letting the body do its thing

I have a fascination with the human body. I think it's amazing. When you really begin to study and look at the physiology of what our bodies can do.... one has to wonder why it is we put so much absolute crap into the most amazing machines on earth. We fuel our bodies with crap gas quite often.


As you know I am an RN currently pursuing my Master's degree. I also love to read and I love to read research. I love research. I don't love to research..... you won't find me developing any new studies soon..... but I love to read research. So my medical background is pretty solid however as with anything.... consult the advice of your own doctor and more importantly use your common sense as you read on.


You think people just have common sense. I once took care of an 18 year old girl who was pregnant. Her doctor told her to take a bumpy ride to induce labor. Her Mom suggested she go out and ride the family ATV. That didn't end well. Never assume people have common sense.


Have you ever been that person who gets sick.... and then runs to the drugstore to buy everything under the sun to combat this illness that you have? Maybe you live your day by dayquil and then your night by nyquil??? Your legs are sore so you pop 800+ mg of Motrin. You have a fever so you take Tylenol???


Did you know that in many,.... not all.... again consult your doctor ...... many of life's little illnesses and viruses .... your body has the ability to deal with at present moment. It isn't always good to panic at the first sign of a fever. You have a fever for a reason. Now..... before you let yours or your kid's fever get to 103 for 6 days straight call your freaking doctor rather than listen to a blog!!! Common sense please. Please please.


The body's immune system is well equipped to handle many things. Very simplistically imagine your body contracts a virus. Your body's reaction.... again simplistically..... is to fight against it through the process of inflammation. You might get a fever. Your body is reving up to kill this thing off. You might get a runny nose..... your body's way of getting rid of this thing. You might throw up.... again your body's way of getting rid. You get achey.... that has to do with a more "pathophys" explanation but think of this..... if you ache you might stop moving. You become tired. Your body shuts you down so through rest it can heal itself.


I can't say enough that this is a very simplistic overview...... consult your doctor if I have not mentioned that yet.


So imagine this..... you have a cold, your body reacts through the process of inflammation. You take your thermaflu. You take your meds, you drink your coffee. You refuse to scale down or take a few days off of training. Refusing rest is the number one way to prolong illness. Then because you are sore you load on the mortin.


You are essentially blocking the process... or slowing down the process of inflammation.... the body's natural reaction to an invasion. What will that do? It will cause you to get better more slowly.

Is it bad to take nyquil, dayqul, thermaflu? I don't think so at all. These help to alleviate the uncomfortable symptoms of a cold or minor illness. But if you are waking up to dayquil, sleeping with nyquil, then you need to really think about what you are doing. Would it be better to take a few days of rest? ever get to the point where you just sleep for 24 hours?

Rest is your body's way of healing itself.

Now, before you get this cold let's say you are training. Your long run leaves you sore. You pop motrin. You take it in fact a few times a week to help alleviate soreness. Because of your training hours your body is already in a somewhat compromised state. Then you contract a virus and start to get sick. Your body's natural defense is already lower, now you have already delayed the natural response somewhat.

Is medication bad? Goodness no. But use it with.... guess what.... common sense. Instead of avoiding all meds while sick...... what if you avoided them while NOT SICK?

Rather than popping the antiinflammatories after a hard effort..... get into the habit of supporting the body naturally. Fish oil. Ice baths. Elevation (legs up the wall!). Rest, that nasty four letter word. Your best defense is ..... NUTRITION. It's one thing hammered into you at QT2. Give your body the best in terms of macro and micronutrients and it will heal itself! Rather than relying on pills and shakes and all that stuff, rely on what is naturally around you to help give your body what it needs.

What about compression socks? Here is a great article questioning their effectiveness..... and incidentally a study published in 2008 stated they were effective, only to be debunked by another study in 2009.

My opnion on compression socks? I like them for recovering. for being on my feet at work. I wear purple for the record. I wear them because they feel good. However I will never ever ever wear them in a race. EVER. (Sorry white hot. , but then again I ain't Kona bound :-)

So just some food for thought. When you run to the medicine cabinet for every single little ache and pain, or stuffy nose begin to think about whether you need that medication, or maybe save it for when you really get sick. But again...... consult your doctor first!