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Ill... so how many 'healthy' days before a race?

I think I know the answer before I even ask this... :roll:

TUESDAY:
I'm ill just now - a solid case of the dreaded Man Flu and dragging up god-knows-what from my lungs with every cough.
Sensibly, as it's in my chest, I've knocked training on the head for the last couple days. Not the end of the world as I'd be tapering anyway.

I'm due to race an OD in Barcelona on Sunday (taking the WAT on a City Break! ).
My last 2 OD's (London and Norwich) have been a 2:30 and 2:31. Sub 2:30 beckons, so taking it easy isn't an option!

I'm starting to face up to the fact that I'm unlikely to be back to fitness until the end of the week, which may only give me 2 days of health before the race...
Is that going to be long enough to pull my body back together?
Feeling 'okay' on the day isn't going to be enough, as I want to go 100%.

Am I deluding myself?
Should I leave the bike box at home and concentrate on some quality time with the wife?

Comments

  • huwdhuwd Posts: 228
    I reckon take the bike and judge it on the day - you would be pretty annoyed if you felt fine.

    Secondly I'm impressed with your work at getting a city break to coincide with an event - well done!
  • Cheers - pretty much what I thought.
    Bought some Vit C on the way to work.
    Will see how I feel on Friday...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLHWmjA5IE

    ...in truth if I don't race I will be upset but not devastated.
    In fact, worst case, I'll do the sea swim and then DNF. I spent the last 8 weeks hammering my swim technique, so it'd be nice to see if it's paid off.
    It's the end of the season (almost) and the wife and I will be in Barcelona, and kiddie-free for 3 days for the first time in almost 5 years!
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    Bin work. Rest up. Plenty of fluids, vit c, echinacea and nurofen cold&flu.
    You'll be find come the weekend.
  • Not a chance: Self employed and double booked.
  • tried grapefruit seed extract? few drops of that in some water is meant to help you come back from the dead.
  • hey GFH....

    i'm currently sat on the sofa with a lemsip and 'Enders...

    ...oh guess where i should be...yup, that's right, in my 4* hotel in barcelona!!!

    man-flu struck me earlier in the week (tonsilitis & URT infection to be exact)...i went to see the doc to get med cert signed for travel insurance and asked him if 'i took it easy' would i be ok??

    laugh, he nearly fell of his chair!
  • Pataallen - get well soon.
    I'm on my 7th day of ill and getting very bored. Each morning I wake up like it's Christmas Day but instead of wondering 'Has Santa been?', it's 'Am I well yet?'... then I go into a coughing fit. So, the proverbial lump of coal.

    I've got 46 hours until my wave start...
    Fingers are crossed and I'm OD'ing on Echinacea and Vit C.
    Taking bike box but well prepared to knock it on the head if need be; have lie in and then saunter the 10mins from hotel to finish line and watch my club mates cross the line at 11am Sunday.

    Thank God, it's not an Ironman! That would suck. Spend your whole year building towards something and get sick. Must happen though. Must be devastating.
  • Well I went. I threw up a lot. I finished.
  • jacjac Posts: 452
    Time?
    How do you feel now?
  • KenMacKenMac Posts: 14
    There is no hard and fast rule, but this is the time to rest up and have confidence in what you have done before. The KinEli crew would always recommend easy activity (say walking and gentle stretching) but not training. As mentioned previously resting longer than you feel you need is always good.
    There are plenty of people who have had great results when recovering from a bug but there are also people who have done themselves serious life threatening and permanent damage when racing with a virus.
  • MaQ1MaQ1 Posts: 4
    Great Craic GFH, had same thing before local 10k recently and laughed all the way round at tennis-club WAGs taking real pleasure, striding past crazy Tri-bloke ... interested in Barca OD el ano proximo, So how was it? Good organisation? Easy getting the bike through airport? Wetsuits on or off mid October? Plenty of apres-TRI? Too much red tape? Value for €? Not done any Euro-events as yet but I know the place fairly well +could be a great end-season w/e ... if there's still any budget left +er'indoors has not finally put the £ hammer down ...
    Cheers,
    MaQ1
  • Where to start!
    The European Guide on How Not To Do A Triathlon!

    Thursday: Had to abandon work and go home to bed.

    Friday: Borrowed a bike box. Packed bike box. Still sick. Blech.

    Saturday:
    Flew BA, so no charge for bike box. Yay!
    On plane realised that I hadn't packed my bike shoes. No great surprise, head was up me bum. Didn't feel great. Coughing. Sneezing.
    Arrived at the hotel about 6pm, luckily friends had registered for me that afternoon.
    Had to buy BMX pedals (€3.58 ) from the only sports/bike shop I could find.
    Supermarket closed whilst I was searching for pedals. So no breakfast or water! Boo.

    Sunday / Race Day:
    6:30am breakfast consisted of a museli bar and a gel. Not a good start.
    7am Down to transition. Brrr it's cold and dark! No stalls/vendors, so no water or carb drinks. Had to thieve a Marshals bottle of water. Sorry - the needs of few and all that.
    8am Finally light enough to see, so I get on with laying out my kit in transition. Feeling very odd and not in 'race mode' at all.
    8:30am. GO!!!!
    We're the third Olympic wave in the water. It's a sea swim (my first) and the waves are big enough to attract the local surfers. (4-5feet).
    We looked like a bunch of turtles, arms spinning, thrashing at the waves.
    I just couldn't find a rhythm, the last 8 weeks of pool drills went out the window. My goggles were leaking and I kept coughing, causing me to swallow sea water when the waves hit me. After 6 minutes I still hadn't made the first buoy. I was treading water and vomiting, dreaming of a DNF. The waves made sighting all but impossible, infact it got so bad that the rescue boat tried to take me in after I threw up for the forth time.
    1500m and 43 minutes later I washed up on the beach like some kind of Castaway, knackered and with nothing left in my stomach,
    I'd had enough and was all set to see the rest of the race out from a cafe.
    It wasn't to be… stumbling up the beach I saw my wife cheering me on. 'For F'ks sake', I thought, 'I'll need to finish it now'.

    No incidents on the bike, other than dropping a Gel as my bike hit a bump. I kept my head down and pedalled through the 40K in my running shoes, sans toe straps, with my €3 pedals.
    1:06

    Flat run, out and back to the Barcelona's Arc de Triomf. 38 min.

    All in all a 2:31 and a miracle I finished!

    The organisation of Barca was poor though, with no Brands or Tri Stores turning out to support it. Plus only 2 water stations (no carbs) on a 10K run is pretty mean.
    Barca is also painfully expensive but that's mainly down to the Euro.
    Would I do a European race again? Yeah but the Euro will need to be a bit weaker!
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