No - you have put in a lot of time training for the marathon. Also, I highly doubt you are high risk anyway. Why even get the flu shot other than it is FREE? Do you work in the healthcare industry? Under 10, over 80? etc. Post vaccination reactions are uncommon, but certainly not unheard of. They are usually minor, but certainly enough to make running a marathon harder than it already is.

You can always get one after the race if you really want.

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

No....another time would be better, really. Good luck w/ your marathon!

No...Wait a week till after your marathon. I faced the same situation prior to IMFL. I have seen some people with vague "flu like symptoms." Never sure if reaction to shot or coincidence or "mental. No reason to risk it. No flu break out yet in the States. Wait and hammer hard on run.

[reply]No....another time would be better, really. Good luck w/ your marathon![/reply]

Thanks to all of you for the advice. I think I will skip the flu shot. Mainly because this is my best shot to beat my fathers PR and if I use the "flu shot" excuse I will be up for a major ball busting at thanksgiving

Get the damn flu shot - it's safe, there's no way to catch anything from it, and there IS flu in several states.

I wonder if you guys that are so convinced that the flu vaccine is dangerous are also doing squats?! ;)

Get the damn flu shot - it's safe, there's no way to catch anything from it, and there IS flu in several states.

Most likely true, though I might argue the "no way to catch anything from it" especially from personal experience...but I would wait until after the marathon to get the shot.

Are you in medicine? Have you ever seen post-flu vaccination reactions? Ever heard of Guillain-Barre syndrome? You don't "catch" anything from a vaccination (especially the recombinant DNA one he suggested). But many people have problems with attenuated strain vaccinations. In all seriousness, he problems doesn't need the flu vaccination anyway!

Sorry for the rant - I just hate the "Holiday Inn effect" we all have here.

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

i never take a flu shot because i'm afraid of the risk. i hate getting injections. you never know what they are putting in you. there are too many screw-ups in health care. i only take their services when i absolutely have to... of course i'd say no to your question.

Most people have no reaction. Any reaction will likely be over within 24-48 hours. You decide.

Getting INFLUENZA right after a marathon (or long tri) would likely be pretty bad. It's already around. INFLUENZA is nasty. IT IS NOT A COLD WITH A FEVER or vomiting and diarrhea. It's getting hit be a bus--one minute your fine and an hour later you can get up or stay awake AND everything hurts. THEN you get congested and start coughing. After 2 days you're still having fever for another 2 days, but worse cough and congestion and aches, even though you are less exhausted. After a few weeks you feel ALMOST normal--the cough is almost gone and your strength is about halfway back to normal.

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

Man, check this craziness out! Talk about rare!

www.cardiovascular-medicine.ch/pdf/2005/2005-10/2005-10-051.pdf

Also, my mother-in-law is a Guillain-Barre survivor from (suspected) post swine flu vaccination in the 80's.

Of course, I get my flu vaccination every year since I'm high risk in/out of hospitals, etc., but why not wait 7 days after the marathon if at all?

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

Most exposures take place in the general populace, especially from children. GB is rare, but, yes it happens.

I guess I don't worry about reactions more than a couple of days out--they are also quite uncommon.

Since one's immune response is diminished for a while after a long tri or marathon, protection ahead might make sense. And, influenza is rearing it's head already. However, the likelihood of contracting it between now and a week after the marathon is, admittedly, not likely.

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

If you don't care about the event then it might be worthwhile. If you DO, it ain't worth the risk.

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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Get your FIX today?

I got a flu shot yesterday.

I went for a 16 mile run this morning.

I now feel awful.

Don't do it.