Training/Racing during or after a cold ??

DARKIZE

Just wanted to get some input on this one........how do other bikies handle the common cold scenario (not flu) ? I've always abided by the "above/below the neck" guideline, ie if your symptoms are chesty, then rest up til it clears up, but with just a head-cold you can still do light spins/training.

I had a cold recently and was still a bit sniffy last weekend, but decided to race. Had to pack in after 30k or so 'cos the tank was empty, and it was totally unexpected. Then again maybe I'm just sh*t

So what do you normally do when you get a cold.......sit it out til it clears up or plough through it ?

E@gle.

just take it easy for a dew days

DirkVoodoo

Yeah I'd take it easy, either way (chest/head) you are straining your immune system and in then end increasing your recovery time.

While some people might think you are "sweating it out" and being a tough-man, in the end its just silly. Go to bed, let your body recuperate and come back stronger.

zzzzzzzz

I'd rest up if I had any symptoms.

From any experience I've had of training with a cold/flu - it only gets worse if you try and train through it. Better off missing a day than getting out for a day then missing the next week.

ba

another good indicator to measure whether you are still ill, or not fully recovered is by taking your rest heart rate every morning.

after a few weeks, you will know what is a normal RHR, and what isnt. last time i finished 3weeks of training, my RHR jumped up by 10 an was high for a couple of days. i knew something was wrong... within 3 days i had a cold. i waited a few days before my RHR returned to normal, and then i got back on the bike.

defo a few days rest is needed.

blorg

I went out before Christmas there just as I was recovering from some sort of infection, it was getting better so I did a short 30km spin but up the mountains reasonably fast. End result, heart rate pegged at ~150 for six hours after the cycle (was seriously worried by this) and I was sick in bed through to the week after Christmas. Doc reckoned that the excersion got the heart going and pushed the infection into remote parts it otherwise wouldn't have gone (how accurate this is I don't know, but I was getting better and then suddenly got a hell of a lot worse.)

crashoveroid

Cycling weekly ran a article on colds as long as you dont have a fever you can train away as normal. I asked my coach this and he agreed you can train away make sure you up your VIT C and stick your head over a steaming bowl as the cold mainly lives in the nose and sinus hope this helps. If you can pick that issue of CW up its a good one.

fletch

Anyone else actually find that they get less colds since they started cycling? Every morning on my commute into work I blow half my insides out so I rarely seem to get blocked up anymore.

kenmc

wouldn't be too surprised - more exercise = healthier, probably a better diet, fresh air instead of sitting in watching the tv or whatever.
that said, i got a stinker of a cold lasting 2 weeks after I finished the ww200 last year. Reckon I blew my bodys immune system out of the water, so was suseptible to the slightest ailment. Will be seriously upping my ginger, garlic and vit c intake the weeks before this years.

petethedrummer

I definitely get less colds, but if I drink heavily after a week of cycling I get run down very easily.

cantalach

blorg wrote: »

IEnd result, heart rate pegged at ~150 for six hours after the cycle (was seriously worried by this)

That's interesting...did your heart have a racing or even fluttering feeling during this time? And when it finally abated did you notice that this happened kind of suddenly, almost like a switch had been flicked? If so, it could have been an episode of SVT. This is a relatively common and fairly benign heart condition that I suffer from. I only ever get episodes of it when my system is under stress as a result of illness or work pressure. When it does come at me it never happens during an intense effort like going up a hill but rather afterwards. Although I've had it since my early 20s I only had it confirmed last year. This meant having to spend lots of bucks to see a cardiologist and get tests. When I asked how he knew it was SVT and not its more sinister cousin VT, he said reassuringly "because if it was VT you'd have died years ago!"

Usual disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, etc.