I have three school-age children, and I nanny for my best friend’s toddler. Needless to say, I’m exposed to my more than my fair share of cold viruses. I’ve been lucky to avoid most of the germs the four rugrats—oops, I mean darlings—cough and snot all over me on the daily, but this morning I woke up with a doozy of a sore throat, laryngitis, a stuffed nose, headache, and hacking cough. Not only did this derail my entire day, but my plan to run tonight has definitely been canceled.
Most running coaches and books say something to the effect of ‘if the cold is above your chest, you can run.’ I don’t know about you, but when my head feels like the size of a planet and my throat feels like the Sahara, it doesn’t exactly inspire me to go plodding down the road in the dark and in -2C (28F) temps. In the summer, I have gone running feeling like this, and it actually lifted my spirits to be out in the warm sunshine. But in the fall/winter? I’m giving myself a free pass. That doesn’t mean I feel great about it. Running is my relief, my escape, my drug, my best friend. I don’t want to quit you, running, even when you don’t make me feel very good. But despite the running coaches and books advice and my own reservations, I’m going to stay in tonight on the couch with some lemon and ginger tea, and here’s why: Cold air is dry air. Breathing dry air can cause or worsen respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis, and irritate airways, due to its drying effect on your nose’s protective mucus. What a lovely image! But seriously, while I don’t mind running in cold, dry air when I’m feeling well, I’ll stick close by my humidifier when my nose is already irritated, thank you very much. Researchers at the University of Liverpool in the U.K. recently discovered that after 14 days of inactivity, the V02 peak (how efficiently oxygen is used during peak physical effort) and cardiovascular function of previously active study participants decreased by as much as 4 percent. That sounds scary enough, but their total body fat also increased by 0.5 percent, their waist circumference increased by 1/3 inch, and their liver fat increased by 2 percent. Yikes! But before you start working out relentlessly during illness and injury, you should know that once the study participants started exercising again, after two weeks their fitness levels, body fat, etc. all returned to normal. Most head colds (or at least their more severe symptoms) don’t last for two weeks, so I think taking a day or two off won’t hurt me. Even if it does, I know my cardio and fitness will soon bounce back. But Kathy, I hear you protest between coughs, if I take a day or two off, I'll miss my extremely important (insert your choice here: tempo run, speed work, hill training, long run). What should I do? My answer: yup, you're going to miss it. Don't try and double up on the runs you missed when you feel better, just continue your training program as planned. My only exception to this is if you miss a major jump in distance on your long run. For example, let's say you ran 12K last Sunday but will miss doing 14K this Sunday. Your training program calls for 16K next Sunday and 18K the Sunday after that. You might consider splitting the distance and going out for 15K next Sunday instead to reduce the chances of injury, yet you'll still be well-positioned to conquer that upcoming 18K. When we runners are sick or injured, most of us are tempted to go on with our training, to ‘tough it out,’ to have our taskmaster Type-A personalities bulldoze over our common sense, usually to our detriment. So, when faced with a winter cold, even one above your chest, cut yourself some slack. Take a day or two off, rest, relax, heal. Running will still be there for you tomorrow.
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AuthorKathy Istace runs and races in one of the coldest cities on earth. Archives
December 2020
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