Is it bad to exercise/run with a cold?

I've been running for a while now but I took a little break since I've got this cold that just won't go away, would it be bad to start running again even though I still have a cold?

if its just a cold i dont think so. just make sure you dont push your self to hard other wise you will make yourself worse.

How long have you had the cold. A viral cold will take about 2 weeks to clear up entirely. For the first week, I personally would take it easy. If it's going on longer than 2 weeks see a doctor as maybe it's a bacterial infection for which you would need antibiotics. Bottom line is, if you feel well enough you can run some, just don't overdo it or stress yourself too too much. Let your body heal.

Get well soon!

My coach thinks its a bad idea, because when you increase your body temperature its like a breeding ground for all the bacteria that gave you the cold, so it makes you sicker.

The rule of thumb is if symptoms are above the neck, it's okay to run. If symptoms are below the neck, take the day off.

Usually a cold has symptoms only above the neck - runny nose, watery eyes, cough, headache, etc. So it's okay to run and actually you may find that you feel tons better afterwards. I always do! I think I recover faster from colds if I keep up with the running. But obviously don't overdo it, scale back your mileage/time/pace. Go slow and easy. 10 minutes into it you'll know whether it's helping or hurting.

Also if you just feel overwhelmingly fatigued,  then you probably shouldn't run. If you aren't sure, just go out for a short time and see how it feels. Sometimes running - or brisk walking - can help with fatigue.

However if you have lung congestion, stomach problems, muscle aches, or if you are running a temp over 100 degrees, then skip the running and crawl back into bed!

Poscagirl - I've never heard that advice. On the contrary, I was always under the impression that raising the body temp helps to kill off bacteria and viruses. This is why we get fevers.

With that said, I've also read that the fitter you are, the less prone to such infections and illnesses. This is because fit people tend to have a lower resting heart rate. So they have a wider recovery window  - the window between their resting heart rate and their max heart rate.

But if you are active in daily sports, it is possible that you are not having much time in between to properly recover from the activity. Throw in a cold, and that is going to slow down your recovery even more, leaving you prone to overtraining and further erosion of your immunity.

Heart rate can actually be a good way of knowing when to run and when to rest. Your resting heart rate will be elevated when your body is fighting off infection. If resting heart rate is back to its usual levels for you - despite still having the sniffles and other cold symptoms - that is a good indication that it is probably fine to run.

Thanks everyone, I took it easy yesterday, and tried running today, I guess it wasn't a good idea just yet.