That's what I keep telling myself -- that this horrible, seemingly endless cold I've got is actually going to benefit me in the long run. My immune system will come back all the stronger for it. I tell my kids the same thing when they're sick and miserable.
That line of thinking is helping ... but not as much as I'd like it to. I started getting sick on Wednesday of last week. Today is Tuesday and I still feel like crap. The last time I was able to run -- and just a 3-miler at that -- was Wednesday. I was supposed to do a 30-minute tempo run on Friday, and a half-marathon on Sunday ... couldn't even consider either one. I wanted to try a run today, but my sinuses hurt so much that the impact of my footstrikes makes my teeth feel like they're getting squeezed in a vise. (I tried a few steps to confirm the truth of that statement.)
I have managed to keep up with my weight training program. And I haven't given up cardio entirely: I walked for an hour on the treadmill on Thursday at a super-high incline to get my heart rate up into 60-70% of max. On Saturday, thinking I was on the mend and wanting to springboard into Sunday's half-marathon, I did 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer at the gym. Then Sunday morning rolled around and I could barely move. I ended up with two full rest days for the week. Not bad considering how sick I was, but it still stresses me out. I don't like thinking that I'm losing ground with my running. When I start up again, is it going to feel extra hard? Will I not be able to comfortably go 12 miles anymore (the longest distance I've run recently)? That's what worries me.
It's funny, I've written about this before -- last fall, when I read an article about running while sick. The advice at the time seemed totally sound: rest when you need to; if you can, it's OK to run but keep your heart rate low ... but now that it's happening to me and I'm itching to stay active, I want to disregard it entirely.
I had a nice talk with Austin, my favorite trainer at the gym, today. He heard me coughing and asked if I was sick. I said I was and told him I hadn't been able to run for nearly a week, and how stressed I was feeling about it. He asked if I was doing the elliptical trainer and I said yes -- and that I was hoping to get back to running later in the week.
Here are the three major pieces of info I got from him:
1. I am not losing ground with my running. As long as I'm doing the elliptical -- or some kind of low-impact cardio -- I can maintain my conditioning. (Hopefully that's true; I'm looking forward to finding out.)
2. Regardless of what kind of cardio I'm doing right now -- and until I'm fully recovered -- I shouldn't work out for more than 30 minutes at a stretch. More than that, Austin said, and I would start depressing my immune system -- even if I keep my heart rate relatively low. He suggested, if I feel physically able to do a long run, that I break it into two parts over the course of the day. I took his advice immediately: instead of doing an hour on the cardio machines as I'd planned, I did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer; I'll go back for 30 minutes on the stairclimber later this afternoon.
3. Until I'm completely over my cold, I need to hold off on any high-intensity cardio. That means no tempo runs, intervals or sprints. The reasoning for that is twofold: high intensity interferes with my immune system; and, because my chest is congested, I could make myself even sicker by pushing my lungs hard right now.
So ... I'm kind of stuck. I don't like taking it easy but I know I have to. I keep reminding myself that if I do a good job resting now, I'll get better -- and back to running -- faster. It's hard to be patient but I'll keep waiting. Maybe I should be grateful that my sinuses are killing me ... if they weren't, I'd probably try a run earlier than I should.
Now I'm going to go find that article and shore up my commitment to taking it easy 'til I'm better ... wish me luck.
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