Running after being diagnosed with mono

If you have to ask the question, you might as well quit now.

i had mono and took about 5 weeks completely off. you should consult your doctor though and see what he says, also get the advice of your coach.

YOur spleen could rupture if you come to soon.

come "back" to soon

I was diagnosed with mono the first week of November and didn't run a step until after Thanksgiving (doc's orders). I'm still trying to get back into it. Even if the doc said I could run I doubt I would have. I still can tell now that my energy isn't 100%.

I had mono in late July/early August. I began training again in September and was doing well. I even ran a race in late September. Then I relapsed, which sucked. My legs were very much dead for about month. I began training again in mid-November. I may be relapsing again now. If it were possible for me, I would forget about training for the rest of the year.

You're going to want to train again this year, and I support that idea. I recommend taking a month off, day 1 being the day you first became ill. Come back SLOWLY. And when you do begin training again, keep in mind that you may not be able to do as much as you used to be able to do. Take it easy.

Please don't be an idiot like me and think that you are invincible.

I was diagnosed with mono and then ran a pr in the half marathon two days later. My dad said not to but I lived. From what I've heard/read/what my doc said is that the rupturing of the spleen is caused by contact sports. After the half I treated my mono like any other sickness. I didn't run too hard so not as to weaken my immune system but I kept training. Obviously you may feel low in energy, just sleep more.

just take a few days off and then slowly jog. if you feel good maybe you can start running again. if not take a few more days off and then try running again later. some people have more severe cases of mono.

Do not run with Mono. I did not know I had mono and attempted to run an indoor season. Big mistake, felt horrible and only got worse. 5k race times were over a minute slow - healthy I am low to mid 14's and was running 15+ minutes. Went to the biggest meet in the country and got 2nd to last. Ended up missing the entire outdoor track season too. Even after the doctor gives you the OK to run be be careful.

If you are a serious runner play it safe and give yourself a break. Some people will come on here and say 'Oh yea I ran a PR with mono' etc. For all you know they could be running 21 minute 5ks. You can't train seriously if you have mono.

Joy wrote:

I had mono in late July/early August. I began training again in September and was doing well. I even ran a race in late September. Then I relapsed, which sucked. My legs were very much dead for about month. I began training again in mid-November. I may be relapsing again now. If it were possible for me, I would forget about training for the rest of the year.

You're going to want to train again this year, and I support that idea. I recommend taking a month off, day 1 being the day you first became ill. Come back SLOWLY. And when you do begin training again, keep in mind that you may not be able to do as much as you used to be able to do. Take it easy.

Please don't be an idiot like me and think that you are invincible.

This is very good advice. Please take heed of it. I am not some troll or junior high kid telling you what I think you should do. I got what I thought was a mild case of mono, took off a couple of weeks, and tried to start running again too soon. It came back on me hard. I was forced to take several more weeks off, getting a lot of sleep before I thought I had it beat.

About a year later, I developed chronic fatigue syndrome, which many researchers think is linked to chronic infection with Epstein-Barr virus (mono). My life has pretty much been a train wreck for the last 15 years as a result. Please, PLEase, PLEASE listen to this advice. You are taking a huge risk if you come back too soon. Just pick up some other activities or hobbies while you are resting, but take at least 4-6 weeks off COMPLETELY. The risk is TOO great not to.

Thanks for all of the advice it has been very helpful. I know that it is dangerous to come back too fast, but I feel that I have regained 100% of my old energy. I just don't see the harm in very slowly building back up to where I was before like taking this week running 20-25 at 7:30-8:00 pace and seeing how that feels (my normal mileage consists of 50-60 miles per week at around 7:00 pace). However, I do recognize the risk of relapse, I am wondering if very light training could cause a relapse.

I have had several youth get the old mono positive. Did your doctor say if you are in convalescing stage, he can tell some things from the blood in EB tests? Your symptoms indicate some things as to your activity. Are you getting the sore throats...if so, at what intensity of running do you get them? How about headaches? Body aches etc?

We used to call this "Mysterious Mono' Jim R. came down with this. See

http://www.serpentine.org.uk/advice/coach/fh17.php

Look under Mysterious Mono.

In bringing back yourself it is so important for max rest and double triple rest in ratio to runs. So say maybe one day on, and two days and 10 hours off. It is very slow process...I noticed that even doubling nuition and fueling heavy my runner he still got the symptoms. These guys are right you can crash and relapse, get plenty of rest and recovery between runs and go over your tests with doctor concerning the active state of the EB. Check out this site, take it slow slow and no intense stuff. Ill shut up now.

P. S. This site makes things sound a little scary but I had 4 runners that were in High School that came back fine and are doing great. Two set massive PR's year later! It takes time but listen to your body and you will be back. There are many great runners on here who have probably dealt with this and can advise you. Listen to your doc. Use your time down to your advantage, maybe some nutrition study, some new shoes purchase, some relaxing pool work, prepare for when you are ready to start going again. Good luck.

I guess I have to realize that it is a long, slow process. Any chances I will be at full strength by the time it is my outdoor track season in April?

yea buddy keep your head up. you'll be ready to go in april if you're smart now. i had mono in september and october and now feel fine.

How long after u were diagnosed did u begin training again?

Think of it as a risk/reward issue. What is the reward you'd get by starting back running now compared to what the risk is if you end up relapsing? In other words, it probably is better to play it safe and take it easy for a little while longer. It won't hurt you that much to take some more time off but coming back too early could hurt you greatly.

"5k race times" times??? no wonder you got worse. You repeatedly pushed yourself hard in races. Seriously just run easy. You'll be fine by april but you may worry yourself sick. Granted there are more severe cases. My girlfriend is incredibly frail (she gave me the mono), but she was recovered after no more than a month.

Blah blah blah "For all you know they could be running 21 minute 5ks" You elitest prick. Only if you were as smart as you were fast. It has nothing to do with time. If you are taxing your body then you will not recover. If a 21 minute 5ker has mono and then goes and runs a hard 22 minute 5k, and pushes his body he will recover as poorly as someone who runs a much faster 5k say typically 14 minutes but races a 15 minute 5k all out.

I ran a half marathon. I'd say thats taxing regardless and pr'ed by 4 minutes 1:17. Sorry I dont run 14 minute 5ks. Anyway I recoverd, but thats because mono varies by case so don't scare yourself stupid. If you can go out, run easy and feel better the next day then do it. Don't follow some dumb 1 month of rule that some else made up. Go out and try to run.

Two runners I had were apparently in different stages of the mono. One felt sore throat, slight fever 99.5, and headache. This guy had no other symptoms but he hated the feeling of this crap. Other runner had these symptoms and bad body aches. In comparing the blood tests from the same doctor the doctor got angry with me saying "I told you runner one was in convales. state, he could have contracted this a year ago!" The doc then showed me differences in tests for the active state of second runner. Its wierd but both guys we gave twice to 3 times rest between runs. At beginning. Both we had to wait 12 days for fever to go away. We ran them easy, with goal of having them finish run feeling still fresh and ready to go out on a date...no intensity. I monitored every thing with these guys, temp., every feeling, aches, diet, outside stress. We did pool work, I bought all their food yad yada. Runer one was out of it in 2 1/2 months, but I really had kept him down a bit. Runner 2 was tough, but seemed to just be behind #1 and I gave him a month off after 2 months just to see and he came back ok, Depending on where your at, symptoms, I really think you can run with good OFF days but make these runs easy and fun, so your done feeling like you could do lots more...walk away and get your two days OFF! Use your head THINK, listen to your body and run stuff by the doctor. Don't let yourself relapse, keep your energy level high, TOO HIGH! Then take two days off. Good Luck!