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{{DISPLAYTITLE: Should you run with a cold or other illness?}}
[[File:Sneeze.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Colds and illness affect all of us at one time or another. Knowing how to deal with them is critical.]]
Should you run with a cold or other illness? How does running affect your immune system? Does it make it better or worse? The answers to these questions are as complex as the human body itself, but there are some simplified guidelines that can help in most situations. Only use these guidelines if you feel well enough to train and want to train; if in doubt, avoid exercise and rest up. 
{| class="wikitable"
!Training Style!!Mild Cold!!More serious infection
|-
|General fitness and health<br>(light training, but no speed work or endurance training and never exhaustive.) ||Train as normal if symptoms are 'above the neck', otherwise reduce the amount of running. ||Reduce the amount of running.
|-
|Structured training<br>(Specific speed and endurance training, but  not pushing your physical limits.)||Avoid exhaustive training during cold. The risk of [[Overtraining Syndrome]] is slightly elevated. ||Exhaustive training should be avoided for a month after infection. Curtail the intensity and/or length of harder workouts. The risk of [[Overtraining Syndrome]] is moderately elevated.
|-
|Competitive training<br>(Pushing the boundaries of your physical capabilities.)||During the cold avoid exhaustive training and reduce the intensity and volume of training. The risk of [[Overtraining Syndrome]] is moderately elevated.||Exhaustive training should be avoided for a month after infection. Significantly reduce the intensity and volume of training while symptomatic, ramping back up afterwards carefully. The risk of [[Overtraining Syndrome]] is significantly elevated.
|-
|}
<span style='color:\#FF0000'>Important note: chest pains (especially stabbing pains) or unusual shortness of breath may be symptoms of [http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/myocarditis/DS00521 Myocarditis], a potentially fatal condition. 
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