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For everyday ailments such as the common cold, there is only one cure - time. Medication can make the symptoms more tolerable, but only good old-fashioned rest and recovery will make you better.
Sometimes, however, despite being sick there are things we need to attend to. This might include a business meeting, a family gathering, an article you need to write, an important telephone call or, in my case, maintaining my running streak.
After my huge day on Friday, there was always going to be a small risk that I might come out of that experience feeling slightly worse for wear. Indeed, by about 4am Saturday morning, it became pretty clear to me that I’d picked up a head cold - my nose was runny and irritable, I was sneezing fairly regularly, my eyes were heavy and swollen, and I was increasingly lethargic.
Despite what some people think, you cannot catch a cold by being cold. The same goes for being wet, sitting in front of a draft, going outside with wet hair, or any other number of old wives’ tales that you frequently hear. The common cold is typically caused by a rhinovirus, of which they are more than a hundred different strains. This virus is passed from person to person - you catch cold from somebody else who has it.
Most of the time, our immune systems are sufficient to ward off this virus. However, if you’re exhausted or feeling run down, as I was late Friday, the odds of you becoming affected by the cold virus increase.
When I woke up Saturday afternoon, I felt awful. When I catch cold it typically lasts for 24-72 hours. I knew I had to run Saturday, Sunday and Monday (to maintain my current streak), and so it was important for me to take care of the cold as best as I could.
There are things you can do to make this process as efficient as possible, and potentially cut down the time it takes you to recover from the virus. The tips here are particularly useful if you need to make yourself as well as possible for something that you have to do later in the day. I like to call this process sickcess.
If at all possible, when you’re unwell the best advice is to cancel whatever plans you have and just rest. However, there are times when we cannot do this (or, as in my case, do not want to.)
I’m not a doctor. All I know is what works for me. Before following the advice in this article, you need to ask yourself some fairly big questions.
- How important is this thing to me? Can I cancel it? Can I put it off? Does it need to be done?
- How sick am I? Do I feel like I could do some things to make myself feel well enough to accomplish what I need to do, and then I’ll go back to total recovery mode?
- If I do this, will I make myself even sicker?
If you feel really, really ill - and be mindful of that little voice in the back of your mind that always tells you things are worse than they probably are - or the answer to question #3 is a definite ‘yes’, then cancel whatever plans you had and go back to bed.
Also, the tips in this article are intended to only prepare you for the one thing that you must do. If you have a series of things that need to be done today, determine which one is the most vital and cancel the rest. Trying to take too much on board when you’re ill will inevitably make you feel worse.
Some of these tips are physical, and some are mental. Both may or may not benefit from the ‘placebo effect’ - often simply feeling that something is going to work is enough to actually make it work.
Also, all advice here is to be applied in the time leading up to your plans. The goal here is simply to make you well enough to take care of business - after that’s done, my strongest possible recommendation is you then get some serious rest.
Drink Lots Of Fluids - This naturally includes water - you should consume a minimum of two litres per day when you are fit and healthy, but this becomes of paramount importance when suffering from a head cold. Aim for three litres if possible. Also, I try to take in at least one 8oz glass of fruit juice - orange or apple - each morning. Throughout the day I will up my intake of caffeine, from coffee and diet cola drinks. This keeps my energy levels up and stops me feeling overly lethargic or drifting into a negative, lazy mindset. You should be consuming fluids practically all of the time, not at select points of the day. Keep a water bottle at arm’s length wherever you are, and sip from it constantly.
Take A Decent Multivitamin - Normal vitamins are for normal people. If you regularly exercise and/or find yourself ill, you need something better. There’s a lot of debate about the value of vitamins. I’m slightly on the fence myself, but my thinking is that the financial investment in a good multivitamin is nominal. If there is a chance of benefit, or if simply feeling that it’s good for me helps me feel better, then it’s money well spent. You’re talking pennies each day, even with the most expensive brands. I recommend an effervescent vitamin (i.e., one that dissolves in water before consumption). I do believe that vitamins consumed in liquid form are absorbed by the body in a superior manner to those consumed as a tablet. It feels like common sense to me, whether it’s a scientific fact or not - again, because I feel it makes sense, it’s more likely to make sense for my body (and mind). A good brand to consider is Berocca. However, for about a third of the price all the major supermarkets have a generic version of Berocca that is almost identical. For example, Sainsbury’s sells Revive!, which as far as I can tell is exactly the same as Berocca. Why pay more? Tip: if the thing you need to do is physical, I recommend taking a double dose of your vitamins, one before and one after your workout. When you’re already feeling subpar the workout will impact on you much harder and your body will need all the help it can get.
Medicate Every Two Hours - This is a no-brainer. Now is not the time to be experimenting with alternative remedies. As above, no medication will cure your cold but the most basic pain-killers will make you feel a lot better, reducing fevers and taking the edge off aches and pains. You should try to ensure you always have some ‘max strength’ cold medicine - which will contain some kind of decongestant, paracetamol and often caffeine - and another painkiller like ibuprofen in your medical box. The recommendation for these medicines is typically one dose every four hours. I find, however, that they tend to wear off after about three hours so rather than suffer for sixty long minutes, I recommend taking a half dose every two hours. Hence, if the recommended dose is two doses of the cold medicine and two ibuprofen tablets every four hours, take one of each every two. This keeps your body ‘topped up’, and stops you feeling like it’s hours before your next hit. Tip: try to schedule your medication around the thing you need to do, so you take a dose 30 minutes or so beforehand.
Adjust Your Diet - Now is not the time to be over-zealous about your diet. Easily consumed carbohydrate-heavy foods like cookies, muffins, fruit, bagels, croissants and other breads are great options. Add peanut butter or jams. Don’t eat to excess, but eat regularly and try to focus on foods that have an immediate and lasting energy effect (i.e., a peanut butter bagel, or bread and jam). Avoid dairy, and other foods that tend to make you feel sluggish and ‘heavy’.
Rest - Take a nap, or regular naps if possible. Try not to sleep for more than 20-30 minutes at a time as this will make you feel sluggish and lethargic. (Read 7 Ways To Turn Distress Into Eustress for napping tips.)
Exercise If You Can - I’m a great believer in ‘sweating off a cold’. However, this is only advisable if you feel well enough to do this. If you are really ill - i.e., bed-ridden or clearly in capable of exercise - you risk making yourself severely worse. In my case, my thing was exercise, and I know from experience that no matter how bad I feel going out to a workout, I’ve never come home feeling worse, or regretted doing it.
Stay Motivated - Whatever it is you have to do, keep focused. Think about it all the time. Take whatever steps you need to keep yourself aware of your goal and be mindful that you don’t become consumed by a negative mindset. (Read How To Stay Motivated.)
Follow these tips, get your thing done, then go ahead and crash. By following my own advice this weekend I managed to run Saturday and Sunday and felt great during and afterwards. Indeed, on Sunday - which was my fourteenth consecutive day of running - I even set a new PB. 
Both times, I was back in bed within thirty minutes of walking through my front door for some of that much needed R&R. I got my thing done, and didn’t make yourself worse - I fully expect this cold to have passed within the next 24 hours.
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