How to train when feeling sick

I was on Facebook the other day and I stumbled upon a very interesting discussion topic proposed by world class triathlete, Simon Whitfield. He asked: " how much training should we do when we are sick?" These are my thoughts:

When we talk about being "sick" I am referring to colds, sore throats and blocked up sinuses. Any symptoms more debilitating than these, I believe, the obvious answer is compete rest. You can not possibly train as the energy just is not there, but with the above conditions the amount and type of training is a mystery.

Firstly, to get the balance right you need to ask yourself these questions:

1) How am I truly feeling? Do I feel I have less energy than usual or the same? Is it a struggle to do things? Does the sofa feel more inviting than ever?

2) If I train today what do I hope to achieve? If you are only training to fulfil the minds ego then rest, but if you believe that you can gain something then do it.

3) When getting changed to go training and you feel that you falling into a bad mood and you feel you "have to" train, then don't.

4) The amount and duration is very personal. Only you know how much you can or can't do, but never get to a place where you feel yourself pushing. Everything should be very gentle and relaxed. Any sign of discomfort, then it should be cut short.

To overcome illness quickly and successfully you must be brutally honest with yourself. Only you know how your body is feeling and if your mind and body are in tune, then recovery will be very quick. I believe one of the on going issues with athletes is their inability to rest and recover when the body is not working at 100%. The ego is incredibly powerful and the thought of not training is too powerful of an addiction to leave.

Alberto Salazar summed this up by saying: “You’ve got to have the mental toughness and confidence in yourself where you believe that you can take those days off and you can recover and you can run great.“A lot of what we see in athletes that just train all the time and never give themselves adequate recovery is often portrayed as toughness. What I’ve realised over the years is it really is a weakness. It’s an insecurity that you’re not good enough to recover like other athletes: I’m not good enough to do that; I need to keep training; I can’t take time off; I can’t take easy days.” 

Above all, be gentle on yourself when you feel these uncomfortable symptoms developing. It is just your body way to tell you to slow down. You should be grateful for this unplanned down time and use it to get yourself fully healthy again and therefore, come back to training stronger, fitter and faster.