So I've been sick the last few days with some sort of stomach flu or food poisoning, and luckily it was mild enough that I only missed one day of training. However, it made me think about a lot of the times in the past that I have made silly mistakes when I was sick, especially because I was very tempted to cut corners to get back to workout this time around.
I thought I would break down into some quick bullet points my experience with sickness and training in case anyone hasn't experienced all of them first hand. And even though you may pick up something new, most likely you're a very driven, hard-working endurance athlete and you'll have to actually experience these things for yourself. That's how it was for me anyway :)
1)REST... It can't be emphasized enough, if you feel terrible, just stop. You really won't perform as well even though you're putting in the effort, and what's more, you won't be able to recover from the sub-par work you did. I figure every day you push through probably adds 2-3 days on to your sick time because of the added stress you put on your body. More sick=less workouts overall.
2)Sick days don't count as rest days... This is one I actually slightly blew this time around. I missed my run on Sunday, so I thought I would swap my 30 minute swim for a 30 minute run on Monday and call Sunday my rest day. Luckily, I had alterior motives besides just getting in a missed workout, I needed to see how a foot support from my chiropractor worked on very short run, and I wanted a quick test of my digestive health before our speed workout. These helped distractme and I didn't just add my 2 hour run in,(even though I was tempted) and kept the total minutes the same.
3)hydrate...When you're sick it's very easy to get hydrated because your body is burning up water trying to fight off your illness, especially if you have a fever. Vommitting also dehydrated you at an alarming rate, and you are less likely to drink if your stomach is upset. Coming into workouts after getting dehydrated over several days of sickness is a sure way to have a disappointing performance.
4)do NOT go to work!... Especially if you work with a bunch of athletes. This also applies to workouts.. Being sick around people who don't want to be sick is a sure fire way to kill friendship, plus if anyone else happens to have a bug, you are very likely to get it, as your immune system is highly compromised. This is difficult for ultra motivated type-A's because we want to be productive and strong, but I assure you, when you are sick, you are neither productive or strong.
That's all I've got for now, I know this is all easier said than done, so don't sweat it if you mess up one part, but the more of it you get right, the quicker you'll be healthy, so it's in your hands!
I'm going to live by my advice to rest, and go log some hours in bed. Not until after I hydrate though :)
