Where do you draw the line when it comes to running with a head cold?
Where do you draw the line when it comes to running with a head cold?
Welcome to another episode of Ask Coach Parry and it is Jacqueline Kellermans’ question we answer now. This is a question that has got to do with being sick. Jacqueline has got a race coming up and she says she has got a head cold and she is pulling out of the race.
She has read online that as long as the symptoms are not in the chest and you do not have a fever, you can still run. What is the thinking behind a head cold? When should you and could you run and when should you not?
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Brad Brown: Welcome to another episode of Ask Coach Parry and it is Jacqueline Kellermans’ question we answer now. This is a question that has got to do with being sick. Jacqueline has got a race coming up and she says she has got a head cold and she is pulling out of the race.
She has read online that as long as the symptoms are not in the chest and you do not have a fever, you can still run. What is the thinking behind a head cold? When should you and could you run and when should you not?
LINDSEY PARRY: Look, whenever you are sick, if it is avoidable to run, then do not run. So, when I mean is it avoidable, is this your last chance to qualify for a race or is this the race that you have been training for the whole year?
If the race satisfies those two conditions, then we can start having a look perhaps with, preferably in consultation with a medical practitioner, should you or should you not run?
To run or not to run with a head cold?
But otherwise, if it is a normal training race or if it is a sort of test race to see how your training is going, then do not do it because the one thing I can tell you is that the effort of a race or even a hard training session, when you are sick, is not likely to help you get better sooner. It is going to lower your immune system further so it is going to open you up to secondary infection so if you do not need to take the risk, do not.
If we are having a discussion around, ‘I have been training for Comrades Marathon for 6 months and I pick up a head cold, should I or should I not run?’ Now the rule of thumb is yes, if it is in the neck and above, it is probably okay to race and if it is below the neck, it is a bad idea to race.
I still prefer people to make that decision in conjunction with a medical practitioner just because you do also want to try and determine if it is viral or not. If it is viral, then it is dangerous to exercise while you have a viral infection. Typically, people say if it stays above the neck, it is probably a cold and not the flu, for example, but we cannot be sure of that.
A sore throat can easily be a viral infection and if you exercise a viral infection, you predispose yourself to potential cardiac arrest or at the very least, infection of your cardiac muscle. So I would not make those decisions on my own in the comfort of my house.
I would always see a doctor and unless it is an absolutely critical race, regardless of what is wrong with me, I would pull the plug on the race.
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