Should I run when I’m sick? (the swim-practice rule)

In high school, any time I’d get sick enough to stay home for the day, my mom had a simple rule: If I was sick enough to stay home from school, I was sick enough to skip swim practice, too.

This had the unfortunate effect on more than one occasion of me going to school with a bad cold to avoid missing swim practice. But most of the time, her rule made me realize that if my body wasn’t well enough to function at school, then it certainly didn’t need me to suck energy out of it by beating up in the pool or weight room.

I returned to that rule yesterday, when I carefully nursed what I’m hoping doesn’t turn into a wicked-bad cold. Since I work from home, this mostly meant working in my pajamas on the couch instead of working in jeans and a sweater at the kitchen table. I made an executive decision: If I was too sick to get up and change into jeans, I was probably sick enough that I should skip the stationary bike and the core workout I had planned. Using the neck rule, I probably could have gotten away with the workout. But moms are smart, so I decided to let my mom’s rule take precedence.

The effect: I’m feeling much better today, thanks! I’m going to take the cold, rainy day as a sign I should ease back in slowly, and I’m planning on an easy stationary-bike ride and some core work instead of a full-fledged run outside. I feel like my mom would approve.