Oh no! I've got a cold

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Mike Channin
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Oh no! I've got a cold

Post by Mike Channin »

Not happy. Can't train. Slipping down the meter board. Racing next weekend. Why do you ALWAYS get a cold just before a race???

Hoping I can get rid of it again soon and get back on the machine.
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Post by johnglynn »

Me too (Bloody North Atlantic weather :roll: ), still training but at reduced pace and sometimes reduced distance , and yes I'm fully aware I'm stupid training with a cold :oops:

I had a very strange training experience yesterday . I decided to do a 1K interval training (which I had planned for a week or 2), but because I knew there was no chance I would do 5 intervals at normal pace with a cold, I decided to go faster then normal . I manage the 1st interval at just over 2K race pace, then a second slightly slower . I felt a bit tired but ok .
Then when only starting the third one I get this extremely intense pain in my stomach, I stop and feel like I'm going to vommit . Note that I have a cold in my nose, and a little in my trouth, my stomach is 100% and I hadn't eaten anything unusual . The feeling took a few minutes to go, but I felt it again when cooling down (at very slow pace)

Very Strange
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Post by johnglynn »

- Drink huge amounts of fluids
- Wear too much clothes (i.e. keep warm/hot)
- Olbas Oil will keep nose reasonably clear
- Nurofen is pretty good too
- Row 1K intervals with 4min rest at just (fractions of a sec pace) slower then 2K race pace :lol:
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Post by Mike Channin »

My cold isn't too bad at all. Just feeling a bit off colour, temperature occasionally going up, and the odd sneeze. Thing is, I'm so tuned up at the moment that I can feel the 'not quite right' feeling straight away.

Did a very low power HR comparison piece tonight. Found I did better than usual on the warmup (very low HR, probably the result of having had so much time off lately). The main piece wasn't too bad, was about 5% down on power compared to where I have been lately.

Am being very careful as my 'cold' is almost certainly a consequence of the HM PB I did last week - plus a lot of tiring stuff over the weekend.

Be careful not to overtrain John - I did back in May, and ended up having to take 4 weeks off.
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Post by paulgould »

John & Mike - not trying to sound like a know-it-all but be really careful training when you are not well.
3 years ago I felt a little off-colour but went ahead with my cycle commute to work - 2 days later I was in Coronary High Care at St Peters with my wife not sure I was going to make it through the night - not an experience I would wish on anyone.
Mike - it doesn't matter if you aren't in peak condition for your race - there will always be plenty of other races in the future.

Get well soon.

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Post by Mike Channin »

Cheers Paul.

I know that what you say about the plenty of races in the future is true. I spent half of the 2004/5 Grand Prix races fighting off colds. But it is VERY frustrating to have put in the training and not got chance to use it in the race. I _do_ already have that HM PB in the bag, so am happy with that, but am hoping I can come back from this in time to give Thomas a challenge on that 5 second start!

For the record, I'm being very cautious about the level of training with the cold. John, sounds like you're being a bit less careful, so listen to what Paul says. (That said, may have a blast tomorrow if I'm feeling brave ;-))
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Just Rest!

Post by BorisZ »

My recommendation for dealing with respiratory tract infections (=RTI; includes viral infections, like the common cold) is: Just take it easy. Good excuse to just lounge and recover a couple of days...

Friman G, et al: Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1995 Oct;5(5):269-78
"....Several causative agents of RTI can give rise to myocarditis as well........It is thus essential to refrain from strenuous exercise during RTI."

Friman G, et al: Int J Sports Med. 1998 Jul;19 Suppl 3:S172-82.
"Strenuous exercise may be hazardous during ongoing infection and fever and should always be avoided."

Myocarditis, if it's bad enough, can of course be treated with Ventricular Assist devices :) and Heart Transplants :D .
I personally don't want that - so I go slow when I have a viral infection.
I'm not an immunologist, but it also appears that strenous exercise actually decreases immune response, whereas modest amounts boost it....
Last edited by BorisZ on Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Mike Channin »

I'd agree with everything Boris says and quotes there.

The risk of damage to the heart muscle as a consequence of a viral infection means that training hard just isn't worth it when there's any doubt. And hard training does decrease the immune system's ability to fight stuff off - no doubts about that.

But gentle stuff is OK, as long as it really _is_ gentle, and may even serve to boost the immune system.

So use the HRM and keep in the low ranges (UT2 MAXIMUM) if you're going to do anything.

Just managed a decent training session having decided that I'd recovered. Can see the damage to the fitness as a consequence of the time missed and illness, but am on the mend (although check I'm still saying that tomorrow!)

Cheers for the information, Boris - very useful.
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Post by paulgould »

What Boris has said is spot on - when I had my health issue I was treated for a heart attack - my subsequent angiogram showed no arterial blockage and was re-diagnosed as viral myocarditis - while not as serious as a heart attack as there is normally no permanent damage, it often causes secondary infections(Kidneys,liver etc) and can occasionally be fatal.
so once again I just urge you guys to take it easy for a few days if you are feeling under the weather.

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Post by alistairkbs »

Guys

I am going to "come out" and say that I am a cardiologist (an embarassed overweight one but I've been doing something about it)
There is standard advice not to exercise during ilness but the direct link between the common cold , exercising and a direct link to viral myocarditis just is not proven at all.

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Patience

Post by PSims »

I agree - just rest.
Worst bit is the frustration that causes = trying to start again too soon.
Wait until you feel better again, then wait a couple more days to be sure, then start up slowly.

Easy to say - hard to do!
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Post by BorisZ »

alistairkbs wrote: ......but the direct link between the common cold , exercising and a direct link to viral myocarditis just is not proven at all.
Alistair
Alistair:
I agree - but there's also no evidence that it's safe, either, so I err on the side of caution!
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Post by johnglynn »

alistairkbs wrote:I am going to "come out" and say that I am a cardiologist (an embarassed overweight one but I've been doing something about it)
There is standard advice not to exercise during ilness but the direct link between the common cold , exercising and a direct link to viral myocarditis just is not proven at all.
Thanks Alistair .

Do you know when a heart improves very quickly (increases in stroke volume lowering resting heart rate), what is that supposed to feel like ? .

Also when excercising blood pressure goes up, with top end athletics would there blood pressure stay at dangerous levels during competions, or are there bodies adapted so that there blood pressure doesn't get dangerously high, even in competition ?.
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Post by Mike Channin »

Advice copied over from the 'Failed Workout Thread'

Cold Remedies

Vitamin C by the bucketload (although stop if you get near 50 x RDA!) - tablets + as much natural as you can cope with.
Echinacea (and Goldenseal?)
Garlic Tablets

As much sleep as your body thinks it needs.

Seemed to work for me - am back functioning again, and even starting to regain form.
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Post by Mike Channin »

How to spot a cold coming, and when to expect one

The 'cold coming on' scenario is yet another great reason to use a HRM (and to know roughly where you'd expect your HR to be during a piece). If it is way higher, and accompanied by feelings of weakness or unexpectedly bad breathing, I'll pull out and consider it early warning signs of an impending cold. Aching joints and old injuries are another big clue. As is a raised resting HR (only useful if you take it all the time under controlled conditions)

If you don't watch out, and treat the cold and your immune system will full respect, the time to recover can be vastly increased, so beware!

I got caught out earlier this year when I initially had some allergy symptoms that I watched and then figured out I could ignore. Unfortunately they then masked the signs of an incoming cold, and I did a maximal 10k without realising and got flattened for 4 weeks, spending most of the first two in bed all day just recovering. Wrecked all my training for the first half of the year, and it took me over two months after recovering to get anywhere near the form I'd had just before the cold.

Sounds obvious, but the big danger points for low immune system tend to be after long distance maximal pieces (10k or above, certainly HM, and almost always get a cold or virus after a maximal FM). Also, getting cold and wet doesn't help, or anything else that runs down your immune system, stress, kids, stress _of_ kids, etc.

My recent flirtation with illness was almost certainly a consequence of the amount of effort I had to put into the HM to pull the PB. And even if you don't properly obviously 'catch' something, quite often a maximal piece will be followed by a week or two of being a bit off colour and struggling with form. This is why, once you get fit, it is not a good idea to try to PB all the time, and certainly to be wary of pulling long distance PBs anywhere near a race or other important event.
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Post by Thomas W-P »

Interesting - my recent cold was after my 30 minute PB.

It all makes sense :shock:
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Post by Mike Channin »

I saw an article ages ago which was equating the amount of time spent in each HR zone (UT2/1, AT, TR, AN) with the amount of time taken to recover. It seemed to hint that a very high HR HM could take well over 48 hours to recover from, and that even a moderate FM would deplete the system severely. (This is one of the reasons why I was quite conservative in my pacing on the 7 x 50k).

It stands to reason that a logical extension of this 'recovery window' is the time exposed to viruses/bugs as a consequence of a lowered immune system, and hence the amazing correlation between flat out marathons and colds.

I think it was Sir Steve who mentions in his book that being an endurance athlete is like walking the tightrope with illness and overtraining and injury all lurking around you. (Paraphrased, but you get the point)
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Post by johnglynn »

Good site on the common cold

http://www.commoncold.org/index.htm
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Post by BorisZ »

Oh no!
A cold - sniffles/runny nose - and I'm working till very late tonight. I'll fall behind. :(
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Post by Thomas W-P »

Definitely coming down with something today. Sniffy and sore throat.

No rowing today.
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Post by Mike Channin »

I have the sore throat too, but so far my immune system is fending off anything worse. Dunno why, but the indoor rowing season always seems to be a bit like this. Fingers crossed for Saturday. On the good side, my legs hurt less today and I can almost walk properly again...
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