that would look stupid, so I wore a fleece jacket over my tank top, as if I was running outside.

At the gym, I had a pretty good workout, and ran on the treadmill as if there was a pack of zombies at my heels. I really pushed it today, and perhaps overdid it a bit. My lower back and knees are pretty sore now, and I'm so hungry I ate half a bag of Sun Chips with dinner. I hope the weather is good on Thanksgiving, so I can do the run I've signed up for. I can handle the cold, but no precipitation, please.