June 13 it's the olimpic distance. I planned this long weekend for a hard workout before tapering. I got flu and sinus yesterday and it hit me like never before. Today I laid in bed hoping that tomorrow I could run but I feel like trash. what should I do?

Rest and let your body get healthy. A few days of missed training this close to your event wont hurt you as much as training through your illness and delaying your recovery.

Make certain you eat well and drink plenty of fluids over the next few days. I'm sure your parents stressed to you the improtance of food/liquids when ill just like mine did. However this time there is another reason to heed this advice. You want to make certain that you provide your body the fuel it will need in the coming weeks to race at your maximum potential.

Its easy to say I dont feel like eating or I'm not thirsty when ill. However it is important for both recovery and preparation that you give your body the nutrients it needs.

Mike thanks. I rested the holiday weekend. But I feel I lost a lot of training. I can't wait for this afternoon work out. Now, should I keep my regular tapering schedule or catch-up with my lost work outs? Thanks again. By the way your training log looks cool

I would suggest sticking to your scheduled plan as it is and chalk up the missed workouts to crap happens. Two weeks out from an event and only three things can happen. You can come into an event fresh and ready. You can be a little udnertrained or you can be overtrained. I would almost guarantee that making up workouts this late in the game would guarantee overtrained. That is the last thing you want.

Overtraining usually leads to one of two things. You will either finish the event and have a miserable time because your tired and your body isnt responding like you know it should. If that doesnt happen theres a good chance you are staring an injury right in the face. That means even more time lost, only this time after the race.

At worst your going to go intot he race a little on the undertrained side. If that happens I think you'll look back at the journey with pride and accomplishment. Then you'll be ready to get on with your next challenge.

Also, thanks for the comments on the training log. Now if I could just get some more workouts to record in it. The weather has been absolutely horrible here. 10 inches of rain has fallen in the last 3 weeks and I think it has all occurred when I had a workout planned. Of course I'm back to work now and its 70 and sunny.:mad:

Mike101 is 101% correct in what he is telling you about missing training days this close to your event. I can add nothing to what he said technically - but on the emotional frontline - go to your race and think about having fun. Put a smile on your face :) and give it your best shot. My dh always says when things are not going right and it is something that you just can't control 'it is what it is'.
Remember if it's not fun why do it?? ( the words on a bumper sticker on the back of my carrier the kids ride in on the bike)
take care of yourself and rest rest rest.
tri-me31
Brandi

Hi panchotri,
Are you doing San Jose? I am and the same thing happened to me. I actually trained too hard over the holiday weekend and have not felt good all week. I wanted to train strong and then start tapering over this weekend, but this week was not a good training week at all. I've cut back on my workouts and have been trying to rest. Now, I'm feeling nervous and not quite sure how I'll feel next week.
- Brett

Hey Tricat, see you at the SJIT, I'll be there next weekend.
As for tapering, I probably should have started earlier this week, but it definitely will begin on Sunday. Need to get a couple long rides in for an adventure race on the 19th, but my target is to complete and improve on my PR for the race on the 13th.
From what I can tell, tapering can extend from 1 to 3 weeks depending on the event. If the athlete has a solid base, and the event is something along the lines of a 1/2 or full IM, then 3 weeks could be fine. It's just really hard to do. We're all very motivated people, and to sit back and do little to nothing for an extended period of time with low intensity workouts, sometimes just isn't in our nature. But it works. I've been pleasantly surprised in other sports like hockey, where I'll play hard for a couple months, see slight gains, but then take 3 weeks off, come back to the puck, and it's like i've gone off to a pro-skills camp or something.
Sometimes all you need is a mini mind-body vacation to give yourself a good reset, body-defrag-session to prep your self for race day.

Brett, funny thing, I was talking to my boss about my recovery when I received your message. She said I still sound sick. I run easy 45min on Tuesday and came back with a cough. I took medicine and rested on Wednesday. Yesterday had 40min ride in am and 1000 mts. swim in pm. Today I'm resting hoping to have a good weekend workout, but my boss made me have second thoughts. I feel 75-80% healthy (cold, sinus and cough), 80% ready (I did follow my train schedule the previous weeks) and 80% mentally ready. I think I'm completing the workouts scheduled for this weekend: tomorrow 1hr easy run and Sunday 25 mil easy ride. To make things more challenging for my race, the night before is my daughter’s ballet performance and I volunteered to be backstage staff until 11:30pm. Sometimes I have to give quality time to keep the balance with the family. Unluckily for me, this is the time. But I’m happy to be there and will be happier do the tri thinking in her. This is what it’s all about for Me.!! Next week I will go to bed early and try to rest as much as I can.
I'm not an expert but I would say that if you did your training as you suppossed to, you're quite ready! prepare mentally, drink fluids and eat healthy. See you at SJIT !!

Hi guys,
I'm glad you are both doing the race. Taper it is. Need to get the head in the right place now and build some confidence. Let's chat before the race and figure out what everyone looks like so we can cheer for each other!
- Brett