Running Tips
Training When You're Sick: The Push & Pull
Sickness has a way of reminding you that flexibility is a cornerstone of any well-designed training plan. For most runners, the hardest part of getting sick isn’t the missed runs or workouts; it’s what the missed volume and intensity MEAN for their fitness.
Sickness has a way of reminding you that flexibility is a cornerstone of any well-designed training plan. One day, everything feels steady eddie. Your body feels reliable, and your fitness feels predictable. Then, one morning, you wake up congested, sweaty, depleted, and the first thought that pops in your head is,”s**t” followed by “should I run today?” You start negotiating with yourself. Maybe easy. Maybe short. Maybe I’ll feel better once I get moving.
For most runners, the hardest part of getting sick isn’t the missed runs or workouts; it’s what the missed volume and intensity MEAN for their fitness. “What about the lost gains?” I (Coach Matt) have had my fair share of run-ins with inopportune illness. In the weeks leading up to the 2024 Marathon Olympic Trials in Orlando, Florida, I came down with the flu immediately after a 23-mile workout, with 15 miles at marathon pace. I dropped 8 pounds in a few days, took a field trip to the ER, and had 10 days off from running. With a week and a few days to prepare for one of the most competitive marathons of my life, I was defeated. My coach restructured my taper, and I made the most of the days leading into the marathon, psychologically getting myself back in the game to compete on race day. Ultimately, I adapted and altered my expectations to the new reality of my situation.
There was no way to outwork that situation. No clever adjustment or extra discipline fixed it. The only thing I could actually control was how I framed it. Instead of asking how to get back to where I’d been, I had to ask a different question. What does the best version of these next few weeks look like now? That didn’t save the original plan, but it gave me something tangible to move forward with.
A conversation about managing an illness during a marathon build came up recently with one of my athletes who’s preparing for the Mesa Marathon in February. The conversation was recorded on his podcast, “We Get 2 Do This.” The difficult decision about adjusting plans and performance goals was discussed, and together, we unpacked fueling mistakes, winter training stress, mental resilience, and the pressure athletes put on themselves to force outcomes. The conversation turned to “failure” and the “shoulda, coulda, woulda” mental loop that typically weasels its way into our brains when we overcome an illness, injury, or other friction point in our training.
To listen to the podcast on Spotify, check it out HERE.
From a physiological standpoint, illness changes the rules. When you’re sick, your body is already under stress. The immune system doesn’t distinguish between stress from hard training and stress from illness. It all pulls from the same pool. Hard workouts in that state rarely build fitness and more often just slow down how quickly you feel normal again. The trickier part, though, is the psychological toll.
At times, training plans can feel like contracts. Breaking or deviating from them can feel like a failure rather than an adjustment, even when the adjustment is exactly what’s needed. That mindset is what often pushes athletes back to lace up their shoes too soon. For me, coming back after those 10 days off before the Olympic Trials meant letting go of urgency, fully accepting the reality & allowing my body to heal. On my return, I limited my intensity and volume. Planned workouts returned only when they made sense. I paid less attention to how workouts looked on paper and more attention to how I felt later that day and the next morning.
A simple rule helped then and still does. If a workout feels hard on a good day, it doesn’t belong on a sick day or early in the return from illness. Trying to make up for lost time is one of the fastest ways to lose more of it. Fitness is more durable than we think, but recovery is not.
The real work during sickness isn’t physical. It’s sitting with uncertainty and resisting the urge to regain control through effort alone. The commitment we runners make to our development isn’t built by pretending and denying that interruptions exist. It’s built by preparing and responding when they inevitably do. Sickness isn’t separate from training; it comes with the territory of pushing our bodies. How we choose to handle it is our golden opportunity to strengthen our resiliency and become a better athlete.
Coach Matt, The Aerobic Group
Schedule a FREE consultation with a TAG coach to learn how we can help you navigate challenges in your training and equip you with a training plan that allows for flexibility when the inevitable become evitable.
Sickness has a way of reminding you that flexibility is a cornerstone of any well-designed training plan. One day, everything feels steady eddie. Your body feels reliable, and your fitness feels predictable. Then, one morning, you wake up congested, sweaty, depleted, and the first thought that pops in your head is,”s**t” followed by “should I run today?” You start negotiating with yourself. Maybe easy. Maybe short. Maybe I’ll feel better once I get moving.
For most runners, the hardest part of getting sick isn’t the missed runs or workouts; it’s what the missed volume and intensity MEAN for their fitness. “What about the lost gains?” I (Coach Matt) have had my fair share of run-ins with inopportune illness. In the weeks leading up to the 2024 Marathon Olympic Trials in Orlando, Florida, I came down with the flu immediately after a 23-mile workout, with 15 miles at marathon pace. I dropped 8 pounds in a few days, took a field trip to the ER, and had 10 days off from running. With a week and a few days to prepare for one of the most competitive marathons of my life, I was defeated. My coach restructured my taper, and I made the most of the days leading into the marathon, psychologically getting myself back in the game to compete on race day. Ultimately, I adapted and altered my expectations to the new reality of my situation.
There was no way to outwork that situation. No clever adjustment or extra discipline fixed it. The only thing I could actually control was how I framed it. Instead of asking how to get back to where I’d been, I had to ask a different question. What does the best version of these next few weeks look like now? That didn’t save the original plan, but it gave me something tangible to move forward with.
A conversation about managing an illness during a marathon build came up recently with one of my athletes who’s preparing for the Mesa Marathon in February. The conversation was recorded on his podcast, “We Get 2 Do This.” The difficult decision about adjusting plans and performance goals was discussed, and together, we unpacked fueling mistakes, winter training stress, mental resilience, and the pressure athletes put on themselves to force outcomes. The conversation turned to “failure” and the “shoulda, coulda, woulda” mental loop that typically weasels its way into our brains when we overcome an illness, injury, or other friction point in our training.
To listen to the podcast on Spotify, check it out HERE.
From a physiological standpoint, illness changes the rules. When you’re sick, your body is already under stress. The immune system doesn’t distinguish between stress from hard training and stress from illness. It all pulls from the same pool. Hard workouts in that state rarely build fitness and more often just slow down how quickly you feel normal again. The trickier part, though, is the psychological toll.
At times, training plans can feel like contracts. Breaking or deviating from them can feel like a failure rather than an adjustment, even when the adjustment is exactly what’s needed. That mindset is what often pushes athletes back to lace up their shoes too soon. For me, coming back after those 10 days off before the Olympic Trials meant letting go of urgency, fully accepting the reality & allowing my body to heal. On my return, I limited my intensity and volume. Planned workouts returned only when they made sense. I paid less attention to how workouts looked on paper and more attention to how I felt later that day and the next morning.
A simple rule helped then and still does. If a workout feels hard on a good day, it doesn’t belong on a sick day or early in the return from illness. Trying to make up for lost time is one of the fastest ways to lose more of it. Fitness is more durable than we think, but recovery is not.
The real work during sickness isn’t physical. It’s sitting with uncertainty and resisting the urge to regain control through effort alone. The commitment we runners make to our development isn’t built by pretending and denying that interruptions exist. It’s built by preparing and responding when they inevitably do. Sickness isn’t separate from training; it comes with the territory of pushing our bodies. How we choose to handle it is our golden opportunity to strengthen our resiliency and become a better athlete.
Coach Matt, The Aerobic Group
Schedule a FREE consultation with a TAG coach to learn how we can help you navigate challenges in your training and equip you with a training plan that allows for flexibility when the inevitable become evitable.