Training for Cork Marathon - And I woke with a cold today. Any advice?

conor87 wrote: »

I did my 18 mile training run yesterday. Next week is the last big one - 20 miles. But I woke up with a head cold and a cough today. So my question is - to train or not to train?

My instinct is to ignore it and keep going.

Any thoughts?

Your instinct is wrong. Rest completely until you are fully better, whether it be 3 days or a week.

you weren't in Mexico by any chance?

I tried doing a 20 mile run while under the weather last year and it was a disaster, no energy, felt horrible, nearly put me off the whole thing. You're not going to miss much training by taking a few days off to make sure you are fully recovered. Benefits will outweigh the negatives.

conor87 wrote: »

Oh, thanks for that.

Why do you say that?

You have a cold because your body has been unable to cope with the training demands placed upon it, so it has broken down. Allow it to build back up by resting. A few days, or maybe a week, and you can get back to training. If you train away now you'll probably just drag the cold out for longer and run yourself down more.

Learn what triggered the cold - too many hard sessions together?, doing the long run when already tired or run down?....so that you can avoid the mistake in future.