getting sick all the time and training

Since I've been having training religiously (2 years) I started having
these colds that take forever to resolve. By "religiously" I just mean
riding hard 200 miles a week, which is not a big deal after all, pros
ride much more than that. When I am not sick I feel greatand not
overtrained, but I get infections from every sneeze around me. What
supplements should I take to stop this? Any comments?

wrote:
Since I've been having training religiously (2 years) I started having
these colds that take forever to resolve. By "religiously" I just mean
riding hard 200 miles a week, which is not a big deal after all, pros
ride much more than that. When I am not sick I feel greatand not
overtrained, but I get infections from every sneeze around me. What
supplements should I take to stop this? Any comments?

I would guess you are training pretty much the same every day -- sure
way to chronic fatigue and impaired immune system. You will be
healthier and get faster by training harder on some days and much
easier on the others; totlal weekly hours remaining the same.

Best,
Bill Black

I would guess you are training pretty much the same every day -- sure
way to chronic fatigue and impaired immune system.

actually, it's been like this:

2 hrs/30 miles Tue
2 hrs/30 miles Th
3 hrs/50 miles Sat (or equivalent crosstraining)
5 hrs/80 miles Sun (or equivalent crosstraining)
I do ride fast (just below the LT and above it on most climes),
especially on the short rides.

Is that proven that athletes have weakened immune systems? I like to
exercise to stay healthy, and to place in a race here and there, but I
would not want to "use" my health to exercise/race. And I certainly did
not expect the above regiment to be "beyond" that line.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I would guess you are training pretty much the same every day -- sure
way to chronic fatigue and impaired immune system.

actually, it's been like this:

2 hrs/30 miles Tue
2 hrs/30 miles Th
3 hrs/50 miles Sat (or equivalent crosstraining)
5 hrs/80 miles Sun (or equivalent crosstraining)
I do ride fast (just below the LT and above it on most climes),
especially on the short rides.

Is that proven that athletes have weakened immune systems? I like to
exercise to stay healthy, and to place in a race here and there, but I
would not want to "use" my health to exercise/race. And I certainly did
not expect the above regiment to be "beyond" that line.

A weakened immune system can come from too much work, stress from work /
marriage / lack of quality sleep -- in addition to whatever training you're
doing. Your training load is too weekend-loaded, and it's sheer insanity to
do all your training "just below LT", which you couldn't be doing anyway, or
else you'd have broken down a lot faster. Chances are your training is
largely in the junk zone -- fast enough to produce cumulative muscle damage,
but not fast enough to effectively train LT. At the very least, limit your
effort days to 2/week and no more than x% of training volume (20% sounds
reasonable in this case). Slow down the 80 miler to 70% effort; in other
words make it very easy, that's how you build endurance, not by burning out
your legs trying to ride everything hard.

-Tony

wrote in message
oups.com...
Since I've been having training religiously (2 years) I started having
these colds that take forever to resolve. By "religiously" I just mean
riding hard 200 miles a week, which is not a big deal after all, pros
ride much more than that. When I am not sick I feel greatand not
overtrained, but I get infections from every sneeze around me. What
supplements should I take to stop this? Any comments?


are you training indoors with a bunch of other people around? that's a sure
fire way to catch something. as soon as i stopped going to the gym, my virus
rate went way down! also-consult your physician.

Your training load is too weekend-loaded, and it's sheer insanity to
do all your training "just below LT", which you couldn't be doing anyway, or
else you'd have broken down a lot faster.

my understanding is that LT is defined as the effort in a race that
lasts for 1 hour. So I just kept the effort below it to be able to last
for 2 or 3 or 5 . It certainly felt good mentally. And yes, it did help
to unwind from the stress at work. Passing everyone on the road also
feels good, and I can't deal well with being passed.

OK, If I am convinced I am overdoing it, I am ready to slow down... as
soon as the current 2 week long cold is over. But I am sure there are
people who can handle more, so I am wondeirng how they can do it.

On 9 Sep 2006 17:22:08 -0700, "
wrote:

I would guess you are training pretty much the same every day -- sure
way to chronic fatigue and impaired immune system.

actually, it's been like this:

2 hrs/30 miles Tue
2 hrs/30 miles Th
3 hrs/50 miles Sat (or equivalent crosstraining)
5 hrs/80 miles Sun (or equivalent crosstraining)
I do ride fast (just below the LT and above it on most climes),
especially on the short rides.

Is that proven that athletes have weakened immune systems? I like to
exercise to stay healthy, and to place in a race here and there, but I
would not want to "use" my health to exercise/race. And I certainly did
not expect the above regiment to be "beyond" that line.

Curious. Do you find that being 'ill' has much of an effect over your
training? Logically, if you're sick a lot of the time and these are your
mileages, it seems like it's having little or no effect. Obviously you're
better when feeling better, but riding 50-80 miles would be beyond most
people when truly sick wouldn't you say?

(I assume that fever is -not- part of this illness? Many can train through
a cold but not through a fever.)

Maybe you're just having an allergic response to some common allegen. That
can seem like a cold sometimes.

Do you find that being 'ill' has much of an effect over your
training? Logically, if you're sick a lot of the time and these are your
mileages, it seems like it's having little or no effect. Obviously you're
better when feeling better, but riding 50-80 miles would be beyond most
people when truly sick wouldn't you say?

(I assume that fever is -not- part of this illness? Many can train through
a cold but not through a fever.)

By "sick" I mean fever and I can''t ride through fever. Otherwise, I
have a constant background asthma/allergy which I ride through. I just
take it easy for the first 30 min, then I let myself go. I did develop
the asthma during these 2 years of "serious" riding, too. Fever colds
used to take a day or two in the "healthier" (but less fit) days, and
now they take 2+more weeks.

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 00:42:33 GMT, "Tony S." wrote:

wrote in message
roups.com...
I would guess you are training pretty much the same every day -- sure
way to chronic fatigue and impaired immune system.

actually, it's been like this:

2 hrs/30 miles Tue
2 hrs/30 miles Th
3 hrs/50 miles Sat (or equivalent crosstraining)
5 hrs/80 miles Sun (or equivalent crosstraining)
I do ride fast (just below the LT and above it on most climes),
especially on the short rides.

Is that proven that athletes have weakened immune systems? I like to
exercise to stay healthy, and to place in a race here and there, but I
would not want to "use" my health to exercise/race. And I certainly did
not expect the above regiment to be "beyond" that line.

A weakened immune system can come from too much work, stress from work /
marriage / lack of quality sleep -- in addition to whatever training you're
doing. Your training load is too weekend-loaded, and it's sheer insanity to
do all your training "just below LT", which you couldn't be doing anyway, or
else you'd have broken down a lot faster. Chances are your training is
largely in the junk zone -- fast enough to produce cumulative muscle damage,
but not fast enough to effectively train LT. At the very least, limit your
effort days to 2/week and no more than x% of training volume (20% sounds
reasonable in this case). Slow down the 80 miler to 70% effort; in other
words make it very easy, that's how you build endurance, not by burning out
your legs trying to ride everything hard.

-Tony


He's only riding 15mph. Doubt that's LT unless he's a newbie.

wrote:
::: I would guess you are training pretty much the same every day --
::: sure way to chronic fatigue and impaired immune system.
::
:: actually, it's been like this:
::
:: 2 hrs/30 miles Tue
:: 2 hrs/30 miles Th
:: 3 hrs/50 miles Sat (or equivalent crosstraining)
:: 5 hrs/80 miles Sun (or equivalent crosstraining)
:: I do ride fast (just below the LT and above it on most climes),
:: especially on the short rides.
::
:: Is that proven that athletes have weakened immune systems? I like to
:: exercise to stay healthy, and to place in a race here and there, but
:: I would not want to "use" my health to exercise/race. And I
:: certainly did not expect the above regiment to be "beyond" that line.

Due....don't comparison yourself to a real athlete! Do you work a job?
Also, you're not elite.

You're probably overtraining if you're getting sick a lot.