With a lot of countries struggling with the Corona Virus now I wanted to talk about what this means for runners. What you can still do and what you shouldn’t be doing now with the Corona Virus around.
Social Distancing is a thing right now, so we are being told to keep distance from each other. But if you can go somewhere where there are not a lot of people around you can still go out there and run. The area I run in normally doesn’t have a lot of people around, so it’s perfect now to be able to keep my training up. If you have to go through areas with a lot of people to get to a quiet area, you might want to think about driving there instead so you can avoid contact with other people.
Of course running on a treadmill is a great option, but not everybody has a treadmill at home. Running at the gym is not really an option. Here in the Netherlands the gyms are all closed, but even if they are not closed, it’s probably not a good place to be running at the moment.
Don’t over do it. The Corona Virus attacks your immune system, so be aware of this. When you train really hard, you get exhausted your immune system takes a hit and you are more open to a viral attack. So don’t push yourself too hard and make sure your body doesn’t get that drained on your runs that it would affect your immune system.
A thing that is always good to do is drink a lot of water. Now first of all, you just need water, you need to stay hydrated and in order for your body to be healthy and able to battle the virus, your body, your cells, your immunesystem should be in the best shape possible. So once again, drink lots of water.
Besides water it can’t hurt to get some extra vitamin C, whether that means eating more fruit or you take supplements, vitamin C helps your immune system, Also vitamin D, E, Selenium and Zinc seem to help your immune system. so make sure you keep your body in good shape so you are strong enough to fight the Virus.
Another thing that really helps your immune system is sleep, so make sure you get enough sleep to keep your body strong.
Most races right now are cancelled due to large crowds of people, so if you normally run with a running group it’s probably a better idea to run by yourself right now. Just be smart about where you go, what you do and don’t tire out your body too much and wash your hands when you get home. So stay safe, but for now you can still go out there and run.