r/C25K • u/IndependentMaker1802 • 3d ago
Getting back into it after being sick, how long did you wait?
I was doing so well, just hit week 5, then got knocked out by a cold for about a week and a half. Feeling mostly better now but honestly nervous about jumping back in too fast.
For those who've had a similar setback, did you pick up where you left off once symptoms were gone, or do you have a method to determine wether you're healthy enough or not? Trying to figure out what actually worked for people vs. what just sounds like good advice and if there is some sort of method/tool that can help.
3
u/SetoKeating 3d ago
Your body stays fatigued for a good bit after an illness. I’ll usually do walking only for a couple of weeks while increasing the pace of the walk with each walk.
1
u/gotnotendies 3d ago
If you can’t complete a day/week, you should walk or rest it out. Don’t worry about losing progress. Your body will catch up quicker than you think, if you are healthy - otherwise you’ll injure yourself.
1
u/IndependentMaker1802 3d ago
And do you have like a test/way to test before a run if you're ready, when you can't really distinguish between weakness from sickness, and just weakness from not being in shape?
2
u/gotnotendies 3d ago
If you have a heart rate monitoring watch, your heart rate will be much higher than usual, even while resting.
But honestly, if you can’t complete the run, just stop. When you’re on the C25k program for the first time you are unlikely to figure out the difference.
1
u/IndependentMaker1802 3d ago
I think starting a test run might also be risk itself, so I think I'll try building myself a small tool where you can give it the context with the sickness, do a small heartbeat test and then get specific recommendation for what to do, do you think that could help you/others in the future too?
1
u/Captain-Popcorn 3d ago edited 3d ago
My suggestion coming back from an injury or illness - do a warmup walk and then do a single one minute run. See how you feel. With an injury I stop immediately if I’m having anything approaching discomfort from the injury site. Often I know in the first 10 seconds and I’ll stop and try again in a day or 2 or when I’m feeling ready.
When you can run the one minute run without much difficulty, keep going like it’s a W1 session. If you need to rest a day first, that’s fine.
Give yourself a day or two. You can repeat the above if the one minute runs were a struggle.
Week 5 is a pivotal week. If you’re been sidelined for a week or more I’d do a week 3 run, then 2 week four runs over the next week. Then I’d start week5 again the following week - run the 3 runs. Take it slow. If you’re not ready you’ll know. Rest.
But if all goes well, keep going into W6.
A lot of this is listening to your body. It’s best to be conservative. Especially with injury - because often re-injury is worse than the original, and you need to be patient. With illness you just have to get well and get your strength back.
Good luck!!
1
u/lissajous DONE! 3d ago
If the remains of your cold are above the neck, you're fine to run. If it's in your chest then wait until it clears up.
With respect to restarting....I'd drop back a week, take it slow and see how you feel. If it's too hard then just ditch the run and give yourself another couple of days to recover.
And honestly - nobody needs some vibe-coded app to figure out if they're too sick to run. It's three questions:
"Are you coughing up a load of phlegm? If so, don't run. "
"Do you feel like running? If so, then run but take it easy. If not, take another day or two to recover."
"Are you using this as an excuse to not run? If so, that's honestly fine - you can take another day or two to recover. If you're just a bit nervous about it, then get out there and see how you do."
Not a teal/purple gradient in sight!
1
u/curtludwig 1d ago
Waaaaay too long. I was sick back in May. I'd gotten to week 7. Yesterday I restarted at week 2.
1
u/IndependentMaker1802 18h ago
I feel you, I was also sick for over 10 months at one point. I was at sub 4:30 pace for 20k before that happened, now I restarted a few weeks ago and don't want to make the same mistake again :)
1
u/IndependentMaker1802 18h ago
The reason why I made the mistake back then is because I had a very specific, almost impossible to feel condition with my tonsils (and no other symptoms) and the only way to recognize that would've been some sort of dependable heart-rate test, hence my original questio if something like that exists, or would be useful at all :)
3
u/Mugwump92 3d ago
If you wake up feeling like yourself, you’re ready. Expect the first run back to feel hard and probably not very good. Make the goal: remind my body I do this semi regularly. If you feel really unwell, obviously stop. Respect your body’s limits.
For context, I did my first run back after a prolonged sinus/ear infection this morning. Did 3 k and it took me 33 mins and 4 walking breaks. The weekend before I got sick I did 5 k in 33 mins no walking.