This is the time of year when everyone in the office starts getting sick. Your co-worker gets a cough, your spouse has a sore throat, and everyone around you sounds congested. Picking up any of those symptoms definitely won’t help your winter training and will disrupt your routine for at least a week.
Fortunately there are quite a few preventative actions that you can take to help you train through the winter and come into March ready to race. Here are some that I use every day:
- Sinus rinse. The neti pot is an old favorite for a lot of people but the most effective rinse comes from the NeilMed spray bottle. It uses pressure to drive salt water through the nasal cavity, instead of just gravity, and works much better. Be sure to use it only once or twice a week, not twice daily as the box suggests. Your nose has a natural mucus that protects against infection and completely removing it is actually counter productive. You can use the nasal rinse every day if you do get sick, which usually helps quite a bit.
- Salt water. Gargle warm salt water before bed every night, regardless of how you feel. Salt water is one of the best preventatives on the market and it’s basically free (except for the little packets that come with the sinus rinse). One glass provides 3 or 4 gargles and it only take a minute, so no excuses.
- Listerine. You should probably be using some form of mouth wash anyways, but I’m usually more conscious of it during winter. The alcohol kills a lot of bacteria that harbors itself in your throat and sinus cavity. That means you can’t use the less intense versions, you want the harsh alcohol filled kind. Just man up and gargle it, it only hurts for a second.
- Anti-Oxidant Drink. Yes, they taste like crap. Yes, they are good for you. I have been using Orac Energy Greens for quite a while and you can see the description here: http://paradiseherbs.com/products/orac-energy-greens/. Click on Supplement Facts to see the laundry list of things that they’ve ground into powder. You would be much better off saving your money on those multivitamins and investing in a “super food” mix such as this. You are already getting plenty of vitamins from your diet, I promise.
- Airborne or Emergen-C. This isn’t an every day supplement for me but I thought I would add it to the list anyways. If a lot of co-workers are sick, or my wife is sick, or I feel something coming on, then I’ll add this to my daily routine. It’s not good to consume so much extra vitamin C for an extended period, but a few days will help when you’re immune system is being attacked.
If you do get sick it is important to take the necessary time away from your schedule training. Riding very easy for one hour a day until you are 100% better is usually a good plan of action. Do not dig yourself a hole by trying to train hard through a bad cold. That usually results in spreading the illness to your chest, taking antibiotics, and being off the bike for weeks. So just relax and let yourself get better, you won’t lose that much fitness in a week. By the time race season comes around you’ll be motivated, strong, and healthy with a strong base to build from.
