My vacation last week in Key West was great…until the day we were leaving. We had gone to Miami’s South Beach for the night and planned to get up for a run in the morning.

Except I couldn’t get up. I had a headache (rare for me), I was sick to my stomach, I was achy. I actually chalked it up to being run down from vacation and forced myself out of bed (eventually) to have breakfast with our friends before they left.

Afterwards, my husband and I were walking around and I couldn’t figure out why my back felt sunburned. I am very careful after having some skin cancer removed NOT to expose my back to the sun. But it felt like it was burned.

I could hardly walk around without wanting to crawl back into bed. That is not me. I can walk and walk and love it! Not today.

I finally figured out…duh…I had a fever (skin sore and being cold in Miami). I get the flu maybe (MAYBE) once every 10 years. This was it.

Yay. We decided to go to the airport 4 hours early, just so I could sit on a bench and maybe get some sleep. The weekend was a blur of misery.

On the third day after the fever broke, I decided I had enough of the condo and went out for an 8 mile run. Thank goodness this was my recovery week, and I didn’t have 20!

I struggled through the mileage, straining to get oxygen and blowing my nose every 5 minutes.

Back to Buffalo!

I haven’t been so excited to be done with a run in a long time.

As I type this, it’s a few days later I am still not feeling great. I am supposed to run 6 miles today and just hope I can get through it. I’ve actually searched for flu complications that can cause one to die! I am still feeling awful.

SO…should I try to run today or not?

Running and Illness

The general consensus for continuing to run with an illness is if your symptoms are above the neck it’s probably ok to run. Even though I didn’t feel great on my last run, I was very stuffy so getting out in the fresh air and being able to clear my sinuses was actually a good thing.

And boy did that hot shower feel good!

If you have chest congestion, a bad cough or a fever you should probably stay home and drink fluids and rest. Sometimes, you don’t even need a guideline you just physically won’t even be able to get out of bed.

Those of us who run tend to be a stubborn lot. We run through injuries we shouldn’t, we run through snowstorms, rain, and intense heat. We also run through sickness even if we stayed home from work…and hope none of our colleagues see us!

A cold is annoying, but really no reason to stay home if you feel well enough to run. The flu, though, is hard on your body and especially if you are nauseous or achy you probably don’t need much encouragement to stay home!

There are, of course, some symptoms that warrant a trip to the doctor. Extreme fatigue, a cough that won’t go away, chest pain, etc. are all things that should be checked out so you can get back on the road as soon as possible.

Running through what could be something serious is not worth it! Exchanging miles for health won’t matter in the long run if you do damage that sidelines you for a long period of time.

Run smart, so you can run long! Especially those of us who are older runners, it is important not to drive our bodies towards injury. When we are sick, our form tends to be off which can lead to other problems even if we are healthy.

How about you? Do you push through, or take breaks in your running when you are ill?