Tired of being tired

This morning was only a few degrees colder than yesterday but the dry air made it seem much chillier when I stepped out to run. The winds were back and particularly biting when they hit straight on from the north. I put my head down and headed out despite the feeling that, once again, I could use rest more than exercise.

I was talking to a friend at work on Tuesday about an ex-colleague and highly accomplished runner who used to take a full week out of every month off from running. It clearly worked for him but I suspect that in the other three weeks of the month he trained far harder and covered far more distance than I do in four. Since I ran this morning I've felt a little tired, head-achy and slightly dizzy. I've tried the coffee cure (double shot from the Keurig machine, repeat as necessary) that has resulted in a slight improvement but I can't shake the feeling that I'm coming down with something.

A number of years ago I frequently caught colds and at least once a month I was taking cold medicine to battle the symptoms. At that time I was single, living in NYC and keeping crazy hours. My sister gave me some vitamins and told me to take them for 30 days to see if I saw any improvement. The result was 30 days without a cough or the sniffles and I've taken a daily multivitamin ever since. The combination of that plus being in very good condition has helped me ward off most everything over the last year. I'm concerned that my immune system is just delaying the inevitable and what feels like something small is really the flu trying to take hold. I'm probably making more of it than I should but I was disappointed to feel weak and tired today after taking two rest days on Monday and Tuesday. I may take another rest day tomorrow if I wake up feeling the same way. Maybe my colleague had it right by folding much more rest into the mix. It seems worth a try.