Runners’ Immune Deficiency
ARGGHHHH. Remember how I got sick two weeks before the Sydney Half-marathon? I’ve done it again, four weeks before the Melbourne Half. THIS SUCKS. Presumably my final long runs are stressing my immune system to the point where I get susceptible to bugs. I had two nice easy recovery runs this week, but Friday I noticed myself feeling headachey at work. By the time I got home Friday night, there was a definite sore throat happening. Today I feel stuffy and muzzy-headed, and my left ear is popping. (I should just get my tonsils cut out already.) So I’m doing the whole vitamin C and garlic thing again – the Snook made bagna cauda for dinner – and trying to take it easy. It’s just really frustrating that it’s happened again. I’ve got the 9K Bridge Run next Sunday, and my goal for that had been to run the whole thing without stopping. Then I’ve got three weeks til the race, during which I was planning on doing one more long run. Maybe that one will have to get shelved. I keep telling myself that taking a few days off doesn’t result in much fitness lost, but the runner side of my brain is having a hard time staying optimistic (especially when the lazy side is going “Woohoo! An excuse to be a big lazy failure!”). And the worst bit? I’m doing a fancy expensive four-day training course for work starting Monday, so I can’t even really have a proper sick day…
Tia
September 14, 2008 — 8:11 am
Try and stay positive, Kris. Even if you have to shelve the VIC run, you’ve done an incredible job this year! Just remember how huge this year has been for you! You should be very proud of everything you have achieved. You can’t help that you’re not feeling well, so this is not any type of failure! I hope to make a turn around even HALF as well as you have done for next year! *waves.pompoms*
Emma
September 14, 2008 — 10:20 am
Good luck, hydrate, you can do 21km on the training you’ve already done. (Heck, you’ll be saying “Hmm, aren’t there more km to this?”)
And, no running 21km is not the sign of laziness. Lazy people don’t try. (I’m not saying people who don’t run half marathons are lazy, I’m saying that lazy people don’t put in training hours. Hope that’s clear, I love expressing myself in text.)
Emily
September 14, 2008 — 3:10 pm
You’ll be ok, I reckon. All that training over the year is ore important than a couple of weeks at the last minute.
(Sadly for me!)
Kris
September 14, 2008 — 11:30 pm
Oh, I’ll start the VIC race, Tia, unless my damn legs are actually falling off. I’m COMMITTED to this sucker. There’s no way it’s not happening. I just don’t want to use being sick as an excuse to slack off in these last few weeks, or as a justification for not running as fast as I’d like. I’ve got plenty of time to get well. I just have to do it.
Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I’ve had two days of pretty much complete rest. Hopefully I’ll be back on the road soon…