When sick....?.

[toolonglegs]

Just wondering if anyone knows the answer...how much should I train while sick.How sick...not very,infected sinus / head cold.Normal thing for me I am afraid...but I have jumped on it very quickly this time.When I get a blocked up nose it nearly always turns into a sinus problem...so doc has given me...
Antibiotics (will finish on Friday)...
Prednisone which I took yesterday but they tire me out so much I have stopped today...they are for reducing pressure which isn't too bad.
And cortisone (I think) nose spray for 5 days.
Normally I would sit it out but after dragging my arse thru a few weeks of hilly races I have a flat race on Sunday and it is my home club so it would be nice to be in the running!.

Had yesterday off and I am thinking 60-90 minutes per day...leg spinners with only some short intensity and not near max...nothing that wears me out.My legs are feeling like coiled springs ...pity my head doesn't match!.

PS..another reason for riding is that riding clears your nose out like nothing else!...got to keep the snot flowing!!!.

[ni78ck]

your body will tell you when its time to stop! i guess it does not want to

[toolonglegs]

Well then it was telling me this morning to stay away...just walked the kids to school and am out of breath... . Antibiotics do that to me thou!.Maybe wait till tomorrow... getting sick is so frustrating!.

[JV911]

your body will tell you when its time to stop!

i got 15 mins into a ride on saturday and turnd around and went home

(had been feeling fluey the previous day but it messed with my asthma too)

how much to train, if at all, will depend on what you are sick with and how severe

getting sick is so frustrating!.

+1!

it p!sses me off when people either come to work or use public transport when they're sick and are sneezing and coughing all over the place spreading their germs

[sogood]

What's the point of "training" when you can't perform, with the added risk of exacerbating the illness? Rest well and then come back to train hard.

[toolonglegs]

Any other week I would rest up...Saturday I raced while coming down with this,the only thing that kept it at bay was something the doctor gave me last time...and I rode well.Rode a huge ride on Sunday with slight performance decrease...in other words I was stuffed,but it was a tough ride!.But now I am on AB's I am toast...they hit me so hard!.

Yes public transport is bad...little kids are worse!... living with two 5 year olds is nearly as bad as racing in a big bunch,the amount of snot and spray you get in a good race is amazing

[sogood]

A/Bs shouldn't cause a performance hit but your underlying illness would. Otherwise there are plenty of performance enhancing and/or dehancing (?) medications you can choose for cold/flu/sinusitis symptoms.

[ni78ck]

who knows, you may perform better after a spell . enjoy the time off

[toolonglegs]

Problem being I just finished two relatively quiet weeks and wanted to ramp up again....oh well the antibiotics are working fast...so hopefully won't be too bad.I think it was better to hit it quick than hope it would go away like other times....just to end up on the drugs after 2 weeks anyway!.

[sogood]

I think it was better to hit it quick

You are not wrong there.

[tallywhacker]

I find the best thing for a cold and sinus problems is the old vicks vapor rub liberally applied before bed on the neck and upper chest. I also add a splash of tiger balm oil

[toolonglegs]

I find the best thing for a cold and sinus problems is the old vicks vapor rub liberally applied before bed on the neck and upper chest. I also add a splash of tiger balm oil

I have tried all the old tricks ...none work.Inhaling water up the nose helps clear things a bit...fine once you get over the drowning feeling.Steam baths with oils also help...and the old taping on the face also helps.But my sinus scans always come back clear so I don't know what to do.Drugs work and fast...just don't make me feel well!.

Oh well I went out for 30kms anyway...not much use for training but active recovery all the same...motivation and fork control are also aided by getting some fresh air!.

[sogood]

When there's sinusitis ie. Bacterial infection, the only treatment is antibiotics. Delaying would just lead to prolonged inflammation and potential development of chronic sinusitis.

2Long, if you are getting repeated episodes, it might be worth getting it checked out by an ENT surgeon. Often the cause of repeated episode is poor clearing of sinus secretion as a result of polyps or thickened mucosa. If so, a sinus clearing operation may be done to get rid of all that and can improve your problem markedly (quick simple operation with minimal recovery time).

[mikesbytes]

My view is that you need to listen to what your body tells you to do. If you look at my exercise log for April, you will see a chuck of "nuff'n", that was me trying to kill off my cold. In the previous week I had cut down and when that didn't work, I took some time off.

[toolonglegs]

Surely that would of showed up in my scans?.Had two done now..one here and one a couple of years back...both times they were clear. Intermitent faults....PITA!.

[didge]

I feel your pain TLL, I've just been struck down sick as well. In the past I would follow what some people call the neck rule; i.e. if the symptoms are limited to your neck and above keeping heading out. This time though I'm just lying low.

I reckon it's better to have a rest though, from the linked site: "Take extra caution when training with anything worse than a minor cold because it can escalate into more serious conditions affecting the lower respiratory tract and lungs." And for what sogood said...there's no point training if you feel like crap and will underperform.

[toolonglegs]

Yeah it is just in the head...and I did race Sat and train sunday with it...but now I am on AB's I can only do a light work out anyway,they sap a lot of energy for some reason.So I am just going to do an hour-ish a day...more for mental and fork control reasons than any actual performance reasons.Being on a bike in the sunlight does wonders for you!.

[sogood]

Surely that would of showed up in my scans?.Had two done now..one here and one a couple of years back...both times they were clear. Intermitent faults....PITA!.

It may. But sometimes those ENT guys would just do a wash out for you if your problem is bad enough.

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Here's an item on dealing with illness

In essence, be careful when ill and continuing to train. It is my experience (both for myself and for those I coach/have coached) that time off to allow the body to properly deal with whatever it has to deal with is a far better solution. One's health is not to be toyed with.

I recently had a whole week of no riding because of some minor flu/cold type bug. Indeed I probably could have started back on the bike a day or two before I did but I knew the risk of prolonging or deepening what I had would place my overall goals in greater jeapordy. Then a week or so of sensible riding without high intensity and then back into it. Before long and I am banging out higher power than before. These things suck but one must have patience and consider the bigger picture.

[twizzle]

I worked in an IT shop a couple of years ago where one of the guys nearly died after a virus attacked his heart. I never thought much of it until the other day when the resident elite athlete mentioned how her sister had competed with a virus and it attacked her heart and caused disturbances in the ECG waveforms for three months. As 'strenuous' exercise is known to reduce the white blood cell levels for up to 24 hours after the exercise, I doubt it is a good idea to hit the bike hard when sick. Mind you, the latest BA turned up in the mail yesterday, and Cadel Evans was training after Christmas with a heavy cold...

I've been sick this last week - caught a virus, got into the throat, and every time I think I'm getting over it and ride again, I start running a temperature.

[JV911]

As 'strenuous' exercise is known to reduce the white blood cell levels for up to 24 hours after the exercise

i guess that's why elite athletes are prone to getting crook esp gastro and respiratory diseases

i've seen (on TV) riders refuse to shake hands with people and fire up at others for coughing/sneezing near them. i can understand why when there is so much at stake

[sogood]

Mind you, the latest BA turned up in the mail yesterday, and Cadel Evans was training after Christmas with a heavy cold...

I'd say that's a macho, image, PR, spin issue. That way he is seen to be a tough guy...

[toolonglegs]

Pretty sure I haven't got virus....just greenies.As the antibiotics are working...just making me feel a bit weak.I finish them on Friday so have till Sunday to liven up!.

[bomberdon]

On Twizzle's comment about a virus attacking the heart, this actually happened to me....on 13.4.06 (black Friday). The week preceeding, I was unwell (head cold, sniffles etc..) but ignored this and continued to train (cycle & run). At 7:00pm that night, I had a numbness go thru my left arm, chest pains and trouble breathing.....ambo's called immediately.

They arrived (in 2 minutes) and initially thought I was having a heart attack, but were surprised as they were expecting someone older, not a (then) 38 year old. Off to hospital where after 2 hours I was diagnosed with pericarditis (where a virus attacks to muscle surrounding the heart). Excruciating pain, lots of antibiotics and once over it (after 3 days) off exercise for 3 months...

The moral of the story? When you're sick - take time to get better!! Take it easy, it aint worth it

[twizzle]

On Twizzle's comment about a virus attacking the heart, this actually happened to me....on 13.4.06 (black Friday). The week preceeding, I was unwell (head cold, sniffles etc..) but ignored this and continued to train (cycle & run). At 7:00pm that night, I had a numbness go thru my left arm, chest pains and trouble breathing.....ambo's called immediately.

They arrived (in 2 minutes) and initially thought I was having a heart attack, but were surprised as they were expecting someone older, not a (then) 38 year old. Off to hospital where after 2 hours I was diagnosed with pericarditis (where a virus attacks to muscle surrounding the heart). Excruciating pain, lots of antibiotics and once over it (after 3 days) off exercise for 3 months...

The moral of the story? When you're sick - take time to get better!! Take it easy, it aint worth it

Jeez - glad you are O.K.! I suspect the antibiotics would have been precautionary, just in case it was caused by something bacterial rather than viral. Some light reading here.