Running a marathon on antibiotics...??

Hi, 

I’m running the Berlin marathon this Sunday and needless to say have spent months training, getting up stupid o’clock to do my long runs…however on Monday I woke up with a score throat, score neck, headache etc…..not at all what I was after 6 days out!  

I sent myself off to the GP straight away who said I has a bit of tonsillitis. I have been given a 10 day course of antibiotics (Penicillin, phenoxymethylpenicillin) I told the GP I was running a marathon on Sunday & he said I ‘should’ be ok to run. I took Tues & Wednesday off work to rest up & I feel much better today & back at work and would say am about 85% recovered. I’m confident that come Sunday I should hopefully feel back to normal but will still be on my course of antibiotics.  

 Just wanted to hear from anyone who has ever run a marathon after just getting over anything like tonsillitis (strep throat) and was still on antibiotics at the time of running the marathon and what their experience was.  

Thanks!

Comments

  • JWrunJWrun ✭✭✭

    Ummmm i'm surprised he said you'd be ok to run, if you're poorly then you shouldn't really be running and if you're on antibiotics then its clearly more than just a cold as you say so.

    Sorry to sound negative and if you choose to run you'd probably be ok but you run a very real risk of making yourself a heck of a lot worse and getting very poorly indeed - and not just with strep.

    See how you feel on the day, if the aches and pains are gone then you'll be finishing the course of antibiotics only (they won't affect your run), if you still feel poorly though i would seriously consider whether its worth the risk or not.

    Fingers crossed for you though.

  • Tough one.

    If you feel slightly not 100% - don't do it and blame sod's law. Happens to many a marathon runner!

  • Agree with Simon.. A Marathon is hard enough when your feeling OK, if your not I would not do it.
  • I wouldn't run. I have run twice now when I felt recovered enough from a cold to go about normal activities and 3 miles in I have ended up with an injury.

  • PipesPipes ✭✭✭
    Running when ill is unwise...but runners are rarely wise so here's my (relatively positive) experience.

    I got a chest infection less than 2 weeks out from the London Marathon one year. I'd raised money for charity and trained well. I got antibiotics and steroids from the doctor, who also told me it might be ok to run, but to do it sensibly.

    I felt ok on the day - just a bit of a tickly cough left. I amended my expected time and went out a minute slower per mile than I'd prepared for (I'd been aiming for 3:30). I loved it. I probably enjoyed it all the more for not trying to 'race' it. I did feel a bit more wiped out than I should have done in the last 6 miles, but wasn't too bad. I finished, I felt ok and didn't get any worse afterwards. I got away with it...maybe I was lucky.

    (Having said all this, I did a 6 mile race with the end of a chest infection a couple of years after and collapsed less than 10 metres before the finish line, after getting into a tussle with someone!)

    Try to be sensible. Don't run if you still feel ill and if you're ok, take it slower than planned. Good luck and enjoy the marathon atmosphere whether you're running or watching.
  • Sorry to raise up an old thread, I am in the same postion this week.  Should I run or not.  Also, Bonnie_83 did you run and how did you get on.

  • Hi just wanted to say that I read this thread a few days before running the London Marathon. I was prescribed penicillin for tonsillitis, and after 3 days of taking it I didn't take any on friday or saturday becasue I felt fine and didn't want to finish the course if it might affect the race. I was especially anxious that it might affect my tendons so I asked the GP and she said she did not know of that as a side effect.
    I ran the race fine and finished with 3:23 which i was very chuffed with. However soon after the race I couldnt put weight on the outside of my foot. A week later I still have pain in my Peroneal tendon.
    COnsidering i have never had any problems with this before I thought it was a coincidence which needed mentioning, so beware if you need to take antibiotics because I think they might be linked to tendonitis!
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    har_owen - certain antibiotics are bad for tendon health but these are the fluoroquinolones (penicillin is not one of these). Likely you have just strained your peroneals. If your immune system was stressed to begin with, you are more likely to be injured and it will take longer to heal the damage from the marathon.
  • Emma 23Emma 23 ✭✭
    I wouldn't run if I were you
  • I am very surprised with your decision. The health is very important. So it is better not to take part.
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