A New Day Dawns ...with sniffles !

The excitement leading to the TCS NYC Marathon has been steadily building. Over the last months, everything has progressed exactly as planned. Workouts are dialed in, diet has been clean (save the handful of tragic peanut M&M’s derailments) and the taper has been manageable. Last night, Monday, a mere 6 days away from marathon Sunday I felt a little something wrong in the chest. This morning it had progressed to the sniffles. What to do now to keep it from degenerating into full on depression ?

Truth be told, it’s a bummer. No matter how precise the plan Robert Burns said it best:

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley”

or in more modern english

“The best laid plans of mice and men are often led awry.”

or even more modern

“Awww shit.”

That last one was my literary genius. The sentiment however is bang on. When it comes to racing some things can never be controlled and at the end of the day, we waste more energy fighting the current than going with it. Whether it’s weather, illness, injury or something else unpredictable, find a way to roll with the punches and adapt to the new normal.

So how do you adapt to the sniffles ? Three things to keep in mind are mindset, prevention and race day adaptation. So grab some tissues and lets review these issues (see that literary genius at work again !).

First, mindset. The human brain is a powerful muscle. Psychological manifestations can quickly become reality. This holds as true for positive self talk and visualization as it does for negativity. Negative thoughts and doom and gloom get you nowhere. Change your mindset to a positive one. Your sniffles aren’t bad and your going to be over it by race day. Focus on the positives you can control like rest, diet and supplements and trust your training come Sunday.

Second, immediately start healing by getting extra rest. Try and get an extra hour sleep both at night and with a nap mid day if you can afford it. Prioritize rest over runs. You are not gaining any fitness this close to race day, so if energy is lacking direct it towards the healing process. Eat well and hydrate. The looser the mucus the easier it is to clear so get it out, blow your nose and spit phlegm if you need to. If you don’t already, consider something like Cold FX, echinacea or Emergen-C. Worst case scenario the placebo effect is real, best case you shorten the length of cold symptoms.

Third, manage expectations come race day. Be realistic in setting your pace, If you trained this hard for all those months, its best to go out and race your best race and enjoy the day than stick to your ideal race pace and DNF because you cough and see stars mid way. At the end of the day, for all but a handful of us this is a pastime. An incredibly passionate and serious pastime but not our livelihood. Your health and well being is what matters most to you in the long run and your family at every turn. Be mindful and keep everything in perspective.

Now I need to get extra sleep. I know I’m superhuman and can beat this thing by Sunday. See you in Staten Island !