How to Beat a Head Cold Faster This Winter - What a 2039-Day Running Streak Taught Me

Day 2039. I am out here with a head cold, recovering from a broken foot, doing a power walk because running properly is not on the cards right now. And yet, here I am. Because the streak does not pause for sniffles.

I want to be honest about something first. When I say I am out here power walking through a head cold, I am not pretending that was an easy decision. I sat at home for a couple of days doing exactly what most people do — warm drinks, wrapping up, drinking water, feeling sorry for myself. And it did not help. I still felt rough. My head was pounding. The congestion was not shifting. I was miserable.

So I did what 2039 consecutive days of this mission has conditioned me to do. I got up, I put on my Vibram FiveFingers, and I went outside.

And within five minutes, something shifted.

The cold, crisp air hit my face and that pounding headache, the one that had been sitting behind my eyes for days, started to ease. Not completely gone, but noticeably better. There is something about fresh, cold air and movement together that warm rooms and hot drinks simply cannot replicate. I cannot give you the clinical explanation for why that is. What I can tell you is that it works for me, and it has worked consistently.

Now, I want to be clear — this is not medical advice. If you are genuinely ill, please listen to your body and speak to a professional. What I am sharing is my personal experience of managing a head cold, specifically the headache and congestion-type symptoms, by getting outdoors into the cold air rather than staying wrapped up indoors. That is the context.

There is actually a parallel here that came to mind while I was walking. When young children suffer from croup — that horrible chesty, barking cough — one of the first things doctors used to recommend was getting the child's head out into cold night air. The cold air helps ease the airway inflammation almost immediately. I thought about that as I was walking, and it made sense to me. Cold, fresh air has a real physiological effect. It is not just a mindset trick.

But here is the deeper lesson I took from day 2039.

Consistency does not mean perfection. It means showing up in whatever form you can manage on any given day. Today, that was a power walk. Not a run. Not a long distance effort. A walk, in the cold, while feeling below par, because I am also managing recovery from a broken foot. And that is enough. It counts. It is part of the 20,390 kilometres I have now accumulated on this mission to run the circumference of the world — 40,075 kilometres in total.

I still have 19,685 kilometres to go. That number is not small. It requires me to be consistent every single day, not just on the good days. Not just when the weather is perfect or when I feel full of energy. Every day. Including the days I have a cold. Including the days my foot aches. Including the days I genuinely do not want to be out here.

And that is exactly why those days matter more than the easy ones.

There is a wider lesson here for anyone building something long term — whether that is a business, a fitness habit, a creative project, or anything else that requires sustained daily effort. The moments when you push through, not dramatically, not heroically, but quietly and without fuss, those are the moments that build the real foundation. Nobody sees them. Nobody applauds them. But they compound over time in ways that eventually become undeniable.

I am 2039 days into a mission to run the equivalent of lapping the globe barefoot style, raise £1 million for children's causes including Great Ormond Street Hospital and BBC Children in Need, and document every single day of it. The reason I vlog every day is not for content. It is because the more people this reaches, the more money we raise, and the more children's lives can be supported. It is that simple.

So when I am out here on day 2039 with a head cold, walking instead of running, talking into a camera while my nose runs in the cold — it is not because I am trying to impress anyone. It is because stopping is not an option when the reason behind the mission is what it is.

If you are struggling with a head cold this winter, here is what has genuinely helped me. Get outside. Do not push yourself hard — that would stress your immune system and work against you. But a brisk walk in the cold, fresh air, even for twenty or thirty minutes, can make a meaningful difference to how you feel. The headache eases. You breathe a little better. And the mental heaviness that comes with being cooped up indoors for days starts to lift as well.

You will probably resist the idea. The sofa is warm and going outside sounds awful when you feel rough. But give it five minutes. Just five minutes of cold air on your face, and see what happens.

That is my honest experience from day 2039.

If you are following this mission, thank you. If you want to support the children's causes this is raising funds for, sharing this content genuinely helps — the more people who see it, the more we can raise. And if you have any questions or thoughts, drop them in the comments. I read and respond to everything that is relevant.

See you on day 2040.