Today I had my interview and physical testing for the national search and rescue team. I passed! Yay!
Anyhow, part of the physical testing was the beep test. I was moved in to an earlier time slot so I was not as prepared as I wanted to be. I also seem to have a tougher time doing cardiovascular exercise in the morning versus the afternoon / evening. I was allotted time to warm up, but I (stupidly) didn’t take full advantage of it and wasn’t fully warm before I started the test. About 3/4 through, my lungs were burning like mad. I kept going and pushed very hard, and by the end it felt like my lungs were on fire - it almost feels like they’re bleeding, but I’m sure they’re not. I finished up, then did all the other tests (sledge hammer, pull and drag the dummy, lifting and carrying heavy stuff and ladders, etc.).
Before the tests, I was fine, felt almost 100%. Immediately afterwards, I started feeling like I was getting a cold. I had a painful cough and within about 10 minutes I started sneezing. It progressed to a full blown cold within an hour, and here I sit with a stuffed nose and wads of tissue.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. I’ve pushed to the point of burning lungs before and about 75% of the time, I end up with a cold afterwards. Is this coincidence or something else?
Also, what is happening in my lungs to cause the burn (which is gone now - I even went for a run this evening and my lungs were fine. Good thing I brought tissue though!)?