Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels
I have been on a running journey since November of last year. I’m a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race kind of gal when it comes to my running routine. I’m also someone who loves the structure of a running plan, so of course I made sure to download a running app. In my case, I chose the Nike Run Club app. It’s free, it tracks my runs nicely, and I love the large variety of guided runs I can choose from.
I was making steady progress on the 5K program. Each week, I surprised myself by hitting milestones that I thought were completely unattainable when I first started. Hit a 25-minute run? Done! Run three miles? Done! Complete a 42-minute run? Done! Run four miles? Wow, done!
I couldn’t believe it. I was feeling incredibly accomplished and so proud of myself. I was becoming addicted to that moment in the middle of long runs when you feel the pavement flying beneath your feet. All of the aches and pains evaporate. The cement pulling down my legs disappears. My breathing moves in time with the beat of the music I’m listening to. It’s glorious.
And then the winter snow and ice came. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Even with climate change, it is winter in New England, after all. Thankfully, my hubby was in full support of my running project and got me warm running gear and some super solid traction spikes to put on my sneakers for Christmas. The spikes help keep me feeling like I’m jogging on solid ground, even though I do still go slower than I normally do.
And then, a couple of days ago that dreaded post-nasal drip made its unwelcome appearance as I was settling down for bed (putting a wrench in my new sleep hygiene routine, I might add). Of course, it was followed by a nose leaking like a faucet. Other than that, and a bit of fatigue from the poor sleep, I wasn’t feeling too bad. I had become so hooked on running, though, that I was afraid that I was going to be stopped in my tracks by this double whammy of winter weather and a cold.
So, like I always do, I searched online: “Can you run when you have a cold?”
And, most sites said to do the neck check. If you feel symptoms above the neck (like nasal congestion), you should be fine doing a brief, light workout. According to a New York Times article, “If your only symptoms are nasal congestion and a low-grade headache, for example, a light workout shouldn’t make your cold worse.” If you feel body-wide symptoms, like severe fatigue, shortness of breath, fever, or nausea, then you’re going to want to rest up and give your body a break so that it can heal.
That neck check checked out for me. And I was happy that the Nike Run Club app had short-duration runs. Today, I did a 10-minute run. It was cold, and I ran slowly. But it felt good to get outside, even if it was for just a little bit.
Seems like this is one addiction that I’m OK feeding and continuing even when it’s cold outside and when I have a cold.
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