NOT TODAY...

I've had a niggly cold for a couple of weeks now, one of those low-lying insidious ones that make you feel generally under-par and like crawling into a hole until all is better again. I thought it was on the way out, then yesterday morning I got a throbbing headache and started feeling a bit dizzy - the tube ride back from Stockwell was enough to tip me over the edge and I took to my bed for the rest of the afternoon.
Which brings me to the point of this post and the question 'should I run when I'm sick?'
Most runners' main concern is that they'll lose performance by having a few days off.
No, you won't. It takes an extended period of time for you to see a drop in your fitness, usually two to three weeks. In my experience, many runners are on the verge of over-training anyway, and a few duvet days may provide a well-deserved physical and mental break.
I tend to follow a few simple rules - if you’re sick from the neck up (cold, sore throat,) then you can probably still run. If you’re sick from the neck down (body aches, chesty coughs, fever,) then you absolutely should not run. Your immune system is working hard to get you well, and a workout will delay your recovery.
In particular, you should never run with a fever. The risk of damage to your heart is a real issue with possible life-long consequences.
Listen to your body on this one and begin again when you feel 80-90% back at your normal energy level.
Today my head aches and I have a chesty cough and it's raining outside. Bring on the duvet, tea on tap and M&S yum yums! (And Tomo, would you be a love and bring me The Wire Season 3 pleeease!)

NO FIT STATE...

My exercise routine is becoming just that - a routine. It needs a good old fashioned shake-up to re-awaken sleeping muscles that have lay dormant (and cold) for too long. And I really should know better.
It seemed like fate was playing a hand when I received an email inviting me to join a six week static trapeze course. The blurb said:
"Static trapeze originated as a circus art. The performer works with music to create a routine around the ropes and bar using tricks, drops, rolls, holds and linking moves whilst keeping the equipment still. This is a creative process and no two artists link standard moves in the same way".
The creative bit sounds appealing, I like exercising to music (only ever run with ipod) and I'm already envisaging myself looking like one of the stunning aerial performers I saw last year at the No Fit State Circus* in Hackney!
But this was the bit that really sold it to me:
"Learning trapeze develops confidence and self reliance and something really interesting to talk about at parties."
Can't argue with that!

Photo: No Fit State Circus
*Performing at the Roundhouse, 28 March - 19 April - go see, you won't be disappointed.
Trapeze courses at www.myaerialhome.vpweb.co.uk

QUIETLY DOES IT...

'May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions'. ~Joey Adams

I don't believe in new years resolutions. I never make them, or not publicly anyway. And if I decide to do something new, give something up, or change something about myself I'm not entirely happy with, it will remain my little secret until such time that I feel confident in its working, or at least continuing beyond February. At which point I might decide to share.
Do start exercising, pay more attention to what you eat (and drink!), and try something new... but perhaps do it quietly.
When you're up and running (forgive the pun) and feeling that amazing sense of accomplishment and well-being, you can begin the victory parade in the knowledge that yes, your 'resolutions' were not only (quietly) achievable, but hopefully, sustainable too.

(Photo of Rudolph Valentino Life )