First Ron Hill shows me up for my malingering, now England Rugby star Jonny Wilkinson kicks me into touch.

His remarkable return to the England team after four years on Saturday against Scotland was considered a questionable decision on the part of coach Brian Ashton. Incidently, Ashton is ex-Bath rugby coach, and the England squad practised at the university facilities last week.

Wilkinson’s performance, among others, clearly lifted England, who have suffered a string of defeats leading to the departure of Ashton’s predecessor.

The risk in playing Wilkinson, if there was one, paid off. The England team seems rejuvenated, and pundits have been bewildered by the stunning form Wilkinson has shown after such a long break.

Two things are striking from a recovery point of view. On radio today, his fitness advisor Steve Black at club Newcastle Falcons remarked that with each reinjury and setback, he recovered (motivation) more quickly.

In the Times today, Wilkinson also explained the role of practice in improving his game even when he was not able to train fully, or compete:-

“I may have made my comeback in an England shirt on Saturday but, as far as I was concerned, I hadn’t really been away. Every day that I’d been out of the game, I’d been training for the day when I was back in it. So I was absent, but not in some rugby wilderness. With every injury, I had a plan: different parts of my game or my physique that I could work on.

So I don’t see myself as particularly different to Jason Robinson. He’d been away and come back, too. I’ve spent my time working for and preparing for that day, so I could come in and thrive from the off.

So, yes, it was sort of a dream comeback. But it was also one that I’d thought about, prepared for. I am delighted it went quite well, but I can’t say that it was a surprise — as in a shock — because I’d just spent three years practising for it.”

In comparison over the past three weeks with a virus, I even gave up strengthening and stretching exercises, which I guess, in some light form, would not have hurt me.

As an aside, Friday’s run was premature. I mistakenly ran up a hill, albeit slowly, when I should have chosen a very flat course, or not exercised at all. Saturday and Sunday I felt weak again, so did not train.

Resting heart rate 51

Weight 72 kg

Mood

Exercise none, but reintroduced Nike Free barefoot simulating training shoes while walking to smooth possible return to training

I was not a happy camper this morning. After 17 days of virus, with some signs of improvement, I woke up with a splitting headache and a heart rate conservatively estimated at 58 bpm. This was not quite as acute as a bad migraine, but lasted all day. Ron Hill would have put in two miles at least. I could barely make it to the bathroom. I doubled up on paracetamol and ibuprofen for the first time ever, and for a migraine sufferer that’s saying something.

The good news is that by the end of the day it seems to be over. And the upper-respiratory tract infection looks like it has shifted too. But this leaves me effectively three weeks behind my training schedule, nevermind the effect it has had on my work.

Resting heart rate 58

Weight 73 kg

Mood

Sick with virus (day long severe headache, nauseous) clearing by nightfall

It’s hard to argue with 40 years of non-stop running. But when you’ve had a virus that’s kept you off the tow-path for more than a fortnight, the sterling example of British marathon legend Ron Hill can leave you feeling a little disgruntled.

Lancashire born and bred, 68-year-old Ron has the amazing bullet-proof constitution typical of many brought up with wartime austerity. [I hope that's not just the lazy, soft, southern Generation X-er in me talking!] Ron told me on Monday evening, after a lecture in aid of Bath homeless charity Julian House, that a virus had never stopped him running. He said he’d even raced when ill. Start with a cough and a spit and, so long as you warm up slowly, he said, you’d be fine. The thing was not to do too much while run down. Contrary to popular opinion, he said, it was worth changing into your running gear, even if you only covered a couple of miles.

Ron’s uninterrupted running record is unprecedented. He says he has not missed a single day since 1964. But is Ron an anomaly?

I know that my own virus this past two weeks might easily have led to something worse. Two people I know of – a mother and child – contracted pneumonia on top of it. As all my family have had it, more or less as severely, and normally hardy members of the local community have succumbed, I’m not ashamed to have had to take it easy, focus on rest and the best nutrition.

Ron Hill confessed to having run the day after a car crash which crushed his ribs. And on the same day that he had exploratory surgery for a knee injury. He kept this from his family, of course.

It clearly worked for him. But I suspect that more athletes would do more permanent damage by not resting than would succeed by following what appears to be a compulsion to run, even though that compulsion must be a major component in the will to win.

Dr Tim Noakes, author of Running Lore, contends that Ron Hill’s overzealous training programme cost him the Olympic gold in 1972. What might such a win have done to inspire British marathon running for several generations? Noakes also notes that the chronic chest infections Hill suffered at some points in his career would now be regarded as classic symptoms of overtraining syndrome.

Resting heart rate 53

Weight 73 kg

Mood

Sick with virus (16th day)

I’ve tended to make light of colds in recent years, mocking myself with the comedic idea of “man-flu”. I have an elaborate evolutionary biology-inspired theory of man-flu that I’ll relate at some point in another post. But, after four days of ever-intensifying head cold, I started to wonder whether I did have flu. Some symptoms of muscle ache indicated flu perhaps, but most of the symptoms were confined to above the shoulders.

The last time I felt viral, I resolved that the next time, rather than not exercise at all, I might try a light session (say, 20 minutes on the bike) to see if it would have a positive effect. It is said that such a small amount of exercise is not detrimental, and could have positive benefits. This time there was no way. A week on, even though the symptoms have for the first day today been on balance lighter than the day before, I feel no better than a week ago.

Following the “feed a cold, starve a fever adage”, for which there seems to be some scientific basis, I’ve eaten a lot this week, and experienced some weight gain as a result.

Resting heart rate 51

Weight 73 kg

Mood

Sick with virus (seventh day)

The Marginal Revolution has a good link to an article about the psychology of procrastination.

The most salient quotation for non-exercisers in this article is this:-

“Fifty per cent of heart attack patients don’t manage to make the lifestyle changes that could save their lives.”

I know what that feels like. It took a major wrench to wake me up and determine I needed to save a few more heart beats for when I might need them much later. The problem is you never know how much time you have.

This fits quite neatly into an area of study that ties the marathon and the concept of delayed gratification together with other ways we tend to favour the short term in the choices we make:-

“Over the years, psychologists have come up with a lot of ideas about what makes people procrastinate. In addition to anxiety and perfectionism, some suggested that procrastinators were self-sabotaging, hostile and rebellious, or depressed.

But for Steel, procrastination can be explained by an insight borrowed from behavioural economics called hyperbolic discounting [my link]. This is the tendency to value near-term rewards more than long-term ones. For instance, some people will choose a payoff of $50 today over $100 tomorrow.”

There’s an old fashioned saying: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. But, as with all such adages, there are times (whether it is saving for our pensions, or keeping fit) when it may be wrong.

Resting heart rate 53

Weight 72 kg

Sick with heavy virus

Mood