Saturday, March 02, 2013

Feel Better Slow

Well, Susie pointed out the other day that if I am feeling better, it is now time to lace up the ol' running shoes again.

I'm a big believer in convalescence. Our culture hasn't really respected it for a long time - in the old days, you'd have been sent to the seaside for six weeks after the flu, and if all you had was a cold you'd at least have been well wrapped up and taken on gentle airings until all danger of relapse was past.

Fast forward to the past fifty or so years. It seems that, for decades, people have been taking just a day or two off, and coughing and sniffling their way through the surrounding weeks of work. They spend those weeks broadcasting their viruses to the rest of the people in the office, or the kids at the school, or whatever. Ads used to focus on drugs you could use to deal with your symptoms so you'd be able to go to work. (Anybody else horrified by that commercial? Imagining yourself on that very same plane, unknowingly breathing in all of her recycled air?)

I think modern medicine is starting to get back on board, though, judging from the number of times in the past few years that I've heard medical professionals talking about the "postviral state". The aforementioned ads, too, have begun to change. Some now suggest that you take the drugs for symptom relief so you can get a better, more healing, sleep. An improvement.

Anyhow, it has been four mornings now that I have woken up without a sore throat or a headache, so I think I'm going to follow Susie's direction and start up the 10K training again. I'm three weeks behind schedule, so I don't know whether I'll be able to finish the entire program - I am in week 4 of 14, but there are only 8 weeks left until the race. My daughter is also recovering from the cold, so she will be out of action for at least a few more days.

Unsurprisingly, I have already gotten out of the habit, and going for a run tonight seems like a total drag.

3 comments:

Gwen said...

Oh, excellent -- but remember not to push it; stop when your body says "stop."

I'm so, so proud of you for setting a goal, and persevering through the challenges. You have destination, determination and deliberation; you'll certainly succeed! :) xoxo

Jeannette said...

My motto on many days is "Start slow, then taper off."
The key thing is to start. Just a little. And listen to your body.

Susie Hewer said...

Good for you! I always listen to my body and let it recover fully. Those cold suppressant medicines are just wrong and I agree that if people are ill they should stay at home and not share their bugs with anyone else.

Just make sure you ease back into running gently and please don't try to make up for the training you've lost as that would risk injury. The enforced rest will probably have done you good as you body will have been adjusting to the increase in activity.

Good luck! xxx