I got very sick on Christmas day. The kind of sickness where you go from feeling fine to shivering in bed in the span of an hour. I suspect it was the flu. Whatever it was, it’s knocked me off stride for almost two weeks now.
I tried running on New Year’s Day, and my lungs are still paying the price for that with lingering bronchitis.
I’m telling you this for a few reasons.
First: get the annual flu shot. An otherwise healthy sixteen-year-old girl in Ohio died from flu complications last week. She hadn’t gotten the shot. My fever was 101.4, the body aches felt like I’d been beaten, and I’ve been coughing so hard I worried about a hernia. Had I not been vaccinated, it could have been worse.
Second: illness or injury are difficult to deal with, and I wanted to share some thoughts. Because we all know how easy it is to ignore symptoms, try to “tough it out,” and fret about lost fitness.
Rest IS training. When I coach runners, I remind them: Rest is when our bodies respond to the stress of the workouts we do. That’s when we actually get better as athletes. No, you can’t sleep your way to a 3-hour marathon finish, but you need rest as well as training to be fit. When we finish a hard run, we believe we’ve improved our abilities; but it’s when we’re in bed that night that adaptation actually happens.
When I get sick or injured, sure I’m upset that I’m not able to participate in the sport I love, but I remind myself that forced rest is still rest. And my body will benefit from the downtime. While two weeks is about the time when we start to lose fitness, it’s not like all is lost. In fact, you’ll bounce back faster than you initially made gains. This might not make illness easier, but reframing it helps make it more bearable.
Being ill is when self-compassion is practical, not just theoretical. I am as guilty as anyone of being upset with myself when I get sick (“Why didn’t I mask up on the bus yesterday?”). But that doesn’t do anything helpful.
Would you chastise a family member for getting sick? I sure hope not. Why do that to yourself?
Better to focus on acceptance and move through illness with the sort of compassion you would show a family member or teammate. When you do that, you can focus on what helps: rest, fluids, healthy food.
Illness or injury are just part of the journey; they’re not a reboot from scratch. A few years ago, a plantar fascia tear sidelined me for several months. I took care of myself and was able to run a sub-three-hour marathon that same year.
This illness has allowed me to sleep far more than normal, which has made me think about building more rest into my routine in general. I’ve enjoyed streaming some shows with family, and I even got time to focus on my running goals for 2026. This might be a setback, but it’s not the whole story.
A rule of thumb if you’re unsure about working out: Symptoms from the neck up (stuffy nose, scratchy throat)? You can consider lighter workouts. Symptoms from the neck down (fever body aches chest congestion)? Don’t do it.
Running is a big part of who you are, but it’s not the only part. Take care of yourself so you can get out there again.
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