Friday, April 20, 2012

My Latest Lesson - The Neck Rule

I haven't run since last Saturday. Today is Friday. I have been irritable and chomping at the reins for three days wanting to RUN.

Last weekend I came down with a bad head cold. Luckily, Sunday was a rest day and Monday was cross training day. When Tuesday came though, the cold had sunk deep into my chest with a bronchial like cough.

I did some research to see if I should run. After all, I had no fever and felt ready to roll....I just wanted to see if running would be good or bad. Would it weaken my immunities or possibly be a good thing and sweat out the virus?

What I learned is this - taken from this article at Runners World:

Symptoms below the neck (chest cold, bronchial infection, body ache) require time off, while symptoms above the neck (runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing) don't pose a risk to runners continuing workouts.


This was disheartening to me. But, I read a lot on the subject (and even wrote my coach) and it was universally agreed - Don't risk running with a deep chest cold or bronchial cough.

So, today was my first day without any coughing or bronchial phlegm.

I can't wait to hit the road tomorrow!

Additional links:

http://running.about.com/od/injuriesandillness/f/runandcolds.htm

http://runnersfeed.com/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go-neck-rule-for-sick-days/


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