Exercise-Induced Immunosuppression, Or: WTF Is This Shit?

In case you haven't noticed, I'm not an elite athlete. I sleep well, have a job that couldn't be less sedentary,  and try to exercise a little during the week. But I also like to eat and drink, and as a result have to push myself really, really hard on the weekends to do the things I want to be able to. This weekend, for instance, I felt great after two bike rides, and kept telling myself how awesome it was that I was kicking ass on those Gorge hills in February. I couldn't wait to hit the trail today and try to run 10 miles for the first time, and spent all night looking at the weather report to try and find the best spot. And while that was going on, little by little, my body started to deteriorate until I was hacking and feverish.  Instead of charging hard another day, I stayed in bed.

This isn't the first time this has happened, either. Last summer, any strenuous hike of more than 4,000 feet of elevation gain or a distance of more than 12 miles could end in me feeling like I was kicked by a horse. I was embarrassed by it, at first, thinking it obviously reflected poorly on my fitness. But eventually I stopped feeling sorry for myself and started doing research. Apparently, it is a very common thing for even trained athletes to experience suppressed immune system function after a race, match or any strenuous physical event lasting more than a few hours. This leads from symptoms ranging from simple flu-like aches and pains lasting only a day to full-blown upper respiratory infections.

From what I've been reading, I could combat this by managing my pre-workout carb intake better. I tend to not eat as much before a big ride or hike because it seems counterproductive to gorge on calories when trying to lose weight. But I've read several places that carbs can help, so there you go. Also, supplements to reduce inflammation are supposed to be effective, so I guess a trip to the vitamin store is in my near future. It seems that it's all tied to adrenaline and cortisol stress hormones somehow. I usually flail about megadosing on vitamin C after I start to feel sick, which sometimes seems to work despite a lack of hard scientific evidence in its favor. I'm obviously drinking a shit-ton of liquids, resting, and eating well, but none of this changes the fact that I have lost a day off to illness simply because I went for a sunny but cold bike ride. So I'm going to try some of these solutions I've been reading about, but if that doesn't work it's time to talk to a pro. Because this lying around crap is unacceptable.