I have been fighting off a cold for about five days and sunday I started losing. My scheduled 24 mile ride turned into a 10 miles of crap. i took yesterday off and I am starting to go stir crazy and feel like i’m losing weeks worth of training every second.
Should I try to train through the green mucus using shorter and slower workouts, or should I return to the couch and hope that my vitamins work very quickly?
This may be counter to what other people would say, but I think you should train through it. I’m miserable when i’m sick, and this misery is compounded by not training. Instead of suffering ‘physically’ by being sick on the bike, you suffer physically and mentally by being sick, and missing time on the bike (and run…and swim).
For what it’s worth, i trained through walking pneumonia and radiation treatments for NH Lymphoma.
Get on the bike and be positive…you wrote the question because you know you want to train…now go do it and have fun!
I would say get 10 hours of sleep for the next couple of nights and allow your body to heal. If it’s a cold, do some really light cardio but nothing strenuous. You won’t have the energy to do it and when you do work out, your immune system is slightly weaker afterwards so you won’t heal as quickly.
sweat it out dude…
I stop training only if I have a fever
Lay low for a couple of days, nothing too hard. I do recommend going for a swim session, it drains the sinus up pretty fast. Gross, but you will feel better for a couple of hours. Then sit in a hot tub if you can for 10-15 minutes. Feel better!
don’t be a hardhead. look, you’re human. sit down, get a book and chill out. pushing it is going to delay recovery. unless you want to be out longer, go in a hot bath, then put on some pajamas and hit the couch.
besides, with 5 days in you’ve only got about 4 or 5 more to go. go on a walk for 10 minutes a day if you start to go nuts. this should kick your ass so bad all you can do for the rest of the time is sit.
get better soon (and you will if you rest)
kc
Bigsky17,
What caused your cold in the first place?
There are over 200 viruses in the air all the time. The only time you get a cold is when your body is over stressed.
Stressors include: weather, relationships, work and exercise. The only one you have control over is exercise.
If you check your pulse on a regular basis you will notice when you are training well your resting pulse drops slightly. When you are fatigues and reached failing adaptation your resting pulse goes up. This elevated pulse is usually accompanied by irritability, inability to sleep and loss of weight. You are breaking down. A cold is just a system of failing adaptation. You have become a wonderful host for a virus.
Rest is the only sure for it.
People usually get a cold at the same time every year. They are under rested and overstressed.
Take care,
DougStern