I have a bit of a problem. I decided I would start a regular workout today and get some running into my session to help me get back into shape. I haven't really done any serious working out or cardio work for a couple years.

I started off with some basic weight training and then headed out for a run. There is a nice path that goes around our campus that many people use for running. I decided to start off slow since it was my first time running in quite a while. I did a warm up lap (fast walking) and then jogged at a regular pace for two more laps after that. In total it was about 15-20 minutes of jogging (which doesn't include the warm up lap). It seemed like a pretty good work out, I was sweaty and pretty tired at the end and headed back to my place to shower. I came down with a cold later in the day.

I couldn't recall it being very cold outside. I was in a T-shirt and shorts for the duration and wasn't particularly cold at all the whole time I ran. So I have more or less narrowed it down between the following:

1) I did catch the cold from being underdressed for the weather.
2) I overworked myself and got sick that way

Its possible I may have overdone it for my first time doing real training in ages. Would working too hard cause someone to get sick? It left me with mostly just a headache and some extra junk in my nose, but mostly the headache. I want to know if I need to tone things down a bit or if it was just bad luck with being underdressed. Thanks.

The typical common cold incubation period is from two to five days, but symptoms can appear in as little as ten hours after the virus first enters the nose.

That being said, it has been proven time and time again that getting cold does not make people contract the cold virus. Although my belief is that being cold stresses the body and can make you more susceptible to getting a cold

If I were you, I'd tone it down a bit and ease back into the running and weight lifting. Now that you have a cold, you'll have to take it a bit easier anyway

Hope that helps.

well, you could have been dehydrated which may have caused the headache. However, i do agree with the above^^^

Alright thanks a lot for the quick and nice responses. Just one more question about how I should reduce my work load. Would it be better to reduce the overall amount of work I do (eg. do fewer laps) or just spread it out over time (eg. do one lap, then walk for a while to rest a bit then go back to running). Thanks again.

Since you are new, I suggest you wear a heart rate monitor. Then, exercise at 70 - 80% of your maximum heart rate (estimate of mhr = 220-your age). If you are still feeling poorly at this pace, back off to 60 - 70%. I would aim for 20 minutes within your 70 -80% of MHR at first and incrementally increase that.

As already mentioned, most colds commonly take a couple days to incubate.

In fact exercise is a good thing to do when you're incubating a cold because it helps your body fight it as long as you don't overdo it. Remember that metabolism is an accumulation of ALL reactions in your body, this includes your immune system which gets stronger through exercise, and gets a boost during exercise.

And yes, colds are NOT caught by being cold. This is an old myth. Colds are caught through bacteria in the air, in cold weather our immune system is lowered, and thus we're more likely to contract the sickness. I seem to remember hearing something about the cold air helping the bacteria survive as well, but I don't know.

If anything my guess would be that the sudden urge to start a regular exercise could have been your body's way of responding to fight off the cold while it was still incubating.

Keep exercising while you're sick, just reduce it and don't push yourself at all. If you can take it easy and still stay as active as you can manage, the cold should clear up much faster.

Prolonged periods of exercise can cause immune system depression.

So #2 is likely. Make sure you're recovering well with good food and nutrition.

Exercise is good for getting over the last hump of a cold. But if you are incubating it, any form of immune system depression will help it appear sooner.

Thus why I added "don't push yourself". Exercise doesn't lower your immune system until it starts needing that energy for recovering, then it sacrifices the immune system. Low paced exercises (like going out for a walk) is a good way to deal with illness.