My training is going great, but last night I started throwing up and diarea. Today I am feeling about 70% my question is has anyone done a triathlon this close to being sick. RAce is on SAT. I hate to throw $200.00 down the drain.
I would show up and see how you feel. Likely when you wake up tomorrow you will feel much better and be ready to roll. I thought this part of the RD’s email this morning was pretty funny:
As always, the water temperature will be cold. We will post the race day water
temperature on our white trailer which will be located near the transition area. Last
year we had many people drop out due to the cold during the bike. After the swim we
recommend that you get dried off and get some clothes on. If it rains, you should have
layers with an outer shell. Even on warm days in the past, swimmers have dropped out due
to the cold. Your defenses against hypothermia include; eating a good breakfast,
wetsuit, and a neoprene cap under your race cap. You should also take some time to warm
up in the water rather than running in at the start for the first time.
agree about the illness. If it’s not too far to travel, why not just plan on making the trip and make it a game-time decision.
Highjacking, but… I asked it this AM, but it didn’t get a response:
have you been up there recently? the website says there’s been some scheduled weekday construction on the roads up there. any idea what the conditions are like?
Have not been there but imagine that if there was a major change in the roads one of the guys that rides there on a regular basis, MurphysLaw, Parkito etc would have mentioned it.
I was there Sunday - the roads are fine - no changes. The construction was on the bridge on Route 106 which is not part of the course.
thanks to both. i also figured we would have heard about it, but wanted to make sure. see you guys tomorrow
I would show up and see how you feel. Likely when you wake up tomorrow you will feel much better and be ready to roll. I thought this part of the RD’s email this morning was pretty funny:
As always, the water temperature will be cold. We will post the race day water
temperature on our white trailer which will be located near the transition area. Last
year we had many people drop out due to the cold during the bike. After the swim we
recommend that you get dried off and get some clothes on. If it rains, you should have
layers with an outer shell. Even on warm days in the past, swimmers have dropped out due
to the cold. Your defenses against hypothermia include; eating a good breakfast,
wetsuit, and a neoprene cap under your race cap. You should also take some time to warm
up in the water rather than running in at the start for the first time.
That is now known as the “Murphy’s Law Disclaimer” - aka - don’t be (stupid) like Mike.
Back to your point, why not show up, go thru all the pre-race motions, and then decide if you can go or not then.
You might even be able to ask the RD to move you to the Mini (or Oly, or whatever they call it this time), if you don’t think you can hack the HIM.
Hope yer feeling better in the am. Bring lotsa clothing options - gonna be a total crapshoot weather-wise.
-M
Murph, where are you getting your weather info?
The Weather Channel for Harriman NY -
9am
Sunny
53°F
50°F 20% 43°F 69% From WNW 9 mph
10am
Sunny
57°F
55°F 20% 42°F 57% From WNW 10 mph
11am
Sunny
61°F
61°F 20% 41°F 48% From WNW 10 mph
12pm
Sunny
64°F
64°F 10% 41°F 43% From W 11 mph
1pm
Mostly Sunny
66°F
66°F 0% 41°F 40% From WSW 12 mph
NOAA, accuweather, and wunderground.
And none of them are the same… but all call for some chance of rain at some point.
They do all agree that it’ll probably be breezy.
Whatever. I’ll bring it all, and sort out what to wear when I get outta the water.
See ya in the am-
M
I told you weeks ago…IT IS GOING TO BE NICE!!!
BTW they really need to find a host hotel with a better bar for next year, this place is pretty weak!
Ya shoulda asked me for a homestay.
We’ve got a coupla 12-packs of SNPA in the fridge.
mmmMMMMmmmmm beer mmmMMMMMMmmmmm…
Yes, the weather WILL BE NICE tomorrow!!!
Hey Murph,
Brian G. here…haven’t been on ST for a long time…All is well and I’m still training. Good luck tomorrow…I busted up my cbone seven weeks ago and I just got cleared for all activities on Wednesday so no Harriman for me, but I was out anyway (family stuff)…
It’s Harriman…it’s going to be cold and wet at some point…that race is like entering another dimension…
B.
Here is my two cents worth.I would rest up as much as possible and let the bug take it's course.Go to the race site and see how you feel on the day.If you do start then start as you normally would and if it starts going all to hell then start adjusting your goals and attutide and make a fun "easy day" of it.There was a story about Dave Scott years ago in Japan.He had been sick for a few days during race week and really didn't want to race but rested up and race he did-to an 8:01 Ironman Japan win.
I feel like telling a story so here is my sad “I got sick on the morning of Ultraman Canada, day three 2006” tale.For those vultures who will give me shit for thread hijacking this story is kind of related and you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to.This is the short version.
I lined up for my fourth Ultraman Canada two years ago wih not a lot of triathlon training behind me but was realying on my bike fitness from my 12 week mtb ride through Argentina and Bolivia (www.nicksepicride.blogspot.com) to get me through.After studying the field I figured that I probrably wasn’t going to add win number three to the resume but that another second place was looking pretty good.I knew that Vancouver firefighter Darin Bentley was probrably the guy who would take it out and that the fight was on between myself and my old mate Curtis “the legend Iron-stud” Flock who had also spent the summer riding huge distances.His trip was from Cabo San Lucas to Skagway after spending a short time with me in Argentina.If you read my blog from that trip you will see that we had a few “issues” in Argentina and as a result Curtis was feuding with me and that proved to be great motivation for both of us.
Day one went pretty much to plan for me and with only three swim sessions in the year behind me I swam to second place for the 10k in 3:01 which was a bit slower than usual but pretty much spot on my predicted time.Darin had a five mintue lead on me out of the water but I caught up a bit with my speedy one minute’ish transition (Steve King gets a kick out seeing how fast we can go from swim to bike after 10k in the lake).With Curtis the uber-biker out of the water 28 mins behind me I was riding scared but thankfully had a good day trying without luck to reel in Darin over the 147k day one course.He ended up extending his lead to over 23 minutes and we were all looking at the probrable winner for the weekend.Curtis managed to eat into my time but was still 22mins or so behind me in third by the end of the day.
Day two is a long 274k epic ride around the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys but at the rate Curtis took off you would think it was a 40kTT.I only saw Curtis four times that day,at the start,the finish and the two turns where he was in a different time-zone.Darin did a really great job of shadowing him for hours in order to lessen the damage Curtis was inflicting on the field but he too had to slow down and let the Flock train go.I started okay but soon just wasn’t feeling quite right.After 100k I was really feeling weak and was dropping back through the field as we rode through the hilly sections in between Okanagan Falls and Twin Lakes.No matter what I did I just couldn’t push any harder.It was when the first girl passed me that I thought I was in real trouble.Barb Owen is a great Ultra-runner and cyclist but having her pass me was hard to take.I rode with her for a little while and was impressed at how well she was dealing with the hills that were crushing me.As we approached Twin Lake Golf Club I had to stop and take stock.I almost never stop when I’m out on long rides but this was getting serious.I slammed down some nutrition and soaked myself in water before heading for the long downhill to Keremeous where I figured I’d be able to recover a little bit.Thankfully I did start to feel better and although still not feeling great started to move a bit faster.The section between Keremeous and Princeton had been my undoing the year before and I was afraid that history would repeat itself and I would fall apart.I didn’t but I really wasn’t feeling that great.I was dizzy and just plain weak but soldiered on for a couple more hours until I finally reached Princeton and made the turn up Hwy 5a and started the long steep climb out of town.This leg of the race starts at the 200k mark and climbs about 35k until the final turn were we head back down to princeton to the finish.As I climbed I wondered how long it would be until I saw Curtis and Darin heading home.It wasn’t long and I cheered them both on.Curtis ignored me,Darin didn’t.I finally reached the turn in fourth with Stephen Johnson(the funniest Ultra-triathlete I’ve met in a long time) turning in third just ahead of me.We both did what we had to do to get to the finish and once there I found out just what a great ride Curtis had done 274k in 8hrs 7min with Darin finishing some 26 min behind.I was in third place an hour and twenty min behind Darin but less than an hour behind Curtis.No worries.
I was still feeling pretty weird when I went to sleep that night but very early in the morning I hit the toilet for the first time.By the time we were supposed to go to breakfast I was getting the sweats and apparently looked like shit(more so than usual anyway).I sat down for breakfast opposite my great mate Steve Brown.He is the Ultraman Canada owner as well as owner of Peach City Runners in Penticton.He had been really sick the previous week with a virus and his wife had been really worried about me that whole time as I was living in their house at the time.She didn’t want me to catch his bug during Ultraman week and tried her best to keep us separated.When Steve had caught the bug he had lost eight pounds in one night with both ends blowing out at the same time.When he saw me that run morning in Princeton he though I was done.I couldn’t eat anything and went back to my room to lie down and Steve told everyone that he didn’t think I would be able to go anywhere soon.I did though and as my crew member Glen "gator’ Prior drove me to the start line 20 k away he told me that if I felt really bad then I should not start.The tears on my cheek told him how much Ultraman means to me so he kept quiet after that.At the run start everyone was concerned but looking back it was pretty funny how all the crews would not let their athletes anywhere near me,like I had the plauge or something.
The gun went off and I started running with Darin and we soon had a gap on the field.I figured that I could easily run down Curtis’ hour lead as he isn’t a runner at all and does very little run training on his dodgy knees.About 2k in I felt a sharp pain in my side and the vomiting started.The ferocity of what was happening took me by surpirse as I was now projectile vomiting all over the road.I wished Darin well and started to walk,waiting for everyone to catch up.One by one they passed me and offered their best wishes but I was in no shape to reply,the bug had taken hold.
Once my crew caught up I tried to drink but threw up as much as I ingested.I figured that I could walk run my way to the 12hr cut-off and maybe help some of the slower ones during the day.The bug had different ideas.The vomiting became so violent that I was on my knees with my stomach cramping with each hurl.The straw that broke the camles back was when my good mate, Ironman commentating legend Steve King saw me thrown up the entire contents of a gatorade bottle in one hurl.He came over and put his foot down.I was done.It was a good call in the end as I spent the next five hours either lying in the car or throwing up all over the side double marathon course until the only rational one on my crew(a girl of course) Claire Matheson demanded that I get in her car so she could drive me home.She witnessed some particularly violent cramps that left me crying out like a stuck pig.Not my best day in the sport.
Darin ended up running to victory as predicted with a 6:55 double marathon and Curtis held on for second after hobbling to a 10:40 run.It was a shame for me and as the only dnf that weekend the awards were a hollow affair especially as I still felt like crap and couldn’t drink my usual fill of red wine.Not to worry as more friends were made and more memories put into the vault of Ultraman expriences.That’s what it is all about.
Life goes on and I’ll be back at in in a couple of months with the first of four Ultras for this year.Stay tuned.
So, did you go and race today, or what?
(If you were one of the folks I met today, and I’m forgetting - sorry. I have early-onset CRS. It’s a 40’s thing.)
Man, did that swim suck moose dick. Way long, cold, and choppy - just the way I like it.
NOT.
Great to see and meet everybody there today, much “fun” was had by all.
And yes, the weather was actually pretty nice! Other than the blustery winds, it was close to perfect.
I need (more) beer and food. Out.
now that’s not fair. you don’t like swimming in the first place!
Man, did that swim suck moose dick. Way long, cold, and choppy - just the way I like it.
NOT.
Fair or not, Murphy’s right. They reported the water to be 54 degrees, the wind chopped it up nicely, and when I saw my swim finish time, my first thought (hope?) was “had to be long.”
The weather did turn out to be nice, although I did have to give some respect to the wet leaves all over the twisty descent the first time down. Didn’t plan for them when I pumped up my 19mm front tire to 160 psi.
I agree that the swim was a bitch, but the weather turned out great for the bike and run. Right now I’m nursing some wicked sunburn (Ugly red half moons on the back from my tri-tanktop, and the familiar lower back strip) from being out on the bike with less clothing than I had anticipated (thus, no sunscreen applied prior to the race). Quite a difference weather-wise from last year, from what I gather. Funny, everyone was psyched out about being cold on the bike --everyone around me in the TA was laying out vests, warmers, booties, gloves, but after the swim many went with just the standard summertime gear, but maybe added arm warmers. I saw lots of people who stuck to the plan and wore jackets on the bike and were sweating ridiculously on the bike by the second loop.
Nice meeting you too, Mike. Would love to join you for Epicman but I’m thinking the wife may not be down with it given that I went to LP two weekends ago.
Jud
Yeah, first time down Tiorati was quite sketchy. Once it dried off, those last 2 laps down were an E-ticket fun-fest. YEE HA!!!
Jud - Epicman’s on a Friday. You go up Thurs afternoon or evening, do the event, and are home in time to sleep in yer own bed.
So, as far as the Boss is concerned, yer really only missing one nite, and 1-2 dinners w/ la familia.
(and you can take her out or do something else nice one or both of the weekend nites to make up for it. Plus, you won’t be doing any mega-training that weekend - believe me - so you can sleep in, go out for breakfast, whatever will float her boat. Can you tell I’ve had to come up w/ creative ways to attempt to keep the Spousal Equity Account from getting overdrawn?? 
Nice to meet ya today. And all the other posters/lurkers/just reg’lar tri folks who were there.
Everybody seemed like great folks, that was half the fun - BSing before and afterwards.
Thanks to ChrisG and Mark for the beers!!!
PS - I’ve got the Cheshire cat smiley sunburn on my lower back too.
I actually thought to spritz some sunscreen on my neck and shoulders, but forgot about the tri jersey ride-up factor :-p
Swim had to have been very long, took me 9 minutes longer than last year. I thought the water temp was actually reasonable.
Chris. Nice to meet you yesterday. Once they post results, the splits of a consistent performer such as Gebhart should give a good indication how long it was.