When not to run

So remember how today I was going to run the Midsummer Night's Run in Toronto, and it was going to be awesome?  I've been running with the Running Room 5k clinic to prepare for it, and thought that this was going to be a really sweet run.


Weeeellllllllllllllll..................

Apparently disease had other plans for me.

It started on Thursday with a wicked sore throat.  I had been out drinking visiting with friends the night before, so I figured that my throat was sore because I had been drinking visiting late in a noisy place where we were talking loudly.  No biggie.  Then the stuffiness and runny nose started.  And then the sinus pressure and face pain.  And then my ears started to pop and get cloggy.  Feeling fatigued and with body aches (which I attributed to having worked long hours on Thursday and Friday in a job that requires constant standing, unloading heavy boxes, bending and reaching, etc.), I took a few days off of exercising and attempted to get sleep, though sneezing, coughing and difficulty breathing made that a challenge.

I woke up Saturday morning without the sore throat (yay!), but with more face pain and sinus pressure, and leaking from all facial orifices.  Breathing through my nose was a near impossibility, and I was still kind of achy all over.

It took all day for me to decide whether or not I should run tonight.

Asked Facebook friends after describing my symptoms.  Got mixed results - 1/2 of people said "go for it", the other half said "no way".  With such disease dripping from my face, I got someone to cover my yoga class I was teaching this afternoon before the run.  You'd think that if I was too sick to teach, I'd clue in that I was also too sick to run.  Yet this remained a really difficult decision.

It wasn't until about 20 minutes before I had to leave that I was chatting with a fellow yoga instructor about how I wanted to go so badly, but I also felt like crap.  She basically said "So, in other words, you know it's a bad idea, but you want someone to tell you it's ok".

Hmm.  Touché.

I eventually decided that I needed to stay home.  Fellow teacher was right - I knew it was a bad idea for me to go.  I knew I'd feel even crappier if I went for it, even if I had walked the 5k instead of running.  I wanted to go because I have a bunch of friends who are also running, and I was really REALLY looking forward to finally running a 5k with ease.  It wasn't going to happen today.

Most runners and sport professionals suggest using the "neck rule" when deciding whether or not to exercise while sick.  If your symptoms are above the neck, you're probably ok, but if symptoms are below the neck, stay home.

Above the neck symptoms include:

• sneezing
• runny or stuffy nose
• nasal congestion
• sore throat

Below the neck symptoms include: 

• chest cough or congestion
• body aches
• fever/temperature above 99 degrees
• nausea or upset stomach

Most of my symptoms were above-neck, but the body aches were definitely still there.  After I got home, I checked my temperature and discovered it was over 100.  So, kind of glad I decided to sit this round out.  But still sad :(

For now, I'm sipping on lemon tea with honey, cozying up in my PJs, and going to bed early.  Here's hoping the disease works itself out soon so that I can run a make-up 5k in the neighbourhood this week instead :)