The Toughest Decision

The toughest decision to make (at least for me) is when to take a day off. And I'm not talking about the one day off per week that my schedule allocates to me every Sunday. No, I'm talking about the most dreaded of all decisions: having to call in sick or injured to both running and cross training.
Today I am yet again on the verge of a head cold. Some would tell me to push throught it, like I did yesterday, since it does not involve my respiratory tract. Others would tell me to take a whole week off, so  that when I return to the roads, there is no chance of relapse. Well today, I am going to settle somewhere in the middle. I will take an unpredicted Wednesday off, because I believe that it will eventually allow me to run more. Yes I said it. A day off to heal this little virus will let me run more.
I've learned this lesson before. Last spring, in the climax of track season, I decided to race with a little baby cold. And then I decided to do a tempo run with a moderate cold. And then I decided to do a long run with a major infection. I ended up off my feet, immunosuppressed, waiting for an end to the pain and pleading to the doctor: "what went wrong?"
The doctor of course ridiculed my training, saying that at the first sign of a cold, I should have "layed like mud." It is so agravating that the only thing that will eventually cure a cold is rest. And not just resting, like sitting down and writing a blog post. Rest as in bed rest. Bed rest as in laying down, eyes closed, ingorant to the outside world.
Bed rest is frankly laziness. And if there is one thing I hate more than a day off, it's a lazy day off. But if I would just take the lesson learned from last spring; if I would just take a day off before this thing progresses into a full blown sinus infection, I will save myself pain and agony, and many more forced days off.