In my last blog post, I talked about needing a breakthrough. Thankfully, I think I had it this weekend during our long run!
At the beginning of my breakthrough run though, I had a headache. I almost talked myself out of running, but thought better of it. First, I knew I needed to run. Second, my wife was going to run regardless of whether or not I was going to and I couldn’t let her out do me too much! Medical logic, I thought, says my headache might go away soon after I start running because of the dilation of blood vessels that occurs. Certainly the release of endorphins (feel good hormones the body naturally releases during exercise) couldn’t hurt either!
So, I ran. At first, my headache worsened. However, as I persisted, it gradually resolved. I’m not in the business of advising people to exercise when they are sick. There are definitely times your body needs to rest. However, there are other times that exercise might just be the dose of medicine you need to get you out of your funk. Your job is to determine the appropriate response: rest or exercise?
Simon Haussmann, PTA