What Does A Runner Do When He's Sick?

Monday, January 16, 2012 · Mike Davis

Thursday night I woke up in the middle of the night and could tell that I was not well. After a long night of virus type issues, I pretty much knew that I wouldn’t be going to work on Friday. This also meant that I would not be getting in my easy 4 mile run either. Sleeping all day Friday while pouring in the Nquil, I stayed optimistic that I would be ready for Saturday’s group/long run. The idea that I would miss a long run was not something I even considered. At times on Friday I was sure I would be fine come Saturday, but by evening I had serious doubts. I was in bed early and slept great until about 2AM, when I awoke feeling not so great. Downstairs for some more Nquil and an email to my group letting them know that their leader would not make it. What a lousy feeling!!

So we get sick and we never recover as quickly as we would like. One day passes of our training, then another passes. Our bodies feel as if we ran each of these days, but mentally we feel drained and defeated. Will a few days of being sick set back 3 weeks of training? Right now there’s self-doubt about the road ahead in my training. Should I force myself to run through the illness, is the downtime going to set me back, will I be able to make up the for the lost miles and so on… For me, the feeling of a tired body brings me down even more and fills me with self-doubt, mentally defeating myself. It’s not even that I’m a big baby when I’m sick, because I don’t think that I am. (My wife might tell you different). No, for me it’s more the mental side.

So what does a runner do when he/or she’s sick? First of all; I’ve been running regularly for over a month and a few down days will not affect my conditioning. I may feel the lingering effects of the virus for a few runs, but I should be fine after a couple of runs. Normally after a period of being sick, our glycogen levels get depleted and that’s what tends to bring us down. The idea of trying to push through a run while having a low glycogen (stored energy) level makes no sense. While my legs feel about as strong as the rest of my listless body, they are in fact quite strong from all the miles I have been putting on, so a few days of recuperation might even do them some good.

Eliminating any physical problems from down time that pretty much leaves the real problem; the muscle between the ears! Mentally I still struggle and probably always will with being sick while in the middle of training. Keeping my daily journal/blog is a way for others to share the daily grind of training for a marathon, but it also gives me historical data that I can use next time. Understanding that a few sick days off or a few days off for any reason is not going to sink my training. Yes, I will have to get myself back on the road as soon as possible and that’s not always easy, but that’s okay.

Should I try and make up for my missed long run? Nah, I will stay with my schedule and on Monday I will be back out to run 7 miles. Today, I’m going to take advantage of being sick and go take a nap. So if you’re sick, don’t go crazy about your training, just take a nap and enjoy!

See you all on the road!