Some people get a cold and it stuffs up their nose, gives them a sore throat, and they take a couple of paracetamol and get on with life. I, on the other hand, get Joel-flu.
Let's be clear, it's not flu. It seems to me that often, when we're ill, we try to claim we have something one step worse. People with colds are the prime example - 'I think it might be flu.' That is man-flu. It is, however, a truism that if you think you might have flu you almost certainly have a cold. Flu is not an illness that leaves you in any doubt. If you have flu the only area of doubt in your mind is whether you might be dying.
This brings us back to Joel-flu. When I get a cold, I always have 24 hours or so of aches, shakes and sensitive skin. Every time, without fail. I usually go to bed and moan a bit - I'm not trying to get sympathy or claim I have the flu, I just feel quite ill for a short period. And then I quickly improve and spend the following fortnight trying to clear a persistent cough, like the rest of us.
But Rhiannon doesn't seem to get Rhi-flu. She rarely gets ill at all in fact, which I presume is genetic but could have something to do with a diet somewhat more healthy than my own. She certainly eats a lot less cookies than I do, and drinks a lot less beer. Whatever the reason, illnesses don't often strike, but when she does get a cold it usually stays in and around her head and clears quite quickly. She's usually able to manfully (womanfully?) get on with life, encumbered but unhindered. That's great and I'd like that, but I get Joel-flu. Man-flu is entirely made up. Joel-flu is real and should probably be in the medical dictionary. But it's not dangerous, so if you get it just treat it as a cold and you'll soon be better.
The result of all this is that I've extended my run-less streak to four days. Hopefully my legs will treat this as an opportunity for recuperation and, when I return, I will be twice the runner I was before.
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