Training through a cold

by mami blez on Jan 5, 2026 11:29 AM PST

I woke up this morning with a nasty sore throat, slight chest congestion and a tiny wheeze. Here's the rub: I am in week 9 of Hal Higdon's Half Marathon training program (running the Tinkerbell Half Marathon on Jan. 29th). I am supposed to run 5 miles today and a 10K on Sunday.

Any advice? Do I attempt the run today? Skip it and focus on resting and recuperating? Ordinarily I would just skip it but it makes me nervous being so close to race day.

For the record I blame my 23-month-old son, the world's cutest germ factory.

This content was created by a member of the Stride Nation community, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Stride Nation's editors or SB Nation/Vox Media.

Tweet Comment 4 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

If the sickness is...

Neck up- you can run.
Neck down- stay home and rest.

by suzzee on Jan 5, 2026 11:44 AM PST reply actions

decided not to run today

will see how I feel tomorrow. Worst comes to worst, I will wait to run until Sunday.

by mami blez on Jan 5, 2026 2:13 PM PST up reply actions

Probably a good call

Missing one day isn’t a major crime. Give yourself the rest and hold out for a few days. You won’t lose much if any conditioning over the course of 3-4 days.

'There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.' - Wayne Woodrow Hayes

by Denny Mayo on Jan 5, 2026 6:30 PM PST up reply actions

What Suzzee and Denny have said

It’s much better to miss a couple days of running and focus on getting better rather than miss a week or more because of a sickness that gets worse. And listen to your body — it will tell you if you’re not supposed to be out there.

by Ryan Hudson on Jan 5, 2026 11:03 PM PST up reply actions