Caught a Cold After the Gym, Yet Again

This is my third cold this year.

I don't know why, but ever since I started working out, I seem to catch colds more easily. The day before each of those three colds, I'd almost always been to the gym. Then the next day, if I wasn't a little careful, my throat would start hurting the day after.

I've figured out the rhythm of my colds by now. Day one is a sore throat, without fail. On day two, either the sore throat goes away or it keeps hurting. If it goes away, the sneezing and runny nose are guaranteed to start, followed by several days of being all stuffed up.

I have chronic rhinitis, so I get medicine every time I catch a cold. But I never get it on the first day.

After getting medicine so many times, I've noticed that if I go on the first day of the sore throat, the two days' worth of medicine usually doesn't fix it. By the time my nose starts running, the medicine is gone and I have to go get another round.

So now I usually wait until my nose starts running before I get medicine. That's the best time. After two days of it, especially the compound pseudoephedrine hydrochloride extended-release capsules I take morning and night, I'm basically more than half better.

Usually I'm not completely recovered at that point. My immune system still needs a few days to do its own work, and I'm fully over it in about 3 to 5 days.

Honestly, I really hate colds. Even though it's the most common illness there is, I hate how a cold feels. I can't breathe properly, I'm in bad shape overall, and a lot of what I do suffers.

Working out, for example. Whenever I have a cold, I either stop training or lower the intensity, and my training plan gets thrown off.

In the long run, working out does improve your immunity. It's just that the process is a little too bumpy.

After every workout, your pores open up, and for a while after training you're in what's called the "open window" effect for your immune system. If you get chilled during that window, it's easy to catch a cold.

I think all three of my colds this year came from getting chilled the day after a workout. Take a couple of days ago: the day before I went to a comic convention, I worked out, and the next day I wore a base layer and a leather jacket to the con.

And this is what happened. With the leather jacket on, I'd walk for a bit and feel hot. With it off, I'd walk for a bit and feel cold. So I kept taking it off and putting it back on, and the next morning I woke up and, sure enough, scored myself a sore throat. Ha. I really am out of ideas.

Today I've officially entered the runny-nose-and-sneezing stage. I went to the gym this morning and picked up the medicine afterward.

I really wish humanity would hurry up and invent a vaccine for the common cold!