Aaaaaaaaaa-CHOO!!
Famous last words I'm living to regret boasting about to my
friends now. It's been a while but since my summer races I've felt stronger and
fitter and the race distances I've recently participated in I've achieved
faster and recorded PB times, treated myself to new Newton motion trainers for
my winter training and with one more race for the year, that I've run on before
and know the course well.... I've set myself a race finishing target. Surely
this must be a course PB for myself too?
What can go wrong?
Then work colleagues start dragging themselves into work
coughing and sniffing. After their third
sneeze, croaky voice and pronunciation of words reminds me of the 1980's Tunes
TV advert my sympathy level (or selfishness level) reaches as far as "Why
don't you go home early"…. *Thinking, now!* ....... These brave soldiers
then sit and pollute the office, which causes me a level of concern as I sit
and look at my wall calendar working out how many days I have to remain free
from illness.
As a precaution up my fluid intake, eat some more fruit and
take a stronger dose of vitamin C in an attempt to maintain good health. I have
one more scheduled run for tomorrow just to keep my legs ticking over. Well
that night I'm finding myself sniffing more and more and as for waking in the
morning I can feel my chest tightening (As an asthmatic this is a sensitive
area anyway) So I plod around my house cursing my work colleagues and then
debating.... the runners rule. If it hurts neck up I "run" if its
neck down "Don't run".... Aaaah or is it the other way around? Do I
still head out and do my scheduled hour long run and risk tipping my immune
system into meltdown for the cold/flu virus to win this battle? Or do I cancel
this run in an attempt to save my energy?
Very reluctantly I chose not to run and will now class this
as a taper. Pffft a taper to run a file mile race on a flat course in Middlesex
all due to illness good grief!. By the time Sunday arrives I wont have run for
seven days which was so not part of my race preparation. That'll teach me
shouldn't have been so smug that I was immune to illness just because things were
looking good on the running front. Probably a reminder that and more so for the
older runners. To start respecting our
bodies whether it's illness or injury.W hen the body says no. It really means
it. The body is a remarkable at self-healing if
given the chance but through habit of running how many of us give our
body the chance to heal? Or just through “habit” make the situation were in
twice as bad ourselves?
