Running for Your Life: Run Through the Flu

To tell you the truth I don’t know if it has to do with running, but still …

Each year in late winter it’s the same thing. Flu bug stories dominate the news. Be sure to get your flu shot, the stories blare. A strain of flu is proving to be especially virulent. Be safe, and be “armed”   –  As in, with a needle prick of anti-flu serum.

I followed through on this public service warning once. I dunno about a dozen years ago. And promptly fell sick as a dog. For the first time I could remember.

Since then (and for years before that) I inoculate myself through long-distance running. Wake up with a little bit of a sore throat? Run a little longer, a little harder. Feel a fever coming on? Same deal.

Today, a rainy one in Brooklyn, my wife M asked if it weren’t a better idea for me to run in the gym, on the treadmill. Otherwise, you’ll catch cold.

Nope. Out of doors I go. In the rain, a cold sweat just comes on earlier – and not one that feels the least bit like the flu.

Next: Running for Your Life: Runner for The County



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