Looking for some advice: I am not feeling the best right now, and I am racing tomorrow. Aside from fighting a cold, I am experiencing back pain, and thinking of taking some Advil before the race to alleviate some of the pain. Have any of you tried this? Would you recommend it?
Thanks,
Mark
What type of race are you doing? I’ve done it for shorter races although I’m not sure I’d really recommend it. The combination of NSAIDs and dehydration probably doesn’t make one’s kidneys very happy.
Short race, just a sprint so don’t anticipate dehydration being a problem.
If you know you don’t have any adverse GI effects to Advil, I doubt taking 1 or 2 pre-race will hurt you.
DON’T RACE!!! If you are fighting a cold, then take the day off. Racing through illness was one of the factors that pushed my heart to now need a pacemaker. Once you damage heart tissue, it does not regenerate like other muscle. Do yourself a favour, go to the movies and see Farenheight 9/11 instead.
On the advil, I take it before races in small doses which seems to help my recovery after the race. Not when I’m sick though…
Didn’t someone recently post a report that ibuprofen use slows recovery time?
-Robert
taking NSAIDs pre race???
doper
.
yeah the dehydration factor puts a nasty load on the kidneys. I was told of a guy doing the Leadville 100 bike race which is at altitude taking ibuprofen and had to be airlifted off the mountain because of the bad effects which were even more at altitude.
I agree with the other wise folks…if you’re sick don’t race. Hell, I don’t even try to train through a bad cold or flu. Thats really asking for trouble. Know of a few athletes who trained through a cold and ended up with permanent heart problems and that was it for their athletic pursuits.
Don’t do anything that you haven’t done in practice.
I would just try to run through it or use this race as a practice. I also think that once you get going the pain will go away somewhat from the exercise high you will get.
jaretj
Thanks to all for the advice. The cold isn’t anywhere near bad. Just more of an annoyance than anything right now. When I have had a bad cold in the past, I usually cocoon at home in bed and don’t do a damn thing.
And I have taken Advil before training, whether it was triathlon training or other sports. I remember being out at Whistler a few years ago snowboarding. We had been going pretty hard for 2 days, and I woke up the third day with a very sore body. Because we were only out there for 4 days, there was no way that I was going to miss a day. So I popped a couple of Advil, and felt great for the day on the mountain.
Just out of total curiousity, is ibuprophin considered “doping”? Is it a banned substance for drug testing? I have no clue, but someone brought up the point.
Mark
is ibuprophin considered “doping”? Is it a banned substance for drug testing?
Nope.
I agree with the heart problems, although it doesn’t necessarily involve NSAIDs. There are certain virii that can contribute to serious heart problems, and if you have a cold you have absolutely no clue whether that could be a life-threatening cold or not. It’s serious…don’t ignore it. Now if you just have a sniffly nose and that’s it, then probably it isn’t a concern.
Regarding the Advil, I wouldn’t recommend it if you have even the slightest thought of being dehydrated. For sprints it might not be a big deal, but I’ve managed to lose 2-3lb during a sprint tri in the Florida sauna. I don’t know where the danger point is regarding dehydration and Advil, but I don’t want to risk it.
Back pain during cold, especially with fever is a sign of protein breakdown within your lower back. I would not race under those physiological conditions.
Paul
Really? Where did you hear that?
Training Tip
Cold Season Blues
by A. Marc Harrison, MD
Exercising with more than a mild cold is a counter-productive process that results in the body burning lean muscle mass instead of fat. On a more dangerous level, exercising with certain common viruses can lead to heart damage. If you’re sick, allow your body time to fight it off.
Your training has gone well. You have built up your base and gradually added intensity to your three-sport regimen. You have completed key workouts in record times. But with only a couple of hard workouts to go before the big race of your season, you notice a tickle in the back of your throat. The next morning you have a sore throat, headache, cough and think that you might have a fever. A tempo run is on your agenda. What should you do?
Take Care of Yourself
If you think that you have a simple cold without systemic symptoms, exercise at a low heart rate and easy level of perceived exertion (long slow distance pace or easier) for a short period of time. If you are any sicker than a stuffy nose, you should skip the run altogether. Adhering to the following recommendations may help you recover faster and could even save your life. Never exercise with a fever, lower respiratory tract infection, or symptoms of systemic illness (muscle aches, chills, malaise, etc.). Do not ignore symptoms that could be attributable to the heart, including shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, fainting, chest pain or lightheadedness. See a doctor immediately if you have any question about the health of your heart. Remember to have reasonable and lowered performance expectations after you’ve been ill.
Listen to your body and practice restraint. Wait to resume training until your motivation and health have completely returned. You have only one body - take care of it.
Now let’s look at the ‘whys’ behind exercising caution in training when you’re ill.
Metabolic Response to Infection
Acute infection results in a biological response that could be equated with calling out the National Guard. This “acute phase response” is comprised of chemicals being produced throughout the body (white blood cells, the cells lining blood vessels and the airways, etc.). Evolutionarily, this process increases a sick person’s chances of survival. Nutrients are mobilized (e.g., amino acids - the building blocks of protein), which the sick person uses to make infection-fighting substances. The acute phase response is “stereotypical,” or essentially the same regardless of the cause of the infection. Like any good military operation, the magnitude of the response is generally well-regulated and determined by the intensity and duration of the threat.
Protein Catabolism. During an infection, people become catabolic (the opposite of anabolic) and break down muscle protein. The degree of muscle catabolism and protein loss is related to the height and duration of the fever caused by the infection. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that controlling a fever with acetaminophen or ibuprofen decreases this loss of hard-earned muscle. The amino acids that are liberated from muscle are scavenged by the liver and used as an emergency energy source (glucose production via gluconeogenesis) and as the building blocks for acute phase proteins, which the body employs to fight infection.
Your muscles have many good reasons to ache when you have an infection. Skeletal muscle is the main source of catabolized protein, but heart muscle contributes as well. Skeletal muscle biopsies done in feverish people and laboratory animals during acute infections demonstrate microscopic evidence of muscle damage. The same chemicals that initiate muscle breakdown during infection also inhibit effective muscle building and repair, making it virtually impossible to build muscle during any infection more serious than a cold.
Unfortunately, you can’t even lose body fat while you are sick, as fat metabolism is impaired during infections. This causes the sick person to rely more heavily on muscle as an energy source than it normally would during times of physical stress (e.g., starvation or heavy training). So any weight loss during a febrile illness is generally lean muscle mass.
During a febrile or systemic illness, athletes should be wary of stressing muscles that are actively being broken down to fuel the body’s defenses. Normal recovery after a workout can be greatly prolonged and the risk of injury may be heightened. Studies have shown a 25 percent decrease in isometric muscle strength after a simple febrile illness such as the flu. Replenishing muscle mass lost during a three-day febrile illness may take up to two weeks.
Aerobic metabolism. The ability to perform aerobic metabolism, the primary energy source during long-distance training and racing, is impaired during infection. Studies on rats forced to exercise during an experimental infection show a substantial decrease in performance-related metabolic capacity. Concentration of enzymes integral to aerobic metabolism are diminished in muscle biopsies of infected humans. Lactate threshold (anaerobic threshold) and maximal oxygen (VO2max) uptake are depressed during and following an infection. It can take one to three months for an athlete to fully recover pre-illness levels of aerobic enzymatic efficiency.
Myocarditis
Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, is one of the more common and most serious complications of an acute (usually febrile) infection. While many viruses and some bacteria can cause myocarditis, a family of viruses called the enteroviruses are the most common culprits. Unfortunately, a good physical exam and history by your doctor is unlikely to determine the exact cause of your fever and muscle aches. Your doctor won’t be able to tell you whether your symptoms are caused by a rhinovirus (causes the “common cold” and is rarely associated with myocarditis) or an enterovirus (relatively high risk of myocarditis).
Myocarditis without obvious symptoms is relatively common. In a careful epidemiological study of Finnish military recruits performed during the 1980s, the annual incidence of unequivocal myocarditis was a modest 0.02 percent. However, during acute infections, 1.2 percent of sick recruits had evidence of myocarditis on electrocardiograms and blood tests. During an epidemic of influenza A, the incidences rose to 7.7 percent. The majority of affected recruits had no cardiac symptoms.
The relative frequency of myocarditis during the flu wouldn’t be a big deal except for an important fact: vigorous exercise worsens this potentially life-threatening condition. Animal experiments demonstrate that exercise increases viral replication in heart muscle, resulting in more inflammation and destruction of heart muscle.
Sudden death during exercise is often caused by myocarditis. At autopsy, the hearts of athletes who suffered sudden, unexpected deaths, often show microscopic signs of myocarditis, including inflammation and dying cells. Genetic material from a variety of viruses and bacteria has been isolated from these inflamed hearts. An arrhythmia (disturbance of heart rhythm) caused by myocarditis is the presumed mechanism of death in these otherwise young, healthy people.
Between 1979 and 1992, 16 elite Swedish orienteers suffered unexpected cardiac death. The majority of these athletes had blood tests consistent with a recent infection and autopsy evidence of myocarditis. Since instituting strict prohibitions against exercising while ill, no further Swedish orienteers have suffered sudden death.
Even after an episode of acute myocarditis is over, there can be long-term consequences. Inflammation can scar the heart muscle. These scars can be where potentially fatal arrhythmias start and these heart rhythm disturbances can change or even end your life. This process of inflammation and subsequent scarring of the heart muscle is one of the hypotheses for the origin of Greg Welch’s career-ending difficulties with ventricular tachycardia.
In summary, hard exercise when you have anything more serious than a cold is unlikely to result in significant physiological gains. Training under these circumstances will be of lesser quality, and may even lead to serious consequences. You are more likely to perform well in your goal race and in life if you occasionally learn to kick back and rest, rather than trying to fit in one more hard workout.
Suggested Reading
http://www.winningmag.com/training/tips/cold.shtml
Just More FACTs!!!
If you can’t race drug free, then don’t race. Ibuprofen is hard on the kidneys under the best of conditions, under racing conditions it’s even worse. It is also a blood thinner and can cause internal bleeding.
Hey thanks… that’s good stuff.
However, the original poster did not say he was febrile and I’m not sure the backache is associated with his respiratory illness. I think it would make a big difference whether he was sick with fever and muscle aches, or had a case of the sniffles and is sore from training/other reasons. But this advice is very good: “Never exercise with a fever, lower respiratory tract infection, or symptoms of systemic illness (muscle aches, chills, malaise, etc.)”
Race is over, so I thought that I would report.
First the (self) diagnosis. Didn’t have a running nose, no fever, just not feeling 100%, and a slight cough. I have been diagnosed with asthma, but since I started training 2+ years ago, the asthma has virtually disappeared. However, colds/coughs sometimes aggrevate it, especially with exercise. So therefore, prerace I took the recommended puffs of the inhaler.
The back was (is) sore, not from being sick, but from cronic back ache. It’s been off an on for some time, and we just got a new mattress, and I think my back is still adjusting. (going to work on core muscles this off season) So my back was feeling a little twitchy, so I decided to take just one Advil before the race.
How did the race go? GREAT. I felt very strong on the swim and bike, and started the run with a sore back, but no where near as bad as the last race. The last race I averaged 5:02/km over 4 km. This time I averaged 4:34/km over 5km.
I usually drink lots, even on a sprint (I had two bottles on the bike, and as some guy passed me, he said “are you really going to drink all of that?” I didn’t, but still drank a lot of it)
Just to report, finished 9th out of 45 in my age group, which is a huge improvement for me over last year where I was MOPPER all the way.
Thanks to all for the advice, I appreciate it.
Mark
and for those of you who say taking drugs doesn’t make that much of a difference I present exhibit A.
Doper;-)
A mild cold will quickly become a bad cold if you stress you body too much. Stay home and watch Bob Roll say over and over “Tour DAY France”. Don’t race. I started BSLT with a mild cold (but a bad sore throat) and had to quit (my first DNF). But the days after I really went downhill. As far as Advil before a race, read some of the articles and posts here on the MB. Remember, you are already going into the racebehinde from a hydration standpoint since you have a mild cold. My doctor once told me that it takes on average 2 days of hydrating for everyday you “feel” the cold. I don’t know if he was trying to keep me from racing or if he was telling me the truth. Bottom line…if you must race then take Tylenol instread.