Comments on: Under pressure

Question: Under pressure

four panels — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:48:12 -0800

I think I have the flu. Should I stay in bed or run 5K?

By: solid-one-love

solid-one-love — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:49:32 -0800

Depends on whether or not you consider your risk for pneumonia acceptable.

By: wildeepdotorg

wildeepdotorg — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:08:49 -0800

Either you don't really have the flu (symptoms include wanting to die), or you have a death wish.

By: LeisureGuy

LeisureGuy — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:25:51 -0800

If you're wondering whether it's really the flu or just allergies or whatever, this chart might help.

By: knave

knave — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:27:13 -0800

If you're young and healthy, running the 5k will set you back a little in the recovery time from the flu, but won't kill you. Depends how important the run is to you (assuming you're talking about a race, and not just your daily run -- which you should not do at all when you're sick).

By: edd

edd — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:27:35 -0800

I'm with wildeepdotorg. You figure out if you have the flu using the five pound note test (or note of equivalent value in your native currency). Someone puts a five pound note on a table near your bed. If you get out of bed to take the money you've not got the flu.

By: jmd82

jmd82 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:33:28 -0800

When I ran cross country in high school, I was HARDCORE and didn't miss a practice or race all four years regardless of being sick or injured. That includes running a 5k with the flu. I finished dead last in the race and couldn't breath by the end- and I'm not talking about the, "Damnnnnn, I'm tired lack of breath." I'm talking about, "Shittttt, I really can't breath. Is this what an asthma attack feels like?"

As evident by my attempt to make it on the Darwin Award list, you can live through it and have a, "I'm a dumbass and lived!" story to go with it. Then again, I also have a bum knee disallowing me from hiking anymore due to not listening to my body.

By: Dasein

Dasein — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:36:12 -0800

How can you even be asking this question if you have the flu? Stay in bed unless you want to collapse halfway through the race.

By: scody

scody — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:38:32 -0800

All good arguments here for the risk you run to your own health, so I would just point out that you should think of your fellow runners as well. Entering the race when you're sick means you are knowingly increasing the chances of spreading the virus to a larger pool of people than you otherwise would if you stayed home.

By: hindmost

hindmost — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:47:27 -0800

When you have the flu you have all over muscle aches and are weaker than normal. This includes your heart, even if you can't feel it. Stressing a muscle that's already stressed is a bad idea. Here's WebMD's take on it.

By: lilithim

lilithim — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:10:49 -0800

If you make it, you'll have a good story to tell.

By: reformedjerk

reformedjerk — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:13:05 -0800

What's the worse that can happen? On preview after reading jmd82, the answer to that question would tip the balance for staying in bed.

By: divabat

divabat — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:19:06 -0800

I had the flu but was stupid enough to still be running around in school, trying to get a million things done. Got admitted to hospital for a few days on suspicion of malaria (really just exhaustion).

so be careful.

By: mostlymartha

mostlymartha — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:27:23 -0800

The last time I had the real, honest to God flu, my doctor described it as "the feeling that you've been hit by a semi truck and you wish it would come back and finish the job."

If you've got an unpleasant 72-hour bug (the sort of piddling illness people often call "the flu" because they've never actually had the flu) and you feel like you can run a 5k, it's maybe not a great idea, but it probably won't kill you. If you're coming down with the actual flu, you're about to feel that blinking your eyes is a massive exertion; running any distance is a very bad idea. Prepare to take 800 milligrams of ibuprofen and drink a liter of tea (assuming you have the strength to dunk the tea bag).

By: caddis

caddis — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:09:19 -0800

Cold - run 5k
Flu - run 5 movies through your bedroom dvd player

By: unSane

unSane — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 20:17:43 -0800

The last time I had the flu I lost 15lbs in a week because I couldn't even eat. I spent days not able to get off the couch.

Flu .NE. cold