Running with a cold



H

Herman Munster

Guest
I just started running in August. Thanks to Thanksgiving I now have my fist cold since starting
this crazy means of exercise. Any suggestions. Should I lay off for a week or so or will that mess
up all of the work I have done to this point. I ran today 2 mi and felt terrible with chest
congestion. TIA kraM
 
Herman Munster:
> I just started running in August. Thanks to Thanksgiving I now have my fist cold since starting
> this crazy means of exercise. Any suggestions. Should I lay off for a week or so or will that mess
> up all of the work I have done to this point. I ran today 2 mi and felt terrible with chest
> congestion.

If you felt well running, you could do it as long as you would go really easy. But you do not feel
well, so take a break. A week with no running will not harm you. A couple of easy days may be needed
after the break, but then you should run as well as before. Don't worry.

Get well!

Carsten

--
Carsten Schultz (2:38, 33:47), FB Mathematik, FU Berlin http://carsten.fu-mathe-team.de/ PGP/GPG key
on the pgp.net key servers, fingerprint on my home page.
 
On 01 Dec 2003 18:45:39 GMT, "Herman Munster" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I just started running in August. Thanks to Thanksgiving I now have my fist cold since starting
>this crazy means of exercise. Any suggestions. Should I lay off for a week or so or will that mess
>up all of the work I have done to this point. I ran today 2 mi and felt terrible with chest
>congestion. TIA kraM

Herman, Rest. BTW, how do you keep those bolts in your neck from being hit by lightning while your
running in lightning storms?
 
Would you like some cheese with that whine, Buttercup?
 
"Herman Munster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I just started running in August. Thanks to Thanksgiving I now have my fist cold since starting
> this crazy means of exercise. Any suggestions. Should I lay off for a week or so or will that mess
> up all of the work I have done to this point. I ran today 2 mi and felt terrible with chest
> congestion. TIA kraM

If the congestion is in your chest, then laying off the exercise seems prudent. And perhaps even a
check with the Doctor is worth thinking about.

If you do run, be sure to dress so that the core body temp stays up there. That is what seems to
work for me. And some good runs can help "burn out" the congestion.

If you manage to keep up the running lifestyle, you'll find next year that colds will not be
a problem.

Since you are still just starting, try to go by time, not distance. As long as your heartrate is
elevated by the exercise for a while, it doesn't matter if you go 1mile or 5miles.

So take care. Ed
 
Above the neck, go ahead.

Below the neck and give yourself a chance to recover fully.

"Herman Munster" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I just started running in August. Thanks to Thanksgiving I now have my fist cold since starting
> this crazy means of exercise. Any suggestions. Should I lay off for a week or so or will that mess
> up all of the work I have done to this point. I ran today 2 mi and felt terrible with chest
> congestion. TIA kraM
 
>Thanks to Thanksgiving I now have my fist cold since starting this crazy means of exercise. Any
>suggestions.

i'm sure you will get plenty (of suggestions). personal experience is, you will recover much faster
if you take a few days off as opposed to continued training.

sooooooo, if you are training for a particular race in the near future, i would continue training.
if not, i would take a little rest.

long story short: right before the 2002 boston marathon i got a bad cold but still had an 18 miler
on my schedule. went ahead and did the long run and suffered no ill effects other than the cold
lasted for a couple of weeks.

about a month ago i got a bad cold and had been running on a reduced schedule due to another minor
injury, with no race in sight, thought i would just back way off and walk for awhile........got over
that cold in just 3 days.

fwiw.... cs
 
>Above the neck, go ahead. Below the neck and give yourself a chance to recover fully.

There is merit to this advice. With symptoms "below the neck" you risk bronchitis and/or worse
(e.g., pneumonia) if you push too early. With a head cold, I would only let it get in the way if
your sinuses were painfully infected.
 
It sounds crazy, but when I feel a cold coming on, if I go out and run, the cold never happens.
Guess maybe I'm built upside down.

I guess this is safe only with _early_ symptoms; I wouldn't try it if I were really congested,
feverish, coughing a lot, etc. But if I have a slightly runny nose, maybe a little sore throat,
minor cough etc., a run seems to make it go away. In fact, I don't think I've had a full fledged
cold since I started running more or less regularly ten or fifteen years ago.

Running seems to be good for my back when it acts up, too (I think I started a thread on that a few
months ago). Now that I think of it, I seem to recall running helping an upset stomach, too,
although maybe it was just in my head to start with.

I sound like some kind of a nut case, I know...

Dances on rocks NOmaxwellSPAM at ldc dot upenn dot edu
 
TopCounsel wrote:

> >Above the neck, go ahead. Below the neck and give yourself a chance to recover fully.
>
> There is merit to this advice. With symptoms "below the neck" you risk bronchitis and/or worse
> (e.g., pneumonia) if you push too early. With a head cold, I would only let it get in the way if
> your sinuses were painfully infected.

Says who? This is all make-believe. If you feel well, run. If you feel crappy, take some time off.
Your body will tell you if you are making a mistake. -- Josh Steinberg MD, Syracuse
 
On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 18:55:55 GMT, Josh Steinberg <[email protected]> wrote:

>TopCounsel wrote:
>
>> >Above the neck, go ahead. Below the neck and give yourself a chance to recover fully.
>>
>> There is merit to this advice. With symptoms "below the neck" you risk bronchitis and/or worse
>> (e.g., pneumonia) if you push too early. With a head cold, I would only let it get in the way if
>> your sinuses were painfully infected.
>
>Says who?
I concur Doc, that "above/below" stuff is ****. You feel bad, don't run.
 
The rationale is that if "it" is in the chest it can develop into something more serious.

I would say the folks like David Martin, PhD (respiratory therapy guy and author of Better
Training for Distance Runners) is a pretty good source. I have heard Dr. Eric Heiden say the same
thing. Based on his athletic background and the fact that he is also a physician, I am willing to
go along with it.

"Josh Steinberg" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> TopCounsel wrote:
>
> > >Above the neck, go ahead. Below the neck and give yourself a chance to recover fully.
> >
> > There is merit to this advice. With symptoms "below the neck" you risk bronchitis and/or worse
> > (e.g., pneumonia) if you push too early. With a
head
> > cold, I would only let it get in the way if your sinuses were painfully infected.
>
> Says who? This is all make-believe. If you feel well, run. If you feel crappy, take some time off.
> Your body will tell you if you are making a mistake. -- Josh Steinberg MD, Syracuse
 
Josh is just another stupid-ass jew Dr, who doesn't know his ass from a stethiscope.
Ignore the twit.

"Sam" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> The rationale is that if "it" is in the chest it can develop into something more serious.
>
> I would say the folks like David Martin, PhD (respiratory therapy guy and author of Better
> Training for Distance Runners) is a pretty good source. I have heard Dr. Eric Heiden say the same
> thing. Based on his athletic background and the fact that he is also a physician, I am willing to
> go along with it.
>
>
> "Josh Steinberg" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > TopCounsel wrote:
> >
> > > >Above the neck, go ahead. Below the neck and give yourself a chance to recover fully.
> > >
> > > There is merit to this advice. With symptoms "below the neck" you risk bronchitis and/or worse
> > > (e.g., pneumonia) if you push too early. With a
> head
> > > cold, I would only let it get in the way if your sinuses were painfully infected.
> >
> > Says who? This is all make-believe. If you feel well, run. If you feel crappy, take some time
> > off. Your body will tell you if you are making a mistake. -- Josh Steinberg MD, Syracuse
> >
 
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