Man flu....to run or not to run

[GingerBohemian]

Lots of flying around last week with business travel and then getting caught in a torrential downpour on Friday for a hour meant that there was a bit of a head cold at the weekend which mutated into full blown, viral, contagious, chalk-marks-left-on-the-front-door man flu.

Also known by its more common term Littlus Sniffinus.

I always have the same symptoms whereby its a stuffy nose for 48 hours then an irritating chesty wheezy cough that I just cant shift for about 3 weeks. 2 large bottles of Covonia does the trick but that is not available over here.

So now we have the run down on my medical history my question is this...

Is it ok to run with a chesty cough?

I realise this probably sounds daft but at the end of the day, despite the glamour and glitz of graduating from C25K I am still not exactly an experienced runner with knowledge on such things. Some websites / blogs say it is good as you are in the fresh air and if you had pneumonia in a hospital they keep you up and moving. Others say that you will die from asphyxiation by the end of 100mtrs and self implode.

Its just that despite not running for the previous 49 years, the fact that I have not run now for 6 days is really getting to me.

Any advice or reading of last rites welcome.

[Tomas Graduate10]

Sorry to hear you're suffering. Women don't understand what a proper man flu feels like, they tend to think that "giving birth" is unpleasant. Pfft, if only they knew...!

Anyway, the general advice is that when it's above the neck it's perfectly fine to continue running, whereas when it's below the neck you should be more careful. Obviously your body is busy fighting the infection, and all the white blood cells are rushing to your chest to try to sort you out. When you then go running, they want to rush to your leg muscles and sort *them* out. But as you only have a finite amount of the little buggers, they end up not being able to do a proper job of either thing, and therefore the recovery from both end up taking longer than it otherwise would have done.

That said, it's not going to kill you, and if you find it more fun to run with a cold than sitting still with a cold, then go right ahead. Just make sure to take it a bit easy, don't push yourself on either pace or distance, and accept that you're likely to feel more knackered afterwards.

Hope you recover quickly. Man flu is a horrible disease!

[GingerBohemian in reply to Tomas]

I'll give it until Sunday and then see how I feel.

I just hope I survive that long.

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

Personally, if it's a chesty cough, I would wait until you are feeling better. Running with a head cold can be ok but is not wise if it's on your chest. Hope you are better soon.🙂

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10]

Rest up.. the runs will still be there... best to err on the side of caution Pamper yourself.. cuddle up and feel better soon x

[IannodaTruffe Graduate10]

Running while under the weather is a non starter for me. I don't see the point. I know I will likely not enjoy it and as Tomas says, it may lengthen your recovery.

It is a little known fact that man flu evolved as a means of keeping sabre toothed tiger hunters safe, by keeping them in the cave when their reactions and running pace was likely to be impaired by illness. Those who braved the hunt while in a reduced performance state, failed to pass on their genes, because they became sabre toothed tiger fodder.

That's why I stay home........