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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

In Sickness and In Health

Last night, I took a decongestant around 9 pm, then got in bed with my book. An hour later, I was out. Like, out, out. Gotta love the power of pharmaceuticals: I slept like a rock and because it was Jerry's morning with Norah, I slept solidly until 6:45.

Of course, the downside to taking a decongestant is that while I sleep well, I always wake feel groggy and like my head has been stuffed with cotton balls. Thankfully, the perfect remedy for that is a quick run, so once I'd had my coffee and was dressed, Norah and I went for a 3 miler, and when we finished, I did feel like the lingering effects of the drug had worn off, and in general, I felt better.

I still feel and sound stuffy today, but on the whole, I feel worlds better than I did yesterday.

Do you run when you're sick?

Personally, I usually go by the "neck up" rule, but everyone seems to have their own set of syptoms of feelings that dictate if they run or don't run while feeling under the weather.

24 comments:

Aron said...

glad you are feeling better :) it just depends on what is going on if i run when sick, but i usually follow the neck up rule as well.

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

Wow. I was wondering if you'd be sidelined by your cold. Glad to read you are feeling better and still at it!

I usually listen to my body but I do tend to know that I usually feel better after a run even if I am under the weather. I will adjust my effort and distance but rarely will not run because I am sick. (I ran a marathon with pneumonia but I didn't know I was that sick until after.)

Julie D said...

I second the neck-up rule. Sickness has rarely kept me out of the game. Even did a couple of half-marathons with colds or remnants of them. It gets snotty, but I agree w/you that it makes you feel better.

Probably due to fresh air.

Unknown said...

I use the neck up rule. When it's below the neck...time to rest.

I have needed to take allergy meds recently and I wake up VERY groggy from that.

Marlene said...

Glad you had a great sleep and a great run to feel better! I'm extremely lucky in that I am rarely sick... I would probably run as long as it wasn't in my chest.

Krissy said...

I will usually run but when I am overly snotty and can't keep up running while blowing my nose I will do the treadmill so that I can make frequent stops to blow the nose!

Becka said...

I bet I've taken less than 5 "sick days" in the last 2 years from running. I actually feel better than if I was to sit around not feeling well. Great job on getting out there!

RunningLaur said...

I'm so hit or miss whether I still try to run or not - I suppose it comes down to how lazy I feel for the day!
And I always seem to forget what wonders modern medicine can do. Fixes things right up!

B. Kramer said...

Running is a cure. Helps get rid of snot and sweats out the illness. That's my theory anyway. I also use the whiskey cure. Cheers!

teacherwoman said...

I go by the "neck up" rule as well. However, when I am sick the last thing I WANT to do it go to the gym...but I know it makes me feel better so I usually do!

MNFirefly said...

If I am sick, I don't run...period! I allow myself to rest up and recover so I save my energy to fight the d*** bug 100%.

Katie A. said...

I always use the neck up rule - unless I'm running a fevor, then I don't.
Glad the run helped shake everything out!

SavvyFitChica said...

I workout when I'm sick but once I hit a certain degree of sickness, then I stay home and crawl in bed.

I completely agree w/ you about the groggy feeling after taking some meds, which is why I usually steer clear of Nyquil type stuff. I always feel "off" the next day even if my cold symptons are gone.

Good job getting out there for 3 miles. I'm glad it helped!

ajh said...

I try to use the neck up rule myself.

Queenie said...

I try to run through anything, above or below the neck. I know this is probably not the best, but I do it anyway.

Heather said...

Glad you still made it ou for a run. I usually do a little self-assessment to figure out whether a run will make me feel worse or better. Most of the time, that means still running.

MCM Mama said...

I generally follow the neck up rule, but also go by my energy level.

Glad it helped you feel better.

Anonymous said...

I'm a dude - hence an idiot, so it should not be surprising that I have run when I am sick.

Stuart said...

Think of blowingthose snot rockets as turbo chargers, your 3mile time should drop in correlation to the volume!

Jess said...

I tend to not run if I'm feeling gross. So if it's just a head cold and I feel OK, I'll run. But if it's a head cold, with a nasty cough and general feeling of wanting to die..not so much.

runner26 said...

feel better!! it's hard to continue with the same running plan while sick. sometimes it helps to "run it out" and sometimes not.

TNTcoach Ken said...

That's why I hate those streaks! The body is stressing with the illness and then we double it with exercise.... Get better.

Home Energy said...

Everything changes in man when we feel that we are sick and when we are healthy. Hence in both we need to care of our health.

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