i’m running my first 1/2 marathon on sunday - this is the first running race i’ll have ever run that’s longer than 5k (unless you count the pathetic 10k i shuffled through at my oly this summer - next year, i’ll try doing bricks). i’ve been nervous enough as it is, but tuesday morning, i woke up with a killer head cold. i haven’t been sick in over a year, and now i get sick?!?
so, i’m hoping you guys will rally around me… i could use words of encouragement, advice on what to expect, anecdotes about running w/ headcolds, home remedies for colds, anything!
Every cold I get is a head cold and the one I got today makes me feel real nasty. I still rode for 3 hours in the cold as it’s gonna snow 8 inches this weekend. So it can be done and at first I really felt tired and then I came around. You should rest as much as you can on Friday and Saturday. Drink a ton of liquids and just rest as much as possible. Go slow and do what you can for the run and quit if you feel too bad. Give it a half hour and then some more. If you are running a fever I’d bag the run and stay home.
My first “goal race” was a half marathon. I didn’t eat enough before the race, dressed too warmly, went out too fast, didn’t drink enough, and basically did everything wrong. But I finished, and I’ve never been prouder. That race was the first time I really felt like a runner. I hope this race makes you feel the same thing I felt as I crossed the line.
If you’ve trained for this race, and you’ve done your long runs and put in your miles during the week, your body will do its job head cold or not. Just make sure to get plenty of rest, get in a quick jog on Friday and don’t run on Sat, and you’ll do great.
Lee
P.S. Sometimes a small cup of coffee helps counter the lethargic/out-of-it feeling a cold can give you. Works for me, but your mileage may vary.
Hey vidaeboa, here’s my dirty little secret: I am sick right now. I’ve been sick for a week and a half. And I leave for Thailand in 71 hours for a triathlon half way around the world in 100 degree heat. No sweat. Anytime, anywhere- 24 hours around the world. I’m ready. I don’t give a damn if I do have the sniffles. I have been O.D.ing on vitamins, Zicam (awesome stuff!) Comtrex, and damn near every other cold medicine I can find. I’ve been drinking tons of fluids and peeing constantly. Nothing is keeping me out of this race. Nothing. This last year was stolen from me: St. Croix, Ironman Wisconsin- they were stolen from me due to my own stupidity and I will never let that happen again.
You are bigger than a few germs. It might not be pretty, but you’ll pull it together and have the bast race you can on that day. It’s another chapter in your book- one of many more to come.
Good luck, don’t freak, you’ll do fine. Drink, drink, drink!
Tom, that was also exactly the sort of reply i was looking for. this forum - rather, its members - keeps proving themselves to me as incredible resources, to say the least.
i’m curious, though … what happened at st. croix and IMMoo?
also, while you’re typing: what are zicam and comtrex?
Get your hands on some Airborne. It’s an effervescent vit C with a bunch of other shit blended in and I swear it’s the cure for cancer. When I lived in SF I got it at Trader Joes for around $6/tube but I’d have bought it at 4x the price. As soon as I felt the slightest bit of anything I’d start hitting that shit 2-3x day min, and every couple of hours if I remembered. Always came through for me.
Now that I’m back in Canada and can’t find the stuff, I’ve been sick for the past 3 weeks.
And no, I have no affiliation with the company that makes it - whoever they are. Just a recommendation for a product that I love, and still long for.
I entered St. Croix and Ironman Wisconsin last year and didn’t do them. The factors that caused that to happen will never influence my life again. It’s inappropriate to say more, I apologize.
Comtrex is an over the counter cold medicine that relieves cold symptoms. It doesn’t do anything for the cause, but it does relieve the symptoms so you can rest and recover. I’m using the “Deep Chest Cold” formula. Zicam is a homeopathic aerosol nasal spray that contains zinc. It is clinically proven to shorten the duration of colds. You shoot it up your nose every three hours. It seems to help. That, and a few megadoses of vitamin “C” and I am good to go.
I feel a lot better this morning. I worked late last night on some writing assignments from my literary agent that are due Monday and then slept very well. A couple days on the beach in Laguna Phuket shouldn’t hurt either.
Congratulations on your first race. I did my first ironman in september and came down with a cold about four days before. I had a sore throat all week. I was so nervous b/c of it. Didn’t have my best race (due to the cold and a few other reasons), but I finished. You can do it. Simple as that. Run according to how you feel. Let your body warm up for a few miles and see how you feel then. Go fast if you can, slow if you cannot. Doesn’t matter. You’ve trained. You’re ready. Cold or no cold.
I did my longest run in years (10 mi.) Sunday morning with a head/chest cold. I am training for a 1/2 marathon in Jan. After mile 2, I had hawked, blown, and/or swallowed all the congestion as my increased blood flow and breathing rate opened up my bronchial and nasal passages and felt fine after that. My average pace was only 12 seconds/mile slower than my target “healthy” pace. Unless you really have the flu, go for it. Just do not take any decongestants containing psuedophedrine w/in 12 hours of the race. May cause excessive heart rate. Good luck and no matter what you do, it will be a PR!
fluids, drink as much as you can, flush your system… take lots of vit C, sleep, lots of sleep, echinacea, but only use echinacea purpurea, thats the best kind… apparently garlic pills work too, but i’ve never used them… I personally get sick far to often, so i find that if i think i’m going to get sick i just sleep, and do alot of preventitive stuff… other than that, race according to how your body feels…
Good luck
David
Most of my head colds seem to be related to my allergies. I take a combo of Claritin and a decongestant or Claritin D. The idea is to stop mucus production and decongest & drain the stuff that’s already backed up waiting to breed infection.
The other thing is to rest and hydrate and try to prevent the bug from moving into your chest. I did a hilly ten miler this season while I was getting over a chest cold. I finished, but seriously thought I was going to cough up a lung. Head cold is no problem other than my nose running incessantly. Think of it as good snot rocket practice.
